Sophisticated laser-guided land graders can now flatten uneven

Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one thing at a time, and narrow down our options quickly so we know how to answer questions like this when they pop up on the GMAT! To begin, let's take a quick look at the question and highlight any major differences between the options in orange:

Sophisticated laser-guided land graders can now flatten uneven farmland almost perfectly so as not to waste rainwater in runoff down sloping fields.

(A) so as not to waste rainwater
(B) so that rainwater is not wasted
(C) so that there is no wasted rainwater
(D) and thereby not waste rainwater
(E) and there is no rainwater wasted

So...this is going to be a tricky one! There is no clear "either/or" split to start with here, so we need to look at bigger grammatical concepts, such as meaning, wordiness, and logic. We need to make sure that we don't pair the inanimate object (land graders) with any actions it cannot do, and we also need to make sure we don't change/ruin the intended meaning. To make problems easier to spot, let's add in the non-underlined portions.

Sophisticated laser-guided land graders can now flatten uneven farmland almost perfectly so as not to waste rainwater in runoff down sloping fields.

(A) Sophisticated laser-guided land graders can now flatten uneven farmland almost perfectly so as not to waste rainwater in runoff down sloping fields.

This is INCORRECT because it changes the intended meaning. This sentence suggests that the land graders were initially the reason why rainwater was wasted, and that if they don't flatten the farmland perfectly, they might cause it again. This isn't the meaning we're going for here. We want the sentence to convey that the land graders flatten the land, and that flattening prevents rainwater getting wasted in the runoff. We need to find an option that better conveys the intended meaning.

(B) Sophisticated laser-guided land graders can now flatten uneven farmland almost perfectly so that rainwater is not wasted in runoff down sloping fields.

This is our CORRECT choice. The cause-effect relationship is clearly stated, and it's not overly wordy.

(C) Sophisticated laser-guided land graders can now flatten uneven farmland almost perfectly so that there is no wasted rainwater in runoff down sloping fields.

This is INCORRECT because it's overly wordy. The phrase "there is no wasted rainwater" isn't necessary when the passive form "rainwater is not wasted" is shorter and even clearer to readers.

(D) Sophisticated laser-guided land graders can now flatten uneven farmland almost perfectly and thereby not waste rainwater in runoff down sloping fields.

This is INCORRECT for the same reason as option A. It suggests that the land graders are causing the water waste when they don't perform properly, which isn't the meaning we're looking for.

(E) Sophisticated laser-guided land graders can now flatten uneven farmland almost perfectly and there is no rainwater wasted in runoff down sloping fields.

This is INCORRECT for two reasons. First, the word "and" takes away the cause-effect relationship between the land grader flattening land and preventing wasted rainwater. Second, it has the same wordiness problem as option C with the phrase "there is no rainwater wasted."


There you have it - option B is the correct choice because the meaning is clear and the wording is concise!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
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Official Explanation

Logical predication; Rhetorical construction

The sentence is meant to indicate that the purpose of flattening uneven farmland is to prevent the waste of rainwater in runoff.

Note that purpose can be expressed in various ways, including by the use of a clause beginning with so that.

A. In this choice, the implicit subject of the verb waste is the graders. That is, it suggests that these machines would themselves waste water unless they flattened land.

B. Correct. This choice avoids errors found in the other choices and contains no other errors.

C. This choice is incorrect because it unnecessarily uses the wordy there is . . . form; it would be more concise to use the passive-voice verb form no rainwater is wasted, as in choice B.

D. As in choice A, this choice suggests that the graders themselves might waste rainwater.

E. This choice omits the element of purpose conveyed by so that in choice B: and fails to convey purpose. As in choice C, the wordy form there is . . . is used.

The correct answer is B.

B for using the correct idiom 'so that rain water" is not wasted
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Although so that usage is correct ...what is wrong with thereby ?

Posted from my mobile device

Unflinching,
thereby not waste is a verb, who is not wasting water. According to the chocie it is the graders. Graders do not save or waste. They are just machines. . That is the reason 'thereby' is wrong.
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Sophisticated laser-guided land graders can now flatten uneven farmland almost perfectly so as not to waste rainwater in runoff down sloping fields.

