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The principal has sought approval for her plan to grant promotions to

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maaverick
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The principal has sought approval for her plan to grant promotions to [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 29 Oct 2018, 07:06
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The principal has sought approval for her plan to grant promotions to only those seventh-grade students proficient in reading without meeting with opposition


A) reading without meeting with opposition

B) reading, having met with no opposition

C) reading, without the opposition of others

D) reading, and has not met with opposition

E) reading without opposition


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The principal is doing two things: seeking approval or her plan, and not meeting with any opposition. These two things should be in grammatically similar form. Since “has sought” isn’t underlined, you need to change “without meeting with,” in (A), to “has not met with,” in (D).

Originally posted by maaverick on 04 Jan 2005, 03:16.
Last edited by Bunuel on 29 Oct 2018, 07:06, edited 1 time in total.
Renamed the topic and edited the question.
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abhishekmayank
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The principal has sought approval for her plan to grant promotions to [#permalink] New post   23 Jun 2020, 22:44
maaverick wrote:
The principal has sought approval for her plan to grant promotions to only those seventh-grade students proficient in reading without meeting with opposition


A) reading without meeting with opposition

B) reading, having met with no opposition

C) reading, without the opposition of others

D) reading, and has not met with opposition

E) reading without opposition

Show SpoilerOE
The principal is doing two things: seeking approval or her plan, and not meeting with any opposition. These two things should be in grammatically similar form. Since “has sought” isn’t underlined, you need to change “without meeting with,” in (A), to “has not met with,” in (D).


I am not sure how can we easily discard the option C

In option C, the prepositional phrase "without the opposition of others" is obviously not noun modifier as it doesn't make any sense with the immediate noun(as noun modifier more often than not bound to) "reading".

So clearly this prepositional phrase is playing the other role, which is that of "adverb", modifying the action "has sought". It is not illogical, IMO, to interpret that Principle is trying to seek approval, without the opposition of others. Could experts throw some light on it ?

AjiteshArun
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The principal has sought approval for her plan to grant promotions to [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 24 Jun 2020, 13:10
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abhishekmayank wrote:
maaverick wrote:
The principal has sought approval for her plan to grant promotions to only those seventh-grade students proficient in reading without meeting with opposition


A) reading without meeting with opposition

B) reading, having met with no opposition

C) reading, without the opposition of others

D) reading, and has not met with opposition

E) reading without opposition

Show SpoilerOE
The principal is doing two things: seeking approval or her plan, and not meeting with any opposition. These two things should be in grammatically similar form. Since “has sought” isn’t underlined, you need to change “without meeting with,” in (A), to “has not met with,” in (D).


I am not sure how can we easily discard the option C

In option C, the prepositional phrase "without the opposition of others" is obviously not noun modifier as it doesn't make any sense with the immediate noun(as noun modifier more often than not bound to) "reading".

So clearly this prepositional phrase is playing the other role, which is that of "adverb", modifying the action "has sought". It is not illogical, IMO, to interpret that Principle is trying to seek approval, without the opposition of others. Could experts throw some light on it ?

AjiteshArun
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The problem with (C), abhishekmayank, is that it is not clear whether without the opposition of others refers to the principal or to the seventh-grade students. I think your interpretation makes for a stronger case in the context of the sentence, but I cannot rule out the other interpretation, since the placement of the prepositional phrase at the end muddles the picture. In fact, if it helps, you could imagine it placed right after students, with or without commas, to see what I mean:

The principal has sought approval for her plan to grant promotions to only those seventh-grade students, without the opposition of others, proficient in reading.

Sometimes placement is everything, and choice (C) opens the door to ambiguity of meaning. Meanwhile, choice (D) averts such an issue by conjugating the verb to have to agree with a singular subject. That subject must be the principal. Finally, the present perfect is used on both sides of the parallel marker and: has sought and has not met. If you were wondering about the comma before the phrase at the end, it is optional. Sometimes in lengthier sentences, you will see an author use such a comma before and and a phrase, and such usage has occurred in official GMAT™ questions.

So, in short, I agree with you that it is not illogical to interpret answer (C) as conveying that the principal is seeking approval without opposition; however, I also cannot ignore the other potential interpretation of how the prepositional phrase relates to the rest of the sentence, even if you would label it a misinterpretation. If there is any room for such a misreading, it is better to seek another option.

