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555-605 Level|   Comparisons|   Grammatical/Rhetorical Construction|   Meaning/Logical Predication|   Modifiers|                                    
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Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the sa 27 Feb 2022, 21:58
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Nonie94
Hi AjiteshArun ,GMATNinja, KarishmaB,AndrewN, GMATGuruNY,

In Option E, doesn't the clause "certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the same place" modify "one reason"? Wont it be wrong meaning wise for the clause to modify one reason.

Thanks
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Hi Nonie94,

There are many ways we can use the noun reason. We can use a noun after reason for, reason behind, and reason of. We can even go with reason being (though that structure may be considered awkward). Then there's reason to, which is followed by the plain form of the verb.

We may also, as in option E, use a subject-verb pair directly after reason, because the that after reason is understood.

1. ... the reason (that) + {subject} + {verb}

We see this with reason why as well.

2. ... the reason (why) + {subject} + {verb}

In (1) and (2), we can drop that/why. As AndrewN points out, this (dropping that) is fairly common.

But I see from your post that you may be interested in taking a meaning call here. "One reason (that) certain pesticides can become ineffective" means that we're looking at one reason for something, but there may be other reasons for that thing.
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Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the sa 01 May 2022, 06:09
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Hello Experts,
I want your thoughts about this,
let me cut the details and put it simply!
In A, as per our intended meaning, pesticides are ineffective, if.... (effect), because of a reason that is the finding ...(cause)
I think D and E,
the meaning is different,
It says,
the finding.... is because of one reason i.e pesticides are used repeatedly!

reversing a cause effect relationship is not always true.
one direction can have one reason but reverse can have other reasons.

I don't know i'm not convinced.
this was a reason I eliminated D and E!
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Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the sa 01 May 2022, 06:33
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dcoolguy
Hello Experts,
I want your thoughts about this,
let me cut the details and put it simply!
In A, as per our intended meaning, pesticides are ineffective, if.... (effect), because of a reason that is the finding ...(cause)
I think D and E,
the meaning is different,
It says,
the finding.... is because of one reason i.e pesticides are used repeatedly!

reversing a cause effect relationship is not always true.
one direction can have one reason but reverse can have other reasons.

I don't know i'm not convinced.
this was a reason I eliminated D and E!
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The meaning of the original version is not special. So, you shouldn't eliminate choices just because the meanings they convey are not the same as the meaning conveyed by the original version. So, "different meaning" is not a reason to eliminate (D) and (E).
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Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the sa 01 May 2022, 07:20
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dcoolguy
Hello Experts,
I want your thoughts about this,
let me cut the details and put it simply!
In A, as per our intended meaning, pesticides are ineffective, if.... (effect), because of a reason that is the finding ...(cause)
I think D and E,
the meaning is different,
It says,
the finding.... is because of one reason i.e pesticides are used repeatedly!

reversing a cause effect relationship is not always true.
one direction can have one reason but reverse can have other reasons.

I don't know i'm not convinced.
this was a reason I eliminated D and E!
Show more

Hello dcoolguy,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, it would be more accurate to say that D and E are incorrect because they convey illogical meanings, as we have detailed here, rather than meanings that are simply different from the original.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the sa 25 Oct 2022, 02:01
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I totally hate this question, and generally start cursing uncontrollably when my students miss it. But I'm cursing at the question -- NOT my students -- because I think the question is ridiculous.

But as usual: the GMAT doesn't really care what any of us think. Let's solve this SOB.

Quote:
(A) Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the same place；one reason is suggested by the finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals.
"One reason is suggested by the finding..." Seriously, GMAT? Who the hell writes like that?!

But remember our two-step technique from the SC Guide for Beginners: eliminate DEFINITE errors first, then look for meaning issues. I don't think that this muddy mess is DEFINITELY wrong. The semicolon correctly separates two independent clauses, and the comparison seems OK.

"One reason is suggested by the finding" is awkward and wordy, in my opinion. But that's just my opinion, and my opinion doesn't matter -- and no matter how awesome you are, neither does yours.

Keep (A), perhaps while holding your nose.

Quote:
(B) If used repeatedly in the same place，one reason that certain pesticides can become ineffective is suggested by the finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals.
I'm comfortable getting rid of this one right away, because of that very first phrase: "if used repeatedly in one place" would need to be followed by "pesticides," not "one reason." (B) is out.

Quote:
(C) If used repeatedly in the same place，one reason certain pesticides can become ineffective is suggested by the finding that much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes are found in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than those that are free of such chemicals.
(C) has the same issue as (B), plus that comparison seems a little bit off: "much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes are found in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than those that are free of such chemicals." "Than those" would be better if it said "than in those." (C) is out.

