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generis

Project SC Butler: Day 180: Sentence Correction (SC2)


For SC butler Questions Click Here

Fanny Burney’s historical importance as a novelist is undeniable, even though many critics have attempted to do so.

A) is undeniable, even though many critics have attempted to do so

B) is not able to be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do that

C) is not to be denied, even though many critics have attempted doing so

D) cannot be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do it

E) cannot be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do so

1. Cannot be denied/undeniable/is not to be denied/ is not able to be denied
Cannot be denied is the best expression out of these since the 2nd part of the sentence says that many people have attempted to "deny it". If we use "undeniable" as in A then we cannot use "do so" or "do it/that" in the 2nd half. B & C use the wordy/ungrammatical expressions "is not to be denied/ is not able to be denied" to convey the same meaning.
So we can take out A,B & C

2. Do So/Do it
"Do it": "It" has to refer to a noun
"Do So": "So" refers to an action or a clause

Option D: "even though many critics have attempted to do it"
- the "it" in option D doesnt have any noun referent for itself.
- If we take "historical importance" as its referent then the sentence becomes
- "even though many critics have attempted to do historical importance"

The "do so" in E stands for "deny his historical importance"
- "even though many critics have attempted to do so"
So the sentence without ellipses is"
"even though many critics have attempted to deny his historical importance"

So E is the correct answer IMO.
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generis

Project SC Butler: Day 180: Sentence Correction (SC2)


For SC butler Questions Click Here

Fanny Burney’s historical importance as a novelist is undeniable, even though many critics have attempted to do so.

A) is undeniable, even though many critics have attempted to do so

B) is not able to be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do that

C) is not to be denied, even though many critics have attempted doing so

D) cannot be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do it

E) cannot be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do so

A) is undeniable, even though many critics have attempted to do so - Do so - tried to un-deny it?

B) is not able to be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do that - "is not able to be denied" long and awkward construction

C) is not to be denied, even though many critics have attempted doing so - " doing so" is incorrect. requires a verb "do so"

D) cannot be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do it - " do it" - incorrect, what does it refer to

E) cannot be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do so - Correct.
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Fanny Burney’s historical importance as a novelist is undeniable, even though many critics have attempted to do so.

A) is undeniable, even though many critics have attempted to do so usage of undeniable makes the sentence awkward

B) is not able to be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do that the use of that is incorrect

C) is not to be denied, even though many critics have attempted doing so use of doing makes the sentence a fragment by omitting a verb

D) cannot be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do it there is no antecedent for pronoun it

E) cannot be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do so begins with cannot and correct comparison used leaves no ambiguity.

IMO E
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Do so, known as a pro-verb is used to replace a verb in a sentence to avoid repetition. Do it is used when the verb has an object which can be replaced by the pronoun it.

Option A: Fanny Burney’s historical importance as a novelist is undeniable, even though many critics have attempted to do so. to do so suggests that the verb is should be in the bare infinitive form be, and this also signals that it requires a modal verb can. Even if the verb is can be, substituting to be deniable in place of to do so still doesn't make much sense. ..even though many critics have attempted to be deniable. I believe a verb that expresses the action undeniable will be appropriate. A can be eliminated.

Option B: Fanny Burney’s historical importance as a novelist is not able to be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do that. is not able to be denied is grammatically awkward at best. A better form of expressing the action can be cannot be denied. B can be eliminated.

Option C: Fanny Burney’s historical importance as a novelist is not to be denied, even though many critics have attempted doing so.
is not to be denied is wordy, so not concise compared with cannot be denied. In addition, I am not sure if doing so is appropriate in the context. to do so is more appropriate in my view because it explicitly expresses the purpose
or the intention of the critics better. We can eliminate option C.

Option D: Fanny Burney’s historical importance as a novelist cannot be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do it.
There is no logical antecedent for the pronoun it. do so is required. Eliminated option D.

