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13 Oct 2020, 23:58
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A
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
5%
(low)
Question Stats:
85% (01:14) correct
15%
(01:23)
wrong
based on 304
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
New workforce trends suggest that a large number of working wives will outearn their husbands within a generation.
A) New workforce trends suggest that a large number of working wives will outearn their husbands within a generation.
B) According to new workforce trends, a majority of working wives will be outearning their husbands with greater wages within the next generation.
C) New workforce trends within a generation suggest an outearn¬ing of a large number of working wives by their husbands.
D) Within a generation, a large number of husbands will be out-earned by their working wives, according to new workforce trends.
E) New workforce trends suggest an outearning of husbands by a majority of their working wives within the next generation.
The official explanation is here.
16 Oct 2020, 03:16
Kudos
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OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
THE PROMPT
Trends in the workforce suggest that many working wives will soon earn more money than their working husbands do.
• Issues tested?
→ verb tense
→ diction (the right word or phrase used in the right place)
→ style (norms that govern the way in which formal, often academic English should be written)
• Suggest can be subjunctive or indicative (normal)
That is, use of the verb suggest does not automatically mean that a subjunctive construction will follow.
-- The subjunctive construction, a.k.a. "command subjunctive":
bossy verb + THAT + noun + bare infinitive
-- The bare infinitive is just the infinitive without the word "to."
-- I suggested that she wear a warm coat.
-- The infinitive is to wear. The bare infinitive is wear regardless of the noun.
-- The subject "she" normally takes the third person singular, i.e., she wears. In the command subjunctive form, every noun takes wear.
The verb suggest is used in many ways.
→ subjunctive?
Sometimes suggest takes the command subjunctive.
In the subjunctive mood, "suggest that" implies some sort of desire, command, or request.
Desire, command, and request are not present here.
The workforce trends do not require that working wives outearn their working husbands. The workforce trends do not desire, command, request, or prefer.
→ indicative?
Suggest that here is used in the sense of hint at, imply, or show.
Similar sentences:
• His red face suggests that he is embarrassed.
• Water in the desert suggests an oasis.
Suggest that does not require the subjunctive.
THE OPTIONS
• I see no issues
• redundant (fatal): outearning and with greater wages mean the same thing
→ with greater wages is not standard phrasing and should sound very weird to a native ear.
-- This particular small oddity is not enough to eliminate an answer immediately. Use subtle style issues to decide between options at the end of analysis.
• the phrase within the next generation is long and clumsy compared to within a generation.
Again, this issue is not enough to eliminate (B) immediately, but could be used for comparison.
I flag the diction and style issues just to expose you (repeatedly) to subtle errors.
Redundancy, on the other hand, is fatal.
ELIMINATE B
• modifier placement error: within a generation appears to define new workforce trends; however, within a generation should clearly define when working wives will outearn their working husbands.
• especially compared to option A (wives will outearn their husbands), (C) is unnecessarily passive
-- Active: Working wives will outearn their working husbands.
-- Passive: Working husbands will be outearned by their working wives.
-- Passive: Working wives will be outearned by their working husbands.
→ Unnecessarily passive: an outearning ... of ... working wives ... by their husbands
→ an outearning is a noun, and even the ___ING kind aren't very dynamic; the verb outearn would be more forceful
→ of X [working wives] by Y [their working husbands] is a classic pattern in passive voice: the recipient of the action gets more attention than the doer of the action
-- Tip: do not automatically pounce on passive voice, which is correct much more often than you might think.
That said, if you have an option written in active voice that seems grammatical, be suspicious of passive voice in other answer choices.
• meaning that differs from option A? That fact does not matter. Option A is not holy.
Option C is incorrect because its modifier error is fatal. If you are not sure, keep C and look for a better answer.
ELIMINATE C
-- On the other hand, we often say, "according to the data," which is nearly identical to "according to workforce trends."
-- Really good editors would probably rewrite both turns of phrase. (The data suggests . . . Workforce trends suggest)
But the GMAT employs the convention in which inert things can occasionally "perform" an action.
Let the issue go.
• unnecessarily passive: compared to (A), this option is wordier and less effective.
→ basic structure: X will be outearned BY Y [Object - Verb - BY - Subject]
→ compare to A, whose basic structure is: Y will outearn X. [Subject - Verb - Object]
Option A wins. In A, the subject is itself actively doing something.
GMAC likes simplicity and active verbs. Option A is better than option D.
ELIMINATE D
→ what does by a majority of their working wives mean?
Do these working husbands each have many working wives?
→ outearning OF husbands?
We have entered noun phrase hell.
• another stylistic dud
→ strong verbs (will outearn) are more effective than noun phrases (an outearning of husbands by wives)
→ active voice is typically preferred to passive voice (though not always!)
