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Sub 505 Level|   Parallelism|   Subject Verb Agreement|                     
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Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
AbdurRakib
Cost cutting and restructuring has allowed the manufacturing company to lower its projected losses for the second quarter, and they are forecasting a profit before the end of the year.

A. has allowed the manufacturing company to lower its projected losses for the second quarter, and they are forecasting
B. has allowed for the manufacturing company to lower its projected losses in the second quarter and to forecast
C. have allowed that the manufacturing company can lower the projected losses for the second quarter, and to forecast
D. have allowed the manufacturing company to lower its projected second-quarter losses and to forecast
E. have allowed for the manufacturing company to lower the projected losses in the second quarter, as well as forecasting

Concepts tested here: Subject-Verb Agreement + Grammatical Construction + Parallelism + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• The conjunction "and" joins singular nouns to form a plural noun phrase.
• Any elements linked by a conjunction ("and" and "as well as" in this case) must be parallel.

A: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun phrase "Cost cutting and restructuring" with the singular verb "has allowed"; please remember, the conjunction "and" joins singular nouns to form a plural noun phrase.

B: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun phrase "Cost cutting and restructuring" with the singular verb "has allowed"; please remember, the conjunction "and" joins singular nouns to form a plural noun phrase.

C: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between "that the manufacturing company can lower the projected losses for the second quarter" and "to forecast a profit before the end of the year"; remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("and" in this case) must be parallel. Further, Option C uses the needlessly wordy and indirect phrase "that the manufacturing company can lower", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

D: Correct. This answer choice correctly refers to the plural noun phrase "Cost cutting and restructuring" with the plural verb "have allowed". Further, Option D maintains parallelism between "to lower its projected second-quarter losses" and "to forecast a profit before the end of the year". Additionally, Option D is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

E: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between "to lower the projected losses in the second quarter" and "forecasting a profit before the end of the year"; remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("as well as" in this case) must be parallel.

Hence, D is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "And" versus Other Conjunctions on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
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Cost cutting and restructuring has allowed the manufacturing company to lower its projected losses for the second quarter, and they are forecasting a profit before the end of the year.

A. has allowed the manufacturing company to lower its projected losses for the second quarter, and they are forecasting
B. has allowed for the manufacturing company to lower its projected losses in the second quarter and to forecast
C. have allowed that the manufacturing company can lower the projected losses for the second quarter, and to forecast
D. have allowed the manufacturing company to lower its projected second-quarter losses and to forecast
E. have allowed for the manufacturing company to lower the projected losses in the second quarter, as well as forecasting
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Official Explanation:

Agreement; Idiom; Verb form
The point of the sentence is to explain the
two main e ects of the changes made by
the company. However, the singular verb has allowed does not agree with the compound subject cost cutting and restructuring, which are far more plausibly understood as two actions rather than as two facets of a single action. In principle, the manufacturing company could be construed as plural (referring collectively to the decision makers and spokespeople who are projecting losses and forecasting a pro t), but the plural pronoun they does not agree with the earlier its, which treats the antecedent as singular.

A e singular verb has allowed does not agree with the compound subject cost cutting
and restructuring; the plural pronoun they does not agree with the intended singular antecedent company.

B e singular verb has allowed does not agree with the compound subject cost cutting and restructuring; allowed for is not the correct idiom.

C Allowed that is not the correct idiom; can lower and to forecast are not grammatically parallel.

D Correct. e sentence uses the correct subject–verb combination cost cutting
and restructuring have allowed; the two occurrences of the pronoun its agree with each other in treating their antecedent company as singular; and the two e ects to lower and to forecast are parallel and idiomatic.

E Allowed for is not the correct idiom; to lower and as well as forecasting are not parallel.
e correct answer is D.
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Quote:

Cost cutting and restructuring has allowed the manufacturing company to lower its projected losses for the second quarter, and they are forecasting a profit before the end of the year.

A. has allowed the manufacturing company to lower its projected losses for the second quarter, and they are forecasting
B. has allowed for the manufacturing company to lower its projected losses in the second quarter and to forecast
C. have allowed that the manufacturing company can lower the projected losses for the second quarter, and to forecast
D. have allowed the manufacturing company to lower its projected second-quarter losses and to forecast
E. have allowed for the manufacturing company to lower the projected losses in the second quarter, as well as forecasting

A -> SV Agreement and "they" for a single company
B -> SV Agreement
C -> Parallelism Error.
D -> Perfect
E -> "as well as" when we can use "and". And even if you ignore that forecasting is not parallel to lower.
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This has a plural subject and therefore the first thing to look for is subject verb agreement. In the options, you see options with ‘has’ and ‘have’.

