A firm that specializes in the analysis of handwriting claims from a

Hello hannaro,

We hope this finds you well.

To provide a bit of clarity, Option B is not merely inferior to Option D; it is outright incorrect.

In Option A "from a one-page writing sample" modifies "claims", incorrectly implying that the company makes a claim from the writing sample.

In Option D, "from a one-page writing sample" modifies "to asses", conveying the intended meaning - that the company claims that it is able to asses something from a one-page writing sample.

We hope this helps.
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Experts' Global Team

KarishmaB and other experts,

What is wrong in Option E - "A firm that specializes in the analysis of handwriting claims _being able to assess, from a one-page writing sample,_ more than three hundred personality traits, including enthusiasm, imagination, and ambition." ? The meaning is that A firm claims something, and something is "being able to assess".

Moreover in Option D - A firm that specializes in the analysis of handwriting claims _to be able, from a one-page writing sample, to assess_ more than three hundred personality traits, including enthusiasm, imagination, and ambition. - isn't "from a one-page writing sample" modifying able instead of assess?

Thanks in advance!

In option D isn't " from a one-page writing sample" important for the meaning of the sentence and hence shouldn't be placed between 2 commas?

My take on the question -
A firm that specializes in the analysis of handwriting claims from a one-page writing sample that it can assess more than three hundred personality traits, including enthusiasm, imagination, and ambition.

Claims from one-page writing sample seems not the intended meaning. Hence, A is out.

Option B - Same issue as A .

Option C - "Assessing" this is not the correct usage. The correct would be " to access".

Option D - Correct

Option E - "Being". The usage of being is incorrect. Almost all GMAT options with "Being" usage is incorrect.

Hey waytowharton

Happy to help you with this.


This is a straightforward case of Idiomatic Usage. Whenever the verb "claim" is followed directly by an action, that action must be in the to-verb form and not the verb-ing (gerundial) form. For example:

a. She does not claim to be an expert. (Correct)
b. She does not claim being an expert. (Incorrect)

c. He claimed to hate all art. (Correct)
d. He claimed hating all art. (Incorrect)

Now, the probable reason for this is that in sentences 'b' and 'd', the verb-ing words "being" and "hating" can even be interpreted as modifiers of the preceding verb (and not just as nouns objects). Owing to this duality, sentences 'b' and 'd' sound ambiguous in meaning.

I hope this helps.

Happy Learning.

Abhishek

GMATNinja can you please help understand why option E is wrong. I read that "being" is not wrong if is used in continuous tense.

For "being" to be a verb, it needs to be preceded by some form of "to be" (IS being, ARE being, WERE being, etc.). Since we don't have that here, "being" can't be a verb in (E).

You could argue that "being" is a noun (more specifically, a gerund if you like the jargon), representing the thing being claimed. It's a bit like saying "I claim this land in the name of Queen Victoria!" or "Tim claimed his luggage at the airport."

Notice that in those last two examples, the thing being claimed is a simple noun, and "to claim" essentially means "to take" (as in, "I take this land," or "Tim takes his luggage"). And that makes sense because "luggage" and "land" are concrete things that can be taken.

But "-ing" nouns (again, you can call them gerunds if you like grammar jargon) are typically actions or activities, not concrete things that can be claimed or taken. For example, you wouldn't claim skiing itself. Instead, you'd claim to be skiing.

And that's what we get in choice (D). The firm isn't claiming an action or activity itself. Instead, the firm is claiming to DO something (claiming to BE able...).

To be fair, that's a pretty subtle little point. Luckily, this question is very old, and you likely won't have to worry about this sort of distinction on your actual test.

I hope that helps!

GMATNinja

For me, the correct answer was between D and E, I picked E because it is clear that "from a one-page writing sample" is modifying "assess". In D, I feel, "from a one-page writing sample" may or may not be modifying "assess". Could you please help me understand why E is incorrect- I don't want to eliminate Option E just because it is constructed in passive voice?

The point you made is definitely a small vote in favor of (D) over (E). I don't think it's a concrete reason to immediately eliminate (E), but it's a great difference to think about.

For more on choice (E), check out this post.