Last visit was: 27 Sep 2026, 00:49 It is currently 27 Sep 2026, 00:49
Home
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
Back to Forum
Create Topic
   1   2 
avatar
AndrewN
avatar
Volunteer Expert
Joined: 16 May 2019
Last visit: 29 Mar 2025
Posts: 3,485
Own Kudos:
7,813
 [1]
Given Kudos: 500
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 3,485
Kudos: 7,813
 [1]
Even though it was not illegal for the bank to share its customers' 16 Aug 2020, 15:17
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hello again, imSKR. I will chime in on each answer choice below, just as you have done.

imSKR
Quote:
Even though it was not illegal for the bank to share its customers' personal and financial information with an outside marketing company in return for a commission on sales, the state's attorney general accused the bank of engaging in deceptive business practices by failing to honor its promise to its customers to keep records private.

Quote:
(A) by failing to honor its promise to its customers to keep
(B) by its failure of honoring its promise to its customers to keep

attorney general accused the bank by xxxx – is not it wrong meaning ?
SO I rejected A,B
Show more
There is a key component to your simplified version that needs to be added back in. The attorney general accused the bank of doing something, in this particular case of engaging in deceptive business practices. The next part explains how so, answering the question of how the bank purportedly engaged in deceptive business practices. In pared-down form, the AG accused the bank of doing something by failing to honor its promise... That makes perfect sense. Choice (A) is clear and concise; choice (B) adds an unjustified its and changes failing to honor to an incorrect failure of honoring. There is no context in which you would use the latter.

imSKR
Quote:
(C) in its failing to honor its promise to its customers of keeping
Wrong meaning :
"In ___ing" means, essentially, "something happens during the process of ___ing
Show more
In is the wrong explanatory word, and yes, in this construct, failure would at least be functional. The ending, of keeping, just gives us another easy target, enough to see off this answer choice.

imSKR
Quote:
(D) because of its failure in honoring its promise to its customers in keeping
(E) because of its failure to honor its promise to its customers of keeping

Attorney accused the bank because of bank failure xxx and prefer E over D.

Can you help me to reject E and choose A without idiom concept.
AndrewN AjiteshArun egmat
Show more
Whenever you encounter extra words, you need to have a reason to justify their presence, and even without invoking idioms here, you should be questioning why the first its is absolutely necessary to convey the vital meaning of the sentence. Is there no better way to get to the nature of this accusal? Even because it had failed would be better. Since you cannot negotiate what is on the screen, you might at least consider placing this option on a lower tier. And if its promise... of keeping sounded off, then this would be one instance in which your ear would be guiding you in the right direction. All things considered, choice (E) incorporates a few suboptimal elements, parts that warrant a change, a hint that a better answer must exist somewhere else.

I hope that helps. Thank you again for drawing my attention to a new question (for me).

- Andrew
User avatar
armaankumar
User avatar
Joined: 10 Jun 2020
Last visit: 07 Feb 2026
Posts: 101
Own Kudos:
73
Given Kudos: 104
Location: India
Schools: ESSEC ESCP Europe (A) HEC MiM "25 (D)
GMAT 1: 610 Q41 V33 (Online)
GMAT 2: 650 Q47 V33 (Online)
GPA: 3.4
Schools: ESSEC ESCP Europe (A) HEC MiM "25 (D)
GMAT 2: 650 Q47 V33 (Online)
Posts: 101
Kudos: 73
Even though it was not illegal for the bank to share its customers' 02 May 2022, 05:10
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
The correct idiomatic expression is "Failure to"

The correct idiomatic expression is "Promise to"

Even though it was not illegal for the bank to share its customers' personal and financial information with an outside marketing company in return for a commission on sales, the state's attorney general accused the bank of engaging in deceptive business practices by failing to honor its promise to its customers to keep records private.

