Sports Medicine Programs

[hari304]

Hi Ron, Instructors,
in option D, beside the Parallelism issue, do we also have pronoun error? "Them" should refer to "athletes" which is in possessive form here (athletes').


The Sports Medicine Programs of the Olympic Training Center, a complex where final try outs are held for athletes representing the US in the Olympics, is geared toward enhancing athletes' performance and toward their preparation for international competition.
A.) is geared toward enhancing athletes' performance and toward their preparation
B.) is geared to enhance the performance of athletes and to prepare them
C.) are geared to enhance athletes' performance and their preparation
D.) are geared toward the enhancement of athletes' performance and toward preparing them
E.) are geared toward enhancing the performance of athletes and preparing them

[tim]

Yes.

[dkxdkx199249]

Hi Ron, Instructors,
in option D, beside the Parallelism issue, do we also have pronoun error? "Them" should refer to "athletes" which is in possessive form here (athletes').


The Sports Medicine Programs of the Olympic Training Center, a complex where final try outs are held for athletes representing the US in the Olympics, is geared toward enhancing athletes' performance and toward their preparation for international competition.
A.) is geared toward enhancing athletes' performance and toward their preparation
B.) is geared to enhance the performance of athletes and to prepare them
C.) are geared to enhance athletes' performance and their preparation
D.) are geared toward the enhancement of athletes' performance and toward preparing them
E.) are geared toward enhancing the performance of athletes and preparing them

hmmm, actually here I have some questions about pronouns. I would appreciate any help from the instructors. I think the usage of them is OK in option D, since we can clearly find the noun atheletes before the tested sentence--"they are held for atheletes blahblahblah".
But if there is no "athletes" anywhere else in this sentence performing as a noun, in option C, the useage of their after athletes' performance is wrong. Am I right?


Thank you.

[RonPurewal]

GMAC has thus far adhered to that rule, although you should be very, very careful in applying it. Take into account three things:

#0
This rule is totally a non-rule in most standard written English. For instance, Mr. Obama's advisors told him to avoid saying xxxx -- which is wrong according to the principle you're citing -- would be considered acceptable by just about any linguistic authority.

#1
That rule has never been necessary to solve any problem created by GMAC.

#2
More significantly, GMAC actually removed the discussion of this rule from the only problem in which it ever appeared!
* In the first-edition OG verbal supplement, problem #86, GMAC explicitly says that it's wrong to use a pronoun to refer to this type of thing.
* In the second-edition OG verbal supplement, problem #81 -- the same problem -- GMAC backed away from this apparent certainty, and replaced that text with "grammatically it's somewhat unclear".
So, beware. If they actually took the time and effort to redact that part of the explanation, that could be a sign that they no longer respect this "rule".

[RonPurewal]

Here's something that may be more helpful than all ... that ... stuff:
The simplest way to deal with this whole thing is just to regard possessive things as adjectives, because, well, they have to describe stuff.
E.g.
athletes = noun
athletes' performance = adjective + noun

If you think of it that way, you don't need any extra rules at all.

--

NB:
Note that, in comparisons, possessives can appear alone: My car is smaller than my brother's.

Still, this is also true for other adjectives. (E.g., OG12 #93 / OG13 #94, in which something is "higher this year than last".)

So, possessive = adjective.
Life is better when things are simple.

[Suapplle]

instructors, I still do not understand this question,please help,thanks!
#1
toward vs. to
as Stacey said,If the meaning you want is "aimed at" (or the equivalent), use "gear toward",but we can use "to do "to express purpose,I do not understand their difference, can you give me more examples?thanks!
#2
parallelism
in choice(D)
are geared toward the enhancement of athletes' performance and toward preparing them
should the red part parallelism?thanks a lot!

[RonPurewal]

instructors, I still do not understand this question,please help,thanks!
#1
toward vs. to
as Stacey said,If the meaning you want is "aimed at" (or the equivalent), use "gear toward",but we can use "to do "to express purpose,I do not understand their difference, can you give me more examples?thanks!

