Grockit: Corporate compensation

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by essaysnark » Fri Dec 09, 2011 7:22 am
ooo edirik, this one is tricky.

We say D for these reasons:

[spoiler]A & B[/spoiler] are wrong because "supervisor's" is singular possessive, so those are instantly ruled out.

E is wrong because the subordinate clause needs the word "that."

So we're left with [spoiler]C & D[/spoiler].

And those two choices left us perplexed. We went with D because "productivity" seems the better noun to use here than "production" - but that is a very thin thread to hang the weight of an answer on! And in fact, we like the phrase "be determined based on" better... so we are, in the end, torn, and had to just sorta guess.

Looking forward to seeing other people's thoughts on this one!
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by k.pankaj.r » Fri Dec 09, 2011 8:00 am
imo D

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by chufus » Fri Dec 09, 2011 8:02 am
Has to be "D".. What's the original answer?

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by essaysnark » Fri Dec 09, 2011 8:04 am
Why "has to be", chufus? Pls explain how you are so confident!! :-)
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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Dec 09, 2011 10:43 am
edirik wrote:Ever since the publication of an industry report on corporate compensation, which suggested supervisor's salaries be determined based on the production of those whom they manage, many companies began to create elaborate scales and formulas to determine what the pay for management positions should be.

A. supervisor's salaries be determined based on the production of those whom they manage, many companies began

B. supervisor's salaries be determined by the productivity of those whom they manage, many companies began

C. that the salaries of supervisors be determined based on the production of those whom they manage, many companies have begun

D. that the salaries of supervisors be determined by the productivity of those whom they manage, many companies have begun

E. the salaries of supervisors be determined by the productivity of those whom they manage, many companies began

OA after some discussion.
In A, B and E, began should not be in the past tense. Since -- which implies an action that started in the past and might continue into the PRESENT -- requires the present perfect tense: Ever since...many companies HAVE BEGUN. Eliminate A, B and E.

In C, determined based on is unidiomatic and redundant. Although this wording is common outside the GMAT, it is sufficient to say that X is determined by Y or that X is based on Y. Also, the sentence is not about production but about PRODUCTIVITY. Eliminate C.

The correct answer is D.
Last edited by GMATGuruNY on Fri Dec 09, 2011 11:10 am, edited 2 times in total.
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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Dec 09, 2011 11:42 am
edirik wrote:And the official answer is D

@Mitch, I totally agree with this explanation
Also, the sentence is not about production but about PRODUCTIVITY.
but about this one
determined based on is unidiomatic.
I thought that we can determine people's performance BASED ON something such as productivity. If it were "determined by", then I thought that "determined BY THE BOSS".

For example:

The score of people in Gmat is determined BASED ON Quant and Verbal performances.
The score of people in Gmat is determined BY Quant and Verbal performances.


Then, is it really the case that the former one is not idiomatic?
Determined and based are redundant. It is sufficient to say X is determined by Y or X is based on Y. Please check my amended post above.
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