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As the etched lines on computer memory chips have become thinner and

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brianmontanaweb

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26 Apr 2022, 16:14

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bmwhype2

A breaks parallelism by placing "both" before "the power of the chips and..." making "the electronic devices they drive have..." no longer parallel with the previous phrase

C does not need "are" and has the same issue as A

D "their" could reference "computer memory chips", or "etched lines", excluding because of pronoun ambiguity

E same issue as D and A

B remains and resolves the pronoun issues. We know that "they drive" references the nouns in the conjunction before it. Parallelism is resolved with "the power of both"

Redwhite387

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29 Jan 2023, 01:28

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I understand the meaning of the sentence is taken from the original sentence (option A). For this question, can't the original sentence mean both
A. both the power of chips and the power of electronic devices
B. both the power of chips and the number of electronic devices

If B. is a possible meaning, Option E would be correct?

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29 Jan 2023, 08:00

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Redwhite387

Hi Redwhite387.

Your understanding is incorrect. The meaning of the correct version in an SC question simply has to make sense. The meaning of the correct version does not have to match the meaning of the original version, which is not a special version. All five versions are equal in importance.

KarishmaB

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30 Jan 2023, 00:10

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Redwhite387

There is no "original sentence." All options are equal.
Pick the option that makes most sense along with being grammatically correct.

That said, option (A) is not logical. Finer lines and more complex circuits would increase the power of the chips and the power of the devices.
They will not increase the number of electronic devices they drive. Technically, all "electronic" devices are driven by chips.

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30 Jan 2023, 00:49

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Hi Experts

GMATNinja KarishmaB EducationAisle ChrisLele mikemcgarry AjiteshArun egmat sayantanc2k RonPurewal DmitryFarber MagooshExpert avigutman EMPOWERgmatVerbal MartyTargetTestPrep ExpertsGlobal5 IanStewart
other experts AnthonyRitz

I don't think there is any logical or meaning problem in option A . I marked option A as answer for this question and not B because I thought option B is changing the original meaning as for me option A is correct in meaning

Why can't due to some changes in the component that is memory chips there can be increase in the electronic devices

Can someone please explain me why option A is wrong logically?

I read other experts explanation but it was not clear for me

Thanks

AnthonyRitz

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30 Jan 2023, 01:02

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Vatsal7794

Karishma nailed this one.

KarishmaB

To elaborate, the parallel structure of the "both... and..." correlative conjunction looks like this:

both
(1) the power of the chips
and
(2) the electronic devices they drive
have vastly increased

This means A says that "the electronic devices have increased." But that's ambiguous, not the point, and arguably illogical. Do you mean there are more such devices? You probably need to say "the number of electronic devices has increased." But as written, this sounds like you mean that the devices have gotten physically larger -- an illogical consequence of the chips getting thinner. So at best it's ambiguous, but at worst it's just illogical.

Plus, you know, everything Karishma said. "Original meaning" is a myth.

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30 Jan 2023, 05:43

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Vatsal7794

Hello Vatsal7794,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, the phrase “both the power of the chips and the electronic devices they drive” is ambiguous in meaning; its construction is such that it could refer to "the power of the chips" and "the electronic devices", or "the power" can be taken common for the noun phrases "the chips" and "the electronic devices", thus referring to the power of the chips and the power of the electronic devices.

Option B avoids such ambiguity through the phrase “the power of both the chips and the electronic devices they drive”.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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01 Apr 2023, 21:17

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Dear Expert,

Is it right to use a possessive apostrophe for inanimate objects?

For example:
"The chip's circuit are complex" vs "Circuits of the chips are complex"
similarly, another example -
"Respiratory system's capability" vs "Capability of the respiratory system"

Both of these pairs of examples intend to set the same context, but one of them uses a possessive apostrophe for inanimate objects.

Raman109

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As the etched lines on computer memory chips have become thinner and the chips’ circuits more complex, both the power of the chips and the electronic devices they drive have vastly increased.

Option elimination

(A) the chips’ circuits more complex, both the power of the chips and the electronic devices they drive have - "they" can refer to "the etched lines, "memory chips," and chip's circuits." How can "the etched lines and chip's circuits" increase the number of electronic devices - illogical? In the 2nd part, after "and" the "have become" is eliminated to avoid repetition (the use of ellipsis) - The important thing about Ellipsis, as "Daagh" pointed out in one of his comments - Ellipsis is resorted more for brevity (conciseness) than for anything else. But the important requirement is that the understood phrase must exist somewhere before "in" the sentence. Here, we have "have become" in the part before "and".

(B) the chips’ circuits more complex, the power of both the chips and the electronic devices they drive has - the expansion is "the chip's circuits have been more complex, the power of both the chips and the electronic devices .....has" - grammatically and logically correct.

(C) the chips’ circuits are more complex, both the power of the chips and the electronic devices they drive has - "both" - "has" - SV issue

(D) their circuits are more complex, the power of both the chips and the electronic devices they drive have - "the power" - "have" - SV issue

(E) their circuits more complex, both the power of the chips and the electronic devices they drive have - Their can refer to "the etched lines," "memory chips," or "chip's circuits" - it doesn't make sense to say "the etched lines circuits more complex." Wrong.

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