Passive, this option: . . . an outearning of working husbands by working wives
Active, see option A: . . . working wives will outearn their working husbands
→ option E v option A? Option A wins.
Like C and D, option E uses passive construction that is not as effective as the active construction in A
ELIMINATE E
The correct answer is A.
NOTES
I like the conversation on this thread.
I am fond of saying that learning is not a spectator sport.
AntrikshR , you found a very good sample sentence. You wrote:
But in English, we often say that inert materials state, suggest, and indicate.
This usage is idiomatic. In formal written English, we might see this kind of sentence:
The book states, "Authoritarian personalities should not be given steroid-filled cocktails under any circumstances."
→ No, books don't write themselves and hence cannot literally state anything.
→ Nonetheless, this usage is accepted and common. Try to tuck it into your "idiomatic usage" file.
Sidebar: OMG - one of my degrees is in philosophy. I am AI-phobic. And I have just been triggered. (Seriously??? Technologies that understand human beings? What, with empathy? Maybe Deloitte folks oughtta run on up to Pennsylvania Avenue.)
On the GMAT, most of the time, the word that is repeated for the sake of clarity—but clarity is not a grammar rule.
-- Newspaper journalists save space. They do not use Oxford commas. They do not repeat words such as "that" in your example.
→ Be careful about looking at newspapers for complete guidance in SC on the GMAT.
On occasion, every major newspaper including the Wall Street Journal will deploy constructions that you will not see on the GMAT.
I'll be blunt: on rare occasions, every major newspaper will publish prose that is ungrammatical, stylistically horrid, or both.
(Many of the sentences on the GMAT are not elegant or prizewinners, either. But they are grammatical. Just for the record, writing those questions is hella hard.)
Use high-end newspapers and high-end journals as your 95-99% correct material, with the possible exception of Atlantic Monthly and The New Yorker, both of which have editors who make very, very few mistakes.
(Remember that newspaper writers are on horrible deadlines created by the internet, whereas most journal article writers have more time.)
(1) it's okay that the adverb phrase "more appropriately" is placed after the verb "respond" rather than before it (parallel structure need not be identically constructed), and
(2) you are really looking at two noun modifiers.
You are looking at two that-clauses.
That-clauses are relative clauses.
They modify nouns.
In fact, relative clauses (including that-clauses) are often called adjective clauses.
→ The second that is implied.
It "distributes" or "carries over":
. . Technologies
. . . . . that better understand humans
. . . . . and
. . . . . [that] respond to them more appropriately
So you are not dealing with an adverbial phrase and a phrase.
Nor do the that-clauses need to be made more "parallel" somehow.
-- Both use
Subject (that) + verb + object
-- It's okay that the adverbs (better and more appropriately) are placed differently.
→ That-clauses are adjective clauses with a subject and a verb. True, the clauses must be parallel, but in this case we do not see, for example, that better understand imcorrectly coupled with [and that] responding.
I admire your curiosity and tenacity!
Yes, you may be overthinking this issue.
On the other hand, maybe overthinking prompted you to ask questions that you otherwise would not have asked.
Now you and a few others know that relative clauses (who-, which-, and that-clauses) are often called "adjective clauses" because they describe nouns.
I hope those answers help. (Whew!)
This note is for everyone: supplement your WSJ, Economist, and NY Times reading with novels or with non-fiction that fascinates you.
Read 15-20 minutes a day. Preferably an hour.
COMMENTS
AstroNut (great username!
) , AntrikshR (whom I may have welcomed before), and Biswadip , welcome to SC Butler.
The reasoning in most of these posts is quite good, even if occasionally it took a wrong turn.
I am very glad to see creative critical thinking.
Very nicely done! Kudos to all.
Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2)
THE PROMPT
Quote:
• Meaning?
Trends in the workforce suggest that many working wives will soon earn more money than their working husbands do.
• Issues tested?
→ verb tense
→ diction (the right word or phrase used in the right place)
→ style (norms that govern the way in which formal, often academic English should be written)
• Suggest can be subjunctive or indicative (normal)
That is, use of the verb suggest does not automatically mean that a subjunctive construction will follow.
-- The subjunctive construction, a.k.a. "command subjunctive":
bossy verb + THAT + noun + bare infinitive
-- The bare infinitive is just the infinitive without the word "to."
-- I suggested that she wear a warm coat.
-- The infinitive is to wear. The bare infinitive is wear regardless of the noun.
-- The subject "she" normally takes the third person singular, i.e., she wears. In the command subjunctive form, every noun takes wear.
The verb suggest is used in many ways.
→ subjunctive?
Sometimes suggest takes the command subjunctive.
