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KittyDoodles
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Antarctica receives more solar radiation than does any other place on 24 Jul 2022, 22:10
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AjiteshArun
minguking
Please help me out:
I think that in "or else", "or" is a conjunction which can lead a clause with a simple comma.
Am I missing something?
I agree with you. The meaning of C is not acceptable, but the or in or else is enough to join those two parts of the sentence.
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Hi,

I was stuck between B & C and ended up choosing C. Please can you explain whats the meaning issue in C?

Thanks
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Antarctica receives more solar radiation than does any other place on 25 Jul 2022, 05:19
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KittyDoodles
AjiteshArun
minguking
Please help me out:
I think that in "or else", "or" is a conjunction which can lead a clause with a simple comma.
Am I missing something?
I agree with you. The meaning of C is not acceptable, but the or in or else is enough to join those two parts of the sentence.

Hi,

I was stuck between B & C and ended up choosing C. Please can you explain whats the meaning issue in C?

Thanks
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Hello KittyDoodles,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, Option C incorrectly implies that one of two things happens - either little of the polar ice melts during the summer or the water levels of the oceans would rise 250 feet; the intended meaning is that if the polar ice melted during the summer, the water levels of the oceans would rise 250 feet.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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Antarctica receives more solar radiation than does any other place on 06 Nov 2022, 19:06
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VeritasPrepBrian
Hello, everyone:

I'll take up the cause of "what does 'it' refer to in choice B" a little further. In B, not only does the pronoun "it" present a reference problem, but the phrase "were it to do so" also has no logical referent. Because we're already saying that "little polar ice melts", so "were it to do so" only confirms that, yes, it does melt...but we've already acknowledge that. Without a transition like "were MORE ice to melt", this phrase is illogical.

Interestingly, in Googling this question to see if I could find an official source for it, I've found an alternate version of choice B that begins:

were it NOT to do so

Even that seems dubious to me as that would also seem an illogical meaning (were little ice NOT to melt...), but the whole process makes me wonder a bit about the true wording of this question. B, as written, cannot be correct, but C doesn't look to be correct either (the "or else" is a bit of a run-on sentence). Does anyone have the original source on this one? Since there are a few versions of these answer choices out there, I wonder if the exact question is worded differently than we have it .
Show more

Hi,
I have a question regarding option C,
Why are we calling it a run-on sentence? Don't we have a conjunction 'or' to join 2 independent clauses?
Or am I missing something here?
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Antarctica receives more solar radiation than does any other place on 07 Nov 2022, 05:11
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arya251294
VeritasPrepBrian
Hello, everyone:

I'll take up the cause of "what does 'it' refer to in choice B" a little further. In B, not only does the pronoun "it" present a reference problem, but the phrase "were it to do so" also has no logical referent. Because we're already saying that "little polar ice melts", so "were it to do so" only confirms that, yes, it does melt...but we've already acknowledge that. Without a transition like "were MORE ice to melt", this phrase is illogical.

Interestingly, in Googling this question to see if I could find an official source for it, I've found an alternate version of choice B that begins:

were it NOT to do so

Even that seems dubious to me as that would also seem an illogical meaning (were little ice NOT to melt...), but the whole process makes me wonder a bit about the true wording of this question. B, as written, cannot be correct, but C doesn't look to be correct either (the "or else" is a bit of a run-on sentence). Does anyone have the original source on this one? Since there are a few versions of these answer choices out there, I wonder if the exact question is worded differently than we have it .

Hi,
I have a question regarding option C,
Why are we calling it a run-on sentence? Don't we have a conjunction 'or' to join 2 independent clauses?
Or am I missing something here?
Show more

Hello arya251294,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, you are not missing anything; Option C does not form a run-on sentence.

The error in Option C is one of meaning; the use of "or else" incorrectly implies that one of two things happens - either little of the polar ice melts during the summer or the water levels of the oceans would rise 250 feet; the intended meaning is that if the polar ice melted during the summer, the water levels of the oceans would rise 250 feet.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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arya251294
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Antarctica receives more solar radiation than does any other place on 07 Nov 2022, 19:31
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arya251294
VeritasPrepBrian
Hello, everyone:

I'll take up the cause of "what does 'it' refer to in choice B" a little further. In B, not only does the pronoun "it" present a reference problem, but the phrase "were it to do so" also has no logical referent. Because we're already saying that "little polar ice melts", so "were it to do so" only confirms that, yes, it does melt...but we've already acknowledge that. Without a transition like "were MORE ice to melt", this phrase is illogical.

Interestingly, in Googling this question to see if I could find an official source for it, I've found an alternate version of choice B that begins:

were it NOT to do so

Even that seems dubious to me as that would also seem an illogical meaning (were little ice NOT to melt...), but the whole process makes me wonder a bit about the true wording of this question. B, as written, cannot be correct, but C doesn't look to be correct either (the "or else" is a bit of a run-on sentence). Does anyone have the original source on this one? Since there are a few versions of these answer choices out there, I wonder if the exact question is worded differently than we have it .

Hi,
I have a question regarding option C,
Why are we calling it a run-on sentence? Don't we have a conjunction 'or' to join 2 independent clauses?
Or am I missing something here?

Hello arya251294,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, you are not missing anything; Option C does not form a run-on sentence.

The error in Option C is one of meaning; the use of "or else" incorrectly implies that one of two things happens - either little of the polar ice melts during the summer or the water levels of the oceans would rise 250 feet; the intended meaning is that if the polar ice melted during the summer, the water levels of the oceans would rise 250 feet.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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I don't know how I got that idea. Thanks for the clarification.
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Antarctica receives more solar radiation than does any other place on 26 Oct 2023, 07:25
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Antarctica receives more solar radiation than does any other place on Earth, yet the temperatures are so cold and the ice cap is reflective, so that little polar ice melts during the summer; otherwise, the water levels of the oceans would rise 250 feet and engulf most of the world’s great cities.

Option Elimination -

(A) is reflective, so that little polar ice melts during the summer; otherwise, - The right idiom is so (cause), that (effect). Here, the idiom is messed up, and the meaning is not as intended.

(B) is so reflective that little of the polar ice melts during the summer; were it to do so, - perfect. Right idiom structure so (cause), that (effect). Moreover, this eloquently expresses the conditional. E.g., If I were rich, I would travel around the world (Expresses a hypothetical or unreal situation in the present. In reality, the speaker is not rich).

(C) so reflective that little polar ice melts during the summer, or else - We need "is" before "so" to complete the clauses in order for it to be parallel to the clause before "and" i.e. the temperatures are so cold. Moreover, or else messes up with the meaning as if either "little polar ice melts during the summer" or "the water levels of the oceans would rise 250 feet and engulf most of the world’s great cities."

(D) reflective, so that little of the polar ice melts during the summer, or - the same issue as C We need "is" + the idiom issue. Again the meaning is messed up.

(E) reflects so that little of the polar ice melts during the summer; if it did - the idiom issue, leads to the meaning issue.
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Antarctica receives more solar radiation than does any other place on 30 Oct 2023, 20:50
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AjiteshArun Hello sir, can you please explain how to approach these questions? I really had a hard time applying the process of elimination in this question
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