Before learning how to make a synthetic growth hormone, scientists had

Hi,
lets see the errors

1) pronoun IT..
'It' should refer to 'GROWTH HORMONE', but here ambiguously refers to 'SYNTHETIC growth hormone'
illogical in meaning, it is 'growth hormone' present in body and NOT 'synthetic growth hormone'
ONLY D and E use IT correctly

2) In E, " before....hormone" should be followed by SCIENTISTS as the clause is modifying scientists
eliminate E

D is correct as it is

"remove" is the verb that has been defined as a "painstaking" process. So, it must precede it. "painstakingly in small amounts" is not correct. A, B, C are out.
E is flawed - the modifier (sentence before the comma) should modify "the scientists".
D is correct

A,B,C are out because [it] in the second part refers to [synthetic growth hormone] - it's synthetic = artificial (not from humans bodies). D vs E - in E the same scientist had to remove it, and this makes no sense. We are left with D.

teaserbae

As far as I remember, this theory was postulated by MGMAT, which wanted to use concise style in formal writing. I do not think that is a GMAT rule or that it has much to do with grammar per se.
It says that when your are required to choose among "an active verb, an adjective and a noun," one must prefer the verb because it is more dynamic, then an adjective if it is there and then perhaps a noun that indicates the same action.( without changing the meaning)
A simple example would be
I can do it ---- uses a verb -- This is the first choice
I am capable to do it, or capable of doing it or I am able to do it. -- All these use adjective forms and are next to the verb use in the hierarchy.
I have the ability to do it or the capability to do it-- This example uses the noun form and to be preferred last.

GMAT examples

1. The ability of scientists to provide models of the atmosphere’s complex responses to changing conditions, like seasonal and daily cycles or different planetary conjunctions, have become ever more accurate.

(A) The ability of scientists to provide models of the atmosphere’s complex responses to changing conditions, like seasonal and daily cycles or different planetary conjunctions, have become ever more accurate.

(B) The ability of scientists has become ever more accurate in providing models of the atmosphere’s complex responses to changing conditions, such as seasonal and daily cycles or different planetary conjunctions.

(C) Scientists have become able to provide ever more accurate models of the atmosphere’s complex responses to such changing conditions as seasonal and daily cycles or different planetary conjunctions.

(D) Scientists have become ever more accurate in their ability for providing models of the atmosphere’s complex responses to changing conditions, like seasonal and daily cycles or different planetary conjunctions.

(E) Scientists’ ability to provide models of the atmosphere’s complex responses to such changing conditions as seasonal and daily cycles or different planetary conjunctions have become ever more accurate.

Ans C.


Some scientists have been critical of the laboratory tests conducted by the Federal Drug Administration on the grounds that the amounts of suspected carcinogens fed to animals far exceeds those that humans could consume.

A. far exceeds those that humans could consume
B. exceeds by far those humans can consume
C. far exceeds those humans are able to consume
D. exceed by far those able to be consumed by humans
E. far exceed those that humans could consume
Ans E.

Of course, there may be other reasons why other choices might be incorrect. However, one might also take into account the v-a-n convention as one more cue.

Apart from the detailed examples Daagh sir has provided,I will also quote some of the words from OG18.

Quoting a few sentences from my log(OG18)

Expectations are for prices to increase.--Here expectation is noun..
It is the expectation that prices will will increase..again more words..and expectation is noun

Better way would be..

Prices are expected to …(see expected is verb ..and its a direct/clear/concise form of addressing.)

Daagh sir,

I have a couple of queries for you.

Before is a DC marker...I know it can have an exception also like..(Before sunset.)

Here from language and context that needs to be imparted ..isn't D the only one which has subject and verb...

Also from meaning perspective..

scientists learned how to synthesize the growth hormone, it had to be painstakingly removed

This seems to make sense because it hides the doer of action --removed..who painstakingly removed --Not necessarily scientists...

rest all options are try to convey --that scientists did the action

The above reasons are apart from the VAN rule discussed and other reasons cited.

Please let me know know your thoughts on above points.

Prabsahi wrote and my comments

My comment: Yes, 'before' is a subordinate conjunction (DC marker) as well as a preposition. Here it is used as a subordinate conjunction in choices B, C, and D and as an adjectival modifier in A and E.


My comment: Nope; In the case of B, C, and D, both the subordinate clauses and the main clauses have their own subjects and verbs. But B and C express wrong meaning.
In the case of A and E where before is used as preposition, the first part is a modifier and therefore, you do not need to have a clause. All the same, the IC is a full-fledged clause in all the five choices.


My comment: yes you are right.

My comment: Yes

The above reasons are apart from the VAN rule discussed and other reasons cited.

Please let me know your thoughts on above points.

daagh I just have one confusion I understand why each option is wrong except D what I don’t understand is that since the timeline is clear as we have used “before” in the stmt doesn’t that make the use of “had” redundant or wrong?

Posted from my mobile device

Hello rohitchayal,

Although your question is not directed to me, I would like to present the answer.

Your question suggests that you think that the correct answer choice uses the past perfect tense by using had to be removed. But that is not the case. The verb had to be removed is a simple past tense verb. Let me explain how.

When has/have/had is followed by another verb in past participle form, then it acts as a perfect tense verb. For example:

• He has bought the tickets.
• He had bought the tickets.
• They have bought the tickets.

