Is it C or D?

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nisagl750: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 145; Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2012 6:50 amFollowed by: 2 members; Location: New Delhi; Thanked: 16 times; GMAT Score:760

by nisagl750 » Thu Jun 28, 2012 4:06 am

In assessing the problems faced by rural migrant workers, the question of whether they are better off materially than the urban working poor is irrelevant.

(A) In assessing the problems faced by rural migrant workers, the question of whether they are better off materially than the urban working poor is irrelevant.

(B) The question of whether the rural migrant worker is better off materially than the urban working poor is irrelevant in assessing the problems that they face.

(C) A question that is irrelevant in assessing the problems that rural migrant workers face is whether they are better off materially than the urban working poor.

(D) In an assessment of the problems faced by rural migrant workers, the question of whether they are better off materially than the urban working poor is irrelevant.

(E) The question of whether the rural migrant worker is better off materially than the urban working poor is irrelevant in an assessment of the problems that they face.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Thu Jun 28, 2012 4:06 am

nisagl750: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 145; Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2012 6:50 amFollowed by: 2 members; Location: New Delhi; Thanked: 16 times; GMAT Score:760

by nisagl750 » Thu Jun 28, 2012 4:09 am

[email protected] wrote:In assessing the problems faced by rural migrant workers, the question of whether they are better off materially than the urban working poor is irrelevant.

(A) In assessing the problems faced by rural migrant workers, the question of whether they are better off materially than the urban working poor is irrelevant.

(B) The question of whether the rural migrant worker is better off materially than the urban working poor is irrelevant in assessing the problems that they face.

(C) A question that is irrelevant in assessing the problems that rural migrant workers face is whether they are better off materially than the urban working poor.

(D) In an assessment of the problems faced by rural migrant workers, the question of whether they are better off materially than the urban working poor is irrelevant.

(E) The question of whether the rural migrant worker is better off materially than the urban working poor is irrelevant in an assessment of the problems that they face.

I think the answer is C, but the OA is D.
Can anyone please explain why C is wrong and D is correct?

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Birottam Dutta: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 342; Joined: Wed Jul 08, 2009 8:50 amFollowed by: 19 members; Thanked: 214 times; GMAT Score:740

by Birottam Dutta » Thu Jun 28, 2012 7:55 am

C starts off really awkwardly and is too wordy.

D is much more concise.

Folks please check this out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7p56NzAVKc

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nisagl750: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 145; Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2012 6:50 amFollowed by: 2 members; Location: New Delhi; Thanked: 16 times; GMAT Score:760

by nisagl750 » Thu Jun 28, 2012 8:33 am

"In assessing the problems faced....." and

"In an assessment of the problems faced....."

What is the problem with first sentence? Both looks correct gramatically

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KapTeacherEli: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 578; Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2009 6:00 pmFollowed by: 62 members; Thanked: 136 times

by KapTeacherEli » Fri Jun 29, 2012 11:30 am

Hi folks, I'll see if I can answer your questions!

nishant, (C) is just a very wordy construction. Remember, the GMAT doesn't just test grammar. Style is important as well. "A question that is irrelevant..." is a clunky, wordy phrasing that doesn't clearly reflect the intended meaning.

As for (A), the key here is that that first part of the sentence, before the comma, is a modifying phrase--an appositive, if you want to get technical
https://blog.kaplangmat.com/2012/05/27/g ... -attitude/

Modifiers set off by commas modify the noun or noun phrase immediately following the comma. In choices (A) and (D), that noun is "question." So, is the question "Assessing" anything, as in choice (A)? No. Economists or anthropologists might be assessing the problems of workers, not the question! In (D), is the question "in an assessment?" Sure! It's an irrelevant part of the assessment, according to the rest of the sentence, but the question could be asked in an assessment of the status of those workers.

Let me know if you have any other questions, and good luck studying!

Eli Meyer
Kaplan GMAT Teacher
Cambridge, MA
www.kaptest.com/gmat

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thestartupguy: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 150; Joined: Thu May 05, 2011 10:04 amFollowed by: 4 members; Thanked: 5 times

by thestartupguy » Fri Jun 29, 2012 12:18 pm

KapTeacherEli wrote:Hi folks, I'll see if I can answer your questions!

nishant, (C) is just a very wordy construction. Remember, the GMAT doesn't just test grammar. Style is important as well. "A question that is irrelevant..." is a clunky, wordy phrasing that doesn't clearly reflect the intended meaning.

As for (A), the key here is that that first part of the sentence, before the comma, is a modifying phrase--an appositive, if you want to get technical
https://blog.kaplangmat.com/2012/05/27/g ... -attitude/

Modifiers set off by commas modify the noun or noun phrase immediately following the comma. In choices (A) and (D), that noun is "question." So, is the question "Assessing" anything, as in choice (A)? No. Economists or anthropologists might be assessing the problems of workers, not the question! In (D), is the question "in an assessment?" Sure! It's an irrelevant part of the assessment, according to the rest of the sentence, but the question could be asked in an assessment of the status of those workers.

Let me know if you have any other questions, and good luck studying!

Hi Eli. Could you please look into that link - it's a dead link

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KapTeacherEli: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 578; Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2009 6:00 pmFollowed by: 62 members; Thanked: 136 times

by KapTeacherEli » Fri Jun 29, 2012 1:14 pm

thestartupguy wrote:
Hi Eli. Could you please look into that link - it's a dead link

Sorry bout that--BeatTheGMAT has had trouble with Kaplan links lately. Copy-paste the link into your browser bar, and let me know if that works!

Eli Meyer
Kaplan GMAT Teacher
Cambridge, MA
www.kaptest.com/gmat

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sandeep_thaparianz: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 90; Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2012 1:27 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 5 times

by sandeep_thaparianz » Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:40 am

+1 for D

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