Hello Everyone!
Let's take a look at this question, one issue at a time, and narrow it down to the correct choice. To begin, here is the original question with the major differences between the options highlighted in
orange:
More and more in recent years, cities are stressing the arts as a means
to greater economic development and investing millions of dollars in cultural activities, despite strained municipal budgets and fading federal support.
(A)
to greater
economic development and
investing(B)
to greater
development economically and
investing(C)
of greater
economic development and
invest(D)
of greater
development economically and
invest(E)
for greater
economic development and
the investment ofAfter a quick glance over the options, there are a few places we can focus on to narrow things down:
1. as a means to/of/for (idioms)
2. economic development / development economically (intended meaning)
3. investing / invest / the investment of (parallelism/verb choice)Let's start with #1 on our list: as a means to/of/for. Each of these formats means something different, so we need to determine which one we'll need:
X as a means of Y = X is a type of Y
Memorization as a means of studying is not as efficient as you might think. (memorization is a type of studying)
X as a means to Y = X is a way to make Y happen
The soccer team runs 3 miles every day as a means to improve their endurance during games. (running is a way to improve their endurance)
X as a means for Y = not an idiom; eliminate any options that use this
Since the original sentence states that cities are stressing arts as a way to develop the economy and invest money, we need to use the phrase "X as a means to Y" for it to keep the intended meaning:
(A)
to greater economic development and investing
(B)
to greater development economically and investing
(C)
of greater economic development and invest
(D)
of greater development economically and invest
(E)
for greater economic development and the investment of
We can eliminate options C & D because they use "X as a means of Y," which isn't what we need here.
We can eliminate option E because "X as a means for Y" is not a correct idiom structure in English.
This only leaves us with 2 options, so
let's look at #2 on our list: economic development vs. development economically. The words "economic" and "economically" mean two different things:
economic = adjective that refers to the economy
economically = adverb that means "cheaply or inexpensively" done
Let's see how each option handles this:
(A) to greater
economic development and investing
This is
CORRECT! The phrase "economic development" is what we're looking for here to show that stressing the arts will help to improve the economy.
(B) to greater development
economically and investing
This is
INCORRECT because the phrase "development economically" is not what we want here. This phrase means that stressing the arts will help development happen more cheaply, which isn't what the writer is trying to say.
There you go - option A was the correct choice all along!Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
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