Last visit was: 21 Apr 2026, 21:22 It is currently 21 Apr 2026, 21:22
Home
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
Back to Forum
Create Topic
   1   2 
705-805 (Hard)|   Clauses|   Pronouns|      
avatar
faat99
avatar
Joined: 12 Jul 2020
Last visit: 21 Mar 2022
Posts: 72
Own Kudos:
18
Given Kudos: 108
Location: United Kingdom
Schools: Judge '23 Said '23
GMAT 1: 690 Q49 V34
Schools: Judge '23 Said '23
GMAT 1: 690 Q49 V34
Posts: 72
Kudos: 18
According to the writings of Thorstein Veblen, the economist, the most 29 Dec 2021, 03:21
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
I contemplated between A&E, but went for A and is wrong.

My logic is GMAT focuses a lot on meaning, in my view "signal of truly wealthy individual" is not the same as "signal of true wealth", and this is exactly what is being described in this SC.

i.e. Trump could have $10bn (true wealth) but if all his assets are tied up and no free cash, he is not wealthy (ability to spend freely).

E obviously shifted meaning.
User avatar
ExpertsGlobal5
User avatar
Experts' Global Representative
Joined: 10 Jul 2017
Last visit: 21 Apr 2026
Posts: 6,216
Own Kudos:
6,163
 [2]
Given Kudos: 44
Location: India
GMAT Date: 11-01-2019
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 6,216
Kudos: 6,163
 [2]
According to the writings of Thorstein Veblen, the economist, the most 30 Dec 2021, 05:43
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
faat99
I contemplated between A&E, but went for A and is wrong.

My logic is GMAT focuses a lot on meaning, in my view "signal of truly wealthy individual" is not the same as "signal of true wealth", and this is exactly what is being described in this SC.

i.e. Trump could have $10bn (true wealth) but if all his assets are tied up and no free cash, he is not wealthy (ability to spend freely).

E obviously shifted meaning.
Show more

Hello faat99,

We hope this finds you well.

We are writing to help provide clarity on your last post.

Option A cannot be correct, as it has a clear grammatical error; the sentence formed by Option A lacks a referent for the pronoun "it" found in the non-underlined part of the sentence.

Remember, on GMAT you must look for the best answer choice, not a perfect answer choice. Although, Option E subtly shifts the meaning, Option A is wholly unsuitable, as it has a concrete grammatical error.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
User avatar
glan2023
User avatar
Joined: 11 Sep 2022
Last visit: 08 Jan 2023
Posts: 3
Given Kudos: 3
Location: India
Schools: ISB (A)
GPA: 3.78
Schools: ISB (A)
Posts: 3
Kudos: 0
According to the writings of Thorstein Veblen, the economist, the most 25 Sep 2022, 05:33
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
[quote="Sreyoshi007"]Official Explanation by Manhattan Prep :

" Whether is also illogical, suggesting that whether someone is willing or is not willing to engage in "conspicuous consumption” is a signal of wealth. Rather, someone must have both the ability and the willingness to do so."

I do not understand this specific explaination about whether, can someone explain?
User avatar
nsomayaj
User avatar
Joined: 05 Oct 2022
Last visit: 27 Jun 2024
Posts: 8
Own Kudos:
4
Given Kudos: 125
Posts: 8
Kudos: 4
According to the writings of Thorstein Veblen, the economist, the most 26 Nov 2022, 12:38
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hi egmat AjiteshArun IanStewart ExpertsGlobal5 AndrewN

I have a question regarding (E) - the most reliable signal of true wealth is an individual's ability and willingness

It says the most reliable signal ( singular) and is an individual's ability and willingness ( plural ie: 2 things). How is this right?
User avatar
IanStewart
User avatar
GMAT Tutor
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Last visit: 17 Apr 2026
Posts: 4,143
Own Kudos:
11,267
 [1]
Given Kudos: 99
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 4,143
Kudos: 11,267
 [1]
According to the writings of Thorstein Veblen, the economist, the most 27 Nov 2022, 08:58
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
nsomayaj