In the subjunctive mood, "suggest that" implies some sort of desire, command, or request.
Desire, command, and request are not present here.
The workforce trends do not require that working wives outearn their working husbands. The workforce trends do not desire, command, request, or prefer.
→ indicative?
Suggest that here is used in the sense of hint at, imply, or show.
Similar sentences:
• His red face suggests that he is embarrassed.
• Water in the desert suggests an oasis.
Suggest that does not require the subjunctive.
THE OPTIONS
Quote:
• I see no issues
Quote:
• redundant (fatal): outearning and with greater wages mean the same thing
→ with greater wages is not standard phrasing and should sound very weird to a native ear.
-- This particular small oddity is not enough to eliminate an answer immediately. Use subtle style issues to decide between options at the end of analysis.
• the phrase within the next generation is long and clumsy compared to within a generation.
Again, this issue is not enough to eliminate (B) immediately, but could be used for comparison.
I flag the diction and style issues just to expose you (repeatedly) to subtle errors.
Redundancy, on the other hand, is fatal.
ELIMINATE B
Quote:
• modifier placement error: within a generation appears to define new workforce trends; however, within a generation should clearly define when working wives will outearn their working husbands.
• especially compared to option A (wives will outearn their husbands), (C) is unnecessarily passive
-- Active: Working wives will outearn their working husbands.
-- Passive: Working husbands will be outearned by their working wives.
-- Passive: Working wives will be outearned by their working husbands.
→ Unnecessarily passive: an outearning ... of ... working wives ... by their husbands
→ an outearning is a noun, and even the ___ING kind aren't very dynamic; the verb outearn would be more forceful
→ of X [working wives] by Y [their working husbands] is a classic pattern in passive voice: the recipient of the action gets more attention than the doer of the action
-- Tip: do not automatically pounce on passive voice, which is correct much more often than you might think.
That said, if you have an option written in active voice that seems grammatical, be suspicious of passive voice in other answer choices.
• meaning that differs from option A? That fact does not matter. Option A is not holy.
Option C is incorrect because its modifier error is fatal. If you are not sure, keep C and look for a better answer.
ELIMINATE C
Quote:
• according to typically implies agency, as if someone had spoken, written a report, or collected data.
-- On the other hand, we often say, "according to the data," which is nearly identical to "according to workforce trends."
-- Really good editors would probably rewrite both turns of phrase. (The data suggests . . . Workforce trends suggest)
But the GMAT employs the convention in which inert things can occasionally "perform" an action.
Let the issue go.
• unnecessarily passive: compared to (A), this option is wordier and less effective.
→ basic structure: X will be outearned BY Y [Object - Verb - BY - Subject]
→ compare to A, whose basic structure is: Y will outearn X. [Subject - Verb - Object]
Option A wins. In A, the subject is itself actively doing something.
GMAC likes simplicity and active verbs. Option A is better than option D.
ELIMINATE D
Quote:
• confusing and irritating
→ what does by a majority of their working wives mean?
Do these working husbands each have many working wives?
→ outearning OF husbands?
We have entered noun phrase hell.
• another stylistic dud
→ strong verbs (will outearn) are more effective than noun phrases (an outearning of husbands by wives)
→ active voice is typically preferred to passive voice (though not always!)
Passive, this option: . . . an outearning of working husbands by working wives
Active, see option A: . . . working wives will outearn their working husbands
→ option E v option A? Option A wins.
Like C and D, option E uses passive construction that is not as effective as the active construction in A
ELIMINATE E
The correct answer is A.
NOTES
I like the conversation on this thread.
I am fond of saying that learning is not a spectator sport.
AntrikshR , you found a very good sample sentence. You wrote:
Quote:
Well, no. Of course not. The trends are not actually stating the idea.
But in English, we often say that inert materials state, suggest, and indicate.
This usage is idiomatic. In formal written English, we might see this kind of sentence:
The book states, "Authoritarian personalities should not be given steroid-filled cocktails under any circumstances."
→ No, books don't write themselves and hence cannot literally state anything.
→ Nonetheless, this usage is accepted and common. Try to tuck it into your "idiomatic usage" file.
Sidebar: OMG - one of my degrees is in philosophy. I am AI-phobic. And I have just been triggered. (Seriously??? Technologies that understand human beings? What, with empathy? Maybe Deloitte folks oughtta run on up to Pennsylvania Avenue.)
Quote:
→ No, I do not think a that needed to be repeated.
On the GMAT, most of the time, the word that is repeated for the sake of clarity—but clarity is not a grammar rule.
-- Newspaper journalists save space. They do not use Oxford commas. They do not repeat words such as "that" in your example.
→ Be careful about looking at newspapers for complete guidance in SC on the GMAT.
