According to the writings of Thorstein Veblen, the economist, the most

Question

According to the writings of Thorstein Veblen, the economist, the most reliable signal of a truly wealthy individual is his or her ability and willingness to engage in "conspicuous consumption"—to spend it in a way that is patently absurd or irrational.

(E) the economist Thorstein Veblen, the most reliable signal of true wealth is an individual's ability and willingness

(A) Thorstein Veblen, the economist, the most reliable signal of a truly wealthy individual is his or her ability and willingness

(B) Thorstein Veblen, the economist, the most reliable signal that one is truly wealthy is whether one is capable and willing

(C) economist Thorstein Veblen, the most reliable signal of one's true wealth is whether an individual is capable and willing

(D) the economist Thorstein Veblen, an individual's true wealth is most reliably signaled by their ability and willingness

(E) the economist Thorstein Veblen, the most reliable signal of true wealth is an individual's ability and willingness

blueseas · Accepted Answer

some theory: ( gmat will not test this )
 this is a special idiom.: 
 if you preface someone's name with a  noun  describing their occupation (or other word describing what that person does), WITHOUT AN ARTICLE, you DO NOT use a comma.

if there's an article, you DO use a comma.

if it's an adjective, you DO use a comma.

example: 
Jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk ... --> correct
A jazz pianist and composer, Thelonious Monk ... --> correct
Creative and original, Thelonious Monk ... --> correct

Now lets come to question:

According to the writings of Thorstein Veblen, the economist, the most reliable signal of a truly wealthy individual is his or her ability and willingness to engage in "conspicuous consumption"—to spend it in a way that is patently absurd or irrational.

(E) the economist Thorstein Veblen, the most reliable signal of true wealth is an individual's ability and willingness

if you read this then you will find that there is IT in non underlined portion.
to spend it ===> what we will spend according to this question....obviously wealth ....so we need WEALTH as a noun for the pronoun IT.
BASING THIS ERROR you can eliminate options A and B

LETS COME TO OPTIONS:

A)Thorstein Veblen, the economist, the most reliable signal of a truly  wealthy  individual is his or her ability and willingness
  WRONG . 
-- We need wealth in place of wealthy as discussed.

B)Thorstein Veblen, the economist, the most reliable signal that one is truly wealthy is whether one is capable and willing
  WRONG . 
--same as A

C)economist Thorstein Veblen, the most reliable signal of  one's  true wealth is whether an  individual  is capable and willing
  WRONG . 
--  ONE  cannot be replaced by  individual  ... one  should always be replaced by  one

D)the economist Thorstein Veblen, an individual's true wealth is most reliably signaled by  their  ability and willingness
  WRONG . 
-- their == plural and individua = singular...pronoun number error.

E)the economist Thorstein Veblen, the most reliable signal of true wealth is an individual's ability and willingness
  CORRECT .

HENCE   E

KyleWiddison · Answer

Good find on the pronoun 'it' in the non-underlined portion of the sentence toward the end. Pronouns (particularly the ones after the underlined portion) usually go unnoticed along with the associate eliminations (A & B here).

I'll add an elimination here on answer choices B & C  . B and C say "is capable and willing to engage". Willing to engage is idiomatic, but capable to engage is not idiomatic - the proper idiom would be "capable of", but then you would have to change "to engage" to "engaging".

KW

finair · Answer

The correct answer is E

A,B,C - We need the article 'The', we are specifying a particular person here.
D- Their is plural. It's would have been appropriate.
E- Correctly states the sentence and removes the need of a pronoun.

bigge2win · Answer

How would you know that the pronoun "it" does not refer to a different noun (signal, ability, or willingness) in the previous clause of (E)? Of course logically, the pronoun shouldn't refer to anything else besides "wealth" as the antecedent, but structurally, it's not clear to me what the antecedent of the "it" is in the choice (E).

