Faced with the double challenge of inflation and recession, many gover

Question

Project SC Butler: Day 171: Sentence Correction (SC1) 
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Faced with the double challenge of inflation and recession, many governments are choosing to focus on  inflation, which is the more immediate threat and using high interest rates, plus other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, for controlling it .

A) inflation, which is the more immediate threat and using high interest rates, plus other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, for controlling it

B) inflation as the more immediate threat and using high interest rates, along with other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, to control it

C) inflation because it is the the most immediate threat, with high interest rates and other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies used to control it

D) inflation, the most immediate threat, and high interest rates, along with other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, which are used to control it

E) inflation as the most immediate threat, high interest rates and other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies having been used to control it

generis · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Day 171: Sentence Correction (SC1)

generis

Faced with the double challenge of inflation and recession, many governments are choosing to focus on inflation, which is the more immediate threat and using high interest rates, plus other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, for controlling it.

A) inflation, which is the more immediate threat , and using high interest rates, plus other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, for controlling it

B) inflation as the more immediate threat and using high interest rates, along with other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, to control it

C) inflation because it is the the most immediate threat, with high interest rates and other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies used to control it
-- used is a passive descriptor.
-- The with-clause is off. It doesn't establish the logical linkage necessary.
D) inflation, the most immediate threat, and high interest rates, along with other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, which are used to control it
-- are the governments also focusing on high interest rates? The word AND sounds as if they are
-- which is dicey here, especially compared with similar language in B.

E) inflation as the most immediate threat, high interest rates and other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies having been used to control it

• Meaning?
Inflation and recession present a double challenge to governments.
Because inflation is the more immediate threat of the two problems, governments are using high interest rates and restrictive fiscal policy to combat inflation.

• Split #1: MORE vs MOST

If we have two problems, then one is more immediate than the other, NOT "the most" immediate.

In fact, "the more immediate problem" is a common way to describe an item in comparison.
Correct: She was the shorter of the two sisters.
Wrong: She was the shortest of the two sisters.

-- If we compare two things, we use the comparative form. (Usually adjective + ER)
-- If we compare three or more things, we use the superlative form. (Usually adjective + EST)
The non-underlined portion says that two problems exist.
We must use the comparative form: inflation is the more immediate threat

Eliminate C, D, and E

• Split #2 - Construction: idiom, "plus"

(A) Faced with the double challenge of inflation and recession, many governments are choosing to focus on inflation, which is the more immediate threat and using high interest rates, plus other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, for controlling it.

• Compare options A and B. Option B is far superior.

(1) Plus: Do not choose plus on the GMAT when the sentence means "as well as." (Plus is not used as a quasi-conjunction.)

(2) using high interest rates . . . for controlling it is not idiomatic. "To control it" is standard in this context.

(3) Option A distorts the meaning.
There is no comma after "which is the more immediate threat," and there should be.
No, you are not tested outright on comma placement, but you do need to be able to recognize that "which" signals "nonessential!" and that nonessential modifiers in the middle of the sentence should be enclosed by commas.
Which refers to inflation.
Without a proper comma, the which clause is
. . . which is the more immediate threat and using high interest rates . . .
Inflation is using high interest rates?
No.
Eliminate A

The answer is B

B)
Faced with the double challenge of
---inflation
---and
---recession,
many governments
-------are choosing to focus on inflation
--------------------------------as the more immediate threat
-------and
-------[governments are] using high interest rates, along with other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, to control iit.

Option B
-- uses along with rather than plus
-- uses the idiomatic "to control it" and
--- the phrases choosing to focus and using high interest rates are parallel

The answer is B

COMMENTS

devangpandey007 , Shivan21 , and kapil1 welcome to SC Butler.

The explanations are good. If you explained but a faulty assumption took you to the wrong choice, you still get a kudos..

QuantMadeEasy · Answer

Faced with the double challenge of inflation and recession, many governments are choosing to focus on inflation, which is the more immediate threat and using high interest rates, plus other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, for controlling it.

A) inflation, which is the more immediate threat and using high interest rates, plus other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, for controlling it.

Parallelism error

B) inflation as the more immediate threat and  using  high interest rates, along with other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, to control it

Parallelism error

C) inflation because it is the the most immediate threat, with high interest rates and other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies used to control it

Incorrect usage of "and"

D) inflation, the most immediate threat, and high interest rates, along with other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, which are used to control it

Correct

E) inflation as the most immediate threat, high interest rates and other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies  having been  used to control it

Raxit85 · Answer

Imo: B.

