Vitamin E

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Vitamin E

by gmatrant » Fri Sep 10, 2010 5:34 pm
Recent studies suggest that an intake of vitamin E in excess of that found naturally in a balanced diet may actually increase the risk of developing certain illnesses, despite the claims of thousands of people who swear by it as a dietary supplement.

a. Recent studies suggest that an intake of vitamin E in excess of that found naturally in a balanced diet may actually increase the risk of developing certain illnesses

b. Recent studies suggest that taking vitamin E in excess of that found naturally in a balanced diet actually increases the risk of developing certain illnesses

c. Certain illnesses may be at a higher risk of development if vitamin E is taken in excess of a balanced diet, according to recent studies

d. According to recent studies, the intake of vitamin E, if in excess of that found naturally in a balanced diet, may actually increase developing certain illnesses

e. Vitamin E, recent studies suggest, if in excess of that found naturally in a balanced diet, may actually increase the development risk of certain illnesses

Why is A better than B.

Also in the non underlined portion of the sentence 'it' should refer to Vitamin E.
B is a better choice as the subject is Vitamin E and 'it' refers to vitamin E - "swear by it as a dietary supplement", whereas in choice A 'it' is refereed to "intake of vitamin E" and this is the subject of the sentence in A.
Source: — Sentence Correction |

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by The Jock » Fri Sep 10, 2010 6:10 pm
"Taking vitamin E" in B put me off and I choose option A. as far as "it" is concerned, I know it is ambiguous but GMAT some time tolerate pronoun ambiguity(but the intended meaning shouldn't change).

My take is A.
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by uwhusky » Fri Sep 10, 2010 6:19 pm
Also B is lacking the modal verb. I think "may" is necessary following "suggest".
Yep.

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by niksworth » Fri Sep 10, 2010 8:28 pm
I think both A and B are valid in terms of -
1. an intake of vitamin E...may actually increase
2. taking vitamin E...actually increases

However, the absence of the modal may in B leads to a shift in meaning by making the statement much more definite in its pronouncement than the author wants.

A - okay, so studies have suggested that eating too much vitamin E might increase the risk of illness.
B - Studies have suggested that eating too much vitamin E definitely increases the risk of illness.

Thus A is right.
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by navami » Sat Sep 11, 2010 6:41 am
B is wrong because I believe "taking vitamin E" is different form "intake of vitamin E", hence distorts the meaning. Looking for some expert comments in this.

-Thanks in Advance

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by uwhusky » Sat Sep 11, 2010 9:12 am
navami wrote:B is wrong because I believe "taking vitamin E" is different form "intake of vitamin E", hence distorts the meaning. Looking for some expert comments in this.

-Thanks in Advance
I think it's actually one of those cases that both are correct. I believe the modal verb is the more important factor in this case.
Yep.

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by reply2spg » Sat Sep 11, 2010 10:57 am
though I agree that A should be correct, I am not sure that this is very good SC to study.

Why I saying so because what is 'it' referring to?

1.If I am not wrong then it should refer to vitamin E. But in A vitamin E is in prepositional form and not direct subject/object.

2. what is 'that' referring to in A? Is it an intake or vitamin E?

What is the source of this SC?
gmatrant wrote:Recent studies suggest that an intake of vitamin E in excess of that found naturally in a balanced diet may actually increase the risk of developing certain illnesses, despite the claims of thousands of people who swear by it as a dietary supplement.

a. Recent studies suggest that an intake of vitamin E in excess of that found naturally in a balanced diet may actually increase the risk of developing certain illnesses

b. Recent studies suggest that taking vitamin E in excess of that found naturally in a balanced diet actually increases the risk of developing certain illnesses
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