due to vs because of

[rte.sushil]

Karl Marx divided society into two broad classes, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat; the latter of which, he wrote, was free from the danger of moral decay due to their lack of material property.

A. proletariat; the latter of which, he wrote, was free from the danger of moral decay due to their lack of

B. proletariat, which, he wrote, were free from the danger of moral decay due to their lack of

C. proletariat; the latter, he wrote, was free from the danger of moral decay because of its lack of

D. proletariat, the latter of which he wrote were free from the danger of moral decay because of lacking

E.proletariat, the latter being free, he wrote, from the danger of moral decay because of lacking

OA: C

DOubt in explanation:
the construction due to is incorrectly used. This construction implies that either the moral decay or the danger of moral decay resulted from (was due to) the proletariat's lack of material property. What the author intends to say is that this lack of material property was the reason for which the proletariat was free of such danger.

Ques1:
As per explanation means:
1.) moral decay caused by lack of material property.
2.) Danger of moral decay was because of lack of material property
(here lack of material property is modifying moral decay or danger of moral decay)
What author means :
it was free from danger because of lack of material property.

Ques2: If i see in option C:
why can't
moral decay because of its lack of.....(same concept as in explanation)
In other words, why in option A lack of material property is modifying moral decay or danger of moral decay but in C it is giving intended meaning that it became free because of lack of...

[ghag.kamlesh]

Hi,

Let me try this one with following reasoning:

What author means :
it was free from danger because of lack of material property.

I believe that the author meant here is this class "˜proletariat’ in absence of material property, it (the class proletariat) was free from getting decay.

Since in the option C, the last construction is written in passive voice, just go reverse to understand the meaning of that part.

Moreover, in option A, "of which" is incorrectly used. Secondly, the use of "due to" and because of" clearly rules out option A:

Karl................................, was free from the danger of moral decay because of its lack of material property.

Now replace "˜because of’ with "˜due to’

Karl................................, was free from the danger of moral decay due to its lack of material property.

We know:

"Because" is used as an adverb while, "Due to" is used as an adjective. Try to substitute with "caused by" if it works then "Due to" is the right usage.

- The event’s postponement was due to rain
- The event was postponed because of rain.

I hope it will help you.

Kamlesh

[RonPurewal]

Ques2: If i see in option C:
why can't
moral decay because of its lack of.....(same concept as in explanation)
In other words, why in option A lack of material property is modifying moral decay or danger of moral decay but in C it is giving intended meaning that it became free because of lack of...

"... due to xxxx" must modify a NOUN (or noun+modifiers).

"... because of xxxx" must modify an entire CLAUSE.

these are both absolute.

so...

* "due to xxxx" must modify "moral decay" or "danger of moral decay"; it cannot describe the clause "xxxx was free from the...".

* "because of xxxx" works precisely the other way around; it must describe "xxxx was free from the...", and it can't describe just "moral decay" or "danger of moral decay".