On occasion, every major newspaper including the Wall Street Journal will deploy constructions that you will not see on the GMAT.
I'll be blunt: on rare occasions, every major newspaper will publish prose that is ungrammatical, stylistically horrid, or both.
(Many of the sentences on the GMAT are not elegant or prizewinners, either. But they are grammatical. Just for the record, writing those questions is hella hard.)
Use high-end newspapers and high-end journals as your 95-99% correct material, with the possible exception of Atlantic Monthly and The New Yorker, both of which have editors who make very, very few mistakes.
(Remember that newspaper writers are on horrible deadlines created by the internet, whereas most journal article writers have more time.)
Quote:
→ Although I understand how you might see the issues as you do, actually,
(1) it's okay that the adverb phrase "more appropriately" is placed after the verb "respond" rather than before it (parallel structure need not be identically constructed), and
(2) you are really looking at two noun modifiers.
You are looking at two that-clauses.
That-clauses are relative clauses.
They modify nouns.
In fact, relative clauses (including that-clauses) are often called adjective clauses.
→ The second that is implied.
It "distributes" or "carries over":
. . Technologies
. . . . . that better understand humans
. . . . . and
. . . . . [that] respond to them more appropriately
So you are not dealing with an adverbial phrase and a phrase.
Nor do the that-clauses need to be made more "parallel" somehow.
-- Both use
Subject (that) + verb + object
-- It's okay that the adverbs (better and more appropriately) are placed differently.
→ That-clauses are adjective clauses with a subject and a verb. True, the clauses must be parallel, but in this case we do not see, for example, that better understand imcorrectly coupled with [and that] responding.
I admire your curiosity and tenacity!
Yes, you may be overthinking this issue.
On the other hand, maybe overthinking prompted you to ask questions that you otherwise would not have asked.
Now you and a few others know that relative clauses (who-, which-, and that-clauses) are often called "adjective clauses" because they describe nouns.
I hope those answers help. (Whew!)
This note is for everyone: supplement your WSJ, Economist, and NY Times reading with novels or with non-fiction that fascinates you.
Read 15-20 minutes a day. Preferably an hour.
COMMENTS
AstroNut (great username!
) , AntrikshR (whom I may have welcomed before), and Biswadip , welcome to SC Butler.The reasoning in most of these posts is quite good, even if occasionally it took a wrong turn.
I am very glad to see creative critical thinking.
Very nicely done! Kudos to all.
General Discussion
A) New workforce trends suggest that a large number of working wives will outearn their husbands within a generation. - Looks neat, dont see any obvious mistakes. Lets see what other choices we have, for now its a keeper. Keep
B) According to new workforce trends, a majority of working wives will be outearning their husbands with greater wages within the next generation. - use of "next" changes the meaning. "With greater wages" seems redundant, as outearning already implies that. Deselect
C) New workforce trends within a generation suggest an outearning of a large number of working wives by their husbands. - Wrong placement of "Within a generation", it changes the meaning. Remaining of the sentence is also very awkward. Deselect
D) Within a generation, a large number of husbands will be out-earned by their working wives, according to new workforce trends. - Passive sentence structure, something at least for GMAT should be avoided unless there is no better alternative available. I am also not very comfortable with the use of "According to". Its a trend, its not a statement made by someone who we are referring to by using "According to". Trends can suggest something, but Trends cannot state something. Deselect
E) New workforce trends suggest an outearning of husbands by a majority of their working wives within the next generation. - Passive voice. We have Option A which is better than this. Also the part "Outearning of husbands by a majority of their working wives" is not correct. It sounds as if a major part of the wife will outearn the husband which doesn't make sense. Deselect
IMO Answer A
B) According to new workforce trends, a majority of working wives will be outearning their husbands with greater wages within the next generation. - use of "next" changes the meaning. "With greater wages" seems redundant, as outearning already implies that. Deselect
C) New workforce trends within a generation suggest an outearning of a large number of working wives by their husbands. - Wrong placement of "Within a generation", it changes the meaning. Remaining of the sentence is also very awkward. Deselect
D) Within a generation, a large number of husbands will be out-earned by their working wives, according to new workforce trends. - Passive sentence structure, something at least for GMAT should be avoided unless there is no better alternative available. I am also not very comfortable with the use of "According to". Its a trend, its not a statement made by someone who we are referring to by using "According to". Trends can suggest something, but Trends cannot state something. Deselect
E) New workforce trends suggest an outearning of husbands by a majority of their working wives within the next generation. - Passive voice. We have Option A which is better than this. Also the part "Outearning of husbands by a majority of their working wives" is not correct. It sounds as if a major part of the wife will outearn the husband which doesn't make sense. Deselect
IMO Answer A