Meaning: Many governments are opting to deal inflation (between two challenges: inflation and recession), which is more immediate threat between two, by using high interest rates with other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies to control it (inflation).

According to me, more vs most makes the 3:2 split as only two challenges are talked about in the sentence. So, C, D and E out.

Faced with the double challenge of inflation and recession, many governments are choosing to focus on  inflation, which is the more immediate threat and using high interest rates, plus other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, for controlling it .

A) inflation,  which is the more immediate threat and using high interest rates , plus other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, for  controlling it  - parallelism error which distorts meaning. Infinitives (to + verb) to be used to mention intention.

B) inflation as the more immediate threat and using high interest rates, along with other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, to control it - seems fine as governments are choosing to focus on inflation and governments are using high inflation rates (along with X and Y) to control it.

C) inflation because  it is the the most immediate threat, with high interest rates and other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies used to control it  - Meaning error

D) inflation,  the most immediate threat, and high interest rates, along with other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, which are used to control it  - Meaning error and distorts the parallelism as governments are choosing to focus on inflation and high interest rates,,,,.

E) inflation  as the most immediate threat, high interest rates and other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies having been used to control it  - Meaning and verb error

zhanbo · Answer

My answer is  B . It took me 55 seconds.

(A) "which is the more immediate threat and using high interest rates" is unacceptable. Without regard to meaning, "and using" should be "and uses". 
(C) "with high interest rates and other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies used to control it" is awkward to say the least. GMAT should never endorse such a convoluted construction.
(D) "and high interest rates, along with other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies" is interpreted to be a threat rather than a countermeasure.
Alternatively, if we think "and" in ",and high" is a conjunction for a new independent clause, well, it is not a complete independent clause. There is no verb.
(E) "having been used" indicates that the measures have been taken already. Also, this is really awkward.

B is clear and straightforward. No close contender in this question.

ccheryn · Answer

Faced with the double challenge of inflation and recession, many governments are choosing to focus on inflation, which is the more immediate threat and using high interest rates, plus other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, for controlling it.

A) inflation, which is the more immediate threat and using high interest rates, plus other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, for controlling it ( and using high interest rate dont have any paralleled sentence within the relative clause which starts with WHICH. so wrong)

B) inflation as the more immediate threat and using high interest rates, along with other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, to control it  ( and using is paralleled with the choosing , along as the apposiive marker for the previous noun hence clearing the confusion. this seems correct choice)

C) inflation because it is the the most immediate threat, with high interest rates and other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies used to control it ( with is ambiguously modifiying many nouns . so wrong)
 
D) inflation, the most immediate threat, and high interest rates, along with other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, which are used to control it ( inflation and high interrest rate forms a single unintended parallels . so wrong)

E) inflation as the most immediate threat, high interest rates and other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies having been used to control it  ( now it appears as a big list of inflation, high inteerest rate, etc.It is unintended. hence wrong)

Shivan21 · Answer

So B is my answer for maintaining parallelism and conveying the correct meaning of the sentence.

eakabuah · Answer

Two splits can be spotted from the answer choices: the use of  more  vs  most . The comparison here is between recession and inflation, two items. So the comparative form  more  is appropriate rather than the superlative form  most .
We can eliminate C, D, and E which use the superlative form erroneously.

Does Option A have a parallelism error? No, I don't think so. This is because  Choosing to focus on inflation, which is the more immediate threat  is parallel to  using high interest rates, plus other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, for controlling it . So I don't deem it appropriate to eliminate option A based on parallelism. I hope my logic is right on the parallelism  generis  hopefully, you can comment on the parallelism in option A to clear some doubts for us.
There is another split between option A and option B.  for controlling it  vs  to control it . To control it is better in this context because  to + verb  is used to express explicit purpose while  for + verb-ing  is used when the intention or purpose is not explicit. From the meaning of the sentence, the purpose or intention of governments' actions to focus on inflation through the use of high interest rates as well as other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies is clear. Therefore,  to control it  is more appropriate in the context. Hence we can eliminate A based on this.

