Analyzing campaign expenditures, the media has had as a focus the high

Question

Source  :  GMATPrep Default Exam Pack

Analyzing campaign expenditures, the media has had as a focus  the high costs and low ethics of campaign finance, but they have generally overlooked the cost of actually administering elections, which includes facilities, transport, printing, staffing, and technology.

(A) Analyzing campaign expenditures, the media has had as a focus

(B) Analyses of campaign expenditures by the media has been focused on

(C) In analyzing campaign expenditures, the media have focused on

(D) Media analyses of campaign expenditures have had as a focus

(E) In their analysis of campaign expenditures, the media has been focusing on

AdamKnewton · Accepted Answer

I think what's cool about this question is you don't need to be 100% certain of has/have to be tempted by the right answer. The modifying clause at the beginning is made clearer, and the main verb is simplified. Stylistically, it's a much better choice.

Here's a hint on how to be sure about whether "media" is singular/plural: Do you see another singular/plural world, in the non-underlined portion of the sentence, that tells us the number of "media" as used here?

daagh · Answer

By focusing only on the number of the word ‘ media ’, a larger issue has been ignored.

C refers to ‘ media ’ as plural while D maintains the plurality by referring to the subject as  media analyses , Some may debate that it is the media that can analyse and focus and not the analyses by themselves. This is an aberrant proposition, because in any survey or study or report, it is the people behind that do the action, although we do mention that the survey reveals, study indicates and report points out and so on.

But still, can we equate  media  with  media analyses ? Logically yes, but not contextually, I suppose. The original text keeps the media as the subject. So C must be the answer for not distorting the subject.

aim730 · Answer

Can you please tell me the source as well....

gauravnagpal · Answer

hi

if you see carefully its avery old post hence the author may not be very active on the forum !!...

Guys , for a second I was confused in deciding whether the media is singular or plural word ......

So i read the question again ....see carefully in the second part it says  but they have generally overlooked

hence the question itself tells you ....once this as done then straight C ...cheers

ajit257 · Answer

Hi Adam.....you nailed it ....its the word media that led me to choose a wrong ans. I do see expenditures as plural. How do you suggest i tackle this..thanks

AdamKnewton · Answer

Again, there's another word later on that tells us whether "media" is singular or plural. Once you see this, there's no longer any question.

ajit257 · Answer

ah !..have focussed on high costs !

AdamKnewton · Answer

The clue I'm actually talking about is the pronoun "they" later in the sentence. They is plural, and it's not underlined, and it without question refers to the "media." Thus, MEDIA IS PLURAL, so if media is the subject, it must be "have."

Whenever you have a confusion over subject/verb, look for a pronoun clue; whenever you have confusion over pronoun/antecedent, look for a verb clue. It doesn't always work, but sometimes there's extra info dropped for you there!

daagh · Answer

True- the textual ‘ the media has had as a focus'  is grammatically wrong because of number disagreement.

However the issue here is whether choice D is correct. If that choice were to be discussed in an independent context, I would say it is a perfect sentence with a plural subject and a plural verb. But if the topic were a GMAT question, and if there were serious grammatical errors in choices ABCE, leaving only D as the best of the bads, then we may have to reconcile to D in spite of the distorted intent. In GMAT can you skip a question? You won't get the next question.

forevertfc · Answer

Can anyone explain why D is incorrect here?

Media can very well be either singular or plural. D takes into account the use of "they" by using a plural subject. Also, I'm not sure how it can be reasoned in good faith that "analyses" cannot focus or ignore.

I just can't see why D is the wrong option. Since media can take either a plural or singular verb, while analyses must take a plural verb, is D not the more fool proof option?

I have read everything in this thread and the MGMAT thread. The common line is that the analyses cannot "overlook" something. However, can we not say "his analysis of the problem overlooks several key factors...." Is that not a correct sentence?

sivasanjeev · Answer

Before we start looking at the options, let's do some pre-thinking and remove modifiers and prep phrases (that are not underlined)

Analyzing campaign expenditures, the  media  has had as a focus  the high costs and low ethics of campaign finance, but  they   have  generally overlooked the cost of actually administering elections,  which includes facilities, transport, printing, staffing, and technology.

Also, the  subject  of the second independent clause is  plural , and hence media must be plural.

A. Analyzing campaign expenditures, the media  has  had as a focus
 Wrong option as media is singular. Doesn't agree with the question stem.

B.  Analyses  of campaign expenditures by the media has been focus on
 they  seem to refer to  analyses . Wrong.
C. In analyzing campaign expenditures, the media have focused on
 The media have focused on X, but they have overlooked Y - perfect construction with SV agreeing in number. Also, the co-ordinating conjunction 'but' separates the independent clauses well. No issues. 
D.  Media analyses  of campaign expenditures have had as a focus
 they  refers to  media analyses  and hence this choice is wrong. How can media analyses  overlook the cost of actually administering elections  ?  So D, is wrong. 
E. In  their  analysis of campaign expenditures, the media  has  been focusing on
 SV error again

Hope this is clear.

