azhrhasan wrote:
In his classic novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, author George Orwell depicts a society ruled by oligarchic dictatorship so draconian as to suppress any individual who refuses to subordinate to the state
A) so draconian as to suppress
B) so draconian [THAT] it suppressed
C) so draconian that it suppressed [wrong verb tense]
D) draconian enough to suppress
E) draconian enough so as to suppress
• CONCEPTSMeaning?
The government in George Orwell's book
1984 is a dictatorship.
The dictators are excessively harsh (
draconian)—so harsh that any person who resists the government is silenced (suppressed).
Idioms?
When the extreme degree of a characteristic of something results in something else, GMAC uses two similar idioms.
(1) So X as to Y
-- He was so grateful for the kindness as to be moved to tears.
(2) So X that Y
-- He was so grateful for the kindness that he wept.
This sentence describes an extreme cause and effect situation.
Options A, B, and C hint that an idiom is at issue. ("So . . .")
PROCESS OF ELIMINATION (explanation and analysis are below POE)
• Split #1: Incorrect idiom
The correct idioms are
So X as to Y, and
So X that Y.Option B incorrectly uses
So X it Y.-- if you have to choose between
so and
so that in a question that involves consequence, use
so that.
-- the word
so by itself (without that) is rarely correct on the GMAT
Eliminate B
• Split #2 - verb tense mismatch In the non-underlined portion of the sentence, we have the present tense verbs
depicts and
refuses.In option C,
suppressed should be
suppresses.Most of the time, the verb tense in reported speech is "shifted" one tense back from what the tense would be in direct speech.
But if the reporting verb (
depicts) is in the present tense as it is in this sentence, we do not have to "backshift."
Option (C) would be fine if the verb tense were correct.That is, the idiom is correct. The verb tense is not.
(C) a society ruled by oligarchic dictatorship
so draconian that it suppressed any individual who
refuses to subordinate to the state
Eliminate C
• Split #3: meaning and idiomsEnough to is not quite the right meaning.
Enough suggests reaching a minimum, or reaching a threshold, whereas this sentence and the correct idioms emphasize the
extreme degree of something and its results.
So = extreme
Enough = sufficient
So X as to YThe professor's grading was so unfair as to outrage every single student.
→ The professor's grading was extremely unfair.
→ The professor's grading was very unfair.
The emphasis is on the
extreme degree of unfairness.
The professor's grading was harsh enough to give pampered students a reality check.
The professor's grading is not extremely harsh.
Its harshness is sufficient (enough) to teach students a lesson.
The meaning of Options D and E is not correct.
-- The regime was not trying to meet a threshold of harshness, at which point insubordinate people would be punished.
The regime was not trying to be "sufficiently" harsh.
The regime was well past that threshold.
It was extremely harsh, as opposed to "just harsh enough."
-- In addition, (E) uses yet another idiom that doesn't work here (
so as to) and scrambles it with "enough to."
--
so as to (with the words all together, in one phrasal piece) is an idiom different from So X as to Y.
So as to indicates purpose. GMAT does not like this idiom. I cannot find even one question in which the correct answer includes
so as to. Eliminate D and E
The answer is A.SPOILER ALERT: If you click on the link, the answer to an official question is revealed.
Here is one official question whose correct answer uses the idiom
So X as to Y.• ANALYSIS (ignore what follows if you understood everything)
• The correct idioms are So X as to Yand
So X that YStructure?
So [adjective/adverb] as to
So [adjective/adverb] that
• In these idioms, "so" emphasizes the degree of the adjective (or much less frequently, the adverb).*
The words "as to" and "that" follow X's characteristic and tell us what
results from the intensity of the adjective.
The oil painting was so realistic as to be mistaken for a photograph.--
realistic is the adjective. Cause? A painting is very realistic. Result? The painting is mistaken for a photograph.
The professor was so grouchy that he intimidated students. --
grouchy is the adjective. The professor is very grouchy. What is the result of his being very grouchy? He intimidates students.
His grouchiness causes the students to feel intimidated.
Both idioms are acceptable in this question. Option C botches the verb.
Option A does not.
The answer is A