A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Af

Question

Project SC Butler: Day 175: Sentence Correction (SC1) 
 For SC butler Questions  Click Here

A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Africa is  the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are  important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.

A) the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are

B) the ability to access or block it to strategic metals, such as cobalt,

C) the ability of either having or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, that are

D) either access or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt,

E) either to have or to block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are,

generis · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Day 175: Sentence Correction (SC1)

EDIT: The comma in original option E was misplaced.
This way is correct: . . . strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are . . .
I've been under the weather and not well enough to work, otherwise I'd have checked the threads.
I apologize for the confusion.

THE PROMPT

A primary objective of the rivalry between great powers in Southern Africa is the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.

THE OPTIONS

Quote:

A) the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are

• IDIOM → "ability TO"
-- something or someone has the ability TO do something
• [ability] of access and of block are not parallel.
-- as a noun in this context, block is not grammatical, but that facts stems mostly from "of."
Eliminate A

Quote:

B) the ability to access or block it to strategic metals, such as cobalt,

• the word IT is fatal error
-- no logical antecedent exists
-- "to block it to strategic metals" is nonsensical
Eliminate B

Quote:

C) the ability of either having or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, that are

• ability OF is not idiomatic
• even if this sentence said "ability to," it would be ungrammatical.
-- In C, we begin to see that "ability" is fairly redundant.
-- even if (C) said, "ability to," it would be incorrect.
-- wrong: the ability to either having or blocking access to strategic metals supplies
Eliminate C

Quote:

D) either access or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, [important in formulas . . .]

• we are allowed to have a short phrase, such as cobalt, intervene. The phrase is a little clunky, but not outright wrong.
• On the other hand, important in formulas . . . . should modify metals or strategic metals, not supplies
-- supplies are important in those formulas, but supplies of what? Supplies of strategic metals.
-- compare to (E). to have [access to] and to sounds exactly like what we need.

Quote:

E) either to have or to block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are

• correct. "Ability of" is not included [even though the word is present in (A)] and that fact is fine. (E) makes sense and is grammatical
• a primary objective .is . .either to have or to block access to supplies . . .
That setup works. The countries have an objective that is strategic
-- the appositive in the non-underlined portion of the sentence . . . important in formulas for producing high-performance steel clearly modifies metals

The answer is E

COMMENTS

I am impressed by the discussion. My misplaced comma in option E understandably created a lot of confusion,
but everyone handled the confusion well. I will answer individual queries that I see in posts in a day or two.

My apologies, and kudos to all.

zhanbo · Answer

Thanks for the question. My first pass did not render a satisfactory option. So I have to try again and chose  (D)  as my answer.

(A) 1. Should use "the ability  to do ". 2. "that are" should be "which are"
(B) "It" in "block it to strategic metals" lacks clear antecedent.
(C) 1. Should use "the ability  to do ". 2. "that are" should be "which are"
(D) At first, I did not consider "access" and "blocking access" to be in parallel. But after I ran out choices, I came to terms with such construct.
(E) The use of "such as cobalt that are," is totally wrong in its use of comma right after are.

So, D it is.

ParamjitDasGMAT · Answer

This is a pretty tricky question and one in which none of the options "sound" natural.

Let us start with the preposition-based idioms. "Ability" requires the preposition "to" when associated with action - "ability + TO DO+  " is the correct construction. This eliminates A and C.

B - This is the best "looking" option - "access" or "block" are in parallel; however; the pronoun "it" should refer to "access", but "to access" is present as an infinitive verb and cannot be referred to by using a pronoun. Eliminate

Between D and E -

The modifier "such as cobalt" should be offset by two commas. This is incorrect in E - "that are..." should be outside the comma. Eliminate E

This leaves us with D as the best answer.

joohwangie · Answer

A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Africa is  the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are  important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.

A) the  ability of  access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are  -- "ability to"

B) the ability to access or  block it to  strategic metals, such as cobalt,

C) the  ability of  either having or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, that are  -- "ability to"
 
D) either access or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt,

E) either to have or to block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt  that are,

Therefore, D

JonShukhrat · Answer

As a noun,  access  is an abstract noun, and an abstract noun can be parallel to simple gerund, such as  blocking access . So  access  and  blocking access  are parallel. Below is a similar OG problem:

Recently implemented "shift-work equations"... have reduced  sickness ,  sleeping  on the job, and  fatigue …

Two abstract nouns, such as  sickness  and  fatigue , are parallel to simple gerund  sleeping .