- Andrew

Originally posted by AndrewN on 24 Jun 2020, 04:23.
Last edited by AndrewN on 24 Jun 2020, 13:10, edited 1 time in total.
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abhishekmayank
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Re: The principal has sought approval for her plan to grant promotions to [#permalink] New post   24 Jun 2020, 08:30
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MentorTutoring wrote:
abhishekmayank wrote:
maaverick wrote:
The principal has sought approval for her plan to grant promotions to only those seventh-grade students proficient in reading without meeting with opposition


A) reading without meeting with opposition

B) reading, having met with no opposition

C) reading, without the opposition of others

D) reading, and has not met with opposition

E) reading without opposition

Show SpoilerOE
The principal is doing two things: seeking approval or her plan, and not meeting with any opposition. These two things should be in grammatically similar form. Since “has sought” isn’t underlined, you need to change “without meeting with,” in (A), to “has not met with,” in (D).


I am not sure how can we easily discard the option C

In option C, the prepositional phrase "without the opposition of others" is obviously not noun modifier as it doesn't make any sense with the immediate noun(as noun modifier more often than not bound to) "reading".

So clearly this prepositional phrase is playing the other role, which is that of "adverb", modifying the action "has sought". It is not illogical, IMO, to interpret that Principle is trying to seek approval, without the opposition of others. Could experts throw some light on it ?

AjiteshArun
MentorTutoring

The problem with (C), abhishekmayank, is that it is not clear whether without the opposition of others refers to the principal or to the seventh-grade students. I think your interpretation makes for a stronger case in the context of the sentence, but I cannot rule out the other interpretation, since the placement of the prepositional phrase at the end muddles the picture. In fact, if it helps, you could imagine it placed right after students, with or without commas, to see what I mean:

The principal has sought approval for her plan to grant promotions to only those seventh-grade students, without the opposition of others, proficient in reading.

Sometimes placement is everything, and choice (C) opens the door to ambiguity of meaning. Meanwhile, choice (D) averts such an issue by conjugating the verb to have to agree with a singular subject. That subject must be the principal. Finally, the present perfect is used on both sides of the parallel marker and: has sought and has not met. If you were wondering about the comma before the phrase at the end, it is optional. Sometimes in lengthier sentences, you will see an author use such a comma before [i]and[i] and a phrase, and such usage has occurred in official GMAT™ questions.

So, in short, I agree with you that it is not illogical to interpret answer (C) as conveying that the principal is seeking approval without opposition; however, I also cannot ignore the other potential interpretation of how the prepositional phrase relates to the rest of the sentence, even if you would label it a misinterpretation. If there is any room for such a misreading, it is better to seek another option.

- Andrew



Thanks MentorTutoring indeed for your, as usual, quick response !!

The only observation I have about your comment is whether the prepositional phrase in C "without the opposition of others" at its position can jump over to so much far away to possibly modify the noun "principal" or "seventh grade students", given that noun-modifier obeys the "touch-rule" ?
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Re: The principal has sought approval for her plan to grant promotions to [#permalink] New post   24 Jun 2020, 09:35
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abhishekmayank wrote:
Thanks MentorTutoring indeed for your, as usual, quick response !!

The only observation I have about your comment is whether the prepositional phrase in C "without the opposition of others" at its position can jump over to so much far away to possibly modify the noun "principal" or "seventh grade students", given that noun-modifier obeys the "touch-rule" ?

Ah, the so-called touch rule. I will refer to you an in-depth article on the subject that is on the e-GMAT site. There are some useful related articles at the bottom that are worth checking out as well. (I have another lesson to run to, and I do not want to do you or any other onlooker an injustice by dashing off a less well-articulated response.)

- Andrew
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Re: The principal has sought approval for her plan to grant promotions to [#permalink] New post   09 Aug 2020, 01:46
I think his question boils down to a very simple structure

The principal has sought......., and has not met.....

The principal has sought approval for her plan to grant promotions to only those seventh-grade students proficient in reading without meeting with opposition

A) reading without meeting with opposition
B) reading, having met with no opposition
C) reading, without the opposition of others
D) reading, and has not met with opposition
E) reading without opposition

Only D works!
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Re: The principal has sought approval for her plan to grant promotions to [#permalink] New post   03 Sep 2020, 11:09
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Genoa2000 wrote:
I saw this question on Kaplan 800 Online question bank and in (D) there wasn't the comma.
I was confused.

Is (D) without the comma still correct?

Good question, Genoa2000. The short answer is yes, the sentence could stand on its own two feet without the extra help of a comma. The basic sentence structure indicates the following:

The principal has sought approval for her plan to grant promotions to [someone] and has not met with opposition.

So why is the comma there in the first place? After all, a comma before and typically introduces a second independent clause, and here, we get a phrase instead in the second parallel element. The reason is that the [someone] above is standing in for a phrase itself, one whose length might lead to some initial confusion without the comma. Compare:

1) only those seventh-grade students proficient in reading and...