Eliminate Options A and B for incorrect SVA.

Now move to Options C, D, and E.

You are now looking for parallelism between ‘lower’ and ‘forecast’

We find that only Option D maintains the correct parallelism ‘to lower’ and ‘to forecast’.

Eliminate Options C and E.

Option D is the best choice.


Hope this helps!
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AbdurRakib
The Official Guide for GMAT Review 2018
Practice Question
Sentence Correction
Question No.: 685

Cost cutting and restructuring has allowed the manufacturing company to lower its projected losses for the second quarter, and they are forecasting a profit before the end of the year.

A. has allowed the manufacturing company to lower its projected losses for the second quarter, and they are forecasting
B. has allowed for the manufacturing company to lower its projected losses in the second quarter and to forecast
C. have allowed that the manufacturing company can lower the projected losses for the second quarter, and to forecast
D. have allowed the manufacturing company to lower its projected second-quarter losses and to forecast
E. have allowed for the manufacturing company to lower the projected losses in the second quarter, as well as forecasting


A. has allowed the manufacturing company to lower its projected losses for the second quarter, and they are forecasting - Wrong: 1) SV 2) Pronoun 3) Verb
B. has allowed for the manufacturing company to lower its projected losses in the second quarter and to forecast - Wrong: 1) SV 2) Meaning
C. have allowed that the manufacturing company can lower the projected losses for the second quarter, and to forecast - Wrong: 1) Idiom
D. have allowed the manufacturing company to lower its projected second-quarter losses and to forecast - Correct
E. have allowed for the manufacturing company to lower the projected losses in the second quarter, as well as forecasting - Wrong: 1) Meaning 2) Parallelism 3) Idiom
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Hi,

While I understand the rationale behind the choosing Option 'D', request the following clarification.

Let us suppose on the options had the following:
"have allowed for the manufacturing company to lower its projected losses for the second quarter, and to forecast"

Would this still be incorrect? Why can't we use "have allowed for" as the idiom considering the subjects are inanimate?
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Rahul2022 I'm afraid not. The trouble with "have allowed for" is that it means something totally different from "allow." To "allow for" something is to include it as a possibility in one's plans. For instance, if I am giving a 30-minute talk, I might schedule a 45-minute session to allow for a late start, or to allow for questions at the end. This is different from ALLOWING the questions to be asked or ALLOWING me to start late. It's simply leaving room in case these things happen. We can leave room for an event or phenomenon (traffic, rain, questions, disagreement, overtime, inflation, etc.), but not for "the company to lower its costs."

Also, notice that the inanimate subject actually makes that option worse. Even if "allow for" were what we wanted, an inanimate subject can't plan to leave room for something--only people (or at least a plan made by people) can.
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Hi, @dabaobao
Can you explain what would be the correct idiom use in Option C and E?

C. have allowed that the manufacturing company can lower the projected losses for the second quarter, and to forecast - Wrong: 1) Idiom
D. have allowed the manufacturing company to lower its projected second-quarter losses and to forecast - Correct
E. have allowed for the manufacturing company to lower the projected losses in the second quarter, as well as forecasting - Wrong: 1) Meaning 2) Parallelism 3) Idiom[/quote]
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Rdbasak
Hi, @dabaobao
Can you explain what would be the correct idiom use in Option C and E?

C. have allowed that the manufacturing company can lower the projected losses for the second quarter, and to forecast - Wrong: 1) Idiom
D. have allowed the manufacturing company to lower its projected second-quarter losses and to forecast - Correct
E. have allowed for the manufacturing company to lower the projected losses in the second quarter, as well as forecasting - Wrong: 1) Meaning 2) Parallelism 3) Idiom
[/quote]


Hello Rdbasak,

Although your question is not for me, allow me to help you with this one. :-)

The correct idiom has been used in Choice D - have allowed the manufacturing company to lower something. The usage of that and for after have allowed in Choices C & E respectively is incorrect. The word allow is always followed by the "to verb" phrase. This is the usage we see in the correct answer choice D. Hence, it is correct.


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha
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In the official answer key. It is written: "
the manufacturing company could be
construed as plural (referring collectively to
the decision makers and spokespeople who are
projecting losses and forecasting a profit) "
Shouldn't it be singular ?
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penco
In the official answer key. It is written: "
the manufacturing company could be
construed as plural (referring collectively to
the decision makers and spokespeople who are
projecting losses and forecasting a profit) "
Shouldn't it be singular ?
Yes, the GMAT generally treats a noun like "company" as singular. The pronouns in (A) are particularly bad because they presumably refer back to the same noun, and one is singular while the other is plural. But you're right that "they" would be enough on its own to eliminate this answer choice.