When has/have/had is not followed by any other verb, then it acts as a simple tense verb. For example:

• He has the tickets.
• He had the tickets.
• They have the tickets.

The correct answer choice of this official sentence used the verb had to be removed. Please note that had is NOT followed by a verb in its past participle form. Hence, it is a simple past tense verb.

Another point that I want to clarify for you is that in the presence of words that clarify the sequence of the actions mentioned in the sentence such as before, after, earlier, etc. doe snot make the use of past perfect tense redundant or incorrect. In the presence of such sequence clarifying words, the use of the past perfect tense verb becomes optional. For example:

I left for school before the rain started.

I had left for school before the rain started.

Both the above-mentioned sentences are correct.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

Hi GMATNinja Can you please explain what 'it' is referring to in Option D. To me, It seems it is also referring to Growth hormone.

Thanks Much

I'm assuming you're asking why "it" can logically refer to the "growth hormone" in (D), but not in (E). The problem in (E) is that "it" is preceded by the modifier, "learning how to synthesize." But it doesn't make sense to say that the "growth hormone" is learning how to do anything, let alone how to synthesize things. So we can kill (E).

In (D), "it" is preceded by a full clause, rather than an illogical modifier, so this option resolves the meaning issue we had (E). Because it's perfectly reasonable to say that the "growth hormone" had to be "painstakingly removed," we've got a viable option now.

I hope that clears things up!

Hello GMATNinja I was still confused. In A, why does “it” refer to “synthetic growth hormone” but rather “growth hormone”?
Could you clarify this issue? Much thanks.

Hello Mavisdu1017,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, the pronoun "it" cannot refer to a different version of a noun; "it" refers to the exact noun used in the sentence.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Here's a simplified version of choice (A):

"Before learning how to make [Thing X], scientists had to remove it from the pituitary glands of human cadavers."

Thing X is something that scientists learned how to make at some point in the past. BEFORE they learned how to make Thing X, they had to remove it from the pituitary glands. In this case, the pronoun ("it") clearly refers to Thing X (there are no other options).

Regardless of what we substitute for Thing X, the sentence structure doesn't change:

• In the past, the scientists would remove [something] from the glands, but now they just make it instead (where "it" refers to that same [something]).
• If they learned how to make [SGH], then we expect [SGH] to be the thing they would remove from the pituitary glands in the past (before they learned).
• Taking that one step further: if they learned how to make "synthetic growth hormone," then we expect "synthetic growth hormone" to be the thing they would remove from the pituitary glands in the past (before they learned).

In other words, the structure of the sentence suggests that the pronoun refers to the thing that scientists learned how to make, regardless of what that thing is. Sure, filling in the blank with just "growth hormone" makes more sense, but now the reader is forced to go against the structure to make things work. So at the very least, (A) makes the intended meaning unclear.

Also, if we're going to drop "synthetic" from the pronoun, why not drop "growth" too? Again, because the reader is forced to deviate from the meaning suggested by the sentence structure, we find ourselves on a slippery slope.

(D) avoids that issue altogether by replacing the modifier ("synthetic") with an infinitive ("to synthesize"). As a result, the reader no longer has to decide which modifiers to include in the pronoun reference, and that makes the intended meaning more clear and obvious.

I hope that helps!

Hi,

In this SC question, your knowledge of relating nouns and adjectives is tested.

Start by eliminating choices:

Things to keep in mind:
[*]'synthesizing growth hormone' vs 'synthetic growth hormone'
[*]learning as a continuous process of the past vs an action done already 'learned'
[*]scientists are synthesizing a version of growth hormone i.e. synthetic growth hormone, & growth hormone is removed

These things help you eliminate options A, E and then B, C from the given ones.

This is what the sentence tells us:
Before scientists learned to make growth hormones in the lab, they had to remove growth hormones in small amounts from cadavers.

(A) learning how to make a synthetic growth hormone, scientists had to remove it painstakingly
(E) learning how to synthesize the growth hormone, it had to be painstakingly removed by scientists

We start with a modifying phrase ‘before learning how to make synthetic growth hormones’ in options (A) and (E).

Who learned how to make synthetic growth hormones? Scientists.
So, we should follow the phrase with ‘scientists.’ Option (E) does not do that and hence is wrong.

(A) learning how to make a synthetic growth hormone, scientists had to remove it painstakingly
(B) scientists learned how to make a synthetic growth hormone, they removed it painstakingly
(C) scientists learned how to make a synthetic growth hormone, they had to remove it painstakingly

Recall what we learned in comparisons – we don’t use ‘it’ or ‘them’ for comparisons because they refer to the same noun as before. They don’t compare two different nouns. We use ‘that/those’ for comparisons.

Here, ‘it’ stands for ‘synthetic growth hormone.’ But that doesn’t make any sense because scientists did not remove ‘synthetic growth hormone’ from cadavers. They removed natural growth hormones from cadavers before they learned how to synthesize growth hormones in the lab. In options (A), (B) and (C), ‘synthetic growth hormone’ is the antecedent of ‘it.’ Hence, these options are incorrect.

(D) scientists learned how to synthesize the growth hormone, it had to be painstakingly removed

In option (D), ‘it’ refers to the growth hormone. This makes sense and is the correct option.

Answer (D)