Students in the metropolitan school district lack math skills to such

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-



Choice A: This answer choice fails to employ the correct idiom form "So...X...as to Y", as it uses the phrase "lack math skills to such a large degree as to make". Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice B: This answer choice utilizes the phrase "large enough degree", which is not an acceptable idiom form. Additionally, this answer choice also utilizes the future tense verb "becomes" although the sentence implies that the city's growing dependency on information-based services is a currently ongoing process. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice C: This answer choice inappropriately uses the adjective "large" to describe a "lack of math skills". This answer choice also shares the tense-related error found in Option B. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice D: This answer choice repeats the same idiom-related error found in Option A through its use of the phrase "are lacking so much in math skills as to be". Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice E: This answer choice employs the correct idiom form by using the phrase "so lacking in math skills that it will be difficult to absorb" and maintains the correct tense by utilizing the present participle "becoming". Thus, this answer choice is correct.

Hence, E is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Use of So As To on GMAT", you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that students in the metropolitan school district are so lacking in math skills that it will be difficult to absorb them into a city economy that is becoming ever more dependent on information-based industries.

Concepts tested here: Idioms + Meaning + Verb Forms+ Tenses + Redundancy/Awkwardness

• “enough + to” is a correct, idiomatic usage; besides, “enough” is used to show “adequacy” and generally not used to show a cause-effect relationship; rather, “so + cause + that + effect” or “so + cause + as to + effect” are some of the preferred constructions for conveying a cause-effect relationship.
• The simple present continuous tense is used to refer to actions that are currently ongoing and continuous in nature.
• The simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.

A: Trap. This answer choice fails to maintain the idiomatic construction “so cause … as to effect”, as it omits the word “so”; please remember, the correct, idiomatic usage is “so cause…as to effect” or “so cause…that effect”. Besides, Option A uses the needlessly wordy phrase “to such a large degree as to make”, leading to awkwardness.

B: This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb "becomes" to refer to an action that is currently ongoing and continuous in nature; remember, the simple present continuous tense is used to refer to actions that are currently ongoing and continuous in nature, and the simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature. Further, Option B fails to maintain the idiomatic construction “so cause…that effect”, as it omits the word “so” and incorrectly included the word “enough”; please remember, the correct usage is “so cause…as to effect” or “so cause…that effect”, and “enough” is generally not used to show a cause-effect relationship. Besides, Option B uses the needlessly wordy phrase “to a large enough degree that they will be”, leading to awkwardness.

C: This answer choice uses the noun phrase “lack of math skills”, leading to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning of this sentence is that students in the metropolitan school district are so lacking in math skills that it will be difficult to absorb them into a city economy that is becoming ever more dependent on information-based industries. Further, Option C incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb "becomes" to refer to an action that is currently ongoing and continuous in nature; remember, the simple present continuous tense is used to refer to actions that are currently ongoing and continuous in nature, and the simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.

D: Trap. This answer choice fails to maintain the idiomatic construction “so cause…as to effect”, as it introduces the superfluous word “much” and places “so” within the phrase expressing the cause “are lacking in math skills”, leading to awkwardness; please remember, the correct, idiomatic usage is “so cause…as to effect” or “so cause…that effect”.

E: Correct. This answer choice correctly uses the idiomatic construction “so cause ("lacking in math skills")…that effect” ("it will be difficult to absorb…"), conveying the intended meaning of the sentence- students in the metropolitan school district are so lacking in math skills that it will be difficult to absorb them into a city economy that is becoming ever more dependent on information-based industries. Further, Option E avoids the tense error seen in Options A and C, as it uses the present participle (“verb+ing” - “becoming” in this sentence) to refer to a currently ongoing action; please remember, the present participle (“verb+ing” - “becoming” in this sentence) is used to refer to ongoing actions in any time frame. Additionally, Option E is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

Hence, E is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



To understand the concept of "Simple Continuous Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Between A & E for me. I pick E because in A the idiom is 'such X as to Y' where as to my knowledge the correct idiom is 'so X as to Y'. E correctly uses the idiom 'so X that Y'.