LakerFan24 · Answer

Analyzing campaign expenditures, the media has had as a focus the high costs and low ethics of campaign finance, but they have generally overlooked the cost of actually administering elections, which includes facilities, transport, printing, staffing, and technology.

(A) Analyzing campaign expenditures, the media has had as a focus
- "media has" = incorrectly singular. hint: in the non-underlined part of the passage, "they have" -- so media = plural.

(B) Analyses of campaign expenditures by the media has been focus on
- same as "A"

(C) In analyzing campaign expenditures, the media have focused on
- correct as is

(D) Media analyses of campaign expenditures have had as a focus
- "media analyses ... have had as a focus" = awkward, wordy, and passive.

(E) In their analysis of campaign expenditures, the media has been focusing on
- same as "A"

definitely a helpful tip to pay attention to pronouns/other info that is not underlined so you can anchor what words to use in the underlined portion

kudos please if you find this helpful

Skywalker18 · Answer

Analyzing campaign expenditures, the media has had as a focus  the high costs and low ethics of campaign finance, but they have generally overlooked the cost of actually administering elections, which includes facilities, transport, printing, staffing, and technology.

(A) Analyzing campaign expenditures, the media has had as a focus - Subject-verb agreement issue -- Media is plural here -- they have..

(B) Analyses of campaign expenditures by the media has been focus on - they refers to analyses

(C) In analyzing campaign expenditures, the media have focused on - Correct

(D) Media analyses of campaign expenditures have had as a focus - parallelism issue - have had as a focus... but have overlooked...

(E) In their analysis of campaign expenditures, the media has been focusing on - Subject-verb agreement issue as A

Answer C

daagh · Answer

The intent of the question to say that the media have and not the media analyses have. D distorts the original purpose and hence is not so good as C.

ashmit99 · Answer

VeritasKarishma   AndrewN   EducationAisle

Is D incorrect because "they" would refer to "media analyses" and not "media"? And it is the media that have overlooked and not the analyses.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Thank you in advance!

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  ashmit99 . You are correct in saying that in (D),  they  refers to  analyses —the word  media  is used as an adjective to tell us about those analyses. Can analyses focus on something? I suppose they can. And can they also overlook issues? Again, I suppose that, metaphorically, this works. Although I think the proposition is a little risky, I would not eliminate (D) based on these grounds alone. Rather, it is that garbled mess at the end of the underlined portion,  have had as a focus , that convinces me to seek a cleaner alternative. I thought the same thing when I read the original sentence, even before I got to  they have  in the non-underlined portion. There is simply no reason to say that something or someone  has had as a focus  when  has focused on  is more functional and concise. To be clear, I would not dismiss the following sentence:  Analyses focused on  , but they have overlooked   . It is just that when we see a safer, clearer iteration of the sentence in (C), we have no need to wonder whether we should get behind (D).

- Andrew

KarishmaB · Answer

Also note,

We do say:
The book talks about ... 
We don't object to the fact that a book cannot actually talk. We know what the author means.

So no issues in "the analyses have focussed on" or "the analyses have overlooked".

thangvietnam · Answer

in D, " have x as a focus" is meaningless. 
I focus on this topic. correct
 I have this topic as a focus. wrong
I have this topic as my focus. correct.

so, we need "their" before "focus". but even if we add "their", the sentence is wordy. because use of verb is more concise than the use of "have+noun" or "there is+noun"

on gmat , we see some phrases such as : have +noun, take +noun, there is +noun. the verb take, have , there is, need a noun to have complete meaning. 
 all of these phrase are considered wordy and indirect than the use of only verb. see examples folloing

I will learn gmat tomorow
I will take the learning of gmat tomorow
I will join gmat class tomorow
I will have a participation of gmat class tomorow
some alient exists here
there is an alient existing here. 
I will act now
Iwill take action noun.

if we see these phrase and a choice using only verb, take the choice using verb because it is concise and direct.

Dinesh654 · Answer

Hi experts,
 
If this question had appeared on the exam, I would have doomed and wasted time.
I would have eliminated choices with "media have" and the reason is, The media, to me, sounds like a collective noun. there's no way it needs to be plural. under time pressure, I would eliminate the right choice.

So, even collective nouns can be plural?
Since, "they" is apearing in non underlined portion, It is correct. there is no question about it, but then what about the rule that collective nouns are singulare, for ex.- the company, the industry, the organisation etc etc..
also "THE" media gives me more reason to select 'has'.

ReedArnoldMPREP , this apeared on your free webinar.

Analyzing campaign expenditures, the media has had as a focus the high

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