For application to the internship program, it is required

Question

For application to the internship program,  it is required that students submit a 500 to 700 word autobiography essay , a recommendation from a former employer or teacher, a transcript, and a writing sample.
(A) it is required that students submit a 500 to 700 word autobiography essay
(B) students are required to submit a 500 to 700 word autobiography essay
(C) the requirement is a 500 to 700 word autobiographical essay
(D) students should be submitting a 500 to 700 word autobiography essay
(E) it includes a 500 to 700 word autobiography essay

jpv · Answer

(B)..

will try refuting other choices. Correct me if I am wrong.

(D): "be submitting" is wrong. It should be "student should submit.."
(E): "it" No referent
(C): Distorts meaning: submit is missing.
(A): I cant refute this one. Second best(IMO). 
"it" clearly modifies "that students submit a 500 to 700 word autobiography essay". 

Please help: why (A) is better/worse than (B).

nocilis · Answer

hmm I don't have an answer.

 For application to the internship program  should modify the subject and the subject cannot be  students . It has got to be the  Requirements .

The way I check if the modifier is correct is by inverting the subject and the modifer.

So B would read:  students for application to the internship program . This is ackward!

Whereas if the subject is Requirements, it would read

 Requirements for application to the internship program . This is OK.

C) comes close. But it has a S-V error. It should be 'requirement are'

Can somebody see if my understanding is correct?

jpv · Answer

I got ur point.
U r right.
(B) may be wrong.

In that case I think (A) is best answer.

For application to the internship program, it is required that students submit a 500 to 700 word autobiography essay , a recommendation from a former employer or teacher, a transcript, and a writing sample.  

However, that also does not answer ur questions. We need some more help.

nocilis · Answer

'it' and 'there' cannot be subject of a clause if preceeded by a modifier.
So it cannot be A.

Waiting for Paul or Other experts to clarify....

jpv · Answer

it is definitely not the subject.. In (A), Subject is "that students submit a 500 to 700 word autobiography essay".

I saw anand hovering around in the forum. We can catch him.

chunjuwu · Answer

B. 
it is students that apply to the internship program. Except D, other choices are dangling. 
But in choice D, "should" needs be left out.

Paul · Answer

I would go for A
B seems to have a misplaced modifier problem in that it sounds as if "students" themselves are a requirement for the application.
In A, "it" refers to "requirements" as nocilis said

jpv · Answer

but there is no such word in the sentence.. :roll:

700Plus · Answer

Paul,
What do you think if questions starts with submit like "For submitting applications........" . Would you still think "it is required" a better choice.

jrabenho · Answer

Does anyone find it interesting that in A  required  is followed by the unidiomatic  that . You can be  required to  do something or it can a  requirement of  another body. But to  require that , doesn't seem right. A should read, it is  required of  students  to submit . I still think that B is correct despite the modification problem, but then again who knows. OA anyone?

banerjeea_98 · Answer

Pick "A" as well, in addition to Paul's comment I also think "A" conveys a subjunctive mood.

anandnk · Answer

Hmm. This is a tough one.
One thing I can say is  " it  is required that ....." 
contains what is called the  empty it 
Here the " it  does not refer to anything but just exists because every verb needs a subject. (verb being " is " )
I did some research on this question but could not find very convincing answer.

First of all  "for the application to the internship program"  is a prepositional phrase.
Now as per the grammr rules it can act as a  noun, or, adverb, or, adjective 

From usage perspective I just liked (B).

Let us rearrange each choice

(A) it is required that students submit + X + Y + Z, + for the application to the internship program.

(B) students are required to submit + X + Y + Z, + for the application to the internship program.

My belief is that the prepositional phrase is acting as an adjective. It has to be followed by a noun. I somehow feel that both sentences have a problem.

I have problem with  "for the" 
I would have really liked  "while applying"  or  "when applying" 

I would like to know the source of this SC.

qhoc0010 · Answer

This question is from Master the GMAT CAT 2005.

OA is (C). This is the OE. I am not convinced however.

 The original (A) contains two errors: the pronoun it creates ambiguity because there is no obvious antecedent, and the word autobiography should appear as an adjective with the ending â€“al. The original also uses the passive voice. (B) corrects the pronoun problem but fails to correct the adjective and the use of passive voice.(D) is incorrect because it corrects the pronoun and the passive voice, but fails to correct the adjective. (E) contains the original pronoun and adjective errors.

Vithal · Answer

but shouldn't "requirement" in C be "requirements" as a list of requirements is mentioned?

chunjuwu · Answer

So, according to the OA, it seems not like the adj. phrase but the adv. phrase. Therefore, there is no dangling doubt. right?

praveen_rao7 · Answer

Tough one, Glad it is C, that's what I got but was so unsure.

the requirement for is the correct usage

Vithal · Answer

Am still shocked to see OA as C

Can anyone explain why is "requirement" not "requirements" ??

Paul · Answer

Never heard of  Master the GMAT CAT 2005  before. I agree that "requirements" should be the right element being modified by the introductory modifier. However, although it is possible to singularize "requirement" prior to an enumeration, this is a concept I strongly believe the GMAT will not test.

For application to the internship program, it is required

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