Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
walker wrote:
Critics of the trend toward privately operated prisons consider corrections facilities to be an integral part of the criminal justice system and question if profits should be made from incarceration.
(A) to be an integral part of the criminal justice system and question if
(B) as an integral part of the criminal justice system and they question if
(C) as being an integral part of the criminal justice system and question whether
(D) an integral part of the criminal justice system and question whether
(E) are an integral part of the criminal justice system, and they question whether
Concepts tested here: Idioms + Grammatical Construction + Awkwardness/Redundancy• The word "considered" does not require a conjunction or a helping word/phrase; “consider/considered” is always followed directly by the noun, and the similar word "regarded" must be followed by the conjunction "as"; correct usages: Jack is “considered a math genius” or Jack is “regarded as a math genius”.
• “if” is used to refer to phrases that lead to a “then” clause and “whether" is used for showing alternatives; "whether" generally wins over "if" on GMAT.
• Semicolons and the “comma + conjunction” construction are used to link two independent clauses; commas are used to link an independent clause with a dependent one; comma cannot be used to join two independent clauses.
• “being” is only to be used when it is part of a noun phrase or represents the passive continuous verb tense; the use of passive continuous must be justified in the context.
A: This answer choice incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction “consider + to be”; remember, the word "considered" does not require a conjunction or a helping word/phrase; “consider/considered” is always followed directly by the noun. Further, Option A incorrectly uses “if” to present alternatives; remember, “whether" is used for showing alternatives, and “if” is used to refer to phrases that lead to a “then” clause.
B: This answer choice incorrectly uses a conjunction (“and” in this sentence) to join the independent clauses “Critics of the trend toward…justice system” and “they question if profits should be made from incarceration”; remember, semicolons and the “comma + conjunction” construction are used to link two independent clauses. Further, Option B incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction “consider + as”; remember, the word "considered" does not require a conjunction or a helping word/phrase; “consider/considered” is always followed directly by the noun. Additionally, Option B incorrectly uses “if” to present alternatives; remember, “whether" is used for showing alternatives, and “if” is used to refer to phrases that lead to a “then” clause.
C: This answer choice incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction “consider + as”; remember, the word "considered" does not require a conjunction or a helping word/phrase; “consider/considered” is always followed directly by the noun. Further, Option C incorrectly uses the word “being”, leading to awkwardness and redundancy; remember, “being” is only to be used when it is part of a noun phrase or represents the passive continuous verb tense; the use of passive continuous must be justified in the context.
D: Correct. This answer choice correctly and idiomatically uses “consider” without a conjunction or helping word/phrase, introducing the noun phrase “an indelible part of one’s identity” immediately after “consider”. Further, Option D correctly uses “whether” to present alternatives”. Additionally, the sentence formed by Option D avoids the grammatical construction error seen in Option B, as it contains only a single independent clause. Besides, Option D is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.
E: This answer choice incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction “consider + verb (“is” in this case)”; remember, “consider/considered” is always followed directly by the noun.
Hence, D is the best answer choice.To understand the concept of "If" Versus "Whether" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
To understand the use of punctuations on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~10 minutes):
To understand the concept of "Being" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
_________________