A.  A comma before  that  doesn’t make A incorrect. We can’t suggest that comma+that should be replaced with comma+which, because, in this case,  which  will refer to cobalt, an uncountable noun. So, we would need  which is . Actually, a comma before  that  is not wrong if that comma belongs to a modifier:  , such as cobalt,  
When that modifier and its commas are stripped out, we will have  … supplies of strategic metals that are important…

An example from  RonPurewal :  This is the book, recommended to me by my brother, that i bought at the store.

What makes A, B, and C inferior to D and E is their wording:  objective is the ability of access / to access / of having . 
Instead we can simply say:  objective is access to supplies/ to have access to supplies 
In case we aren’t aware of a correct idiom  ability to do , the above split can help us make an educated guess.

B.  The preposition   to   after  it , in  block it  to  strategic metals , hints that preceding  access  should be in a noun from, not in a verb form as it is in B.

The correct version would be: the ability to have access or block it (access)  to  strategic metals. Now  it  can refer to preceding  access  because  access  is noun.

Besides, B misses  supplies .

C.  It’s already obvious that  ability of having  is unidiomatic.

Ability of  and  ability to  can both be correct idioms, but they mean different things.  Ability of  refers to someone’s ability, as in this example:  The sprinting ability of the cheetah is unmatched.  On the other hand,  ability to  introduces the ability that is being discussed:  The ability to sprint fast is vital to the cheetah’s survival.  C uses  ability of  when it should use  ability to . Eliminate C. (examples are from MGMAT SC guide 7th edition)

More interesting split is:  strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt .  Cobalt  is an example of metal, not supply. But now  metals  is an adjective, not noun, so this reference isn’t possible. C is trying to say that  cobalt  is an example of  supply . That’s nonsensical.

We need:  supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt  in which  metals  is a noun, and  cobalt  can be an example of that noun.

D.  This choice has parallel elements such as  access  and  blocking access . However, D repeats the above mistake:  strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt .

E.   Strategic metals, such as cobalt  is superior to what we have in C and D. However,  cobalt that are  is incorrect because cobalt is uncountable. E would be much preferable option if comma came before  that are .

Shoot, I end up choosing none of the options. I hope there is a typo in E, otherwise I went wrong with my analysis of D.

Dear  generis , thank you very much for such an interesting question. I just couldn’t stop commenting on this one despite being tired out. Your comments on my analysis of D are much appreciated. No doubt, your explanations are true gems - I love them.

ccheryn · Answer

A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Africa is the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.

B) the ability to access or block it to strategic metals, such as cobalt,( modifier ,important in ............ , is not clear enough to suggest what it is modifying , hence wrong)

D) either access or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt,( modifier ,important in ............ , is not clear enough to suggest what it is modifying , hence wrong)

Now i got confused, supplies of strategic metals such as cobalt.

whether the noun phrase with supply as subject can provide examples such as cobalt. Generis has to clarify this doubt. Because this runs in all the 3 options A,C,E ( either as supplies of metals or as metallic supplies) . so i am proceeding ignoring this error.

capable of is idiomatic similarly able to or ability to is correct idiom. But idiom is a stylistic error , so lets come to it atlast.

considering this
E) either to have or to block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt that are, ( this gives wrong intended meaning, cobalt that are important in formulas for producing. Hence this option is wrong)

between C and A in which both are unidiomatic,

A) the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are ( access and block access is not parallell in A. i dont know about the usage of Of + verb. ( again generis has to clarify this doubt) i know only about of + verbing or to + verb. so for this error i am removing A. )

C) the ability of either having or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, that are
so the correct choice is C after POE. but a strange doubt

if we use either or then it means we are restricting the southern african powers to have only one of the two. actually power is power to have as many things as possible, so we are not giving them the choice of both. ie to have and to black the access to strategic metal supplies. so after choosing this option Now i am confused whether this is a major decision point.