Quote:
(D) The finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals is suggestive of one reason, if used repeatedly in the same place, certain pesticides can become ineffective.
This isn't horrible, to be honest. Well... actually, yeah it is, but so is (A). I don't think there's a DEFINITE error in (D), but the placement of "if used repeatedly in one place" is definitely suspect: it sounds like "one reason" is the thing that is used repeatedly in the same place. You basically have to re-read the whole thing to figure out that it's the pesticides that are used in one place.

More generally, I think you could make a (not super-convincing) argument that the sentence is so horrendously wordy that you lose track of the subject. "The finding (blah blah blah....) is suggestive of one reason...." In general, please be really careful with this sort of thing. Frankly, (A) is pretty wordy, too; (D) is arguably wordy enough that the meaning become unclear. That's a judgment call, and that's really not the way you want to think about SC, but it maybe adds a little bit of support to the idea that (A) is better than (D).

If you wanted to be conservative, you could keep (D), but I think that the modifier placement issue definitely tilts us toward (A). So (D) is out.

Quote:
(E) The finding of much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in those that are free of such chemicals suggests one reason certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the same place.
I actually really like the placement of "if used repeatedly in the same place" here. And I think we can make a similar (weak!) case about "wordiness" as in (D): there's a whole lot of stuff between the subject and the verb, and that makes things muddy. But again: you shouldn't be terribly convinced by arguments about "wordiness", and we should try to find something that's more solid, relating to either grammar or meaning.

And here's the big issue: "the finding of much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes..." We're really not talking about the "finding of microbes" -- that would refer to the act of seeing the microbes themselves. The "reason" that we're interested in is the finding that there are larger populations of microbes in some soils than in others.

And I know: that's subtle as all hell, but it definitely makes the meaning in (E) a little bit illogical. So we're left with a steaming pile of poo, otherwise known as answer choice (A).
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(E) The finding (Subject) of much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in those that are free of such chemicals (Mod in red) suggests (Main Verb) one reason certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the same place.

Hi GMATNinja

I have question in option E. After the main verb "Suggests", we have a noun 'One reason' followed by an IC "certain pesticides can become ineffective" without any 'Preposition' or 'That' linking the previous noun. Is this construction gramitically correct? Will it not make 2 IC in 1 sentence ?
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Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the sa 28 Oct 2022, 11:15
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Honestly, It took me 5 minutes to solve this question and I don't think it should be a medium-level question. It's one difficult SOB.
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Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the sa 08 Nov 2022, 06:48
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egmat

Hi Aris,

Let's once gain begin from the beginning. Let's understand the meaning of the original sentence Choice A:

Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the same place; one reason is suggested by the finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals.

First let us understand what is this "finding". The "finding" is that "certain pesticides can become ineffective if they are used regularly in the same place". The part after the semicolon in the sentence then elaborates on one of the reasons of this finding.

With this understanding, let's now analyze Choice E:

The finding of much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in those that are free of such chemicals suggests one reason certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the same place.

In this sentence, the meaning is distorted because now the sentence says "much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in those that are free of such chemicals" have been found. This has been said to be the "finding". Is this the same meaning that we got from the original sentence?

The finding is that certain pesticides can become ineffective. And then the reason has been mentioned. But per choice E, now the finding itself has changed. And this is why this choice is incorrect.

Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
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egmat

Thank you for your helpful explanation. Unfortunately, I am still confused :(
How do you know to preserve the meaning of the original sentence vs. what choice E is mentioning? I still don't really see that much of a difference and find it difficult to know what the author truly intended. Thank you again.
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Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the sa 18 Jan 2023, 08:09
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Traj201090
I have question in option E. After the main verb "Suggests", we have a noun 'One reason' followed by an IC "certain pesticides can become ineffective" without any 'Preposition' or 'That' linking the previous noun. Is this construction gramitically correct? Will it not make 2 IC in 1 sentence ?
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Sorry for the delay in responding to this one!

Let's start with a similar example:

    "One reason Tim loves spicy food is the burning sensation in his digestive tract."

There's an implied "that" before "Tim" ("One reason THAT Tim loves..."). Would the meaning be more clear if we add a "that"? Maybe. Is it wrong to omit "that" in this situation? Probably not.

Similarly, having a "that" after "reason" in (E) might make the meaning a bit clearer ("one reason THAT certain pesticides can become ineffective..."). Is (E) automatically wrong because of the missing "that"? Probably not. But does this give us another tiny vote in favor of (A) over (E)? Sure!
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Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the sa 22 Feb 2023, 05:34
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hi Chiranjeev, egmat, egmat

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dear experts, I crossed off A because "one reason is suggested by the finding that ...", I'm not sure whether the that clause refers/modifies to the reason or the finding, I think it is ambiguous,

appreciate your clarify,

thanks in advance.
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Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the sa 02 Mar 2023, 06:15
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daagh
(A) Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the same place; one reason is suggested by the finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals. --- Can't lay hands on this choice. The topic is split with a semicolon, a sensible thing to do in such cases.

