IMO d coz it clearly tells that the balance has to be made among all the actions to raise money..

between D and E, D is brief, so IMO -D, but not sure of 'balance of' is correct?

Hello Guys,

Why not E? Dont we need "AMONG" as there are more than 2 things to select ?

Your help will be appreciated.

Regards,
Puneet

Noticed two things:
- Verb tense of 'balance' is correct (Balancing? Balanced?)
- Balance 'between' is wrong (between implies two options)

Brings to D & E.
E: "Is what one needs" - is wordy. (And "It takes..." isn't wrong)

Please explain the role of 'It' in D)............Whether it is used as pronoun or not...........if it is then what it is referring to??

Answered D.

I think "balance of" is fine, but I see how between/among could be used. Anybody care to discuss?

"It takes a balance of hard work and discipline to do well on the GMAT."
"It takes a balance between hard work and discipline to do well on the GMAT."
_________________

Discipline + Hard Work = Success! 770 (Q50, V46)

Correct me if my reasoning is wrong:

use between and among if you have to choose between 2 things or 2 or more things respectively.

In this sentence we are not choosing what factors help to raise millions of dollars.

We are listing the different factors that help us. So A,B,E are out.

C is incorrect.

So only option left is D. Plus its concise and clear.
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GGG (Gym / GMAT / Girl) -- Be Serious

Its your duty to post OA afterwards; some one must be waiting for that...

Dear Friends
A and B are out because they use between.
C is out because it has no clear referent.
Between D and E I chose E.
Apart from concission and wordy why is E wrong.Any other reason.

please reply
regards
_________________

Kingfisher
The king of good times and a companion in bad ones......

Hey Guys,

Ick. I really don't like how many times I'm seeing the word "wordy" on this page. Wordiness is ALMOST NEVER a reason to cross anything off on the GMAT. It's an excuse to be lazy with your understanding of either grammar or meaning in the sentence.

It takes a deft balance between savings discipline, investment knowledge, risk taking, luck, and time to raise a million dollars through investments.

(A) It takes a deft balance between
PROBLEM: Can't use "between," because more than 2 things are being balanced.

(B) Deft balancing is needed between
PROBLEM: Same as above.

(C) Deftly balanced, it takes
PROBLEM: This sentence begins with an adverbial modifier "deft balanced," which means it needs to modify a verb. The only verb it can modify is "takes." But that doesn't make any sense. It's not the taking that's balanced, but the various nouns that NEED to be balanced.

(D) It takes a deft balance of
ANSWER

(E) A deft balance is what one needs among
PROBLEM: The "among" is unclear here. It sounds like the "one" is hanging out PHYSICALLY "among" these various things. As if, when hanging out with savings discipline, investment stuff, etc., one needs to have a deft balance of...something else. That isn't mentioned. It doesn't make any sense.

Hope that helps!

-t

P.S. I'm taking a break from the forums, so please don't PM me with anything else for right now. Thanks!
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Tommy Wallach | Manhattan GMAT Instructor | San Francisco

Manhattan GMAT Discount | Manhattan GMAT Reviews

Well, then for after your break.
You said:
This sentence begins with an adverbial modifier "deft balanced," - It actually starts with DEFTLY Balanced (and I think you mistyped it) but isn't that a adjectival modifier? E.g "That is a deftly balanced shot to get to his century".
I might be confused but please explain.