Option E: Fanny Burney’s historical importance as a novelist cannot be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do so. do so rightly replaces deny Fanny Burney's historical importance. Cannot be denied rightly replace is undeniable.
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Fanny Burney’s historical importance as a novelist is undeniable, even though many critics have attempted to do so.

A) is undeniable, even though many critics have attempted to do so
'to do' so requires an action to refer back to, attempted to do what? "to deny" ...here undeniable is noun

B) is not able to be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do that
is not able to be denied - too wordy and 'that' should refer to singular noun or clause, here it refers to ->not able to be denied ... sentence doesn't make sense

C) is not to be denied, even though many critics have attempted doing so
critics have attempted doing not to be denied -> too wordy

D) cannot be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do it
it should refer to noun, it cannot refer to action..

E) cannot be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do so
denied is an action and so refers to denied.

E is better!
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OK. So the correct answer seems to be E.

But in D, we can successfully find an antecedent for it: Fanny Burney’s historical importance.
So, "Do it" = dispute Fanny Burney’s historical importance.

What is wrong with that?
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I wanted to write an explanation, but then saw a great explanation by Shivan21. Good job! :)
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I wanted to write an explanation, but then saw a great explanation by Shivan21. Good job! :)

mykrasovski

Thanks buddy for your kind words :blushing
Cheers!
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Shivan21
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I wanted to write an explanation, but then saw a great explanation by Shivan21. Good job! :)

mykrasovski

Thanks buddy for your kind words :blushing
Cheers!

You deserve it!

Though, regarding your comment that 'If we take "historical importance" as its referent then the sentence becomes "even though many critics have attempted to do historical importance"', I have a different idea: do can stand for verb "argue", so the sentence becomes
- even though many critics have attempted to argue his historical importance.
That sounds pretty good, doesn't it?
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Hi zhanbo, I do not think it is legit to substitute verbs in this particular problem, i.e. replace do by argue :) And clearly, the blue part in option D "Fanny Burney’s historical importance as a novelist cannot be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do historical importance" has no sense... One cannot attempt to do a historical importance :) while it is possible to argue against a historical importance, discuss it, consider it, evaluate it, and so on...
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Fanny Burney’s historical importance as a novelist is undeniable, even though many critics have attempted to do so.

A) is undeniable, even though many critics have attempted to do so -- "is undeniable change meaning of the context.

B) is not able to be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do that -- is not able to be denied is awkward

C) is not to be denied, even though many critics have attempted doing so -- is not able to be denied is awkward

D) cannot be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do it -- it is ambiguous, what is "it" referring to

E) cannot be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do so

Therefore, E
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Quote:
Fanny Burney’s historical importance as a novelist is undeniable, even though many critics have attempted to do so.

Quote:
A) is undeniable, even though many critics have attempted to do so
Here do so implies undeny so wrong meaning.Eliminate A.

Quote:
B) is not able to be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do that
that is a relative pronoun that can refer to noun only.here it's referring to deny which is a verb.so eliminate B.

Quote:
C) is not to be denied, even though many critics have attempted doing so
so when we have to be, the So cannot change the tense. here so is referring to denied ie., wrong so Eliminate C.

Quote:
D) cannot be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do it
same as B.it can only refer to nouns not verbs.Eliminate D.

Quote:
E) cannot be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do so
Perfect.
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generis

Project SC Butler: Day 180: Sentence Correction (SC2)


For SC butler Questions Click Here

Fanny Burney’s historical importance as a novelist is undeniable, even though many critics have attempted to do so.

A) is undeniable, even though many critics have attempted to do so

B) is not able to be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do that

C) is not to be denied, even though many critics have attempted doing so

D) cannot be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do it

E) cannot be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do so

Attempted to do so/Attempted to deny/ Attempted to criticise
Generally,You do criticise those things which can be criticised. We hardly go to criticise facts set.
Historical importance as a novelist is undeniable- fact. So you need to look for those options where Historical importance can be/can not be criticised.
D and E are the two options where meaning is clear, but in D there is no logical antecedent of pronoun "it".
E is perfect
E:)
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I have posted the official explanation HERE
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JonShukhrat
zhanbo
Though, regarding your comment that 'If we take "historical importance" as its referent then the sentence becomes "even though many critics have attempted to do historical importance"', I have a different idea: do can stand for verb "argue", so the sentence becomes
- even though many critics have attempted to argue his historical importance.
That sounds pretty good, doesn't it?

