At one time, the majestic American chestnut was so prevalent

[RonPurewal]

you're welcome.

[AndyH539]

Choice B is a nonsense construction. That construction makes sense with other verbs, but not with "said".

E.g.,
The student was told that he needs to start wearing more appropriate clothing to school.

Here, "that he needs to start wearing more appropriate clothing to school" is what was stated TO the student.

This is like a passive form of
The principal told the student that he needs to start wearing more appropriate clothing to school
or
The principal told the student the new rules.

This construction doesn't work with "say", because "say" refers only to the words, not to the person to whom they are said (if there is any such person).
I.e., I can't write "The principal said me the rules."

More generally, though, this is all a non-issue because no one is talking to the squirrel here!

Hi Ron,
I noticed that this is an old thread..but can you please clarify if I am correct about "B) so prevalent that a squirrel was said that it could" ?

1. that a squirrel was said to be able to jump -> correct
2. that it was said that a squirrel could jump -> correct
3. that a squirrel was said that it could -> incorrect

Thanks in advance.
Always appreciate your help.

Andy

[Chelsey Cooley]

I'm not Ron, but your analysis is correct.

[AndyH539]

I'm not Ron, but your analysis is correct.

Thanks Chelsey!

Regards
Andy

[tim]

[aflaamM589]

At one time, the majestic American chestnut was so prevalent that it was said a squirrel could jump from tree to tree without once touching the ground between New York State and Georgia.

(A) so prevalent that it was said a squirrel could
(B) so prevalent that a squirrel was said that it could
(C) so prevalent for a squirrel to be said to be able to
(D) prevalent enough that it was said a squirrel could
(E) prevalent enough for a squirrel to be said to be able to

Can we cross out B,C,E also because of the reason(among others) that GMAT generally avoids repetition of small words in correct answer.

Thanks

[RonPurewal]

that's a good reason not to guess those choices, but it is not a solid reason to eliminate them.

[Carina0612]

Dear instructors,

Can you explain why D is wrong?
I chose D from this question.

Many thanks,
Carina

[RonPurewal]

"enough that..." isn't idiomatic.

__

[RonPurewal]

even if you don't have that memorized—you can also decide between "so prevalent" and "prevalent enough" just by thinking about the meaning.

"[adjective] ENOUGH to..." means, basically, "sufficient to meet a threshold/minimum requirement".
just think about typical examples of being "tall enough" or "old enough" or "good enough" for various things. these are NOT examples of "extremes"; they're just examples of "things that meet minimum requirements".

"SO [adjective] that...", on the other hand, is used to emphasize that something is EXTREME.
again, just make up examples in your head -- this time using "so big..." or "so tall..." or "so old..."
if your examples make sense, then, ALL of them will emphasize the EXTREME quality of whatever you are talking about.

this sentence is clearly meant to emphasize something EXTREME. (there were SO MANY of these trees that a squirrel could literally hop a thousand miles between them without once touching the ground.) so, you want the construction that properly conveys that.