Hi, generis, thanks

to you because of this question, i learned once again diff between either or and or, two new doubts clicked my mind of using of + verb and of using examples after noun phrases. One more fact on this question is as i already mentioned to you in the earlier post , its my friend/well wisher/guide Jonshukhrat who asked and advised me to follow you and to study your posts. This is the first time we both are posting for the same post of you . i am glad for this despite the fact that we are banking on different answer choices.

JonShukhrat " And that are can’t be which are because, in this case, which will refer to cobalt, an uncountable noun."

Hi jon, i cant understand the link between usage of which and that vis a vis countable and uncountable noun. sorry for my naive knowledge, i wud have chosen unambiguously the noun supplies even if which are is present instead of that are , due to the usage of are (plural one). where am i wrong?

to you because of this question, i learned once again diff between either or and or, two new doubts clicked my mind of using of + verb and of using examples after noun phrases. One more fact on this question is as i already mentioned to you in the earlier post , its my friend/well wisher/guide Jonshukhrat who asked and advised me to follow you and to study your posts. This is the first time we both are posting for the same post of you . i am glad for this despite the fact that we are banking on different answer choices.

JonShukhrat " And that are can’t be which are because, in this case, which will refer to cobalt, an uncountable noun." Hi jon, i cant understand the link between usage of which and that vis a vis countable and uncountable noun. sorry for my naive knowledge, i wud have chosen unambiguously the noun supplies even if which are is present instead of that are , due to the usage of are (plural one). where am i wrong?

snoep · Answer

A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Africa is the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.

Thorough read-through establishes that the problem tests modifiers and parallelism. There is a 3-2 split, so let's quickly review each option.

A) the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are
- Incorrect. The parts in blue are not parallel.

B) the ability to access or block it to strategic metals, such as cobalt,
- Incorrect. What does it do here? What is the antecedent?

C) the ability of either having or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, that are
- Contender. Let's break the highlighted pieces down:
1. The ability of having access to smth
2. The ability of blocking access to smth

The ability of is quite weird idiom, in most cases the idiom is the ability to do smth.

Strategic metal supplies, ..., that are blah-blah looks fine, too.

Let's keep it.

#1 and #2 seem to be parallel.

D) either access or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt,
- Condenter. Parallelism is questionable here. Perhaps, there should be a gerund in front of access to make it parallel to blocking access. Also, the sentence seems to have an issue if we remove such as cobalt piece, i.e. blocking access to strategic metals supplies, important in formulas blah-blah. Let's keep it.

E) either to have or to block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt that are,
- Incorrect. As zhanbo said, punctuation is ruined, making the sentence too weird. That is, such as cobalt is an example and should be highlighted with commas.

Between C and D, I choose the former.

JonShukhrat · Answer

Hi ccheryn , You are right. Explanations from generis are indeed the most comprehensive ones, full of helpful links and thorough analyses. I am always amazed at her dedication and ingenuity. If I could borrow her brain for some time…

So, if you are after creating a solid SC basis, you are definitely at the right place. 1. Now, back to your question. Take a look at the second sentence above: Explanations from generis are indeed the most comprehensive ones , full of helpful links and thorough analyses. That blue part after the comma is called an appositive modifier . This type of modifier usually gives additional information about a noun or noun phrase standing before it. In our case above, that noun is ones (explanations) . So, the sentence says that ones (explanations) are full of helpful links and thorough analyses. generis already wrote a detailed post about appositives here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/in-june-of-1 ... 49895.html China has huge supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt , important in formulas for producing high-performance steel . In this sentence, we have two appositives standing in a row. Have you figured out them already? The first appositive is such as cobalt . It gives additional information about strategic metals , by introducing an example of them. The second appositive is important in formulas for producing high-performance steel . It gives additional information about the noun standing before it - cobalt . So, cobalt is important for making high performance steel. ( Indeed, adding cobalt into steel can reduce the coefficient of friction and improve its grindability. ) So, both in B and D, there is nothing wrong with this modifier because in both cases cobalt is correctly modified. 2. Sorry for that confusion. I wrote about which vs. that because one of the posts above suggested that that are should be replaced with which are . I just decided to share my thoughts on that, and I hope the author of that post doesn’t mind. This place is for sharing thoughts and learning from each other, all in all. In short, if A looked like: …supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, which are important… then which would definitely refer to cobalt , not to metals or supplies . Hence, which are would be incorrect because cobalt is uncountable. We would need which is . It’s impossible for which to jump over another inessential modifier in the middle. Most folks try cross off what is in between commas and glue the remaining part: …supplies of strategic metals , such as cobalt, which are important… But that’s incorrect. Important: which can jump only over prepositional phrases if those phrases are noun modifiers. generis wrote about that a lot. You can also read RonPurewal here: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/foru ... ml#p104933 3. I wasn’t rooting for any answer choice. However, D has the highest probability of being correct because the second appositive correctly modifies cobalt . It’s indeed cobalt what is important in producing high-performance steel. B and D say that people are trying to get access to many or all types of strategic metals. A,C, and E say that people are trying to get access only to those strategic metals that are important in making good steel. They aren’t interested in other types.

