Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
Darmody wrote:
In their latest press release, the company's new management stated a plan for expansion of its operations into the global software market via a series of acquisitions in Asia and Latin America.
(A) the company's new management stated a plan for expansion of its operations
(B) the new company's management stated that they planned on expanding its operations
(C) the company's new managers stated their plan to expand its operations
(D) the new company managers stated their plan for its operations, expanding
(E) the company's new management stated that they planned to expand its operations
Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of this sentence is that the new managers of the company stated that they plan to expand its operations into the global software market.
Concepts tested here: Meaning + Modifiers + Pronouns + Awkwardness/Redundancy• The introduction of the present participle ("verb+ing"- “expanding" in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.
A: Trap. The sentence formed by this answer choice incorrectly uses the plural pronoun "their" to refer to the singular noun "management". Further, Option A suffers from pronoun ambiguity, as the pronoun "its" can refer to either "company" or "management".
B: The sentence formed by this answer choice incorrectly uses the plural pronoun "their" to refer to the singular noun "management". Further, Option B suffers from pronoun ambiguity, as the pronoun "its" can refer to either "company" or "management". Additionally, Option B alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "new company's management"; the use of "new" to modify "company's" rather than "management" incorrectly implies that the managers of a
company that is new stated that they plan to expand its operations into the global software market; the intended meaning is that the
new managers of the company stated that they plan to expand its operations into the global software market. Besides, Option B uses the needlessly wordy phrase "that they planned on expanding its operations", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
C: Correct. The sentence formed by this answer choice correctly uses the plural pronoun "their" to refer to the plural noun "managers". Further, Option C clearly refers to the noun "company's" with the pronoun "its". Additionally, Option C uses the clause "the company's new...to expand its operations", avoiding the modifier error seen in Option D and conveying the intended meaning - that the new managers of the company stated that they plan to expand its operations into the global software market. Besides, Option C is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.
D: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "expanding into the global software market"; the use of the "comma + present participle ("verb+ing" - "expanding" in this sentence)" construction incorrectly implies the company's new managers stated their plan
for the company's operations, and
in doing so expanded the company into the global software market; the intended meaning is that the company's new managers stated that they
plan to expand the company's
operations into the global software market; please remember, the introduction of present participle ("verb+ing"- “expanding" in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.
E: The sentence formed by this answer choice incorrectly uses the plural pronoun "their" to refer to the singular noun "management". Further, Option A suffers from pronoun ambiguity, as the pronoun "its" can refer to either "company" or "management". Besides, Option E uses the needlessly wordy phrase "that they planned to expand its operations", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
Hence, C is the best answer choice.To understand the concept of "Comma plus Present Participle for Cause-Effect relationship" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~3 minutes):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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