In 1988, the Council on Economic Priorities began publishing Shopping for a Better World, with the simple thesis of consumers having the power to change companies by the simple expedient of refusing to buy. (A) with the simple thesis of consumers having (B) which had the simple thesis of consumers having (C) where the thesis was simple: consumers having (D) with a thesis that is a simple one: consumers have (E) whose thesis was simple: consumers have

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In 1988, the Council on Economic Priorities began publishing Shopping

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KarishmaB

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01 Dec 2020, 01:27

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sid0791

VeritasKarishma egmat GMATNinja mikemcgarry

Can somebody explain to me more about "with modifier" as given in this sentence?

As with modifier really doesn't look wrong according to me, and option D makes perfect sense

What I am able to intercept from the main sentence is "In 1988, Council begun publishing something...... and that something is simple......."

But option E uses "was" doesn't this changes the meaning by suggesting that "something(thesis) was simple"

I wouldn't worry a lot about 'with' since 'thesis' is just a proposition and it could be the council's or the magazine's.

(D) is incorrect because of the way it is written - too wordy

'wordy' doesn't mean 2 words vs 3 words. It means saying something simply and directly vs taking a circuitous route.

... with the simple thesis that...
... whose thesis is simple: ...

vs

with a thesis that is a simple one:

The first two are much more elegant than the third.

Option (E) is clear and concise.

In 1988, A began publishing B, whose thesis was simple: ...

So the thesis was of B and it was simple.

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01 Dec 2020, 08:34

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VeritasKarishma DmitryFarber

Thanks for your help.

Although I still can never be sure to eliminate an answer just because it is wordy.

But yes I get the point that why "whose" and "was" is correct. A thesis is generally a theory/research put forward by someone. So "whose" correctly modify the council and as we are using council so it correctly explains the usage of "was".

Thanks
Siddharth

KarishmaB

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02 Dec 2020, 02:19

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sid0791

Siddharth,

'whose' refers to the magazine, not the council. The correct option tells us that the thesis of the magazine was simple. Note that the entire sentence is in the past (in 1988).

In 1988, the Council began publishing SBP, whose thesis was simple: ...

The council began publishing in 1988. The thesis of SBP was simple.

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02 Dec 2020, 02:32

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VeritasKarishma

sid0791

VeritasKarishma
Hi Karishma,

If 'whose' refer to the magazine, and as magazine exist now as well, so how can we use 'was', how the thesis of the magazine could be of past if it still exists today.

If you use 'was', and if 'whose' is referring to the magazine, then doesn't that means that "the thesis was simple", so currently is it not simple? That won't make sense right?

Thanks
Siddharth

KarishmaB

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03 Dec 2020, 02:15

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sid0791

VeritasKarishma

sid0791

The thesis may have changed now. The magazine may not be in existence now. We don't know anything about 'now' until and unless the sentence tells us. The sentence may well choose to tell us only about how it was in 1988 with the use of "was".

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09 Oct 2023, 21:47

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kj1993

VeritasKarishma please help me in understanding 'with' modifier used in opt A. I think it is incorrect because now the sentence means that COuncil began publishing two things (1) - Shopping...world (2). the thesis. whereas the intended meaning is Council began publishing one thing ie shopping...world whose thesis was ....buy

"with" can be used as a modifier. It needn't imply two things. I am ok with a sentence which looks like this:

A began publishing B with the simple thesis that consumers have the power ...

My big problem with (A) is the use of "having". The thesis is "consumers have the power...".
When we say "consumers having the power ...", it shows "having the power" modifies 'consumers'.
It implies the thesis is "consumers who have the power ...." But the thesis is not some kind of consumers. The thesis is that consumers have the power.

Hi KarishmaB,
Can you please give a short brief on in which cases do we use (,with) and when is its usage correct ( Comma + with)?

KarishmaB

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10 Oct 2023, 00:03

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KarishmaB

kj1993

Hi KarishmaB,
Can you please give a short brief on in which cases do we use (,with) and when is its usage correct ( Comma + with)?

comma + with are used to give modifiers. They will give a characteristic of a noun and 'with,' a preposition, will be followed by a noun too.
Here is an official question with such usage: https://gmatclub.com/forum/visitors-to- ... l#p1418413

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In 1988, the Council on Economic Priorities began publishing Shopping for a Better World, with the simple thesis of consumers having the power to change companies by the simple expedient of refusing to buy.

Option Elimination -

(A) with the simple thesis of consumers having - "with" introduces a prepositional phrase that can be adverbial or adjectival depending on the context. But the real issue here is "having." Let me share the proper usage of "having," and then let's evaluate this option. Having finished his work, John went for a walk." But we don't see any such usage here. Moreover, "thesis of consumers." Really? Wrong.

(B) which had the simple thesis of consumers having - the same issue of "having."

(C) where the thesis was simple: consumers having - "where" is a location marker. Wrong. Moreover, it is still the same issue of "having."

(D) with a thesis that is a simple one: consumers have - what is "one" as a pronoun referring to? Thesis? Are we saying "thesis that (that refers back to thesis) is a simple one (refers to thesis) so it looks like "with a thesis thesis is a simple thesis" Really? Atrociously wrong.

(E) whose thesis was simple: consumers have - "whose" can refer to people or things. Here, it clearly refers to "Shopping for a Better World" is some publication. Ok

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