TheNightKing · Answer

A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Africa is  the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are  important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.

A) the ability of access or of  block access  to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are -  "The ability of block access is just wrong." 
B) the ability to access or block  it  to strategic metals, such as cobalt,
C) the ability of either having or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, that are
D) either access or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt,  ability to access strategic supplies,......,important in formulas. It looks like a fragment to me. I guess the parallelism is fine though. either access to SM or blocking access to SM. 
E) either  to have  or to block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt that are,  cobalt that are is incorrect. metals that are is correct.

Wow.! This one is tricky! I am going for C.

mykrasovski · Answer

A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Africa is  the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are  important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.

Thorough read-through establishes that the problem tests modifiers and parallelism.  There is a 3-2 split, so let's quickly review each option.

A) the ability  of access  or  of block access  to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are
 - Incorrect.  The parts in  blue  are not parallel.

B) the ability to access or block  it  to strategic metals, such as cobalt,
 - Incorrect.  What does  it  do here? What is the antecedent?

C) the  ability of   either   having  or  blocking  access to  strategic metals supplies , such as cobalt,  that are 
 - Contender . Let's break the highlighted pieces down:
1. The ability of having access to smth
2. The ability of blocking access to smth

The ability of  is quite weird idiom, in most cases the idiom is  the ability to do smth .

Strategic metal supplies, ..., that are blah-blah looks fine, too.

Let's keep it.

#1 and #2 seem to be parallel.

D) either  access  or  blocking access  to strategic metals supplies,  such as cobalt, 
 - Condenter.  Parallelism is questionable here. Perhaps, there should be a gerund in front of  access  to make it parallel to  blocking access . Also, the sentence seems to have an issue if we remove  such as cobalt  piece, i.e.  blocking access to strategic metals supplies, important in formulas blah-blah . Let's keep it.

E) either to have or to block access to supplies of strategic metals,  such as cobalt  that are,
 - Incorrect.  As  zhanbo  said, punctuation is ruined, making the sentence too weird. That is,  such as cobalt  is an example and should be highlighted with commas.

Between  C  and D, I choose the former.

TestPrepUnlimited · Answer

Correct answer: D

A: Incorrect use of "block"   as a verb. "Ability of" is an incorrect idiom. 
B: No antecedent for "it." 
C: "Ability of" is an incorrect idiom. 
D: Correct
E: Incorrect placement of the modifier, "that are, ..."

amitanshumaity · Answer

A primary objective of the rivalry between great powers in Southern Africa is the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.

Meaning Analysis: A primary objective between the great powers ---> is the ability to have or block access to supplies of strategic metals, e.g cobalt
Strategic metals which are important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.

Now, when you say--> is the ability of access or of block access --> It doesn't clearly mean that the objective is to have or block access to supplies--> The meaning the author wants to communicate.

ability to access or block access renders illogical meaning and poor structure.

Next, That(I was hoping to see those) are important refers to strategic metals and not cobalt.

Choice C uses either having or blocking access which corrects the error and that(those preferred) are correctly modifies metals.

generis  I think you meant great in the original sentence. I guess it's just a typo. Also, let me know if choice C uses those or that.

IMHO C

eakabuah · Answer

Since we are talking about an objective, the purpose is explicit.   Ability to + verb   is better than   ability of + gerund  . Based on this, option C can be eliminated.

