John was not ready to move to the new company because they h

Howdy! I would like to take a look at answer choice (E) since it seems to be a point of confusion.



I think there are couple issues here that make this choice wrong:

First and foremost is the double negative in this sentence—"...not...any..." In formal academic writing, and when searching for an answer in sentence correction, always eliminate answer choices that contain a double negative. It is considered redundant, cumbersome, and confusing to use a double negative in the sentence. This is a tricky one to notice since this formulation is often heard in speech, making it a highly testable rule. You would never want to say, "There are not any magazines left." Rather, you would want to say, "There are no magazines left." The correct answer properly avoids this problem.

Next is the issue with passive voice. I can see that some of you have been discussing whether or not you can have passive and active voice in the same sentence, whether or not the two can be parallel in a sentence, and whether or not we can have an active/passive mix. I think this is greatly confusing the issue. Avoid passive voice whenever possible, especially on the GMAT. There are very few reasons to use passive voice in a sentence, but these are beyond what is being tested on the GMAT. In general, active voice leads to a more clear, more concise, and more engaging sentence. Passive voice requires more words, places the subject at the end of the sentence (or completely eschews the subject), and makes verbs into adjectives. I can elaborate on when it is okay to use Passive Voice, or what to consider to make that decision, but when it comes to the GMAT, avoid passive voice! Avoided it completely. You will not find a correct answer that is passive voice.

Does that make sense?

I hope I have been able to help here! Let me know if I can make something more clear.

Cheers