Consulting companies and other professional services groups, law firms

Question

Consulting companies and other professional services groups, law firms, and research divisions often have informal talent powerhouses  where senior partners strive to identify the best partners junior to them and the best junior partners compete for the projects that they find most rewarding.

A) where senior partners strive to identify the best partners junior to them and the best junior partners compete for the projects that they find most rewarding.

B) in which senior partners strive and identify the best junior partners and the best junior partners compete for the projects that they find most rewarding.

C) where senior partners strive to identify the best junior partners and the best junior partners compete for the most rewarding projects.

D) that enable senior partners to strive and identify the best junior partners and the best junior partners compete for the most rewarding projects.

E) in which senior partners strive to identify the best junior partners and the best junior partners compete for the most rewarding projects.

Rock750 · Accepted Answer

Hi,
A and C are out because the improper use of "where"  
B is out because the use of they at "that they find most rewarding" is ambiguous ( it can refer to best junior partners OR senior partners OR ...)
D is wrong because of "to strive and identify" ; the correct idiom is : strive to .. and the use of the extra verb enable makes the sentence wordy

So, we are left wih E

emmak · Answer

Consulting companies and other professional services groups, law firms, and research divisions often have informal talent powerhouses  where senior partners strive to identify the best partners junior to them and the best junior partners compete for the projects that they find most rewarding. 
A)  where  senior partners strive to identify the best partners junior to them and the best junior partners compete for the projects that  they  find most rewarding. - 
 WHERE is used to refer to a location but in this sentence powerhouse is not a real location. THEY is ambiguous as it can refer either to Senior partner or Junior partners.

B) in which senior partners strive  and  identify the best junior partners and the best junior partners compete for the projects that  they  find most rewarding. - 
 Use of AND is incorrect. THEY is ambiguous as it can refer either to Senior partner or Junior partners.

C)  where  senior partners strive to identify the best junior partners and the best junior partners compete for the most rewarding projects. 
 - WHERE is used to refer to a location but in this sentence powerhouse is not a real location.

D)  that  enable senior partners to strive  and  identify the best junior partners and the best junior partners compete for the most rewarding projects.  - Powerhouse doesn't enable anything. Use of AND is incorrect.

E) in which senior partners strive to identify the best junior partners and the best junior partners compete for the most rewarding projects.
  - CORRECT

I hope all the errors are accounted for. If any error is left out, kindly let me know.

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WpackAlumDukeBound · Answer

Really good question Vercules, if this monster isn't 700+ I'm terrified of the questions that are. It came down to C and E for me (I'm sure most people ended up torn here). I picked C because "in which" sounds really goofy in this scenario. Most commonly (some sources I checked out after guessing C said the "forbidden" ALWAYS or ONLY) "in which" is used when there is a sense that something is being contained inside something else (like neha24 said!). For instance, "Illinois is the state in which I live."

I guess it boils down to the proper interpretation of "talent powerhouses." Is it abstract or an actual location. I took it as a location because the beginning of the sentence cited many groups coming together (the lawfirms, etc...), like a conference, which is why I went with "where" and not "in which."

I kind of flipped it around in my brain and asked these 2 questions:

Where does the striving to identify take place? At the talent powerhouses.

In which does the striving to identify take place? In the talent powerhouses...it just doesn't sound right.

C me!

kimberly87 · Answer

1. "In which" is better than "where"
2."strive to identify" instead of "strive and identify"
3." the best junior partners compete for the most rewarding projects" is more direct and clearer than "the best junior partners compete for the projects that they find most rewarding"

A)  where  senior partners strive to identify the best partners junior to them and the best junior partners compete for the projects  that they find most rewarding .
B) in which senior partners strive  and  identify the best junior partners and the best junior partners compete for the projects  that they find most rewarding .
C)  where  senior partners strive to identify the best junior partners and the best junior partners compete for the most rewarding projects.
D)  that  enable senior partners to strive  and  identify the best junior partners and the best junior partners compete for the most rewarding projects.
E) in which senior partners strive to identify the best junior partners and the best junior partners compete for the most rewarding projects. CORRECT

UJs · Answer

OA is E discussed here (click) pronoun-revision-law-firms-and-other-professional-services-groups-195166.html?fl=similar

Deepshikha007 · Answer

Where is only used for locations, so A, C are out.
As per MGMAT, it is better to use in which. Therefore, B and E make for the better case.
Coming to the second elimination, in B, the junior doctors compete for the projects "they find" most rewarding. This seems illogical as they junior and would probably not have that authority. Hence to me, E makes more sense, where simply the best junior partners compete for the most rewarding projects.

alaawaku · Answer

Isn't the formulation of the answer choices incorrect? Why do they repeat the "junior partners" ?

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

alaawaku

No, it's fine. We have two separate clauses joined with AND. "The best junior partners" is the object of the first clause and the subject of the second:

SP try to find JP.
JP compete for projects.

Put together: SP try to find JP and JP compete for projects.

Consulting companies and other professional services groups, law firms

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