Meaning - Laser-gudied land grader flatten uneven farmland perfectly., so that rainwater is not wasted during run off
For me this sentence has meaning issues


(A) so as not to waste rainwater
It appears during land grader usage rainwater is wasted
(B) so that rainwater is not wasted
Yes.. Flatten earthsurface now rainwater wont be wasted, Contender
(C) so that there is no wasted rainwater
Wasted rainwater in runoff - does not make sense
(D) and thereby not waste rainwater
Appears land grader waster rainwaters during runoff normally
(E) and there is no rainwater wasted
wordy - with the use of there

B is the correct answer

Lone
Look at these examples

Developed by Pennsylvania's Palatine Germans about 1750, they made Conestoga wagons with high wheels capable of crossing rutted roads, muddy flats, and the nonroads of the prairie and they had a floor curved upward on either end so as to prevent cargo from shifting on steep grades.


(A) they made Conestoga wagons with high wheels capable of crossing rutted roads, muddy flats, and the nonroads of the prairie and they had a floor curved upward on either end so as to prevent

(D) Conestoga wagons had high wheels capable of crossing rutted roads, muddy flats, and the nonroads of the prairie, and a floor that was curved upward at both ends to prevent

D is the correct choice. A is not.


Broccoli thrives in moderate to cool climates and propagated by seeds, either sown directly in the field or in plant beds designed for producing transplants.[u]

(B) propagated by seeds, sown either directly in the field or sown in plant beds designed so as to produce

(D) is propagated by seeds sown either directly in the field or in plant beds designed to produce


The correct choice is D and not B.

You must be careful with idioms as far as GMAT is concerned. Probably I do not think 'so as to' per se is acceptable to the ethos of GMAT while 'so adjective as to' the acceptable template.
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dear experts:
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GMATNinja, GMATNinjaTwo, VeritasKarishma, AnthonyRitz, CJAnish, MartyTargetTestPrep, AndrewN,VeritasPrepBrian
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although I picked up B but I have no idea why B is incorrect.
I just thought B more directly addresses the result of the "Sophisticated laser-guided land graders can now flatten uneven farmland almost perfectly", maybe C sates one certain kind of rainwater does not exist.

please clarify

thanks in advance

Hello, zoezhuyan. Looking at (B) and (C), in general, a there is/there are construct is less preferable to a more direct sentence that places a noun in that slot. In this case, we have an explanatory so that at the head of the underlined portion, so we want an answer to follow: so that [noun]. This is not to say that there is will always be wrong, just that, all other things being equal, the safer bet is probably the other option. Compare:

1) There are sunspots on the surface of the sun that [verb]...
2) Sunspots on the surface of the sun [verb]...

The second sentence is more direct and will win out in most cases. (The first sentence could be more emphatic. If, for instance, we continued the sentence with some sort of adverb, we might want the first iteration: There are sunspots on the surface of the sun that are so large in area... This framework separates the really large sunspots from others that may also appear on the surface of the sun, and the second, more streamlined version of the sentence would not create such a distinction.)

Were there other options you were confused about, other issues that have not been addressed in earlier posts?

- Andrew
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thanks for your quick reply. the reason I crossed off others :
(A) so as not to waste rainwater -- this implies that why "Sophisticated laser-guided land graders can now flatten uneven farmland almost perfectly", because what these graders do is order to eliminate the waste rainwater

(D) and thereby not waste rainwater -- the subject of waste rainwater is these graders
(E) and there is no rainwater wasted -- just irrelevant independent clause that one kind of rainwater does no exist.

are my reasonings solid?

Yes, zoezhuyan, I think you have found compelling reasons to eliminate the other answer choices. Well done on a tough question.

- Andrew
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so glad to your confirmation. AndrewN,
I struggle with the time arrangement. my average time of Verbal is double the GMAT requires, so I always have no enough time to reason, to think.
any suggestion?