(A) by failing to honor its promise to its customers to keep

(B) by its failure of honoring its promise to its customers to keep

(C) in its failing to honor its promise to its customers of keeping

(D) because of its failure in honoring its promise to its customers in keeping

(E) because of its failure to honor its promise to its customers of keeping
User avatar
ShubhadeepB
User avatar
Joined: 30 Apr 2020
Last visit: 25 Sep 2026
Posts: 29
Own Kudos:
8
Given Kudos: 21
GMAT 1: 740 Q51 V38
GRE 1: Q168 V161
GMAT 1: 740 Q51 V38
GRE 1: Q168 V161
Posts: 29
Kudos: 8
Even though it was not illegal for the bank to share its customers' 13 May 2022, 10:31
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
AjiteshArun GMATNinja
Please share your thoughts on how D can be eliminated apart from the idiom issues involved?
User avatar
AjiteshArun
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 15 Jul 2015
Last visit: 24 Sep 2026
Posts: 6,153
Own Kudos:
5,173
 [3]
Given Kudos: 744
Location: India
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Posts: 6,153
Kudos: 5,173
 [3]
Even though it was not illegal for the bank to share its customers' 13 May 2022, 19:54
3
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Metalking
AjiteshArun GMATNinja
Please share your thoughts on how D can be eliminated apart from the idiom issues involved?
Show more
Hi Metalking,

If we ignore idiom, we could look at the fact that option D does not define either failure or promise. Something like "the bank's failure to honor its promise to keep records private" tells us exactly which failure and promise the author is referring to, but option D seems to leave both failure and promise undefined.
User avatar
Raman109
User avatar
Joined: 17 Aug 2009
Last visit: 28 Jul 2025
Posts: 688
Own Kudos:
231
Given Kudos: 33
Posts: 688
Kudos: 231
Even though it was not illegal for the bank to share its customers' 14 Sep 2023, 04:34
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Failure to / promise to are the right idioms. Few examples

failure to - failure to see the forest for the trees - if someone is so focussed on details that they fail to see the larger picture
failure at - John's failure at completing the project on time resulted in significant delays for the entire team.

Promise to - I promise to help you with your homework tonight.
User avatar
Raman109
User avatar
Joined: 17 Aug 2009
Last visit: 28 Jul 2025
Posts: 688
Own Kudos:
231
Given Kudos: 33
Posts: 688
Kudos: 231
Even though it was not illegal for the bank to share its customers' 13 Dec 2023, 10:40
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Even though it was not illegal for the bank to share its customers' personal and financial information with an outside marketing company in return for a commission on sales, the state's attorney general accused the bank of engaging in deceptive business practices by failing to honor its promise to its customers to keep records private.

Option Elimination -

Usage of "by"
1. Agent of an action. For example, The book was written by Rabindranath Tagore. It means that "Rabindranath Tagore" is the book's agent or author here.
2. Method or means - I traveled to work by car. Here, "by car" acts adverbially to modify the verb "traveled." I traveled. How? By car.
3. Time or deadline - the report must be submitted by Friday.
4. Passive voice construction. The building was constructed by a team of architects.
5. Standard or unit of measurement - The land was measured by square feet.

(A) by failing to honor its promise to its customers to keep - Here, the prepositional phrase "by failing to honor its promise to its customers to keep" is modifying "the deceptive business practices" and answers "how did the bank engage in the deceptive business practices." Moreover, "failure to" is the right idiom. E.g., Failure to see the forest for the trees. Also, "promise to +base form" is the right idiom. E.g., I promise to help you with your homework.

(B) by its failure of honoring its promise to its customers to keep - we need "failure to honor."

(C) in its failing to honor its promise to its customers of keeping - "promise to keep" is correct.

(D) because of its failure in honoring its promise to its customers in keeping - "because of" usually is adverbial. So it'll modify the verb "accused," but the idea here is to have something to modify the "deceptive business practices" as to "how did the bank engage in the deceptive business practices." It would be nonsensical to say banks engaged in deceptive business practices because of failure to honor their promise to keep records private." So, "failure to honor their promise to keep records private" is "how" they indulged in the deceptive business practices and not the "cause" as shown by "because of." Moreover, "failure to honor" and "promise to keep" are the preferred idioms.

(E) because of its failure to honor its promise to its customers of keeping - the same issue of "because of." "promise to keep" is preferred.
   1   2 
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7399 posts
AbhishekP220108
Verbal Forum Moderator
705 posts