Ability of   is unidiomatic. The right form should be  ability to . Options A and C can also be eliminated on this basis.

Option B can be eliminated because the pronoun   it   does not have any logical antecedent in the sentence.

Option E: A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Africa is either to have or to block access to supplies of strategic metals,   such as cobalt that are,   important in formulas for producing high-performance steel. There is a punctuation error in option E. The placement of the comma should have come after  such as cobalt  in order for option E to be correct.  such as  introduces an example or examples. The usage of  that are  suggests  cobalt  is being modified, but that is not the case. In any case, if cobalt is being modified by  that are , then there is a subject-verb agreement error, considering cobalt is a singular noun in this context. We can, therefore, eliminate option E as well.

Option D is the best option out of the lot. A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Africa is either access or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, that are important in formulas for producing high-performance steel. The non-essential modifier   such as cobalt   rightly modifies   metals supplies  . In addition the essential that clause modifier:   that are important in formulas for producing high-performance steel   rightly modifies   metals supplies  .

LalitaSiri · Answer

A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Africa is the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.

A)  the ability of  access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are -  the ability to

B) the ability to access or block  it  to strategic metals, such as cobalt,  incorrect which antecedent does it refers to ?

C)  the ability of  either having or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, that are -  the ability to

D) either access or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, -- access or blocking access is not parallel and is awkward

E) either to have or to block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt  that are , -- to have or to block is a correct parallelism, and cobalt that are important... is correct

Therefore E is the correct answer choice

ccheryn · Answer

thanks jon, now it is turning into a cliche, but sorry no other words to express it,

in your single post i got 3 eternal take aways

first  usage of appositives , now i am clear how to use appositives at the end and how it modifies only the noun nearby.

second  usage of which  that it cannot jump the modifiers in between

third, how the verb after the which turns into a important decision maker vis a vis noun it modifies earlier ( i will look for countable or uncountable from here on that too especially uncountable ending with s. such as acoustics classics logistics politics aerobics economics mathematics statistics aerodynamics electronics mechanics thermodynamics aeronautics genetics obstetrics athletics linguistics physics) .

its fun learning gmat, if somebody has a friend like u.

Shishou · Answer

The answer has to be D

A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Africa is the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.

A) the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are  The construction the ability of access is wrong

B) the ability to access or block it to strategic metals, such as cobalt,  The only possible antecedent for it is the rivalry and that does not make sense

C) the ability of either having or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, that are Once again, the ability of is used here

D) either access or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt,  The structure is parallel.The objective is access and if a nation can not get access, the objective is blocking access to these materials

E) either to have or to block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt that are, Yh, this is definitely wrong. The placement of the comma after "are " is a problem. Secondly,that seems to modify cobalt when we want it to modify supplies of strategic materials

Raxit85 · Answer

Imo D.

A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Africa is  the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are  important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.

A) the  ability of  access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are - Correct idiom is X is able (ability) to do Y. Here, the wrong idiom is used, hence incorrect.

B) the ability to access or block  it  to strategic metals, such as cobalt, - One major error is missing an important word, i.e. supplies. In addition to that, pronoun it does not have any reference noun in the sentence. Hence, it's vauge pronoun in the sentence.

C) the  ability of  either having or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, that are - - Correct idiom is X is able (ability) to do Y. Here, the wrong idiom is used, hence incorrect.

D) either access or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, - In the sentence, the parallelism is maintained as access and blocking both act as noun. Besides, abstract noun is used in the last part of the sentence which modifies strategic metal supplies. Seems ok, so hold it

E) either to have or to block access to supplies of strategic metals,  such as cobalt that are,   - Subject verb agreement error as that refers to the cobalt, which is singular.

QuantMadeEasy · Answer

A) the  ability of access  or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are : ability of is incorrect

B) the ability  to access or block  it to strategic metals, such as cobalt,: Meaning not clear

C) the ability of either having or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, that are : Correct

D)  either access or blocking  access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt,: Not parallel

E) either  to have or to block access  to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are,: not parallel

C is correct

generis · Answer

I have posted the official explanation  HERE

A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Af

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A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Af

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