Distinguished architecture requires the expenditure of large sums of

Divide and conquer.

Is the OS grammatically incorrect? Yes expenditure requires a singular verb produces, not the plural produce.

Sentence C, D which is lesser of the two evils

money in large sums doesn't sound as good as large sums of money.

Thus D is the least worst option .

Some thoughts:
1. We should try to retain the meaning of the original sentence as much as possible.
: “It is by no means certain” means –Not surely certain.
: If we say “there is no certainty”, it changes the meaning of the sentence. The wording should be carefully dealt.
From Babylon:
By no means
NOT AT ALL, in no way, not in the least, not in the slightest, not the least bit, not by a long shot, certainly not, absolutely not, definitely not, on no account, under no circumstances; Brit. not by a long chalk; informal no way.
=> This rule out C and E.

2. “The expenditure of XX” is singular. So, the verb should be singular. This rules out A and B.
Answer is D.

Distinguished architecture requires the expenditure of large sums of money, even if it is by no means certain that the expenditure of large sums of money produce distinguished architecture.

(A) even if it is by no means certain that the expenditure of large sums of money produce
(B) even if it is by no means certain that the expenditure of large sums of money will produce
(C) even though there is no certainty that the expenditure of money in large sums produces
(D) even though it is by no means certain that the expenditure of large sums of money produces
(E) though there is no certainty as to the expenditure of money in large sums producing

I am not sure if i can post the question .But i am not able to find the discussion of this question elsewhere.
I am confused between B and D.

The ans is D

"If" is used in conditional clauses. This sentence doesnt require a conditional clause. It needs to have a concessive clause because the two statements are in contrast with each other. So A and B are out.

In C the term "expenditure of money in large sums" is wrong. large sums is an adjective for money and so " large sums of money" is correct.

In E money in large sums producing is wrong tense.

Hello can anyone explain why this is not conditional?

chetan2u

daagh

Hi,

If you are stuck in B and D, you would be correct either way....
Grammatically, there is nothing wrong in both B and D, although the meaning changes by usage of 'even though ' instead of 'even if'..
and B may be better as it carries the original meaning and there is nothing wrong in the meaning being conveyed by original sentence

hey

chetan2u yeah the question is of conditional, but doesnt produces makes it a universal truth? Simple Present?

How to go about such questions in real life as it one click that needs to take the cake.

Yes, you are correct...
you have two different options
1) even if...... will produce...... CORRECT as conditional
2) even though....... produces.... CORRECT as a normal sentence meaning 'Despite the fact' , same as 'although'

In actuals, do not worry, you will have ONLY one of them as choice..
But if you get stuck, follow the original meaning

This a very debatable question and has been discussed previously.

There is a very subtle difference in meaning between the options C and D.
The wording of C is too extreme in saying that there is no possibility
Choice D on the other hand keeps the usage of the original sentence intact and means it is not necessarily certain.

247. Distinguished architecture requires the expenditure of large sums of money, even if it is by no means certain that the expenditure of large sums of money produce distinguished architecture.

(A) even if it is by no means certain that the expenditure of large sums of money produce
(B) even if it is by no means certain that the expenditure of large sums of money will produce
(C) even though there is no certainty that the expenditure of money in large sums produces
(D) even though it is by no means certain that the expenditure of large sums of money produces
(E) though there is no certainty as to the expenditure of money in large sums producing

In B 'will' is used. so it qualifies the verb agreement

HI ,
I guess there is a meaning change in option C , hence it is wrong. C says , expenditure of money in large sums produces , (suppose budget is 1000$ , then C means expenditure of money (in 500$ and 500% i.e. large sums)produces ) , but D means expenditure of large sum itself produces .

Gaurav2896

Those really mean the same thing. The placement of "in large sums" in C is a little odd, but there's no valid way to read the meaning that really says anything different. Although I would pick D over C simply because I don't see a reason for the wording in C, I'm not sure this question would fly on the GMAT. Each wrong answer should have an actual error of some kind.

DmitryFarber

What is wrong with the wording in C?

Why did you pick C over D?

The correct option is:

(D) even though it is by no means certain that the expenditure of large sums of money produces

Option (D) maintains the parallel structure and uses the correct verb tense. The phrase "even though" appropriately introduces a contrasting statement, and "it is by no means certain" emphasizes the uncertainty. The verb "produces" agrees with the subject "expenditure" in the singular form.