Option B is the answer . 
Faced with the double challenge of inflation and recession, many governments are choosing to focus on inflation as the more immediate threat  and  using high interest rates, along with other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, to control it.
 And  without a comma is a parallel marker. What can we make parallel to  using high interest rates, along with... ?  choosing to focus on inflation as the more immediate threat . Therefore, it is logical to say  many governments are choosing to focus on inflation as the more immediate threat  and  many governments are using high interest rates, along with other restrictive monetary fiscal and monetary policies, to control it .

devangpandey007 · Answer

My answer is B.

Since the comparison is done only between inflation and recession, "MOST" cannot be used as a degree of adjective. Therefore, C, D and E cannot be the answer.

A has parallelism error between "choosing to focus" and "controlling". The correct form of verb should be "to control".

snoep · Answer

Faced with the double challenge of inflation and recession, many governments are choosing to focus on inflation, which is the more immediate threat and using high interest rates, plus other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, for controlling it.

A) inflation, which is the more immediate threat and using high interest rates, plus other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, for controlling it
inflation, which is more immediate and which is using interest rates -> not parallel and not the intended meaning. inflation is not using interest rates.

B) inflation as the more immediate threat and using high interest rates, along with other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, to control it
choosing to focus on inflation and using high interest rates to control it => looks good

C) inflation because it is the the most immediate threat, with high interest rates and other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies used to control it
choosing inflation because it is threat with high interest rates and threat with other restrictive monetary ... -> doesn't make sense threat with fiscal policies used to control it

D) inflation, the most immediate threat, and high interest rates, along with other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, which are used to control it
choosing to focus on inflation and high interest rates, along with..policies, which are used to control it..
choosing to focus on A, and B, along with C, which are used to control it. inflation is equal to high interest rates? no.
intended meaning is high interest rates, along with policies are used to control the inflation..

E) inflation as the most immediate threat, high interest rates and other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies having been used to control it 
choosing to focus inflation, high interest rates, and other restrictive monetary and etc... same issue as D

B works well with parallelism and is the answer!

TheNightKing · Answer

I feel meaning is important here. So let's take a look at the meaning first.
Faced with the double challenge of inflation and recession, many governments are choosing to focus on  inflation, which is the more immediate threat and using high interest rates, plus other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, for controlling it . - So one thing is clear that governments are choosing to focus on inflation. Inflation is more immediate threat and governments are using high interest rates along with other measures to control inflation.

Let's look at the answer choices now.

There is nothing outright wrong here. But if I remove the non essential modifiers in the underlined part I get "inflation.....for controlling it". Even if you keep one or both of the modifiers, the sentence still looks weird specially because of the "it" at the end.

If we remove the non essential modifier and look at the sentence "inflation as the more immediate threat and using high interest rates to control it". Looks way better for sure. Also parallelism is fine.

inflation because inflation is the most..... Also usage of with.

Hmm. "inflation, along with other RM and FP, which are used to control it". The sentence does not make sense. Also "the most immediate threat" gives way too much emphasis on the inflation which is not the intended meaning I believe. The ending with it is tricky because the construction is not ideal to refer back to inflation.

I like the first half. But there is no connection to the second half which means you can ignore all of it and treat it like non essential modifier? That is not quite right. And also "having been used" is you just know not right on GMAT.

P.S: This is probably the lengthiest explanation I have ever written :-P

Thank you!

generis · Answer

I have posted the official explanation   HERE .[

ParamjitDasGMAT · Answer

B is the best answer.

This is a question testing us on parallel construction and meaning.

Let us focus on the meaning first -

The idea of the sentence is that many governments are faced with the double challenge of inflation and recession, and they have focused on inflation as the "more immediate threat", and they are using "high interest rates" to control this problem.

Hence, the two actions performed by the governments should be put in a parallel construct - "ARE CHOOSING" and "USING".

Also, the to+verb form  is a much more direct construction for indicating intent/purpose than the "for + -ing" form.

With these points in mind, let us go through the options -

A) inflation, which is the more immediate threat  and using  high interest rates,  plus  other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies,  for controlling  it - there should be a comma after "threat" to put "are choosing" and "using" in parallel. "plus" and "and" is redundant. "For controlling" is inferior to "to control" for indicating the purpose/intent of the governments' actions.  Eliminate

B) inflation as the more immediate threat and using high interest rates, along with other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, to control it - perfect.  ARE CHOOSING .. and  USING .. are correctly put in parallel. " To control " is direct and precise for indicating the governments' purpose behind using the high interest rates. This is the correct answer.