Sreyoshi007 · Answer

Official Explanation by Manhattan Prep   :

This sentence describes an assertion from the writings of the economist Thorstein Veblen: namely, that individual wealth is most reliably signaled by the ability and willingness to engage in "conspicuous consumption," a concept that the sentence then defines.
 
(A) The pronoun it in the phrase spend it in a way should logically refer to wealth or money; however, no such noun exists in the sentence (wealthy is an adjective).
 
(B) The pronoun it in the phrase spend it in a way should logically refer to wealth or money; however, no such noun exists in the sentence (wealthy is an adjective). 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. Finally, in the parallel structure capable and willing to engage, the idiom willing to + verb is acceptable, but the idiom capable to + verb is not (the sentence should say capable of engaging).
 
(C) The shift from one's to an individual is unacceptable; it illogically suggests that the person possessing the wealth is not necessarily the same person who engages in "conspicuous consumption." 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. Finally, in the parallel structure capable and willing to engage, the idiom willing to + verb is acceptable, but the idiom capable to + verb is not (the sentence should say capable of engaging).
 
(D) The plural pronoun their cannot refer to the singular noun an individual's.
 
(E) CORRECT. This sentence contains the singular noun wealth, which serves as a logical antecedent for it. Both ability and willingness combine idiomatically with to + verb.

Lullaby18 · Answer

According to the writings of .... 
(A) Thorstein Veblen,  the economist , the most reliable signal of a truly wealthy individual is his or her ability and willingness
"the economist" would mean that the writings are the economist

(B) Thorstein Veblen, the economist, the most reliable signal that one is truly wealthy is whether one is capable and willing
"the economist" would mean that the writings are the economist

(C)  economist Thorstein Veblen , the most reliable signal of one's true wealth is whether an individual is capable and willing
Would mean that Throstein is an economical person, change the meaning.

(D)  the economist Thorstein Veblen , an individual's true wealth is most reliably signaled by  their  ability and willingness
Their is no correct for individual´s

(E)  the economist Thorstein Veblen,  the most reliable signal of true wealth is an individual's ability and willingness
 Correct Answer (E)

KaranB1 · Answer

OE

This sentence describes an assertion from the writings of the economist Thorstein Veblen: namely, that individual wealth is most reliably signaled by the ability and willingness to engage in "conspicuous consumption," a concept that the sentence then defines.
 
(A) The pronoun it in the phrase spend it in a way should logically refer to wealth or money; however, no such noun exists in the sentence (wealthy is an adjective).
 
(B) The pronoun it in the phrase spend it in a way should logically refer to wealth or money; however, no such noun exists in the sentence (wealthy is an adjective). 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. Finally, in the parallel structure capable and willing to engage, the idiom willing to + verb is acceptable, but the idiom capable to + verb is not (the sentence should say capable of engaging).
 
(C) The shift from one's to an individual is unacceptable; it illogically suggests that the person possessing the wealth is not necessarily the same person who engages in "conspicuous consumption." 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. Finally, in the parallel structure capable and willing to engage, the idiom willing to + verb is acceptable, but the idiom capable to + verb is not (the sentence should say capable of engaging).
 
(D) The plural pronoun their cannot refer to the singular noun an individual's.
 
(E) CORRECT. This sentence contains the singular noun wealth,

draftpunk · Answer

Is " the economist Thorstein Veblen " actually correct in (E)? Wouldn't " economist Thorstein Veblen " be more appropriate?

What about this example:
The books of the author Mark Twain...
The books of author Mark Twain...

Thanks

AndrewN · Answer

Hello again,  costcosized . What you are asking about is a restrictive appositive phrase, and the article  the  is often omitted for brevity as an understood element (to mean  the one and only person known as... ). Note that such an omission is more common in American English than in its British counterpart, at least as far as Richard Dawkins,   British author and wordsmith, is concerned. I have written at length about the topic in another post,  here . I hope you find it helpful. And to touch on your Mark Twain example, I would opt for the latter, but then again, I am American, so the second option sounds more natural to my ear.

