Debatable Princeton Question

[shekhar.kataria]

South Korea and Japan, which have the two most robust Capitalist economies in North Eastern Asia, have clawed their way back from the brink of financial ruin and now they take an active role in the success of both companies that are newer and smaller as well as large Conglomerates.

A. now they take an active role in the success of both companies that are newer and smaller as well as

B.now take an active role in the success both of companies that are newer smaller companies as well as that of

C.They take an active role now in the success both of companies that are newer smaller companies as well as those of

D. take an active role now in the successes of both companies that are newer and smaller as well as those of

E take an active role now in both the success of newer, smaller companies as well as

OA :- B

DOubt :- I got this wrong and chosen D. I think the parallel construction is OK in this choice but it changes the meaning and hence considered incorrect as per the OA.

I understand it changes the meaning. But the OA B is weirdly constructed. I feel that this mistake is a typo.

Can Someone please modify B and make it should like a correct GMAT sentence.??

Also Please reflect on my understanding on D. Am in right in saying that the parallel elemensts in choice D are correct ??

[Brian@VeritasPrep]

Hey Skekhar,

Rest assured that B is wrong. Because the word "both" comes after "success", the "that of" at the end of B doesn't refer to anything. You could say:

I care about both the success of the company as a whole and that of each employee as an individual.

And I guess that's not grammatically wrong, but I still would never use "that" there because it's a little clunkier than:

I care about the success of both the company as a whole and each employee as an individual.

____________________________________________________________________________

My main point on B here - once you get to that word "both", the two items need to be parallel. And since, in B, "success" comes before "both", then "success" already applies to both terms, so the phrase "that of" is wrong in B.


I don't know that this one has a true "correct" answer. One major problem with your choice, D, is the logical position of "both". By saying "...the success of both companies that are...", it creates a weird meaning. Are there only two companies that are small/new and we care about both of them? Or does "both" divide companies into two categories: 1) New/small and 2) conglomerates?

[shekhar.kataria]

Thanks Brain.

That confirms both my doubts. This surely is a typo in the book.

Hey Skekhar,

Rest assured that B is wrong. Because the word "both" comes after "success", the "that of" at the end of B doesn't refer to anything. You could say:

I care about both the success of the company as a whole and that of each employee as an individual.

And I guess that's not grammatically wrong, but I still would never use "that" there because it's a little clunkier than:

I care about the success of both the company as a whole and each employee as an individual.

____________________________________________________________________________

My main point on B here - once you get to that word "both", the two items need to be parallel. And since, in B, "success" comes before "both", then "success" already applies to both terms, so the phrase "that of" is wrong in B.


I don't know that this one has a true "correct" answer. One major problem with your choice, D, is the logical position of "both". By saying "...the success of both companies that are...", it creates a weird meaning. Are there only two companies that are small/new and we care about both of them? Or does "both" divide companies into two categories: 1) New/small and 2) conglomerates?