Nearly two tons of nuclear-reactor fuel

This topic has expert replies
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 502
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:36 pm
Thanked: 99 times
Followed by:21 members

Nearly two tons of nuclear-reactor fuel

by vk_vinayak » Tue Sep 04, 2012 3:10 am
Nearly two tons of nuclear-reactor fuel have already been put into orbit around the Earth, and the chances of a collision involving such material increase greatly as the amount of both space debris and satellites continue to rise.

A. as the amount of both space debris and satellites continue to rise
B. as the rise continues in both the amount of satellites and space debris
C. as the amount of space debris and the number of satellites continue to rise
D. with the continually increasing amount of space debris and the number of satellites
E. with the amount of space debris continuing to increase along with the number of satellites

Provide explanations for each choice.

[spoiler]OA: C[/spoiler]
Last edited by vk_vinayak on Tue Sep 04, 2012 9:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
- VK

I will (Learn. Recognize. Apply)

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 646
Joined: Mon May 21, 2012 7:08 am
Thanked: 322 times
Followed by:143 members

by Kasia@EconomistGMAT » Tue Sep 04, 2012 8:15 am
Answers A and B are incorrect. "Satellites" are countable. Therefore, it is incorrect to say "the amount of satellites."
Answer C is correct.
Answers D and E are much longer and redundant in comparison to answer C. Also they use "with" instead of "as", which is less favored in the GMAT. Moreover, answer E changes the intended meaning because of the use of "along with" instead of "and." The original sentence suggests that the number of satellites and the amount of space debris continue to rise and that these are two separate problems. Answer E states that the amount of debris is correlated with the number of satellites.
Kasia
Senior Instructor
Master GMAT - the #1 rated GMAT course

"¢ If you found my post helpful, please click the "thank" button and/or follow me.

"¢ Take a 7 day free trial and find out why Economist GMAT is the highest rated GMAT course - https://gmat.economist.com/

"¢ Read GMAT Economist reviews - https://reviews.beatthegmat.com/economis ... mat-course

User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 502
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:36 pm
Thanked: 99 times
Followed by:21 members

by vk_vinayak » Tue Sep 04, 2012 9:12 am
Hi Kasia,

Thanks for the reply.

When I read the phrase "chances ... increase" the first word that came to my mind is 'with' and I stuck with it, getting the answer wrong. You wrote that 'with' is less preferred on gmat. Is it a general trend or applies only to 'With Vs As' duel?

Also, what is 'as' used as here? Is it used in the sense of 'because' ? or it is just a plain old clause indicator?

If we have to, how do we write the correct response beginning with the word 'with'?
- VK

I will (Learn. Recognize. Apply)

Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 48
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2012 10:16 pm
Thanked: 2 times

by whats_in_the_store » Tue Sep 04, 2012 9:40 am
What's the official answer? Though I prefer option C over D because the number of satellites in D looks bit isolated and lacks parallelism.
Last edited by whats_in_the_store on Tue Sep 04, 2012 8:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 184
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2012 10:04 pm
Thanked: 10 times
Followed by:2 members

by Mission2012 » Tue Sep 04, 2012 10:50 am
HI Kasia,

Option "D" has present continues where as option A has simple present tense.
Shouldn't simple present tense preferred here?

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 646
Joined: Mon May 21, 2012 7:08 am
Thanked: 322 times
Followed by:143 members

by Kasia@EconomistGMAT » Tue Sep 04, 2012 11:36 pm
@vk_vinayak
"As" used in this context means "because."
"With" used in this type of a structure is not favored in the GMAT. "As" is a better choice.

@Mission2012
None of the answers uses the present progressive tense. The -ing form used is not a part of a conjugated verb.
Kasia
Senior Instructor
Master GMAT - the #1 rated GMAT course

"¢ If you found my post helpful, please click the "thank" button and/or follow me.

