Official ExplanationThe organization pivoted away from its
decision for hosting an in-person convention for members, stating that it still had sought to recognize individuals for their achievements, perhaps through a virtual convention.
A. decision for hosting an in-person convention for members, stating that it still had soughtB. decision to host an in-person convention for members, stating that it still soughtC. decision that was to host an in-person convention for members, and it stated that it still would seekD. deciding on hosting an in-person convention for members, and stating that it sought stillE. deciding to host an in-person convention for members, and it stated that it sought stillAfter a quick glance over the options, there are 2 main areas where we can focus our attention:
1. decision / deciding (Meaning)
2. for hosting / to host / that was to host / on hosting / to host (Idioms)
3. How each selection ends (Verb Tense, Modifiers, Wordiness)Let’s start with #1 on our list, which is an either/or split. Should we say that the organization pivoted away from its decision or its deciding? They mean two different things:
The organization pivoted away from its decision = they changed their mind from their original decision to host a convention to not hosting a convention
The organization pivoted away from its deciding = they no longer want to decide if there will be a convention or not; this suggests they want someone else to decide
Since the remainder of the sentence suggests the organization is looking for alternatives to a convention, it makes the most sense to go with “decision” because that creates a clear contrast (we definitely won’t have a convention BUT we still want to find an alternative way to recognize individuals who do well).
We can eliminate options D & E because they change the intended meaning too much to work.Now that we have it narrowed down to 3 options, let’s tackle the other list items and look for any other problems:
A. decision for hosting an in-person convention for members, stating that it still had soughtThis is
INCORRECT for a couple reasons. First, using “for hosting” here doesn’t work because we don’t need a prepositional phrase or modifier here. We’re discussing an action/result of the decision, not modifying or explaining its purpose. Second, using the past perfect verb “had sought” doesn’t make logical sense with the adverb “still,” which indicates
this is an event that started in the past, but will continue in the future.B. decision to host an in-person convention for members, stating that it still soughtThis is
CORRECT! The phrase “decision to host” is clear and logical. Also, the verb “still sought” indicates that the organization is going to look for individuals to recognize in the future, which also makes logical sense.
C. decision that was to host an in-person convention for members, and it stated that it still would seekThis one is
INCORRECT. The phrase “decision that was to host” is overly wordy – just saying “decision to host” means the same thing with fewer unnecessary words. Also, creating a situation where you have two “it” pronouns together like this can be confusing and overly wordy. Do both “it” pronouns refer back to the same thing? Why do we need two to begin with? Option B makes this much clearer by only using one pronoun.
There you have it – option B is the winner! The meaning is clear and logical, and it’s not overly wordy in any spots.
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