Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
rohansherry wrote:
Medicare, the United States government’s health insurance program for the elderly and disabled, covers the full cost of home health care, but not with other nonhospital services where 20 percent of the costs must be paid by beneficiaries.
A. but not with other nonhospital services where 20 percent of the costs must be paid by beneficiaries.
B. but not of other nonhospital services, making beneficiaries pay 20 percent of the costs.
C . but not of other nonhospital services, for which beneficiaries must pay 20 percent of the costs.
D. which is unlike other nonhospital services in that 20 percent of the costs must be paid by beneficiaries.
E. which is unlike other nonhospital services that make beneficiaries pay 20 percent of the costs.
Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of this sentence is that Medicare covers the full cost of home health care but does not cover the full cost of other nonhospital services, for which beneficiaries must pay 20 percent of the costs.
Concepts tested here: Meaning + Verb Forms + Modifiers + Parallelism + Idioms + Awkwardness/Redundancy• Any elements linked by a conjunction ("but" in this case) must be parallel.
• "where" is only used to refer to a physical location.
• The introduction of present participle ("verb+ing"- “making” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.
• "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refers to the noun just before the comma.
A: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between "of home health care" and "with other nonhospital services"; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("but" in this case) must be parallel. Further, Option A incorrectly refers to "nonhospital services" with "where"; please remember, "where" is only used to refer to a physical location. Additionally, Option A uses the passive voice construction "20 percent of the costs must be paid by beneficiaries", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
B: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "making beneficiaries pay 20 percent of the costs"; the use of the "comma + present participle ("verb+ing" - "making" in this sentence)" construction incorrectly implies that Medicare covers the full cost of home health care but does not cover the full cost of other nonhospital services, and
as a result makes beneficiaries pay 20 percent of the costs; the intended meaning is that Medicare covers the full cost of home health care but does not cover the full cost of other nonhospital services,
for which beneficiaries must pay 20 percent of the costs; please remember, the introduction of present participle ("verb+ing"- “making” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.
C: Correct. This answer choice correctly refers to "other nonhospital services" with "for which...costs" - conveying the intended meaning - that Medicare covers the full cost of home health care, but it does not cover the full cost of other nonhospital services, and for these services, beneficiaries must pay 20 percent of the costs. Further, Option C correctly maintains parallelism between "of home health care" and "of other nonhospital services". Additionally, Option C avoids the incorrect usage of "where" seen in Option A, as it does not utilize "where". Besides, Option C is free of any awkwardness and redundancy.
D: This answer choice incorrectly refers to "full cost of home health care" with "which is unlike...other beneficiaries", illogically implying that Medicare covers the full cost of home health care, and this cost is unlike other nonhospital services in that beneficiaries must pay 20 percent of this cost; the intended meaning is that Medicare covers the full cost of home health care, but it does not cover the full cost of other nonhospital services, and beneficiaries must pay 20 percent of the costs for other nonhospital services; remember, "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma. Further, Option D uses the passive voice construction "20 percent of the costs must be paid by beneficiaries", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
E: This answer choice incorrectly refers to "full cost of home health care" with "which is unlike...costs", illogically implying that Medicare covers the full cost of home health care, and this cost is unlike the other nonhospital services that make beneficiaries pay 20 percent of their costs; the intended meaning is that Medicare covers the full cost of home health care, but it does not cover the full cost of other nonhospital services, and beneficiaries must pay 20 percent of the costs for other nonhospital services; remember, "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma.
Hence, C is the best answer choice.To understand the concept of "Comma + Present Participle for Cause-Effect Relationship" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~3 minutes):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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09 May 2017, 23:18
