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mercury levels

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by clock60 » Sun Sep 12, 2010 12:14 pm
In the wake of several serious cases of mercury poisoning caused by tainted fish, the state government ordered that all lakes and streams should be tested for mercury levels.
a)all lakes and streams should be tested for mercury levels.

b)all lakes and streams should have their mercury levels tested.

c)the mercury levels be tested for all lakes and streams.

d)the mercury levels of all lakes and streams should be tested.

e)the mercury levels of all lakes and streams be tested.

hi guys
the problem seems easy, but not for me, it is clear that the answer between c and e, but...
how to chose?
Last edited by clock60 on Sun Sep 12, 2010 12:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by uwhusky » Sun Sep 12, 2010 12:35 pm
Please post rest of the answer choices.
Yep.
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by clock60 » Sun Sep 12, 2010 12:43 pm
full version now
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by niksworth » Sun Sep 12, 2010 12:47 pm
E for 2 reasons -

1. The prepositional phrase should be as close to the noun that it is modifying as possible. of all lakes and streams is modifying mercury levels, so its placement is better in E.
2. Use of for is incorrect. of is the right preposition.

We say tested for something.
E.g. - You should get tested for HIV
i.e. You are the one who is to be tested.
HIV is the thing which is to be checked for in the test.

Keeping this in mind, if we have for in the sentence in question, the meaning which comes out is
- mercury levels are to be tested for all lakes and streams
i.e. mercury levels are the things which are to be tested
all lakes and streams are the things which are to be checked for in the test.

Clearly this is non-sensical. Thus C is wrong.
scio me nihil scire
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by clock60 » Sun Sep 12, 2010 12:55 pm
perfect job niksworth!
thank you.
oa is E
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by limestone » Sun Sep 12, 2010 7:20 pm
Does anyone explain why D is not correct? Why should "should" be omitted here?
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by e-GMAT » Sun Sep 12, 2010 11:41 pm
"Should" is incorrect because it cannot be used with subjunctive verb form.

The bossy word "order" can be followed by either "subjunctive verb" form or with "to verb". In this sentence it is followed by subjunctive verb form and hence use of "should" is incorrect.

I hope that answers your query :)

Regards,

Payal

For e-GMAT users, the concept of Subjunctive verb is explained in the Advanced Error Concept titled "verb - subjunctive"
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by navami » Mon Sep 13, 2010 3:12 am
niksworth wrote:E for 2 reasons -

1. The prepositional phrase should be as close to the noun that it is modifying as possible. of all lakes and streams is modifying mercury levels, so its placement is better in E.
2. Use of for is incorrect. of is the right preposition.

We say tested for something.
E.g. - You should get tested for HIV
i.e. You are the one who is to be tested.
HIV is the thing which is to be checked for in the test.

Keeping this in mind, if we have for in the sentence in question, the meaning which comes out is
- mercury levels are to be tested for all lakes and streams
i.e. mercury levels are the things which are to be tested
all lakes and streams are the things which are to be checked for in the test.

Clearly this is non-sensical. Thus C is wrong.
Good explanation!!
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