Time management is one of the trickiest aspects of the test in general. The best way I know to reduce your time spent per question is to prioritize understanding over timing itself. When you practice questions and maybe spend too much time on a question but answer it correctly, you reinforce correct lines of reasoning, and repetition along these lines via additional practice tends to lead to increased recognition of how to approach the question and confidence in your reasoning, both of which help to reduce the amount of time you spend on the task. Also, do not worry about a single question here or there taking too long. If you practice a cluster of, say, ten questions, and you can answer those ten questions within a reasonable amount of time, then who cares if you spent 3 minutes on one of those questions? On some of the more difficult GMAT Club Quant questions, I might spend 4-5 minutes, confident that I can make up that time on other questions, since my practice results have shown me as much. I even knew another tutor who, during the actual exam, spent between 8 and 10 minutes on a single question, who went from being ahead on time to being behind. But you know what? That tutor was able to trust in his practice, in the results he was getting from that practice, and he bounced back, was able to finish all the questions, and earned a perfect score in that section of the exam. So, in short, work on improving your reasoning first. Do not be afraid to pursue a question now and then for beyond a set amount of time, particularly earlier in your preparation. And keep practicing. Repetition can make you faster, provided you have put in the effort to grasp how the questions are constructed and how to break them down.

Good luck with this process, and if you have further questions, feel free to ask.

- Andrew
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Hello experts,

This question made me feel like I am in some serious trouble. While solving, I eliminated A,B and C in the first 10 seconds because of the presence of "so as" and "so that". What my understanding was that "so that" comes in a sentence whenever some intent has to be conveyed.

Eg -"I drove fast so that I could reach office on time"

Here "so that" signifies the intent of reaching the office on time which lead to the action of driving fast.

But, in the OA option B, we have, Sophisticated laser guided land graders (a non living entity, probably some machine in my understanding) can now flatten uneven farmland almost perfectly so that rainwater in not wasted.

Here, using my understanding of "so that" that I mentioned above, how can land graders have an intention?

I am terribly confused here with my understanding. Please guide me.

Thanks!!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal

I am still unclear on this question. I agree with your explanation that we want the sentence to convey that the land graders flatten the land, and that flattening prevents rainwater getting wasted in the runoff. We need to find an option that better conveys the intended meaning.

Now is the prevention of rainwater getting wasted "the result" or "the purpose" of using land graders? What I understood was that it is the result of using land graders.

By this logic, we should not use x so that Y construction in option B as it conveys intention instead of merely a result.

Hello Laksh47,
Thank you for the query.

Here are my two cents on your analysis. Yes, from the context of the sentence, it is clear that land graders are some machinery. But we all know that machinery does not operate on their own. It is put to use by humans for some specific task.

The sentence intends to say that these specific land graders can flatten an even land almost perfectly. The purpose of flattening the land almost perfectly is that the rainwater is not wasted. This meaning is logical. It is not the machine that has any intention. It is the purpose behind using the machine that requires the usage of "so that".


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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Hello saman283,

Although your question is not for me, here are my two cents on this one.

The sentence does present the intent behind the use of the laser-guided land graders. Let's understand why. What is the specialty of the laser-guided land graders? They can flatten the uneven land almost perfectly? Why is the almost perfectly flattened land needed? So that the rainwater can be saved from being wasted.

So essentially, the laser-guided land graders are used to save the rainwater from getting wasted. This is the purpose behind the usage of the land graders. Therefore, the use of the phrase "so that" is correct in Choice B.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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Hi saman283

Actually I solved this question based on understanding of various such questions. here is my summary:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/technically- ... l#p2749402

Hope it is helpful

egmat: Happy to hear your comments on the same.

Thanks!

Great question saman283!

We think the others who responded to you did an excellent job of explaining the concept in a different way. Thanks everyone!

It's mainly a logic issue. We want the sentence to convey that the flat land prevents wasted rainwater. Many of the incorrect options here suggest that the land graders are causing the problem, and that using them to flatten the land will solve the problem they have created. This doesn't logically work - a land grader is a machine, and it can't cause its own problems. It can, however, be used to flatten land, which solves the problem at hand...who or whatever caused it.

We hope that helps! Make sure to keep tagging us at EMPOWERgmatVerbal with any other questions.

Thanks again to all the experts who replied - we believe the more people who chime in, the better coverage we all get when answering questions. You rock!
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