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pandeyvineet24: Legendary Member; Posts: 527; Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2008 9:14 am; Location: Atlanta; Thanked: 17 times

by pandeyvineet24 » Mon Nov 16, 2009 4:55 pm

Experts warn that the proposed initiative to provide the new vaccine to all children in the developing country would fail if the density of the population in the Southern region is more numerous than 100,000 per square mile.

(A) would fail if the density of the population in the Southern region is more numerous than
(B) will fail if the population density in the Southern region were more numerous than
(C) will fail if the density of the population in the Southern region is greater than
(D) should fail if the population density in the Southern region was greater than
(E) would fail provided the density of the population in the Southern region is greater than

[spoiler] OA C, i agree that sentence is in the present tense, so use of simple future tense is correct, but isn't the intent of the original sentence is to warn, of an outcome that is just a possibility and it may be true. This prompted me to pick up a conditional verb, hence i picked E. Where am i going wrong ?[/spoiler]

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Mon Nov 16, 2009 4:55 pm

Ludacrispat26: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 113; Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 10:51 am; Thanked: 10 times; GMAT Score:690

by Ludacrispat26 » Mon Nov 16, 2009 7:10 pm

pandeyvineet24 wrote:Experts warn that the proposed initiative to provide the new vaccine to all children in the developing country would fail if the density of the population in the Southern region is more numerous than 100,000 per square mile.

(A) would fail if the density of the population in the Southern region is more numerous than
(B) will fail if the population density in the Southern region were more numerous than
(C) will fail if the density of the population in the Southern region is greater than
(D) should fail if the population density in the Southern region was greater than
(E) would fail provided the density of the population in the Southern region is greater than

[spoiler] OA C, i agree that sentence is in the present tense, so use of simple future tense is correct, but isn't the intent of the original sentence is to warn, of an outcome that is just a possibility and it may be true. This prompted me to pick up a conditional verb, hence i picked E. Where am i going wrong ?[/spoiler]

What's the source?

I was also stuck between C and E, and wound up going with C. Few reasons:

1) This is an "if...then" statement (if the density...is greater....than), which requires the future rense in this case (see here: https://www40.homepage.villanova.edu/mic ... ml#IF/THEN)

2) I didn't like "provided" in E. Maybe the test-maker knew that this was tricky, and wanted to throw in an extra red flag?

3) 4 if's versus 1 "provided." I know it seems trivial, but sometimes you need to think outside the box.

Don't stop believin'...

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pandeyvineet24: Legendary Member; Posts: 527; Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2008 9:14 am; Location: Atlanta; Thanked: 17 times

by pandeyvineet24 » Mon Nov 16, 2009 7:46 pm

Ludacrispat26 wrote:
pandeyvineet24 wrote:Experts warn that the proposed initiative to provide the new vaccine to all children in the developing country would fail if the density of the population in the Southern region is more numerous than 100,000 per square mile.

(A) would fail if the density of the population in the Southern region is more numerous than
(B) will fail if the population density in the Southern region were more numerous than
(C) will fail if the density of the population in the Southern region is greater than
(D) should fail if the population density in the Southern region was greater than
(E) would fail provided the density of the population in the Southern region is greater than

[spoiler] OA C, i agree that sentence is in the present tense, so use of simple future tense is correct, but isn't the intent of the original sentence is to warn, of an outcome that is just a possibility and it may be true. This prompted me to pick up a conditional verb, hence i picked E. Where am i going wrong ?[/spoiler]
What's the source?

I was also stuck between C and E, and wound up going with C. Few reasons:

1) This is an "if...then" statement (if the density...is greater....than), which requires the future rense in this case (see here: https://www40.homepage.villanova.edu/mic ... ml#IF/THEN)

2) I didn't like "provided" in E. Maybe the test-maker knew that this was tricky, and wanted to throw in an extra red flag?

3) 4 if's versus 1 "provided." I know it seems trivial, but sometimes you need to think outside the box.

Source is Knewton practice questions.

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capnx: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 268; Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2009 9:22 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 19 times; GMAT Score:700

by capnx » Mon Nov 16, 2009 8:15 pm

population density is greater not "more numerous"

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viju9162: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 434; Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2007 9:48 pm; Location: Bangalore; Thanked: 6 times; GMAT Score:600

by viju9162 » Mon Nov 16, 2009 8:21 pm

I am also stuck between C and E. density is mentioned with numbers .. Hence greater than is ideal ...

"Would " to be used as it states the possibility

"Native of" is used for a individual while "Native to" is used for a large group

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DanaJ: Site Admin; Posts: 2567; Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2009 10:05 amFollowed by: 550 members; Thanked: 712 times; GMAT Score:770

by DanaJ » Tue Nov 17, 2009 6:24 am

For me, "warn" requires a definite "will" instead of "would". Fact is, the moment you say "warn" you already know you're talking about a possibility, so there's no need for a particular form of verb ("would") to express this idea. "Warn" by itself is sufficient to know that we're in a hypothetical world, so to speak, so you can safely use the normal tense, i.e. future.

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nageswarkv: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 22; Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2009 1:01 pm

by nageswarkv » Tue Nov 17, 2009 8:28 am

the way I zeroed on

B) will fail if the population density in the Southern region were more numerous than
(C) will fail if the density of the population in the Southern region is greater than

because i Know the statement requires future and zeroed on B & C. from B, it seems 'were more numerous" and also is it 'population density' or 'density of population', somehow 'were more numerous', there is past verb tense , 'were' so B seems wrong and hence finalize C. Also, greater than seems Ok as we always say greater than seems Ok.

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tanviet: Legendary Member; Posts: 1404; Joined: Tue May 20, 2008 6:55 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 18 times

by tanviet » Tue Nov 24, 2009 6:05 am

there is a similar question in OG10

check grammar first

"will" must go with "is". A, B,and E are out

"warn" must go with "will-is" not with "should-were".

A is left.

no need to check meaning and difficult grammar error.

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