With an awareness that there are connotations associate

[rschunti]

With an awareness that there are connotations associated with the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B, companies conducting consumer taste tests of foods or beverages typically choose numbers such as 697 or 483 to label the products.
A. With an awareness that there are connotations associated with the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B
B. Because the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B have connotations they are aware of
C. Because of an awareness of the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B having connotations
D. Aware of the connotations of the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B
E. Since the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B have connotations associated with them and they are aware of it

This is GMATPREP question. What is wrong with choice "A". What correct answer is better than "A". Thanks

[Guest]

D should be correct here.

Please Post OA';s of other posts by you.

Thanks
Saurabh malpani

[Saurabh Malpani]

With an awareness that there are connotations associated with the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B, companies conducting consumer taste tests of foods or beverages typically choose numbers such as 697 or 483 to label the products.
A. With an awareness that there are connotations associated with the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B
B. Because the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B have connotations they are aware of
C. Because of an awareness of the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B having connotations
D. Aware of the connotations of the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B
E. Since the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B have connotations associated with them and they are aware of it

This is GMATPREP question. What is wrong with choice "A". What correct answer is better than "A". Thanks

To Answer your question about A the problem with A is that the adjectival Modifier is wrong here, it reads as if the Taste Test is Conducted WITH the awareness. So it seems as if the opening modifier is modifying the test not the companies.

D is better as clearly states that the Companies are AWARE of X and Y

Saurabh Malpani

[StaceyKoprince]

Partially based on meaning, as Saurabh mentions, and partially based on concision.

The opening modifier could be construed to mean that companies are doing two somewhat separate things in these tests: (a) choosing certain numbers such as 697 and (b) having an awareness that there are connotations etc. Try reading the original sentence starting with "Along with an awareness that..." and see if this helps you to spot the ambiguity in meaning.

(Along) With an awareness that there are connotations associated with her green hair, the witch typically buys newt eyes, not human eyes, when she goes to the store. Is she buying "awareness that there are connotations associated with her green hair" along with newt eyes? Or is she aware that green hair makes her look evil, so she wants to make sure people see her buying innocuous things rather than human eyes? :)

Also, "Aware of the" is a lot more concise than "With an awareness that there are"

[Guest]

In choice B which I am assuming that is the correct one..

Don't you need THAT after connotations?

[RonPurewal]

In choice B which I am assuming that is the correct one..

Don't you need THAT after connotations?

the correct answer is (d), as indicated in a couple of the posts above.

in sufficiently formal usage, this construction would be rearranged to '...connotations of which they are aware', rendering the whole issue moot.
as stacey has said above, though, all these sorts of things are horribly wordy by comparison with the version in choice (d).

[shobujgmat]

pls can any tutor give some sentences :

starting with "with" modifier

where we use with modifier and where we don't.

thanks

[JonathanSchneider]

#29 in OG11 opens with "Along with..." (not underlined)

#V13 in the OG Supplement includes an option that starts with "With..." and in fact includes another "with..." before we get to the main clause. The GMAC's explanation of why this is wrong simply describes it as "awkward and wordy." Tough to know whether they mean that this is because the "with..." happens twice, or if its presence is a problem from the outset.

#V18 also includes an incorrect option starting with "With..." However, this time the reasoning is that the word "with" does not provide the right meaning for the sentence.

#V23 includes an incorrect "As with..." However, broken parallelism is the cited issue.

#V28 also includes an incorrect option starting with "With..." However, the explanation here does not cite this word as a problem.

#V68 includes and incorrect "Unlike with..." However, broken parallelism is the cited issue.

I couldn't find (on quickly flipping through) any correct answers that start with "With...", "As with...", etc. They might be out there, but I'd be somewhat surprised. There seems to be too much ambiguity starting out a sentence that way.