(B) If used repeatedly in the same place, one reason that certain pesticides can become ineffective is suggested by the finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals. -----The participial modifier - If used repeatedly- should modify pesticides and not one reason

(C) If used repeatedly in the same place, one reason certain pesticides can become ineffective is suggested by the finding that much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes are found in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than those that are free of such chemicals. -----------The participial modifier - If used repeatedly- should modify pesticides and not one reason

(D) The finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals is suggestive of one reason, if used repeatedly in the same place, certain pesticides can become ineffective.----- The sentence is a run –on. The second part of the topic, going after - if used repeatedly – is dangling loosely without a connector such as that or a semicolon. Hence, wrong

(E) The finding of much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in those that are free of such chemicals suggests one reason certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the same place---- As in D, a connector as –that- is essential between reason and certain.
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I think your explanation is the best, thank you.
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Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the sa 18 Apr 2023, 07:06
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hi Chiranjeev, egmat, egmat

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KarishmaB

hi experts, I am a little confused about whom the that clause modifiers.
Quote:
Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the same place; one reason is suggested by the finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals
Show more

Does the that clause modify the finding or one reason, I did not get answer from the whole thread.

if modifies finding, then the sentence will be one reasons is suggested, suggest what ? do you think this is not a complete meaning clause?
if modifies one reason, then what finding is ?

any experts can help?
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Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the sa 18 Apr 2023, 20:20
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zoezhuyan
hi experts, I am a little confused about whom the that clause modifiers.
Quote:
Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the same place; one reason is suggested by the finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals

Does the that clause modify the finding or one reason, I did not get answer from the whole thread.

if modifies finding, then the sentence will be one reasons is suggested, suggest what ? do you think this is not a complete meaning clause?
if modifies one reason, then what finding is ?
Show more
Hi zoezhuyan,

That that-clause modifies the noun finding. But first, let's take a quick look at is suggested. There are two things to keep in mind here. Firstly, is suggested is passive, and secondly, suggest in this context does not mean ~propose or ~recommend. Instead, it means ~indicate.

1. The doctor suggested that the patient seek a second opinion. ← The doctor recommended that the patient seek a second opinion.

2. Research suggests that red meat and processed foods cause cancer. ← This suggests doesn't mean recommends. It means ~indicates.

Now let's take a look at the clause in the question.

3. one reason is suggested by the finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals

This clause looks like this: one reason is suggested by {something}. That {something} is a big noun phrase, but we can read it like this:

4. one reason is suggested by {a certain finding}

Which finding? The finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals.
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Can we say option E has incorrect comparison? Comparing "the findings" to "such chemicals"
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Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the sa 08 Jun 2023, 07:43
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Danish234
Can we say option E has incorrect comparison? Comparing "the findings" to "such chemicals"
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The comparison itself isn't a problem!

(E) uses two different prepositional phrases to compare the populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in two different places: (1) in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use and (2) in those [soils] that are free of such chemicals. (This is similar to the following simple example: "Tim has more money in his software wallet than in his bank account." In this case, we're comparing the amount of money Tim has IN two different places.)

(E) does have a subtle meaning issue, as we attempted to explain here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/certain-pesticides-can-become-ineffective-if-used-repeatedly-in-the-sa-244993-40.html#p2781577

I hope that helps!
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(A) Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the same place; one reason is suggested by the finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals - No issue so far

(B) If used repeatedly in the same place, one reason that certain pesticides can become ineffective is suggested by the finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals --> If one reason is used repeatedly? Doesnt make any sense, out.

(C) If used repeatedly in the same place, one reason certain pesticides can become ineffective is suggested by the finding that much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes are found in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than those that are free of such chemicals --> If one reason is used repeatedly? Doesnt make any sense, out.

(D) The finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals is suggestive of one reason, if used repeatedly in the same place, certain pesticides can become ineffective --> dont like it. Missing a 'that' after 'one reason'

(E) The finding of much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in those that are free of such chemicals suggests one reason certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the same place --> dont like it. Missing a 'that' after 'one reason'
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Dear experts,

I would appreciate it if you guys could weigh in on this. I got the question down to options A and E and went with E. While I understand why E is wrong and A is correct, can someone explain the following:

A says:
Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the same place; one reason is suggested by the finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals

Why does it say larger populations of microbes in soils.........than in soils?
I was expecting the correct answer to have something along the lines of larger populations of microbes in soils.........than those in soils.

