Pack 11 Q2: Not believing themselves to choose accurately...

Correct Answer is E option, Another good question similar to that in OG.

Appropriate modifier is numerous clients not the realtor.

2) Assistance is buying is more idiomatic than Assistance to buy.
Therefore Eliminate C and D.

A. realtors are assisting numerous clients who go to them to purchase homes that could be easily - Incorrect modifier
B. realtors are assisting numerous clients who are going to them for assistance in purchasing homes that they could easily have - Incorrect modifier
C. numerous clients are going to realtors for assistance from them to purchase homes that could be easily. Use of them incorrect
D. numerous clients are going to realtors for assistance to purchase homes that easily could have been - Have refers to an event begun in the past but as the author mentions "Numerous clients are still going".
E. numerous clients are going to realtors for assistance in purchasing homes that could easily be- IMO

Official Explanation

Not believing themselves to choose accurately among the various choices of real-estate acquisitions in the housing market, realtors are assisting numerous clients who go to them to purchase homes that could be easily purchased directly.

A. realtors are assisting numerous clients who go to them to purchase homes that could be easily
B. realtors are assisting numerous clients who are going to them for assistance in purchasing homes that they could easily have
C. numerous clients are going to realtors for assistance from them to purchase homes that could be easily
D. numerous clients are going to realtors for assistance to purchase homes that easily could have been
E. numerous clients are going to realtors for assistance in purchasing homes that could easily be

After a quick glance over our options, a few key differences jump out:
1. realtors vs. numerous clients
2. assisting / for assistance in purchasing / for assistance from them to purchase / for assistance to purchase
3. that could be easily / that they could easily have / that easily could have been / that could easily be

Let’s start with #1 in our list: realtors vs. numerous clients. If we look at the original sentence, we can see that it begins with a modifier:

Not believing themselves to choose accurately among the various choices of real-estate acquisitions in the housing market, realtors are assisting numerous clients who go to them to purchase homes that could be easily purchased directly.

We need to make sure that the noun directly after the modifier (aka the antecedent) is what that phrase is directly referring to. So, ask yourself this question: WHO doesn’t believe they can choose the right home? The clients or the realtors? It makes more sense to be the clients. Let’s see which options handle this correctly, and eliminate the ones that don’t:

A. realtors are assisting numerous clients who go to them to purchase homes that could be easily
B. realtors are assisting numerous clients who are going to them for assistance in purchasing homes that they could easily have
C. numerous clients are going to realtors for assistance from them to purchase homes that could be easily
D. numerous clients are going to realtors for assistance to purchase homes that easily could have been
E. numerous clients are going to realtors for assistance in purchasing homes that could easily be

We can eliminate options A & B because the modifier and antecedent don’t match up properly.

Now that we have it narrowed down to 3 options, let’s move on to #2 & #3 on our list. #2 on our list has to do with the verb tense/idiom agreement of the verb “assist.” The last issue is how the underlined phrase ends. Let’s focus our attention on these 2 places and see what we come up with:

C. numerous clients are going to realtors for assistance from them to purchase homes that could be easily
This is INCORRECT. In this case, the phrase “realtors for assistance from them” is redundant. There is no need for the word “them” because we know who the clients are going to - the realtors.

D. numerous clients are going to realtors for assistance to purchase homes that easily could have been
This is INCORRECT. In this case, “assistance to” is incorrect; it should be “assistance in.” The other issue is that “could have been” is in the past tense, whereas the rest of the sentence is in present tense.

E. numerous clients are going to realtors for assistance in purchasing homes that could easily be
This is CORRECT. In this case, the entire sentence is written in present tense, it uses the correct idiom “assistance in,” and it is logical because “numerous clients” clearly refers to “themselves.”

There you have it - option E is the correct choice!

Don’t study for the GMAT. Train for it.

Well done, thenikhilseth! You cracked the code on this one! Kudos to you for catching the modifier/antecedent issue and idiom problems!

Well done, Raxit85! You cracked the code on both the idiom and the modifier problems! Kudos to you!

Well done, NischalP! You cracked the code on this one! Kudos to you!

Pack 11, Question 2 of 5: SUBJECT AND VERB QUESTION

Not believing themselves to choose accurately among the various choices of real-estate acquisitions in the housing market,

A. realtors are assisting numerous clients who go to them to purchase homes that could be easily purchased directly.
bad subject: "Realtors are believing..."
correct subject: "Numerous clients are believing..."

B. realtors are assisting numerous clients who are going to them for assistance in purchasing homes that they could easily have purchased directly.
bad subject: "Realtors are believing..."
correct subject: "Numerous clients are believing..."

C. numerous clients are going to realtors for assistance from them to purchase homes that could be easily purchased directly.
Wordy and awkward. Who does "Them" refer to?

D. numerous clients are going to realtors for assistance to purchase homes that easily could have been purchased directly.
Changes meaning. Bad verb. "Could have been" has a very different meaning.
"Could have been" refers to something that DIDN'T HAPPEN: Correct example: "I could have been an NBA player but I was too short."

E. CORRECT
numerous clients are going to realtors for assistance in purchasing homes that could easily be purchased directly.
Verbs match: believing, choose, going, purchasing

Hello,
I have one doubt. What is the role of "purchasing" in option E. as per my understanding the -ing word shall be followed by the helping verb then only it will act as a verb? in option E purchasing is not followed by any helping verb.

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