- Andrew

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

This question is based on Pronoun Usage and Construction.

If we do a vertical scan of the options, we see that Options A and B begin with the noun, “Thorstein Veblen”, followed by the appositive phrase. Options C, D, and E begin with the appositive phrase, followed by the name. While this is not a clear choice, the appositive phrase followed by the name is idiomatically more appropriate.

The sentence, however, does give us a clear link if we notice the pronoun ‘it’ in the non-underlined portion at the end of the sentence. The last part of the sentence is a modifier that explains what ‘conspicuous consumption’ is. So, the antecedent of the pronoun ‘it’ would be ‘wealth’ as it is wealth that can be ‘spent’. This antecedent must be present in the underlined portion.

In Option A, the only possible antecedent of the pronoun is ‘wealthy individual’; since an individual cannot be spent, the sentence is illogical. So, Option A can be eliminated.

In Option B, the pronoun ‘it’ would refer to the noun ‘signal’, making no sense at all. There is also an idiomatic usage error – capable and willing to engage. If we split up this phrase, we see that ‘willing’ can be followed by the infinitive ‘to engage’ but ‘capable to engage’ is incorrect. So, Option B can be eliminated.

In Option C, the pronoun ‘it’ has a logical antecedent in ‘wealth’. However, the noun ‘an individual’ cannot follow the indefinite pronoun ‘one’. So, Option C can be eliminated.

In Option D, the plural pronoun ‘their’ cannot refer to the singular antecedent ‘an individual’. So, Option D can also be eliminated.

Option E is concise and also contains the appropriate antecedent (wealth) for the pronoun ‘it’, without any other errors of pronouns. Therefore, E is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.

Sneha2021 · Answer

I chose E. A, B, C, D are out because the structures listed are not parallel grammatically.
Experts let me know if my approach is correct.

According to the writings of ....
(A) Thorstein Veblen, the economist, the most reliable signal of a truly wealthy individual is his or her ability and willingness
"the economist" would mean that the writings are the economist -
 AND - Parallel structure before and after
No parallel word for willingness
 
(B) Thorstein Veblen, the economist, the most reliable signal that one is truly wealthy is whether one is capable and willing
"the economist" would mean that the writings are the economist
" Whether one is capable" is not parallel to "willing"(Verb)
 
(C) economist Thorstein Veblen, the most reliable signal of one's true wealth is whether an individual is capable and willing
 Again "whether an individual is capable" is not parallel to "willing"(Verb)

(D) the economist Thorstein Veblen, an individual's true wealth is most reliably signaled by their ability and willingness
 "signaled by their ability" and "willingness" are not parallel

(E) the economist Thorstein Veblen, the most reliable signal of true wealth is an individual's ability and willingness
 Correct Answer (E) - ability and willingness are parallel

donaldmcdonald · Answer

AndrewN  can you please elaborate on this a little bit more?

I've read your post, but want to make sure of my understanding on the usag of Comma with Articles.

Regards

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  higuyi . To answer your query, a comma will precede an appositive phrase if that phrase comes after the noun it is modifying, regardless of whether an article ( a ,  the ) appears:

a) "Luke Skywalker ,  Jedi Knight and friend of Captain Solo."

If the appositive precedes the noun and seems to act more as a title—i.e. to introduce the one and only person known as—then it is considered restrictive information and will lack a comma:

b)   Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker went to Jabba the Hutt's palace to save his friends.

Things get more complicated when  the  is not implied, but a general article  a/an  is used instead:

c) A Jedi Knight ,  Luke Skywalker ,  went to Jabba the Hutt's palace to save his friends.

