Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation of this question-
shikhar wrote:
The Baldrick Manufacturing Company has for several years followed a policy aimed at decreasing operating costs and improving the efficiency of its distribution system.
(A) aimed at decreasing operating costs and improving
(B) aimed at the decreasing of operating costs and to improve
(C) aiming at the decreasing of operating costs and improving
(D) the aim of which is the decreasing of operating costs and improving
(E) with the aim to decrease operating costs and to improve
Concepts tested here: Parallelism + Idioms + Verb Forms + Awkwardness/Redundancy• Any elements linked by conjunction must be parallel.
• Present participles ("verb+ing" – “aiming” in this sentence) are used to modify nouns, refer to ongoing events in any time period, and (when preceded by a comma) express cause-effect relationships.
• If "aim" is used as a noun, "aim + of" is the correct idiomatic construction, and if "aim" is used as a verb, "aim + to" is the correct idiomatic construction.
A: Correct. This answer choice maintains parallelism between "decreasing operating costs" and "improving the efficiency of its distribution system". Further, Option A avoids the verb form error seen in Option C, as it uses the past participle "aimed" rather than the present participle ("verb+ing"). Additionally, Option A avoids the idiom error seen in Option E, as it uses the adjective "aimed at" rather than the noun "aim". Besides, Option A is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.
B: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between "the decreasing of operating costs" and "to improve the efficiency of its distribution system"; remember, any elements linked by conjunction must be parallel.
C: This answer choice incorrectly uses the present participle ("verb+ing" - "aiming" in this sentence) to refer to an action that is not ongoing in nature; remember, the present participle ("verb+ing" - "aiming" in this sentence) is used to refer to ongoing events in any time period. Further, Option C fails to maintain parallelism between "the decreasing of operating costs" and "improving the efficiency of its distribution system"; remember, any elements linked by conjunction must be parallel.
D: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between "the decreasing of operating costs" and "improving the efficiency of its distribution system"; remember, any elements linked by conjunction must be parallel. Further, Option D uses the needlessly wordy phrase "the aim of which is", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
E: This answer choice incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "aim (noun) + to"; please remember, if "aim" is used as a noun, "aim + of" is the correct idiomatic construction, and if "aim" is used as a verb, "aim + to" is the correct idiomatic construction.
Hence, A is the best answer choice.All the best!
Experts' Global Team