Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
AbdurRakib wrote:
The tourism commission has conducted surveys of hotels in the most popular resorts, with the ultimate goal of reducing the guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the service in the hotels.
(A) with the ultimate goal of reducing the guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the service in the hotels
(B) with the goal to ultimately reduce the number of guests who end up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the hotels’ service
(C) ultimately with the goal to reduce expressions of overall dissatisfaction by the guests with the hotel service
(D) in an ultimate attempt to reduce the number of guests that ends up expressing overall dissatisfaction with the hotels’ service
(E) with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of guests who express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels’ service
Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of this sentence is that the ultimate, or final, goal of the tourism commission is reducing the number of guests who express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels’ service.
Concepts tested here: Subject-Verb Agreement + Meaning + Idioms + Awkwardness/Redundancy• When "goal" is part of a noun phrase, "goal + of" is the correct, idiomatic construction; "goal + to" is used when "goal" is part of a verb phrase; respective correct usages "I succeeded in my goal of learning French." and "My goal is to learn French."
A: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "reducing the guests"; the construction of this phrase illogically suggests that the ultimate goal of the tourism commission is somehow diminishing the guests who express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels’ service; the intended meaning is that the ultimate goal of the tourism commission is reducing
how many guests express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels’ service. Further, Option A uses the needlessly wordy phrases "who end up expressing" and "the service in the hotels", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
B: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "goal to ultimately reduce"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the goal of the tourism commission is to ultimately, or
eventually, reduce the number of guests who express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels’ service; the intended meaning is that the ultimate, or
final goal of the tourism commission is to reduce the number of guests who express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels’ service. Further, Option B incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "goal + to" rather than the idiomatic construction "goal + of"; please remember, when "goal" is part of a noun phrase, "goal + of" is the correct, idiomatic construction. Additionally, Option B uses the needlessly wordy phrase "end up expressing", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
C: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "ultimately with the goal to reduce expressions"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the goal of the tourism commission is to
eventually reduce the number of
expressions of dissatisfaction made by guests regarding hotel service; the intended meaning is that the ultimate, or
final, goal of the tourism commission is reducing
how many guests express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels’ service. Further, Option C incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "goal + to" rather than the idiomatic construction "goal + of"; please remember, when "goal" is part of a noun phrase, "goal + of" is the correct, idiomatic construction.
D: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun "guests" with the singular verb "ends up". Further, Option D alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "in an ultimate attempt"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the tourism commission made a
final attempt to reduce the number of guests who express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels’ service; the intended meaning is that the ultimate, or
final, goal of the tourism commission is reducing the number of guests who express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels’ service. Additionally, Option D uses the needlessly wordy phrase "end up expressing", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
E: Correct. This answer choice correctly refers to the plural noun "guests" with the plural verb "express". Further, Option E uses the phrase "the ultimate goal of reducing the number of guests", conveying the intended meaning - that the ultimate, or final, goal of the tourism commission is reducing the number of guests who express overall dissatisfaction with the hotels’ service. Additionally, Option E correctly uses the idiomatic construction "goal + of". Besides, Option E is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.
Hence, E is the best answer choice.Additional Note: Identifying the correct answer in this question involves understanding the difference between "ultimate" and "ultimately". Please note that "ultimate" is an adjective that carries the connotation of the "final" or "most-advanced" version of the noun it modifies, and "ultimately" is an adverb that carries that connotation of "eventually" for the verb it modifes.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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