Keep in mind that the "official" explanations in the OG books are not written by the same people who write the questions. Sometimes the explanations are helpful, and sometimes not so much. :)
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dear AndrewN,
I picked up B just because I reviewed cost cutting and restructuring is a singular subject.

whether because cutting and restructuring cannot coexist at the same time, so cutting and restructuring cannot modify cost ?

I know it is not good to edit OG question, but I just want to know whether "cutting or restricting " can modify cost. then cost cutting or restructuring is a singular noun ?
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zoezhuyan
dear AndrewN,
I picked up B just because I reviewed cost cutting and restructuring is a singular subject.

whether because cutting and restructuring cannot coexist at the same time, so cutting and restructuring cannot modify cost ?

I know it is not good to edit OG question, but I just want to know whether "cutting or restricting " can modify cost. then cost cutting or restructuring is a singular noun ?
Hello, zoezhuyan. It is a good idea to be conservative when it comes to interpreting SC questions. Whenever you encounter the structure X and Y, you want to think of it as a plural entity unless the contextual clues definitely steer you in a different direction. Yes, X or Y is different; in the sentence at hand, restructuring could present a singular alternative to cost cutting, as in, Either cost cutting or restructuring has allowed.... But now we are grasping at straws. I would suggest checking out this Subject-Verb Agreement page through the Towson University Online Writing Support Initiative for further reference.

- Andrew
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I got to the correct answer, but isn't "as well as forecasting" okay in (E)?

I thought "as well as" allows flexibility when it comes to parallelism. Relevant OG question below:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/diesel-engin ... 85984.html

"Diesel engines burn as much as 30% less fuel than gasoline engines of comparable size, as well as emitting far less carbon dioxide gas and far fewer of the other gasses that have been implicated in global warming."
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gmatimothy
I got to the correct answer, but isn't "as well as forecasting" okay in (E)?

I thought "as well as" allows flexibility when it comes to parallelism. Relevant OG question below:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/diesel-engin ... 85984.html

"Diesel engines burn as much as 30% less fuel than gasoline engines of comparable size, as well as emitting far less carbon dioxide gas and far fewer of the other gasses that have been implicated in global warming."


The "as well as" is not the issue in choice E. The verbs of "to lower" and "forecasting" are not parallel. Additionally, changing "its project losses" to "the projected losses" changes the originally intended meaning. I hope this helps!

~Stefan
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ExpertsGlobal5
Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
AbdurRakib
Cost cutting and restructuring has allowed the manufacturing company to lower its projected losses for the second quarter, and they are forecasting a profit before the end of the year.

A. has allowed the manufacturing company to lower its projected losses for the second quarter, and they are forecasting
B. has allowed for the manufacturing company to lower its projected losses in the second quarter and to forecast
C. have allowed that the manufacturing company can lower the projected losses for the second quarter, and to forecast
D. have allowed the manufacturing company to lower its projected second-quarter losses and to forecast
E. have allowed for the manufacturing company to lower the projected losses in the second quarter, as well as forecasting

Concepts tested here: Subject-Verb Agreement + Grammatical Construction + Parallelism + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• The conjunction "and" joins singular nouns to form a plural noun phrase.
• Any elements linked by a conjunction ("and" and "as well as" in this case) must be parallel.

A: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun phrase "Cost cutting and restructuring" with the singular verb "has allowed"; please remember, the conjunction "and" joins singular nouns to form a plural noun phrase.

B: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun phrase "Cost cutting and restructuring" with the singular verb "has allowed"; please remember, the conjunction "and" joins singular nouns to form a plural noun phrase.

C: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between "that the manufacturing company can lower the projected losses for the second quarter" and "to forecast a profit before the end of the year"; remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("and" in this case) must be parallel. Further, Option C uses the needlessly wordy and indirect phrase "that the manufacturing company can lower", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

D: Correct. This answer choice correctly refers to the plural noun phrase "Cost cutting and restructuring" with the plural verb "have allowed". Further, Option D maintains parallelism between "to lower its projected second-quarter losses" and "to forecast a profit before the end of the year". Additionally, Option D is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

E: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between "to lower the projected losses in the second quarter" and "forecasting a profit before the end of the year"; remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("as well as" in this case) must be parallel.

Hence, D is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "And" versus Other Conjunctions on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

@experts5global

Would D still have correct parallelism if you remove the second "to" after the end?

--> "have allowed the manufacturing company to lower its projected second-quarter losses and forecast..."
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