Outlining his strategy for nursing the troubled conglomerate back to health,the chief executive's plans were announced on Wednesday for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months


A executive's plans were announced on Wednesday for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months
B executive's plans, which are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months were announced on Wednesday.
C executive's plans for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months were announced on Wednesday.
D executive announced plans Wednesday to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months
E executive announced plans Wednesday that are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months

The pronoun 'his' can refer to a person and not to action or plans. Clearly A,B, and C are out.
Option D is the correct answer.
Option E is using 'that are to cut' although it conveys the same meaning but is excessive.

Would anyone please tell me why in the option d 'announce is not followed by that' ? (only for that reason I have chosen E rather than taking D.) Please clarify ..

Hello Everyone!

This is a great example of a GMAT question that focuses on active voice and wordiness! Let's take a closer look at the options, and highlight any major difference in orange:

Outlining his strategy for nursing the troubled conglomerate back to health, the chief executive's plans were announced on Wednesday for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months.

(A) executive's plans were announced on Wednesday for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months
(B) executive's plans, which are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months were announced on Wednesday
(C) executive's plans for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months were announced on Wednesday
(D) executive announced plans Wednesday to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months
(E) executive announced plans Wednesday that are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months

After a quick glance over the options, we have 2 key items to focus on:

1. executive's plans were announced / executive announced = Passive vs. Active Voice
2. for cutting / which are to cut / for cutting / to cut / that are to cut = Clarity & Wordiness

Let's start with #1 on our list because it will remove 2-3 options right away. Any time you're asked to choose between active or passive voice on the GMAT exam, you should always choose ACTIVE voice. Here is a short example to remind you about the difference:

The children put away their toys. --> ACTIVE VOICE (places the focus on the person doing the action)
The toys were put away by the children. --> PASSIVE VOICE (places the focus on the action being done by the person)

Let's check each option and rule out any that use passive voice:

(A) executive's plans were announced on Wednesday for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months
(B) executive's plans, which are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months were announced on Wednesday
(C) executive's plans for cutting the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12 billion in assets over the next 18 months were announced on Wednesday
(D) executive announced plans Wednesday to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months
(E) executive announced plans Wednesday that are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months

We can rule out options A, B, and C because they all use passive voice. They all place the focus on the action being done, rather than the person doing the action. They also cause confusion because they say that the executive's plans were announced, but it's not clear if he/she announced their own plans, or if someone else announced the plans on his/her behalf!

Now that we only have 2 options left to choose from, let's tackle #2 on our list: clarity & wordiness. For each option, we must make sure that they are written using the clearest and most concise language possible that still conveys the intended meaning:

(D) executive announced plans Wednesday to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months
This is CORRECT! It uses active voice, and it also uses the most concise language to convey meaning. It's clear and to the point!

(E) executive announced plans Wednesday that are to cut the company's huge debt by selling nearly $12billion in assets over the next 18 months
This is INCORRECT because it's overly wordy. It's not necessary to say "that are to cut" when simply saying "to cut" will suffice.


There you have it - option D is our correct choice!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
_________________

Probably for... precisely that reason. To confuse test takers by presenting a false split that makes them more likely to either waste time or get the question wrong.
_________________