"¢ Take a 7 day free trial and find out why Economist GMAT is the highest rated GMAT course - https://gmat.economist.com/

"¢ Read GMAT Economist reviews - https://reviews.beatthegmat.com/economis ... mat-course

Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2017 7:49 am

by ashish40 » Fri Apr 13, 2018 7:32 am
@GMATGuruNY Please explain the error in option D.
Kasia@EconomistGMAT wrote:Answers A and B are incorrect. "Satellites" are countable. Therefore, it is incorrect to say "the amount of satellites."
Answer C is correct.
Answers D and E are much longer and redundant in comparison to answer C. Also they use "with" instead of "as", which is less favored in the GMAT. Moreover, answer E changes the intended meaning because of the use of "along with" instead of "and." The original sentence suggests that the number of satellites and the amount of space debris continue to rise and that these are two separate problems. Answer E states that the amount of debris is correlated with the number of satellites.

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 15539
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pm
Location: New York, NY
Thanked: 13060 times
Followed by:1906 members
GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Sun Apr 15, 2018 2:47 am
ashish40 wrote:@GMATGuruNY Please explain the error in option D.
D: The chances...increase greatly with the...increasing amount.
Here, increase and increasing are redundant.
Eliminate D.
Private tutor exclusively for the GMAT and GRE, with over 20 years of experience.
Followed here and elsewhere by over 1900 test-takers.
I have worked with students based in the US, Australia, Taiwan, China, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia -- a long list of countries.
My students have been admitted to HBS, CBS, Tuck, Yale, Stern, Fuqua -- a long list of top programs.

As a tutor, I don't simply teach you how I would approach problems.
I unlock the best way for YOU to solve problems.

For more information, please email me (Mitch Hunt) at [email protected].
Student Review #1
Student Review #2
Student Review #3

Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 47
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2018 9:08 pm

by Akrita@Jamboree » Tue Apr 17, 2018 5:14 am
vk_vinayak wrote:Nearly two tons of nuclear-reactor fuel have already been put into orbit around the Earth, and the chances of a collision involving such material increase greatly as the amount of both space debris and satellites continue to rise.

A. as the amount of both space debris and satellites continue to rise
B. as the rise continues in both the amount of satellites and space debris
C. as the amount of space debris and the number of satellites continue to rise
D. with the continually increasing amount of space debris and the number of satellites
E. with the amount of space debris continuing to increase along with the number of satellites

Provide explanations for each choice.

[spoiler]OA: C[/spoiler]
The intended meaning of the sentence here is to give a reason for the prediction of why " the chances of a collision involving such material increase greatly". This reason is given by words such as "as", "because", and "since" on the GMAT. "With" is a preposition and cannot be used to give reasons. Additionally, using "with" results, in most cases, in wordy, awkward, and unclear constructions. This is mainly because "with" - or any preposition - must be followed by a noun or an "-ing" noun phrase, and using a noun phrase always results in a clumsy construction. Additionally, the usage of "with" in this question makes it look like that given events are mutually exclusive and occurring together, and fails to establish a cause-effect relationship intended in the original sentence. Eliminate D and E

Answers A and B are incorrect. "Satellites" are countable. "Amount of" should only be used for uncountable nouns - for example, "amount of water", "amount of money", "amount of mud", etc. Therefore, "the amount of satellites", is incorrect. Additionally, "the amount of" is the main subject in Option A, and therefore the plural verb "continue" is incorrect. "The rise" as a noun is awkward in Option B.

This leaves us with option C, which uses "number of" for countable (satellites) and "amount of" for uncountable (space debris) correctly, and establishes the correct causal relationship between the two events:

Cause: the amount of space debris and the number of satellites continue to rise
Result: the chances of a collision involving such material increase greatly.

Also, in option C, "rise" is being used as a verb, resulting in a more active and direct construction, and the plural verb "continue" is correct since the subject "the amount..and the number..." is plural.

Hope this helps.