Despite an expensive publicity campaign, ticket sales for

Question

Despite an expensive publicity campaign, ticket sales for the new play  were poor enough that it closed only after two weeks .


 1 were poor enough that it closed only after two weeks
 2 were poor enough that it was closed only after two weeks
 3 were so poor that it closed only after two weeks
 4 were so poor that it was closed after only two weeks
 5 were so poor that after only two weeks it closed

dwivedys · Answer

Is it D? I think the correct usage will be -- it was closed after ONLY TWO WEEKS. THe only should be close to TWO Weeks

And yes - E --- "only after two weeks it closed" sounds passive.

thadipalam · Answer

I would prefer "C".

But a very basic question here:- Doesn't 'it' refer to ticket sales? And ticket sales is plural? how does this match up?

If I am seeing a wrong reference here, then what does 'it' refer to?

Expect some help here..

Thanks in advance

mukeshnathani · Answer

(D)
Intensity- "so"
Word Placement for "only" is important

saurabhmalpani · Answer

3 were so poor that it closed only after two weeks 
4 were so poor that it was closed after only two weeks 
5 were so poor that after only two weeks it closed

Out 3/4/5 (3) can be knocked off as no "Verb" in the second part of the sentence. (4) The Best (5) Lack of "Verb" in the second part of the sentence.


Saurabh Malpani

Swagatalakshmi · Answer

A Play can not close itself as suggested in C and E ...

"were so poor that  it was closed  after only two weeks"

Without doubt  D !

ugo_castelo · Answer

My pick is E
"were so poor that after only two weeks it closed" emphasizes the consequence of the "expensive pub campaign"

asaf · Answer

D kinda make more sense to me but not sure as why not C.
D.

I wonder if you have OE on this?

karlfurt · Answer

Here is the OE:

 The original sentence contains the expression "poor enough", which is incorrect in this context. "X enough to Y" is used when the focus is on some goal Y that is finally achieved because of a state of X, i.e. he ran fast enough to win the race. In this case, the fact that it closed was not the goal. The emphasis here is on the fact that the sales were so poor that the play closed. The idiom "so X that Y" is used when the focus is on X and as a result of excess X, Y happened. Moreover, the placement of "only" is incorrect. "Only" should be placed immediately before the word is modifies. In this case, "only" modifies "two weeks", so it should be placed immediately before "two weeks." 
 
(A) This choice is incorrect as it repeats the original sentence.

(B) The idiom "X enough to Y" should be replaced with "so X that Y" and the word "only" should be directly in front of the time phrase it modifies, "two weeks."

(C) The word "only" should be directly in front of the time phrase it modifies, "two weeks."

(D) CORRECT. This proper idiom "so X that Y" is used and the word "only" comes directly in front of the time phrase it modifies, "two weeks." Also the passive voice is used for the verb closed: "was closed." This is probably preferable since a play technically gets closed (it doesn't close itself). Nonetheless, colloquially people say "the play closed."

(E) When using the idiom "so X that Y," the result, Y, needs to come right after the word "that." Here the modifier "after only two weeks" comes before Y, the fact that it closed. In addition, the active form of the verb closed is used here, where the passive is preferred (see D).

Despite an expensive publicity campaign, ticket sales for

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards