Any medical test will sometimes fail to detect a condition

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Any medical test will sometimes fail to detect a condition [#permalink]

01 Jan 2013, 12:56

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Question Stats:

52% (01:08) correct

47% (01:19) wrong

based on 17 sessions

Any medical test will sometimes fail to detect a condition when it is present and indicate that there is one when it is not.
(A) a condition when it is present and indicate that there is one
(B) when a condition is present and indicate that there is one
(C) a condition when it is present and indicate that it is present
(D) when a condition is present and indicate its presence
(E) the presence of a condition when it is there and indicate its presence

I shortlisted Choice C & E.

I want to know what is wrong with Choice E. I feel it more concise and clear.

[Reveal] Spoiler: OA

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Re: Any medical test will sometimes fail to detect [#permalink]

01 Jan 2013, 14:44

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(C) a condition when it is present and indicate that it is present
Correct. This choice is more concise and clear.

(E) the presence of a condition when it is there and indicate its presence
-In first underlined part: The use of pronoun "it" is ambiguous as it is wrongly referring to "presence" (action noun) rather than the "condition".
-In second underlined part: "indicate its presence when it is not" is incorrect as it means "indicate condition's presence when it condition is not", which is wordy and doesn't make much sense. We should say "indicate that it [condition] is present when it is not [present]." Words in the bracket are implied.
- Also structure "a condition when it is present" is more concise.

One of the generic guideline to prefer verb to action noun. (Remember: its not a rule but a guideline) - MGMAT SC guide
Pattern: Prefer verb to action noun
o Wordy: The townspeople’s revolution was against the king.
 Revolution is a noun that expresses an action
o Better: The townspeople revolted against the king.

"a condition when it is present" is more concise and clearer than "the presence of condition when it is there". ("presence" is the action noun here)
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Re: Any medical test will sometimes fail to detect [#permalink]

01 Jan 2013, 16:16

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(E) is wrong and the difference is the following:
...fail to detect a condition when it is present...
...fail to detect the presence of a condition when it is there...

Once you add in "the presence of a condition" ...then the "it" doesn't know which noun to reference. In the prior case, "it" was referencing "condition" so that was clear. But in the new version....it's ambiguous. Is it referencing "presence" or "condition"?

It should be "fail to detect the presence of a condition when the CONDITION is there"....that is the intended meaning and that's why (E) is not right.
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Re: Whats wrong with choice E [#permalink]

01 Jan 2013, 13:00

Please follow the forum's rules, third point

rules-for-posting-in-verbal-gmat-forum-134642.html

Thanks.
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Re: Any medical test will sometimes fail to detect a condition [#permalink]

03 Jan 2013, 17:05

The meaning of this sentence is not clear!! If the test fails to detect a condition then it should indicate that condition is not present but the correct choice (c) states that the medical test indicates that it is present then how can it fail to detect the condition?

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Re: Any medical test will sometimes fail to detect a condition [#permalink]

04 Jan 2013, 11:36

rohantiwari wrote:

Rohan, i dont think there is anything ambiguous in choice C

C) Any medical test will sometimes fail to detect a condition when it is present (Condition is present there however test failed to detect it.) and indicate that it is present when it is not. ( condition is not present however test mistakenly indicated so - See carefully, here they have used the word indicate instead of detect. For detection condition should physically be there.)
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Re: Any medical test will sometimes fail to detect a condition [#permalink] 04 Jan 2013, 11:36

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