Grammar & Meaning Problem Set p. 35 questions

[pamela.liu]

Sentence Correction Guide 8, 6th ed.

Chapter 2: Grammar & Meaning

Problem set page 35. The underlined portion of each sentence may contain 1 or more errors. Each sentence is followed by a boldface sample answer choice that may change the meaning. Select A if the original version is correct, B if the boldface version is correct, C if neither is correct, and D if both are correct. If you select A, explain what's wrong with the boldface version. If you select B, explain how the boldface version corrects the original version. If you select C, explain why both are incorrect.

Question 1)
No matter how much work it may require, getting an MBA turns out to be a wise investment for most people.
Even though it requires much work

In the solutions (p. 37), it says the correct answer is A b/c change of meaning is unjustified.

Why wouldn't the answer be D (both are correct)? In GMAT sentence correction questions, can't two answers be correct even if the meaning is slightly different? Would we assume that the original sentence (in sentence correction problems) has the clearest meaning (even if it has other errors), and that any other options that slightly change the original sentence's meaning would be incorrect?

This also leads to my questions about Questions 4 & 5.

4) She is the most dedicated gardener on the block, watering the more than 50 plants in her yard every day.
watering more than the 50 plants in her yard every day

5) Hector remembers San Francisco as it was when he left 10 years ago.
as though he had left ten years ago

The bold text slightly changes the meaning of the original sentence for both of these, which is what it says in the solution explanation (p. 37) so I don't understand why the answer is D, both are correct (when, like in Question 1, the bold text is wrong because it changes the meaning of the original text)?

Also for #4, is it grammatically correct to say "the more than" and "more than the"? Usually we would just say "more than" without "the" on either side but which cases would it be correct? Is any version preferable to another for the GMAT?

Thank you!

[RonPurewal]

Question 1)
No matter how much work it may require, getting an MBA turns out to be a wise investment for most people.
Even though it requires much work

In the solutions (p. 37), it says the correct answer is A b/c change of meaning is unjustified.

Why wouldn't the answer be D (both are correct)?

in this case, i agree that both meanings are reasonable.

[RonPurewal]

4) She is the most dedicated gardener on the block, watering the more than 50 plants in her yard every day.
watering more than the 50 plants in her yard every day

here the boldfaced portion is rather farfetched: it says that this woman waters not only her own plants, but other people's plants too (since "the 50 plants in her yard" would be all of the plants in her yard).
since that's basically nonsense, it's not correct.

[RonPurewal]

5) Hector remembers San Francisco as it was when he left 10 years ago.
as though he had left ten years ago

again, the boldfaced version just doesn't make sense. i don't see any reasonable way in which "as though he had left ten years ago" could describe how someone recalls a certain place.

that phrase could work in a different context, e.g.,
Although Raoul left town just six months ago, his former neighbors' recollections of him are already hazy, as though he had left 10 years ago.

[RonPurewal]

Also for #4, is it grammatically correct to say "the more than" and "more than the"? Usually we would just say "more than" without "the" on either side but which cases would it be correct? Is any version preferable to another for the GMAT?

Thank you!

that's not a valid way to think of that construction; you're dividing the words up in a way that doesn't correspond to the actual construction. (as an analogy, in the sentence "The school I attend is 10 miles from my home", we can't extract "attend is" and try to speak meaningfully about it.)

basically, you can put "more than 40" just about anywhere you can put "40". just think of "more than 40" as a single numeral.

[RonPurewal]

the presence of "the"--which is, as i stated above, completely independent of "more than"--implies an exhaustive count.

--

Scholarships were awarded to two boys in my family --> there are more than two boys; two of them were awarded scholarships.

Scholarships were awarded to the two boys in my family --> there are exactly two boys, both of whom were awarded scholarships.

--

tossing "more than" in there:

Hugh hung lights on more than 20 trees in his backyard --> hugh hung lights on at least 21 trees, but not on all of them.

Hugh hung lights on the more than 20 trees in his backyard --> hugh's backyard contains at least 21 trees, all of which he decorated with lights.

[rnbbT860]

I'm struggling with the same issue.

From the discussion, it looks like problem 4 and 5 should both be A instead of D?

It's frustrating that for the very first 6 multiple choice questions the book offers, 3 of them have ambiguous/controversial answers. To me the solution of 4 and 5 clearly conflicts with what's mentioned in solution 1.

It makes me question the authority of the rest of the book

[RonPurewal]

yes, in #4 and #5 only the original (underlined) version makes sense.

if the text doesn't say that, i'll submit for editing.

[AZ679]

Manhattan SC Book, 5th Edition, Page 31

5) Hector remembers San Francisco as it was when he left 10 years ago. (Original Sentence)

My Question: How would an 'it' inserted after 'left' be?

A. Redundant
B. No necessary but Okay
C. Necessary

I somehow feel that we need an 'it' after 'left' to know what Hector left, e.g. San Francisco, his home, high school, etc.?

Thanks

[tim]

B.

I have seen you ask several questions this weekend that have a feel of "don't you think my version is better than the official answer?" The answer to this is always no! You need to learn to stop trying to fix sentences (and especially to stop trying to improve sentences that are already correct!) and understand instead that sentence correction is not about fixing anything. Instead, it is about finding mistakes and eliminating answer choices that have mistakes.

[JbhB682]

Question 1)
No matter how much work it may require, getting an MBA turns out to be a wise investment for most people.
Even though it requires much work

Hi Experts - Wanted to quickly discuss this question seen on Page 35 in the Manhattan SC book (edition 6)

Question : What is this underline modifying ?

Is it modifying -- MBA specifically or "Getting a MBA...."

How can a modifier modify "Getting a MBA..."

Thoughts ?

Thank you !

[esledge]

Question : What is this underline modifying ?

It is modifying "getting," which is a noun (gerund) in this context. For complete meaning, "an MBA" is also modifying "getting" (getting what?) so you can interpret the underline as modifying that whole thing: "getting an MBA."

Here's something similar:
Even though it takes some work, seeding a pomegranate is worth the mess to extract the delicious and healthy fruit.

What takes work? Not the pomegranate itself, but the seeding of (i.e. removal of seeds from) it.

[JbhB682]

thank you

[esledge]

You're welcome