2) only those seventh-grade students proficient in reading, and...

In the first version, you might logically anticipate a second subject in which students might be proficient, and has not met might seem jarring without a pause to glance back at the head of the sentence. The second version, with the comma, creates that very pause for us, preparing our minds for the jump back to the principal. Again, either version could work, but for the sake of clarity and ease of access, I would opt for the sentence with the comma.

I hope that helps. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew
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The principal has sought approval for her plan to grant promotions to [#permalink] New post   16 Sep 2023, 07:34
I am confused between B and D

For B "having met with no opposition" - seems to modify the entire previous clause. Aren't we saying something like this - having met with no opposition, the principal did XYZ. Isn't that the intended meaning?
It's not that he sought approval and did not meet any opposition. It's because he did not meet any opposition, he sought approval.

In D we are removing the cause-effect by adding an "and", therefore, delivering two independent actions.
Also, please advise how is, if it is, the usage of "having" incorrect here.


AndrewN - Please correct me if I am wrong. Thank you
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Re: The principal has sought approval for her plan to grant promotions to [#permalink] New post   17 Sep 2023, 17:05
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vishalsinghvs08 wrote:
I am confused between B and D

For B "having met with no opposition" - seems to modify the entire previous clause. Aren't we saying something like this - having met with no opposition, the principal did XYZ. Isn't that the intended meaning?
It's not that he sought approval and did not meet any opposition. It's because he did not meet any opposition, he sought approval.

In D we are removing the cause-effect by adding an "and", therefore, delivering two independent actions.
Also, please advise how is, if it is, the usage of "having" incorrect here.


AndrewN - Please correct me if I am wrong. Thank you

Hello, vishalsinghvs08. If the participle in answer choice (B) is meant to modify the principal, as you have speculated, then it begs the question of why the modifying phrase is placed at the end, with a lot of verbal space between it and the thing it supposedly modifies, as opposed to appearing the way you have written the sentence, with the phrase at the beginning. Concerning intended meaning, I think it is dangerous to project what you think the sentence ought to say onto the question. It does not have to be the case that there is a cause-and-effect relationship. We do not really know or need to know. The question is whether the sentence is viable as written. In (D), the shell of the sentence is The principal has sought approval and has not met with opposition. That is a legitimate sentence. In short, I see nothing objectionable with (D), whereas (B) has me wondering. (To be clear, I do not take issue with having itself. Rather, I am uncomfortable with the placement of the phrase it forms, which would function much better—much more clearly—if it appeared attached to the principal.)

Thank you for thinking to follow up with me, and good luck with your studies.

- Andrew
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Re: The principal has sought approval for her plan to grant promotions to [#permalink] New post   05 Oct 2023, 06:49
AndrewN wrote:
vishalsinghvs08 wrote:
I am confused between B and D

For B "having met with no opposition" - seems to modify the entire previous clause. Aren't we saying something like this - having met with no opposition, the principal did XYZ. Isn't that the intended meaning?
It's not that he sought approval and did not meet any opposition. It's because he did not meet any opposition, he sought approval.

In D we are removing the cause-effect by adding an "and", therefore, delivering two independent actions.
Also, please advise how is, if it is, the usage of "having" incorrect here.


AndrewN - Please correct me if I am wrong. Thank you

Hello, vishalsinghvs08. If the participle in answer choice (B) is meant to modify the principal, as you have speculated, then it begs the question of why the modifying phrase is placed at the end, with a lot of verbal space between it and the thing it supposedly modifies, as opposed to appearing the way you have written the sentence, with the phrase at the beginning. Concerning intended meaning, I think it is dangerous to project what you think the sentence ought to say onto the question. It does not have to be the case that there is a cause-and-effect relationship. We do not really know or need to know. The question is whether the sentence is viable as written. In (D), the shell of the sentence is The principal has sought approval and has not met with opposition. That is a legitimate sentence. In short, I see nothing objectionable with (D), whereas (B) has me wondering. (To be clear, I do not take issue with having itself. Rather, I am uncomfortable with the placement of the phrase it forms, which would function much better—much more clearly—if it appeared attached to the principal.)

Thank you for thinking to follow up with me, and good luck with your studies.

- Andrew


Thank you, sir, Quick question on the usage of "having".
Would I be wrong to consider as a rule that "Having" modifies the immediately preceeding subject?
I have seen other questions with the usage of "having" that follows the thought process you highlighted in your previous explanation.
If this is, indeed, a rule, I can update my notes. If it's more meaning-dependent, then I guess I just need to keep practicing more similar questions. Please and thank you
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