I have a question regarding (E) - the most reliable signal of true wealth is an individual's ability and willingness

It says the most reliable signal ( singular) and is an individual's ability and willingness ( plural ie: 2 things). How is this right?
Show more

It's possible to have plural/singular mismatches like this when the plural units are somehow inseparable. So you might say Troy and Carla are a team, where "Troy and Carla" are plural, but "a team" is singular. Sometimes we'd change the meaning by trying to force plural to match with plural, or singular to match with singular. If I said The gift I want is a canvas and a frame, that sentence suggests "canvas and a frame" are a single thing. If instead I said The gifts I want are a canvas and a frame, that suggests that the canvas and the frame are two separate things (I'm not a painter, so I don't know which of those sentences is better!).

I don't even understand the OE here (it doesn't make sense), but at least as far as the singular/plural question goes, I think the sentence is correct. I can't be completely sure, because the word "signal" here seems to be a term of art (if it isn't, I'm not sure why the sentence doesn't say "sign"), so I'm not sure what it conveys. But if the sentence used "are", so if it said, simplifying, "Signs of wealth are an ability and a willingness to spend absurdly", then half of the sentence becomes almost vacuous -- the ability to spend absurd amounts is essentially the definition of wealth, so this economist wouldn't be saying anything helpful if he described that as a sign of wealth. It's only if he is saying that someone needs to be both able and willing to spend ridiculous amounts that the sentence actually has any content. But it's still unclear to me why the sentence needs to say "willingness and ability" at all, when it could omit all of that and simply say that truly wealthy people engage in conspicuous consumption.

There are at least four other logical issues with the OE, so no answer is good here. What follows the dash is a definition of "conspicuous consumption", and if you looked that term up in a dictionary, a definition would never read "To spend it in a way that is patently absurd". The word "it" simply cannot be there; the definition is only correct if "it" is removed. It also becomes tautological, and thus pointless, to say "the sign of wealth is that someone spends it", because if someone can spend wealth, obviously they have wealth. It's like saying "the sign someone has money is that they have it". I also don't understand the underlined part of the OE; the sentence shifts from talking about "the signal of true wealth" in the abstract (which could be talking about, say society's wealth), and then starts talking about some "individual" not mentioned previously. If the sentence is trying to describe a sign that an individual is truly wealthy, it needs to start as answer A does. And you can spend money, but you can't "spend wealth" as best I can tell, but that's what the sentence says in the OE.

It really is best to stick with official Verbal questions for practice.
User avatar
ExpertsGlobal5
User avatar
Experts' Global Representative
Joined: 10 Jul 2017
Last visit: 21 Apr 2026
Posts: 6,216
Own Kudos:
6,163
 [1]
Given Kudos: 44
Location: India
GMAT Date: 11-01-2019
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 6,216
Kudos: 6,163
 [1]
According to the writings of Thorstein Veblen, the economist, the most 28 Nov 2022, 05:19
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
nsomayaj
Hi egmat AjiteshArun IanStewart ExpertsGlobal5 AndrewN

I have a question regarding (E) - the most reliable signal of true wealth is an individual's ability and willingness

It says the most reliable signal ( singular) and is an individual's ability and willingness ( plural ie: 2 things). How is this right?
Show more

Hello nsomayaj,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, the intended meaning here is that the "ability" and "willingness" are two components that collectively make up the "signal"; thus, this construction is acceptable, if a bit awkward.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
User avatar
VerbalBot
User avatar
Non-Human User
Joined: 01 Oct 2013
Last visit: 04 Jan 2021
Posts: 19,409
Own Kudos:
1,009
Posts: 19,409
Kudos: 1,009
According to the writings of Thorstein Veblen, the economist, the most 11 Dec 2023, 00:44
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot:

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

This post was generated automatically.
   1   2 
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7391 posts
AbhishekP220108
495 posts
bhanu29
358 posts