Thanks. OA is E.

SC is from OG.

In D OG says: so much....as to be difficult is not a correct idiomatic expression.

Wow, looks like you really know what you are talking about. Thanks a lot for your great explanation.

Hey Cano,

Nice of you to say that, but I realize I kept referring to the idiom as "so X as to Y" when the sentence itself uses it as "so X that...", which is also legit. : )

-tommy

Hey Tommy,

for option D

(D) are lacking so much in math skills as to be difficult to absorb into a city’s economy becoming

PROBLEM: Again, the so X as to Y is wrong. City's economy remains weird.

>>> I have read that "so X as to Y" is correct form.. I understand that "city's economy" is weird but I am not sure if "so X as to Y" is wrong. Would appreciate if you can explain this?

Hey Seek,

The problem here is that the idiom is NOT in the form you described. The idiom is "so X as to Y".

D) are lacking so much in math skills as to be difficult to absorb into a city’s economy becoming

But this says "They are X so much as to Y". The "so" needs to go BEFORE the X (in this case, "lacking".

-tommy

But in case of E, the placement of "so" does not seem to be quite correct to me. What is the problem with D?

(D) are lacking so much in math skills as to be difficult to absorb into a city's economy becoming

D has the problem of using an unidiomatic expression - so much x ....as to be y.

At best the right idiom could be so x as to be y, with out the word much. Some people even object to this

Difficult to absorb is also a problem. Difficult to be absorbed is a better expression

A. Such is used here as an intensifier.So Large is redundant...2. should be city's economy
B 1. large enough degree is awkward.. enough is misplaced 2. simple present (becomes) indicates fact was true before, is true now, and will be true in the future , thus changes the meaning of original sentence
C.simple present (becomes) indicates fact was true before, is true now, and will be true in the future , thus changes the meaning of original sentence
D. ABSORB is a transitive verb thus requires an object
E.should be correct

A good way to determine between (A) and (E) is to look at the verbiage:

(A) lack math skills to such a large degree VS. (E) are so lacking in math skills that

The latter (so...that) is far more concise and is the idiomatic way to express "to such a large degree" without directly stating it.

Therefore, (A) is wordy and (E) it is!

_______________________
Confused why E is right over C

Hello deepudiscover,

I will be lad to help you out with this one.

Let me present the structure of this official sentence with Choice C:

Students in the metropolitan school district
lack of math skills is so large
as to be difficult to absorb them into a city's economy
that becomes ever more dependent on information-based industries.

The way the above-mentioned sentence is structured, the word lack is no more the verb for the subject students. The word lack is the subject for the verb is now. Hence, there is no verb for the subject students per choice C.

Also, this choice uses the idiom so large as to be... which fails to communicate the intended meaning of the sentence.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

This question popped up on our Ask Me Anything About SC thread, and I'm reposting it here, just in case it helps anybody:


The following dialogue might help explain the idiom:

New Yorker #1: My bedroom is small.
New Yorker #2: How small is your bedroom?
New Yorker #1: My bedroom is so small that I have to sleep with my feet hanging out of the window!

The idiom in the final sentence is: "... so ______ that ______." That's the same idiom used in the correct answer choice, as explained in this post and others in this thread.

What does "it" stands for in (E)?

Hello, lakshya14. This it in choice (E), as well as the one in choice (A), is known as a placeholder. As such, it has no antecedent. It merely fills the role of a grammatical subject in a sentence. Compare:

1) It is going to be hot today. (What is hot? The weather? The air?)

2) It is too bad that she failed in her bid to break the record. (What is too bad? The outcome? The circumstance?)

I hope that helps. (Language sure is weird, and English is chock-full of such oddities.)

- Andrew