Hi zhanbo,

Above all, congratulations on such great achievements in both GMAT and GRE! :thumbup:

It’s kind of interesting that, right from the start, I knew do so is what we are tested on here. However, your question made me think about the exact reasons for eliminating D. So, I did some research, and let me share what I inferred from it. We know that do it doesn’t work when it doesn’t have clear referent (noun), for example:

I wanted them to leave, and politely asked them to do it/so.

Here, there is no noun for it to refer to, so we definitely need so. However, as you pointed out, in D it can refer to Fanny Burney’s historical importance as a novelist (when it stands for a noun to which essential mods are attached, it must stand for the noun + all essential mods). Additionally, in D do can stand in for deny. As a result we have:

D. FB’s historical importance as a novelist cannot be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do (deny) it (FB’s historical importance as a novelist).

Quite a legitimate sentence, isn’t it? What I have found out is that out of do so/ it/ that the first one is the most academic and the least ambiguous one. i.e. in colloquial English, when someone asks us “Send them a fax!”, we are used to answer “I’ll do so”, “I’ll do it” or even “I’ll do that”.
But the latter two seem to be too informal for GMAT.
JonShukhrat , you have stated the issue very diplomatically.
Now, let me be the bad cop because there is no SEEM on the GMAT.
Those two constructions do not seem to be too informal for the GMAT.
Those two constructions ARE too informal on the GMAT.
In fact, in this question neither is grammatical.
I do not recall a single question in which the correct answer contained do it, a fact that confirms what Ron P says below.

Quote:
RonPurewal says: 'do it' is not always wrong. However, our research has shown that very few GMAT problems, if any, contain 'do it' in their correct forms, whereas 'do so' has been the crux of several problems. Remember, it's not just the correct grammar that matters - it also matters how likely it is that each particular concept will show up on the test.

DO SO and DO are possible.
DO IT is not at all likely.
DO THAT is never correct.

Quote:
Although MGMAT provides an example for do it, in its example do stands for do itself:
Quinn failed to do the homework, but her brother did it.
Nice catch.
In other words, the only time that we can use DO + PRONOUN is when we have already used a TO DO verb.
The pronoun takes the place of the object of the verb (the object that was a noun).

Quote:
For verbs other than do, MGMAT prefers to repeat that verb again [OR TO USE THE PHRASE DO SO, or perhaps just the word DO):

Quote:
Quinn did not eat the soup, but her brother ate it.

MGMAT prefers to do so because in some cases using do it for other verbs may create ambiguity:
The police have significantly reduced violent crime and are pleased with themselves for doing it.

Here it clearly refers to violent crime. However, doing is ambiguous because it may stand for reducing or just mean doing, as is. In the first case we have pleased with themselves for reducing (doing) violent crime (it). Makes sense if a person reading this sentence somehow already knows what the author is going to say.

But in the second case we have pleased with themselves for doing violent crime (it). That’s nonsense because original meaning is - police didn’t do violent crime but reduced it. A person who reads the above sentence for the first time most probably will understand it this way. By using do so instead, we can avoid this ambiguity.

Small conclusion: In everyday life, I think D would be just fine. However, for the sake of clarity and GMAT’s high standards, we better do what MGMAT does – to repeat the exact verb + it instead of do + it:

Quinn did not eat the soup, but her brother ate it.

Just wanted to share my findings, your comments are welcome. :)

Small conclusion: In everyday life, I think D would be just fine.
JonShukhrat — Bravo.
This analysis is very good.