[pmal04]

Hi Ron,
In choice D, how do you connect two sentences-'Aware of ..letters A and B' and 'companies..products'. It sounds to me run-on sentence. If I use 'being aware', what's wrong with that?(I know that 'being' is often wrong in GMAT context. :-))
Thanks in advance.

[RonPurewal]

It sounds to me run-on sentence.

it's not a run-on.

a run-on is when two COMPLETE sentences are just mashed together, or are connected with a comma.

the initial modifier, "aware of...", has neither a subject nor a verb, so this is definitely not a run-on.

If I use 'being aware', what's wrong with that?(I know that 'being' is often wrong in GMAT context. :-))
Thanks in advance.

at the very least, it's redundant and unnecessary. this is all you have to know.

(extra credit:
there is also a VERY SUBTLE shift in meaning - i.e., "being" acts as an action verb, such that you're suggesting that the companies are actively choosing to be aware, as if that's their end goal.
NOTE: this is really hard to describe, and WILL ABSOLUTELY NOT be the basis for deciding a gmat question. i'm only bothering to mention it because i have considerable experience as a writer.)

[pmal04]

Thanks a lot Ron for your explanation. You're the best!

[RonPurewal]

Thanks a lot Ron for your explanation. You're the best!

thanks.

[jp.jprasanna]

Partially based on meaning, as Saurabh mentions, and partially based on concision.

The opening modifier could be construed to mean that companies are doing two somewhat separate things in these tests: (a) choosing certain numbers such as 697 and (b) having an awareness that there are connotations etc. Try reading the original sentence starting with "Along with an awareness that..." and see if this helps you to spot the ambiguity in meaning.

(Along) With an awareness that there are connotations associated with her green hair, the witch typically buys newt eyes, not human eyes, when she goes to the store. Is she buying "awareness that there are connotations associated with her green hair" along with newt eyes? Or is she aware that green hair makes her look evil, so she wants to make sure people see her buying innocuous things rather than human eyes? :)

Also, "Aware of the" is a lot more concise than "With an awareness that there are"

Hi Ron / Stacey - Many thanks for your explanation.

So Can i ALWAYS replace "with" with "along with" to check the answer choices (something similar to, for example , "due to" can always be replaced with "cause by" to check the correctness)

I tried this logic in few questions in GMAT prep -

sc-the-results-of-the-company-s-cost-cutting-measures-are-t8497.html

In the above question I was able to quickly eliminate D and E which didn't make sense with "along with"

Also - this question - more-than-300-rivers-drain-into-siberia-s-lake-baikal-t6403.html

I eliminated option E, which otherwise sounds very convincing, by replacing "with" with "along with"and the sentence didn't make any sense at all.

So can i ALWAYS replace "with" with "along with" to check the correctness / meaning issues (off course after checking for grammar issues) or can there be exceptions?

Cheers

[RonPurewal]

So can i ALWAYS replace "with" with "along with" to check the correctness / meaning issues (off course after checking for grammar issues) or can there be exceptions?

Cheers

no, because "with" can have lots of other meanings, too.

for instance, you can perform some task with some tool. e.g.,
i built the whole chair with nothing but a butterknife and a bunch of wood.
with nothing but a butterknife and a bunch of wood, i made a sculpture of the Last Supper.
both of these are correct, but they wouldn't work with "along with".

[shankar245]

Hi Ron,

This is from one of your previous posts

when you start a sentence with "With ...", this modifier should modify the subject and/or action of the following clause.

viking-age-scandinavia-t8883.html

I chose A because of this reasoning :
With an awareness that there are connotations associated with the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B , companies conducting

So the meaning as far as I understand is :
The companies with an awareness.....conduct consumer taste foods or beverages.

But Stacey's post above has something else to offer (Though I agree with her post ,I'm un able to distinguish the meaning.


Please help.

EDIT : Also the with..is a prepositional modifier and it must modify the action of the verb (choose) . So I'm even more confused or this is because I'm trying to prepare too much for the exam?