NandishSS wrote:
HI
GMATGuruNY,
AndrewN ,
GMATCoachBenQuote:
In all, fifteen or more Greenwich Capital employees have been tied to insider trading while at the fund, with four to plead guilty and more likely.
(A) In all, fifteen or more Greenwich Capital employees were tied to insider trading while at the fund, with four to plead guilty and more likely.
(B) All told, fifteen or more Greenwich Capital employees had been tied to insider trading while at the fund, with four having pleaded guilty and more likely.
(C) All told, at least fifteen Greenwich Capital employees have been tied to insider trading while at the fund; four have pleaded guilty and more are likely to do so.
(D) In all, at least fifteen Greenwich Capital employees have been tied to insider trading while at the fund; with four having pleaded guilty and more are likely to do so.
(E) All told, at least fifteen Greenwich Capital employees have been tied to insider trading while at the fund; four have pleaded guilty and more are likely.
Can you please help me with this question. I was unable to comprehend the explanation given.
In C, D & E does it not mean the employers are still doing insider trading? What is the issue in A & B?
Hello,
NandishSS. The sentence seems to convey that a number of former employees at the fund were engaging in insider trading while employed there. Among the accused, or those with ties to insider trading, four have admitted guilt, while others are expected to come forward and fess up. Even though the entire sentence is underlined, we can still look to the most common places, the head and the tail of the underlined portion, for key splits. To be honest, I prefer
in all to the more casual
all told, but I would not use my preference to eliminate anything. The tail-end, though, is more helpful.
(A) ... , with four to plead guilty
and more likely(B) ... , with four having pleaded guilty
and more likely(C) ... ; four have pleaded guilty
and more are likely to do so(D) ...
; with four having pleaded guilty and more are likely to do so
(E) ... ; four have pleaded guilty
and more are likelyChoices (A) and (B) lack a verb at the end to parallel the earlier action of pleading guilty. You should be thinking,
And more what? Meanwhile, choice (E) employs the verb
to be in
are, but it still does not answer the question.
And more are likely pleaded guilty? That does not make sense. The only real contenders are (C) and (D), but the latter uses a semicolon with a prepositional phrase, rather than an independent clause. I know the GMAT™ is not a strict test of grammar, but grammar basics certainly help, not to mention that (D) adds nothing in the way of clarity that the more concise (C) lacks. Choice (C) it is, then.
I look for any weakness I can find to attack the validity of an answer choice. If I am lucky, I will not find any in one and I will find at least one in all of the others. That is a case-closed scenario, and that proved to be the case on this one.
I hope that helps. Thank you for thinking to ask me about the question.
- Andrew