I refined just a little bit of what you wrote. Your work is excellent.
Well done.
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generis
JonShukhrat
zhanbo
Though, regarding your comment that 'If we take "historical importance" as its referent then the sentence becomes "even though many critics have attempted to do historical importance"', I have a different idea: do can stand for verb "argue", so the sentence becomes
- even though many critics have attempted to argue his historical importance.
That sounds pretty good, doesn't it?

Hi zhanbo,

Above all, congratulations on such great achievements in both GMAT and GRE! :thumbup:

It’s kind of interesting that, right from the start, I knew do so is what we are tested on here. However, your question made me think about the exact reasons for eliminating D. So, I did some research, and let me share what I inferred from it. We know that do it doesn’t work when it doesn’t have clear referent (noun), for example:

I wanted them to leave, and politely asked them to do it/so.

Here, there is no noun for it to refer to, so we definitely need so. However, as you pointed out, in D it can refer to Fanny Burney’s historical importance as a novelist (when it stands for a noun to which essential mods are attached, it must stand for the noun + all essential mods). Additionally, in D do can stand in for deny. As a result we have:

D. FB’s historical importance as a novelist cannot be denied, even though many critics have attempted to do (deny) it (FB’s historical importance as a novelist).

Quite a legitimate sentence, isn’t it? What I have found out is that out of do so/ it/ that the first one is the most academic and the least ambiguous one. i.e. in colloquial English, when someone asks us “Send them a fax!”, we are used to answer “I’ll do so”, “I’ll do it” or even “I’ll do that”.
But the latter two seem to be too informal for GMAT.
JonShukhrat , you have stated the issue very diplomatically.
Now, let me be the bad cop because there is no SEEM on the GMAT.
Those two constructions do not seem to be too informal for the GMAT.
Those two constructions ARE too informal on the GMAT.
In fact, in this question neither is grammatical.
I do not recall a single question in which the correct answer contained do it, a fact that confirms what Ron P says below.

Quote:
RonPurewal says: 'do it' is not always wrong. However, our research has shown that very few GMAT problems, if any, contain 'do it' in their correct forms, whereas 'do so' has been the crux of several problems. Remember, it's not just the correct grammar that matters - it also matters how likely it is that each particular concept will show up on the test.

DO SO and DO are possible.
DO IT is not at all likely.
DO THAT is never correct.

Quote:
Although MGMAT provides an example for do it, in its example do stands for do itself:
Quinn failed to do the homework, but her brother did it.
Nice catch.
In other words, the only time that we can use DO + PRONOUN is when we have already used a TO DO verb.
The pronoun takes the place of the object of the verb (the object that was a noun).

Quote:
For verbs other than do, MGMAT prefers to repeat that verb again [OR TO USE THE PHRASE DO SO, or perhaps just the word DO):

Quote:
Quinn did not eat the soup, but her brother ate it.

MGMAT prefers to do so because in some cases using do it for other verbs may create ambiguity:
The police have significantly reduced violent crime and are pleased with themselves for doing it.

Here it clearly refers to violent crime. However, doing is ambiguous because it may stand for reducing or just mean doing, as is. In the first case we have pleased with themselves for reducing (doing) violent crime (it). Makes sense if a person reading this sentence somehow already knows what the author is going to say.

But in the second case we have pleased with themselves for doing violent crime (it). That’s nonsense because original meaning is - police didn’t do violent crime but reduced it. A person who reads the above sentence for the first time most probably will understand it this way. By using do so instead, we can avoid this ambiguity.

Small conclusion: In everyday life, I think D would be just fine. However, for the sake of clarity and GMAT’s high standards, we better do what MGMAT does – to repeat the exact verb + it instead of do + it:

Quinn did not eat the soup, but her brother ate it.

Just wanted to share my findings, your comments are welcome. :)

Small conclusion: In everyday life, I think D would be just fine.
JonShukhrat — Bravo.
This analysis is very good.

I refined just a little bit of what you wrote. Your work is excellent.
Well done.

Dear generis,

Thank you very much. You are awesome, as always :)
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