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giovannisumano
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Most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature to 04 May 2021, 11:05
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Hello,

I have a problem in understanding the meaning of the sentence here. Down to C and E. I chose E reason below.

Most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature to borrow money, with their objectives being to protect taxpayers and the credit of the state government.

(C) to borrow money, limitations intended to protect

States impose limitations to borrow money. So the "purpose or intent" should be denoted here.
But, I felt it is logical for states to impose limitations in order to borrow money.

(E) for borrowing money, limitations with the intent of protecting
What for states imposed limitations? For borrowing money
This seemed slightly better than above. Second part - I did not find any major error here for me to eliminate it.
So chose E on PoE.

GMATNinjaTwo egmat GMATNinja - Please help.
I apologize for joining the party so late!

Let's start with choice (C):
Quote:
(C) Most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature to borrow money, limitations intended to protect taxpayers and the credit of the state government.
Ignoring the modifier "of the legislature", we have, "... limitations on the authority to borrow money...". The phrase "to borrow money" modifies "authority", NOT the verb "impose". What kind of authority? The authority to borrow money. This is similar to the following examples:

  • "You have the right to remain silent." - What kind of right? The right to remain silent.
  • "I have a tendency to eat sweets after dinner." - What kind of tendency? The tendency to eat sweets.

The phrase "to borrow money" is NOT there to tell us the purpose or intent of imposing limitations. Instead, it is there to modify "authority", and that usage is totally fine.

Quote:
(E) Most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature for borrowing money, limitations with the intent of protecting taxpayers and the credit of the state government.
In choice (E), it seems like the "intentions" themselves are a conscious entity -- one that is motivated by a desire to protect taxpayers and the credit of the state government. But "limitations" themselves do not have "intent".

The correct meaning is clearer in choice (C): the limitations are meant to protect taxpayers and the credit of the state government.

Also, you can have the authority TO DO something, not the authority FOR DOING something:

  • "The mall security guard has the authority to arrest shoplifters." - Correct idiom.
  • "The mall security guard has the authority for arresting shoplifters." - Incorrect idiom.

(C) is the better choice!
Show more


As usual, your explanations let one realize how most of the other explanations are completely wrong. Thanks Charles.

Just one question, how do we correctly identify what the construction "...to verb" is modifying?, for example, if I say "I impose limitations to borrow money" do I mean that I impose limitations so I can borrow money or that my limitations apply to the act of borrowing money?. Using the reasoning you exemplified I guess the answer is the latter: what kind of limitations? the limitations to borrow money. That would make one think that "..to verb" modifies the closest noun that is not followed by a preposition?. For example, in "most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature to borrow money" we are basically ignoring "of the legislature" to determine that "to borrow" is modifying "authority".
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Most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature to 16 Jun 2021, 09:49
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giovannisumano
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shruthiarvindh
Hello,

I have a problem in understanding the meaning of the sentence here. Down to C and E. I chose E reason below.

Most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature to borrow money, with their objectives being to protect taxpayers and the credit of the state government.

(C) to borrow money, limitations intended to protect

States impose limitations to borrow money. So the "purpose or intent" should be denoted here.
But, I felt it is logical for states to impose limitations in order to borrow money.

(E) for borrowing money, limitations with the intent of protecting
What for states imposed limitations? For borrowing money
This seemed slightly better than above. Second part - I did not find any major error here for me to eliminate it.
So chose E on PoE.

GMATNinjaTwo egmat GMATNinja - Please help.
I apologize for joining the party so late!

Let's start with choice (C):
Quote:
(C) Most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature to borrow money, limitations intended to protect taxpayers and the credit of the state government.
Ignoring the modifier "of the legislature", we have, "... limitations on the authority to borrow money...". The phrase "to borrow money" modifies "authority", NOT the verb "impose". What kind of authority? The authority to borrow money. This is similar to the following examples:

  • "You have the right to remain silent." - What kind of right? The right to remain silent.
  • "I have a tendency to eat sweets after dinner." - What kind of tendency? The tendency to eat sweets.

The phrase "to borrow money" is NOT there to tell us the purpose or intent of imposing limitations. Instead, it is there to modify "authority", and that usage is totally fine.

Quote:
(E) Most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature for borrowing money, limitations with the intent of protecting taxpayers and the credit of the state government.
In choice (E), it seems like the "intentions" themselves are a conscious entity -- one that is motivated by a desire to protect taxpayers and the credit of the state government. But "limitations" themselves do not have "intent".

The correct meaning is clearer in choice (C): the limitations are meant to protect taxpayers and the credit of the state government.

Also, you can have the authority TO DO something, not the authority FOR DOING something:

  • "The mall security guard has the authority to arrest shoplifters." - Correct idiom.
  • "The mall security guard has the authority for arresting shoplifters." - Incorrect idiom.

(C) is the better choice!


As usual, your explanations let one realize how most of the other explanations are completely wrong. Thanks Charles.

Just one question, how do we correctly identify what the construction "...to verb" is modifying?, for example, if I say "I impose limitations to borrow money" do I mean that I impose limitations so I can borrow money or that my limitations apply to the act of borrowing money?. Using the reasoning you exemplified I guess the answer is the latter: what kind of limitations? the limitations to borrow money. That would make one think that "..to verb" modifies the closest noun that is not followed by a preposition?. For example, in "most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature to borrow money" we are basically ignoring "of the legislature" to determine that "to borrow" is modifying "authority".
Show more
Hmm, it sounds like you are trying to come up with a rule here, and if you've been reading our SC posts, you probably know how we feel about that sort of thing! ;)

We are trying to encourage people to use their brains rather than relying on a made-up algorithm of grammar rules (even though the latter would be much easier, right?). In "most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature to borrow money," the prepositional phrase "of the legislature" logically modifies "authority" -- so we can temporarily "ignore" that prepositional phrase in analyzing the rest of the sentence (as you saw in this post).

