Mr. and Mrs. O’Leary couldn’t get away from their grandchildren, and

Question

Mr. and Mrs. O’Leary couldn’t get away from their grandchildren, and this is why they didn’t  make it to the opening night of the new theater performance.

A) Mr. and Mrs. O’Leary couldn’t get away from their grandchildren, and this is why they couldn’t
B) The grandchildren of Mr. and Mrs. O’Leary wouldn’t let them go, so this is the reason
C) The fact that Mr. and Mrs. O’Leary didn’t want to leave their grandchildren is the reason why they didn’t
D) This being the reason why Mr. and Mrs. O’Leary didn’t want to leave their grandchildren and couldn’t
E) The problem was that Mr. and Mrs. O’Leary couldn’t leave their grandchildren and that is why they hadn’t

CMcAboy · Answer

I'll take a shot at this.

It between A and C for me, but ultimately I went for C.

A) Usage of this is incorrect. They should use "That".
B) "Wouldn't let them go" is not clear. Wouldn't let them go to what/where?
C) This is correct. This is the only answer that is grammatically correct.
D) What is "This" referring to? Unclear
E) hadn't is not correct. Should be didn't or couldn't

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear nikhil007 : With all due respect to CMcAboy , I disagree. I would say the best answer by far is (A). (A) direct, no grammatical problem --- I don't know where CMcAboy thinks a "that" is required. The second part could be "this is why" or "that is why" --- either is perfectly fine. (B) "this is the reason" --- first of all, this one would require a "that" or "why" after the word "reason". Also, way too wordy and indirect. (C) "the fact that" + "the reason that" --- both clauses are indirect --- that's the kiss of death on GMAT SC. Direct and powerful is what the GMAT wants. (D) "this being the reason why" --- putridly wrong (E) "the problem was that" + "that is why they" --- both clause indirect, so again, this can't possibly be right. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

rjacobsMGMAT · Answer

CMcAboy, "that" implies distance or selection. Consider this sentence:

"Many suspected that Mr. and Mrs. O'Leary's age kept them from the performance, but in fact, Mr. and Mrs. O’Leary couldn’t get away from their grandchildren and  that  is why they didn’t make it to the opening night."

Here, I am contrasting the expected reason with the actual reason, and so I use "that" to select the actual reason.

In the sentence as written, there is no need to select so "this" is probably preferable. However, note that this is a style preference, not a grammatical error, so "this" or "that" would both be acceptable. Therefore, I like (A).

With (C), we should look at other factors, most notably that a fact is not a reason - those words have very different meanings, and one should probably not be used to describe the other. This is a meaning problem, and trumps the style issue. Also, "the fact that" is generally unnecessary - not really wrong on its own, but often the GMAT will use it in wrong answers. Treat it with suspicion, along with "being."

campex · Answer

Just a quick heads up.. This question is part of the GmatClub Grammar Book and the OA for this question in the book stands as C.

ZeroIQ · Answer

Mr. and Mrs. O’Leary couldn’t get away from their grandchildren, and this is why they didn’t make it to the opening night of the new theater performance.

A) Mr. and Mrs. O’Leary couldn’t get away from their grandchildren, and this is why they couldn’t
 - This says that Mr and Mrs Oleary couldnt get away from their grandchildren.

C) The fact that Mr. and Mrs. O’Leary didn’t want to leave their grandchildren is the reason why they didn’t
 - Here it says that they didnt want to leave their grandchildren .

both are having different meaning if it plays a imp role . I think if i look at meaning i will go to A because that sounds a more appropriate reason for not attending the theater.
While b,d,e are totally out of question.

harshdev · Answer

Option A has Pronoun Ambiguity ; "they" can refer to "Mr. and Mrs. O’Leary" and "grandchildren"

VerbalBot · Answer

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Mr. and Mrs. O’Leary couldn’t get away from their grandchildren, and

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Mr. and Mrs. O’Leary couldn’t get away from their grandchildren, and

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