Japan's abundant rainfall and the typically mild temperature throughou

C

A - out cause 't'
B- has is wrong, have to have 'have' since we're dealing with a compound noun.
D- for raising is not correct
E-them doesn't refer to anything

C for parallelism

the begining portion of the underlined section should refer to rainfall and temperature...we need a plural term here.

A - singular
B - singular
C - plural
D - plural...but is not paralleil to rest of sentence because of 'ing'
E - singular.

I also chose C but why does it need to be the passive voice?

For A, 'It' cannot refer to rainfall and temp.
B >> has is singular ..need plural
C >> correct
D >. for raising
E >> thus hits the parallelism in the question

Guys, don't you think that "it" in C is ambiguous, because it doesn't have a clear antescedant?
Somebody, please explain. THX!

Hi
It in this case is a placeholder,which doesn't need to have an antecedent. Also, from reading around i have noticed that the GMAT is not very picky about pronoun ambiguity provided you can make sense out of the sentence. Also, in this case you can clearly eliminate the other options [read the above explanations].

The question is not that difficult and getting to the correct answer is easy..

Good discussion on another point of elimination of answer choices

https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/pot ... t3550.html

Hello,
guys I think the answer is " D "

why???
firstly, using of Have made is correct due to plural antecedent : "the mountainous terrain and generally poor soils", and now we have to decide whether to use "to" or "for", which are not related to parallelism because the modifier is not affecting the parallelism, so now we have to check between the two idioms :

to + verb is used to present propose while for +verb-ing is used for presents what the action is for,

so lets ask " why the mountainous terrain and generally poor soils made it or what made it for

no propose so choosing for is better ,

please advise if my analysis is wrong ??

Hi it's an idiomatic construction when talking about an action

possible + infinitive

Japan's abundant rainfall and the typically mild temperature throughout most of the country have produced a lush vegetation cover and, despite the mountainous terrain and generally poor soils, it has made possible the raising of a variety of crops.

(A) it has made possible the raising of - parallelism issue - has needs a singular subject

(B) has made possible for them to raise - same as A ; usage of them

(C) have made it possible to raise - Correct

(D) have made it possible for raising - unidiomatic "possible for ___ing"

(E) thus making it possible for them to raise. - parallelism issue ; usage of them


Answer C

Imo C

Subject is plural so we have to use plural verb have .C also maintains the parallelism .

I rejected C because despite xx should be followed by a phrase or dependent clause ( followed by independent clause)
Only A has subject "it"
< i know it doesn't refer to Japan's abundant rainfall and the typically mild temperature but i thought it can refer to " a lush vegetation cover" ) because i couldn't find other options that can fill the structure well and moreover "it" was present in other options as well.

My questions:
if conjugation ( despite, although) come after "and " then subject can be ellipsis ( omitted)?
2. if in choice A, it is replaced with "they", then it would have a right choice?
3. in choice C "it "is just a placeholder as as idiom "made it possible to " without any reference and this should be ok.
4. meaning wise: how the mountainous terrain and generally poor soils can make possible to raise? The rain came and then it give possibility that others can raise the crop, is n't it? in other words, rain purpose was not raise the crop but it becomes possible eventually. So should " possible the raising of" be better? any example in which "made possible the raising of "is correct or it is always unidiomatic?

Sorry questions on some basic concepts to clarify.

thanks AndrewN AjiteshArun

Hello, imSKR. I would be happy to help clarify matters below.

The despite phrase is simply interrupting the main clause, and as such, you can skip over it to spot the correct continuation in the sentence. Looking at choice (C),

Japan's abundant rainfall and the typically mild temperature throughout most of the country have produced a lush vegetation cover and... have made it possible to raise a variety of crops.

Now you can spot the parallel elements that surround the hinge word and. We have a compound subject in rainfall and temperature, and we have parallel actions in have produced and have made. Speaking to question 3 below, it is a placeholder, so it has no referent. It simply fills a grammatical gap to create a functional sentence.

It really depends on the sentence. There may be a need to have a subject for a second independent clause, but, as we see above, there may just be an extension of a predicate. If you see a comma before and, then you should anticipate a typical compound sentence construct, one with a subject in the second independent clause. Notice that in the sentence at hand, there is no comma before and.

No, because that would create a second independent clause, and the sentence, without a comma before and, would be a run-on. Furthermore, they have made possible the raising of is a mealymouthed way of expressing the vital meaning that such conditions as those mentioned have allowed a variety of crops to be raised.

That is correct, as I have explained above.

I think I have touched on the latter question in my answer to question 2. The sentence as a whole is conveying that Japan enjoys conditions that are mostly conducive to growing different types of crops, even though other factors may not be ideal for the purpose.

I hope that helps. Thank you for thinking to tag me.

- Andrew

One thing i got from your reading : Look for simple and concise sentence ( make sure no grammatical error). Example: Prefer "made it possible to raise" over "made possible the raising of", if not sure about idiom or any idiomatic .

I was skeptical in asking some basic questions but you answered all well. Thanks a lot AndrewN Andrew Sir!

You are absolutely right. And even though I toss around fancy grammatical words on a day-to-day basis, I maintain that the clear and concise expression of vital meaning is by far the foremost consideration in SC questions. I have even disagreed with another well-respected Expert (whom I respect as well) over whether there was another way besides spotting the idiom that someone could determine the correct answer. (This was several months back in response to a different question.) Sure there is. Hypothetically, I may not even know what an idiom is, but that does not mean I have no capacity to follow the expression of vital meaning in a sentence. In other words, whatever label people have thought to apply to a particular grammatical situation adds just another layer of refinement to what can often be thought of in quite basic terms. You are welcome to disagree, but I prefer to keep matters simple. Whatever leads to the correct answer (besides cheating) is fine in my book.

- Andrew

This question is based on Parallelism and Subject-Verb Agreement.

The sentence tells us about two things that Japan’s abundant rainfall and the typically mild temperature have done. The underlined portion is the second thing so it must be parallel in structure to the first thing - have produced a lush vegetation cover.

In Option A, the pronoun ‘it’ is redundant because the subject of the sentence is Japan’s abundant rainfall and the typically mild temperature. Even if a pronoun were to be used, the singular pronoun ‘it’ would not agree with the plural antecedent - abundant rainfall and the typically mild temperature. The verb ‘has’ does not agree with the subject either. So, Option A can be eliminated.

In Option B, the singular verb ‘has made’ does not agree with the plural subject - Japan’s abundant rainfall and the typically mild temperature. The pronoun ‘them’ is ambiguous as there is no antecedent for the pronoun in the sentence. So, Option B can be eliminated.

In Option C, the plural verb agrees with the subject and is parallel to the other verb “have produced”. The adjective ‘possible’ is followed by the appropriate infinitive form “to raise”. So, C is the best of all the options.

Option D is almost identical to Option C except for the participle “raising” at the end of the option. The adjective ‘possible’ cannot be followed by a participle, so Option D can be ruled out.

Option E lacks parallelism. It also contains an ambiguous pronoun “them”. So, Option E can be eliminated.

Therefore, C is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.

A. the 'rainfall and temperature' have both 'made possible the raising of' . Therefore plural 'have' is needed.
B. same as A
C. Correct
D. 'for raising' is an incorrect idiom.
E. 'making' is not parallel to 'have produced