C) inflation because it is  the most  immediate threat, with high interest rates and other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies used to control it - there are only  two  challenges described in the non-underlined portion: recession and inflation. So, "most" is invalid for ranking 2 entities. The prepositional modifier "with high interest rates" illogically points to the subject of the preceding clause - "inflation". Inflation cannot be "with high interest rates".  Eliminate

D) inflation,  the most  immediate threat, and high interest rates, along with other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, which are used to control it - same as C with respect to the superlative "most". If we eliminate the modifier, the sentence suggests that the governments "are choosing to focus on inflation...and high interest rates...". However, the original sentence clearly indicates that the governments are choosing to focus only on inflation. This is significant distortion in the meaning of the sentence.  Eliminate

E) inflation as  the most  immediate threat, high interest rates and other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies  having been used  to control it - same as C and D. "Having been used" is horribly passive. Meaning is distorted as, after eliminating the modifier, the sentence indicates that the governments are focusing on inflation, high interest rates, and other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies. Eliminate

Therefore, B is the best and most logical answer.

PinakiRDas · Answer

Honestly the word it at the end looks like a classic misplaced modifier to me.

dharam44 · Answer

Awesome explanation  generis 
please would you elaborate why  used  is incorrect in option c

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Choice A:  This answer choice suffers from two distinct errors. Here, "for controlling" is the wrong verb form to employ; the correct form is "to control", as this verb must parallel "to focus". This answer choice also distorts the meaning of the sentence due to a lack of a comma after "threat"; the information presented in the phrase "which is the more immediate threat" is additional information and must be placed between two commas, otherwise the entirety of the phrase "which is the more immediate threat and using high interest rates" modifies the noun "inflation" and implies that inflation is using high interest rates. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice B:  This answer choice uses the comparative adjective "most" to distinguish between two elements, maintains parallelism throughout the sentence, and conveys the intended meaning of the sentence. Thus, this answer choice is correct.

Choice C:  This answer choice uses the superlative adjective "most" to describe the greater of two elements. Another issue with this answer choice is the use of the word "used"; "used" is a passive descriptor, meaning it does not parallel the verb "choosing". Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice D:  This answer choice repeats the adjective-related error seen in Option C. This answer choice also suffers from a serious meaning error; due to the placement of the phrases "and high interest rates" and "along with other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies", these phrases modify "inflation", implying that the governments are choosing to focus on inflation alongside these other elements rather than using these elements to curb inflation. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice E:  This answer choice repeats the adjective-related error found in Options C and D. This answer choice also distorts the meaning of the sentence by applying the modifying phrase "high interest rates and other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies having been used to control it" to "inflation", implying that measures to curb inflation have already been taken. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Hence, B is the best answer choice.

At this point, for the sake of clarity, it may be prudent to shed a little light on the parallelism structure of this sentence. The core meaning of this sentence is that "governments" are doing two things, making the choice to focus on inflation and using certain measures to curb it. The form used to describe the first action, making the choice, is " choosing to focus"; thus, as the second action is joined to the first by the conjunction "and", the second action must also be expressed through the construction "present continuous verb + infinitive". For this reason, the correct construction is Option B's "using...to control".

To understand the concept of "Comparative v/s Superlative form on GMAT", you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oE1vyiJFUw

To understand the concept of "Extra Information Between Two Commas on GMAT", you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdcgAqmg7bU

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Crytiocanalyst · Answer

When there is a comparison between 2 subjects more is used most is used when the comparison is between 2 items

A) inflation, which is the more immediate threat and using high interest rates, plus other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, for controlling it
controlling it isn't the right use of tense but it's rather to control

B) inflation as the more immediate threat and using high interest rates, along with other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, to control it
This irons out every flaws and hits the sweet spot

C) inflation because it is the the most immediate threat, with high interest rates and other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies used to control it
more should be used

D) inflation, the most immediate threat, and high interest rates, along with other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies, which are used to control it
Similar reasoning as C

E) inflation as the most immediate threat, high interest rates and other restrictive monetary and fiscal policies having been used to control it
Similar reasoning as C 
Hence IMO B

VerbalBot · Answer

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Faced with the double challenge of inflation and recession, many gover

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Faced with the double challenge of inflation and recession, many gover

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