The above sentence is conveying that a Jedi Knight, one among a larger group who happens to have a particular namesake, did something. The sentence could be written with or without the second comma, depending on the meaning that was intended to be conveyed. Removing the second comma would place the emphasis on Luke Skywalker doing something, but  a Jedi Knight  would remain an appositive phrase. The sentence above also allows us to appreciate a context in which  the  is used in a less restrictive sense. I will stay a little closer to home on this one and come back from a galaxy far, far away:

d) The lottery winner ,  Mr. Smith ,  decided to take a lump sum, despite the heavier tax burden.

Why is the one and only Mr. Smith roped off by commas? The reason is that the sentence means to offer information about  the lottery winner , one who happens to have the name Mr. Smith. The sentence could just as easily be written without the commas, but now the emphasis would be on Mr. Smith  as  a lottery winner:

e)   Lottery winner Mr. Smith decided to take a lump sum, despite the heavier tax burden.

You have to use your best judgment within the context of a sentence to determine whether one comma, two commas, or no commas will be fitting if the appositive phrase appears first.

I hope that helps explain the issue more clearly. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

donaldmcdonald · Answer

Thank you very much for this wonderful explanation  AndrewN ... I mean  Bunuel

From what I understand not using the article "the" is not necessarily wrong to eliminate option C "According to the writings of economist Thorstein Veblen, ..." as it is implied

Am I correct?

AndrewN · Answer

You are correct,  hiyugi , at least about the question at hand:  the  is indeed implied. I am glad you found the explanation helpful.

- Andrew

penco · Answer

What is the correct construction to follow while prefacing the occupation with name .
Referring to official question, 
Jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk 
A jazz pianist and composer, Thelonious Monk 
Creative and original, Thelonious Monk

Is there any general rule to follow ?
What is difference between : According to the writings of Thorstein Veblen, the economist AND According to the writings of the economist Thorstein Veblen

What rule to follow here ?

penco · Answer

AndrewN  
Thanks for great info on how and when to us commas.
Pertaining to discussion, it is definitely not sufficient to eliminate a choice solely on the basis on commas and the placement of title.

Rather than finding the correct constructions by emphasizing on the meaning, Are there any constructions which are definitely wrong and choices could be eliminated right away on its basis ?

AndrewN · Answer

Glad you found it useful,  penco . I would urge you to consider meaning ahead of a strictly grammatical approach. On the GMAT™, any of your three sentences about Thelonious Monk could work, depending on the context and on what the other choices looked like. Also, the test is probably not going to toss you a freebie such as,  Thelonious Monk jazz pianist and composer...  Rather than aim to create a set of rules for each variation you could possibly encounter, you will find it much more useful to seek to apply your understanding of something to what is actually on the screen. (You can refine as often as you need to.)

- Andrew

Scuven · Answer

According to the writings of Thorstein Veblen, the economist, the most reliable signal of a truly wealthy individual is his or her ability and willingness to engage in "conspicuous consumption"—to spend it in a way that is patently absurd or irrational.

(E) the economist Thorstein Veblen, the most reliable signal of true wealth is an individual's ability and willingness

(A) Thorstein Veblen, the economist, the most reliable signal of a truly wealthy individual is his or her ability and willingness
The signal of a truly wealthy individual, the signal of an .. individual, it doesn't mean the the sign of wealth which is the main sense of the phrase. 
I'm not sure about "the economist", I think it may be not appropriate

(B) Thorstein Veblen, the economist, the most reliable signal that one is truly wealthy is whether one is capable and willing
One is wrong, use someone

(C) economist Thorstein Veblen, the most reliable signal of one's true wealth is whether an individual is capable and willing
No article before economist and one is wrong, use someone

(D) the economist Thorstein Veblen, an individual's true wealth is most reliably signaled by their ability and willingness
Their should refer to individual + be in singular form. Here it is plural and seems to refer to wealth
(E) the economist Thorstein Veblen, the most reliable signal of true wealth is an individual's ability and willingness

Correct

According to the writings of Thorstein Veblen, the economist, the most

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According to the writings of Thorstein Veblen, the economist, the most

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