This is the kind of idiom that the GMAT won't test anymore. These days you almost certainly won't be tested on any idioms except the most common ones. So, in essence, this one isn't worth worrying about. (This question has been around for a long, long time.)

#2
parallelism
in choice(D)
are geared toward the enhancement of athletes' performance and toward preparing them
should the red part parallelism?thanks a lot!

It's clearly inferior to the parallelism in choice E, so you can eliminate it.

[thanghnvn]

The Sports Medicine Programs of the Olympic Training Center, a complex where final try outs are held for athletes representing the US in the Olympics, is geared toward enhancing athletes' performance and toward their preparation for international competition.
A.) is geared toward enhancing athletes' performance and toward their preparation
B.) is geared to enhance the performance of athletes and to prepare them
C.) are geared to enhance athletes performance and their preparation
D.) are geared toward the enhancement of athletes' performance and toward preparing them
E.) are geared toward enhancing the performance of athletes and preparing them
OA is E.
"gear to" or "gear toward"
Thanks

I have a problem

normally, if we need to refer to a general action and if there is a noun, we have to use that noun (for example, "preparation"). we can not use do-ing in that case. of course, if there is no noun (there is no learnation), we have to use do-ing.
the above idea is tested many time on gmat prep questions. I hope you are clear about this.

what I want to ask is in OA E, the "enhancing" and "preparing" is caused by "center" or is refering the general action.

if they refer to a general action, there is a point to learn. The point is that we prefer the parallelism and we can use do-ing to refer to a general action even if the noun exists.

pls, comment on my question.

[RonPurewal]

no, there's a real difference there.

In these kinds of contexts, "-ing" suggests that the person/entity under discussion is directly involved in the action of "-ing". The noun form has no such implication.

E.g.,

Rachel dedicated her life to educating poor immigrants' children.
--> Rachel actually taught these children herself.

Rachel dedicated her life to the education of poor immigrants' children.
--> Rachel didn't necessarily teach these children herself, but she did something (e.g., fundraising) to promote that teaching.

In this sentence, the programs are directly involved with enhancing athletes' performance and preparing them for competition, so the -ing forms are more specifically appropriate than the noun forums.

[thanghnvn]

great, Ron,

I can not find any word which matches your excelence.

[RonPurewal]

Thanks.

[LiviaW854]

What I fail to understand is why "The Sports Medicine Programs" is considered plural? It could be one of the divisions of the complex. Note that "P" is in upper case in programs, why does it not mean that it is part of complex (such as a Unit or Division)?
I would have chosen E as correct ans if the P had been in lower case. Can someone throw some light on subject issue here?

the rule is simple -- if you see a plural form, you should assume that it is plural.

the only exceptions will be:
(a) exceptions that are extremely well known (e.g., it is considered general knowledge that "the United States" is a singular noun), or
(b) exceptions that have some sort of proof elsewhere in the sentence (e.g., if the non-underlined part of a sentence said "rhythm and blues is a type of music that...", then you would understand that "rhythm and blues" is singular even if you'd never heard that name before).

Hi Ron,
Thank you for your kind explanation, but I still have a question.
I thought "The Sports Medicine Programs of the Olympic Training Center" singular because of the appositive "a complex where..." after it.
Why can't "a" suggest "The Sports Medicine Programs of the Olympic Training Center" be singular?

Many thanks!
Livia

[RonPurewal]

You can't just make arbitrary grammatical associations. You have to understand the intended meaning of the sentence.

"A complex where xxxxx happens" clearly must describe a physical location where things happen. It can't describe sports medicine programs.

[LiviaW854]

You can't just make arbitrary grammatical associations. You have to understand the intended meaning of the sentence.

"A complex where xxxxx happens" clearly must describe a physical location where things happen. It can't describe sports medicine programs.

I see. Thank you!
Have a nice day!
Livia

[tim]

:)