Is there any specific rule as to when to expect a those/that versus when it is automatically implied?

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Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the sa 27 Oct 2023, 05:05
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GMATNinja
I totally hate this question, and generally start cursing uncontrollably when my students miss it. But I'm cursing at the question -- NOT my students -- because I think the question is ridiculous.

But as usual: the GMAT doesn't really care what any of us think. Let's solve this SOB.

Quote:
(A) Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the same place；one reason is suggested by the finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals.
"One reason is suggested by the finding..." Seriously, GMAT? Who the hell writes like that?!

But remember our two-step technique from the SC Guide for Beginners: eliminate DEFINITE errors first, then look for meaning issues. I don't think that this muddy mess is DEFINITELY wrong. The semicolon correctly separates two independent clauses, and the comparison seems OK.

"One reason is suggested by the finding" is awkward and wordy, in my opinion. But that's just my opinion, and my opinion doesn't matter -- and no matter how awesome you are, neither does yours.

Keep (A), perhaps while holding your nose.

Quote:
(B) If used repeatedly in the same place，one reason that certain pesticides can become ineffective is suggested by the finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals.
I'm comfortable getting rid of this one right away, because of that very first phrase: "if used repeatedly in one place" would need to be followed by "pesticides," not "one reason." (B) is out.

Quote:
(C) If used repeatedly in the same place，one reason certain pesticides can become ineffective is suggested by the finding that much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes are found in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than those that are free of such chemicals.
(C) has the same issue as (B), plus that comparison seems a little bit off: "much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes are found in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than those that are free of such chemicals." "Than those" would be better if it said "than in those." (C) is out.

Quote:
(D) The finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals is suggestive of one reason, if used repeatedly in the same place, certain pesticides can become ineffective.
This isn't horrible, to be honest. Well... actually, yeah it is, but so is (A). I don't think there's a DEFINITE error in (D), but the placement of "if used repeatedly in one place" is definitely suspect: it sounds like "one reason" is the thing that is used repeatedly in the same place. You basically have to re-read the whole thing to figure out that it's the pesticides that are used in one place.

More generally, I think you could make a (not super-convincing) argument that the sentence is so horrendously wordy that you lose track of the subject. "The finding (blah blah blah....) is suggestive of one reason...." In general, please be really careful with this sort of thing. Frankly, (A) is pretty wordy, too; (D) is arguably wordy enough that the meaning become unclear. That's a judgment call, and that's really not the way you want to think about SC, but it maybe adds a little bit of support to the idea that (A) is better than (D).

If you wanted to be conservative, you could keep (D), but I think that the modifier placement issue definitely tilts us toward (A). So (D) is out.

Quote:
(E) The finding of much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in those that are free of such chemicals suggests one reason certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the same place.
I actually really like the placement of "if used repeatedly in the same place" here. And I think we can make a similar (weak!) case about "wordiness" as in (D): there's a whole lot of stuff between the subject and the verb, and that makes things muddy. But again: you shouldn't be terribly convinced by arguments about "wordiness", and we should try to find something that's more solid, relating to either grammar or meaning.

And here's the big issue: "the finding of much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes..." We're really not talking about the "finding of microbes" -- that would refer to the act of seeing the microbes themselves. The "reason" that we're interested in is the finding that there are larger populations of microbes in some soils than in others.

And I know: that's subtle as all hell, but it definitely makes the meaning in (E) a little bit illogical. So we're left with a steaming pile of poo, otherwise known as answer choice (A).
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Hey GMATNinja, KarishmaB, AjiteshArun , a little help here.
In D: the phrase 'if used repeatedly in the same place' can modify 'certain pesticide' that comes in later sentence. Also to me, it seems better to me meaning wise than A, wherein 'one reason is suggested by' phrase didn't made any sense to me, and hence I rejected it.
Please help me in A vs D.
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AjiteshArun
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GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
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Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the sa 28 Oct 2023, 19:04
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rickyric395
Hey GMATNinja, KarishmaB, AjiteshArun , a little help here.
In D: the phrase 'if used repeatedly in the same place' can modify 'certain pesticide' that comes in later sentence. Also to me, it seems better to me meaning wise than A, wherein 'one reason is suggested by' phrase didn't made any sense to me, and hence I rejected it.
Please help me in A vs D.
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Hi rickyric395,

I agree that if used... could modify certain pesticides, but option D doesn't make it clear that it does. This means that option D is ambiguous. Option A doesn't have this particular problem, and so it is better than D.

As for "one reason is suggested by...", have a look at this post.
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Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the sa 08 Jan 2024, 20:00
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I've seen a few people here writing that E is wrong because of a comparison or parallelism mistake. I think E works in regards of that.

Those refers to soils. Seems fine
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