But looking at your example ("I impose limitations to borrow money"), the meaning is less clear, probably because neither interpretation makes much sense. Do I impose limitations IN ORDER TO borrow money? If so, what the heck does that mean? And if "to borrow money" modifies "limitations" directly, what the heck is a "limitation to borrow money"? Again, neither of these makes much sense, at least not without additional context.

On the other hand, "authority to borrow money" makes perfect sense -- the legislature has the authority to do something, and most states impose limitations on that authority.

Again, the context is crucial, and sadly there are no black and white rules telling us what the construction "...to {verb}" is modifying. As soon as we try to come up with such rules, the GMAT will be more than happy to break them. :)

I hope that helps!
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Most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature to 19 Jun 2021, 11:05
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Hello DmitryFarber,

Thanks for your explanations on various parts of this question.
Could you also please help in clarifying the role of 'being' in option A?
1. Is it acting as a noun?
2. If yes, why is its usage incorrect - Is it because it makes the sentence passive?

Thanks !
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Most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature to 10 Sep 2021, 23:08
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isn't it wired that two complete clauses that have no logic conjuctions?
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Most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature to Updated on: 19 Nov 2021, 04:02
Originally posted by thangvietnam on 11 Sep 2021, 03:33.
Last edited by thangvietnam on 19 Nov 2021, 04:02, edited 1 time in total.
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in choice E, "limitations with intent" is wrong.

first, we have idiom "limitation intended to...". this is hard to remember idiom but basic , so, gmat can test us
second, only agents, humans can have intention and, so , " a person with intent to" is correct. "something with intent to" is incorrect.

the point here is how to use the meaning of "intent". this use can be remembered easily and basic , so, gmat has right to test us.

person with intent to do
something intended to

those are idioms. these idioms are more easy to remember if you understand the meaning.
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Most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature to 11 Sep 2021, 11:51
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Reevesbaby
isn't it wired that two complete clauses that have no logic conjuctions?
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Hi Reevesbaby,

If you're looking at limitations intended to protect, intended isn't a complete verb, so that's not a clause. Think of that entire phrase as a big noun.

1. limitations intended to protect...
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Most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature to 15 Jun 2022, 06:42
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Ans: C
Most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature to borrow money, with their objectives being to protect taxpayers and the credit of the state government.

(A) to borrow money, with their objectives being to protect

(B) to borrow money, the objectives of which are the protecting of

(C) to borrow money, limitations intended to protect

(D) for borrowing money, of which the objective is protecting

(E) for borrowing money, limitations with the intent of protecting
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Most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature to 16 Sep 2022, 22:52
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Hi Kylie
Please help. I am confused about c because it is a run on sentence. It has 2 independent sentences.
Most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature to borrow money
Limitations intended to protect X n Y.

Thanks :)
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The correct interpretation of option c is that it employs an absolute modifier. "...., limitations intended to protect X and Y" is a noun + noun modifier construction that is aimed at modifying the previous clause.
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Most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature to 28 Nov 2022, 03:39
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Can someone please explain me why option C is not a run on sentence. I thought that each clause in option C has verb and noun, making both clauses independent clauses. Shouldnt these two clauses be joined by a conjunction or ';'.
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Most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature to 28 Nov 2022, 04:09
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Prtkmjn
Can someone please explain me why option C is not a run on sentence. I thought that each clause in option C has verb and noun, making both clauses independent clauses. Shouldnt these two clauses be joined by a conjunction or ';'.
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Hello Prtkmjn,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, in Option C, "intended" is a past participle, not an active verb, so the portion of the resultant sentence after the comma is not an independent clause.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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Most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature to 31 May 2023, 03:32
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DmitryFarber GMATNinja AndrewN

I'm not sure why but I understood "authority of the legislature" to mean an official or a person of the legislature. Though now that I understand the intended meaning of the sentence, I can see why "authority to" is appropriate.

Suppose the original sentence read, "Most states impose limitations on the official of the legislature ...."

Would "for borrowing" be acceptable in this scenario?
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Most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature to 31 May 2023, 08:49
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DmitryFarber GMATNinja AndrewN

I'm not sure why but I understood "authority of the legislature" to mean an official or a person of the legislature. Though now that I understand the intended meaning of the sentence, I can see why "authority to" is appropriate.

Suppose the original sentence read, "Most states impose limitations on the official of the legislature ...."

Would "for borrowing" be acceptable in this scenario?
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Hello, achloes. No, in the context of the sentence, your proposed revision would still fall short of a reasonable and meaningful answer. Generally speaking, it is not too useful to analyze derivative sentences, since you risk creating so-called rules that would not hold in a somewhat similar sentence. In this case, to impose limitations on someone/something for anticipates a sort of transgression, as in the following:

The international council imposed sanctions on the leader of Nation X for having started a war.

It can be tempting to explore many branches of related sentences, but if you stick to the five iterations presented in a given SC question, and if you thoroughly understand those five, then you will be putting yourself in the best position to answer the next similar question correctly.

Thank you for thinking to ask, and good luck with your studies.

- Andrew
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Most states impose limitations on the authority of the legislature to 02 Oct 2024, 06:38
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