Despite recent increases in sales and cash flow that have propelled automobile companies' common stocks to new highs, several industry analysts expect automakers, in order to conserve cash, to set dividends more conservatively than they were.
A) to set dividends more conservatively than they were
B) to set dividends more conservatively than they have been
C) to be more conservative than they have been in setting dividends
D) that they will be more conservative than they were in setting dividends
E) that they will be more conservative than they have been to set dividends
ELLIPSIS is the omission of words whose presence is understood.
A participle (VERBed or VERBing) may be omitted only if it appears IN THE SAME FORM earlier in the sentence.
A and B seem to imply the following:
to set dividends more conservatively than they were [setting dividends].
to set dividends more conservatively than they have been [setting dividends].
In each case, the omitted participle
setting does not appear earlier in the sentence.
Eliminate A and B.
D and E:
Analysts expect automakers that they will be more conservative...
Here, the referent for
they seems to be
automakers, yielding the following error of redundancy:
Analysts expect automakers that automakers will be more conservative...
Eliminate D and E.
The correct answer is
C.
The OA implies the following:
Analysts expect automakers to be more conservative than they have been [conservative] in setting dividends.
The word in brackets is omitted, but its presence is implied.
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