OFFICIAL ANSWERSartre believed
each individual is responsible to choose one course of action over another one, that it is the choice that gives value to the act, and that nothing that is not acted upon has value.
(A) each individual is responsible to choose one course of action over another one
(B) that each individual is responsible for choosing one course of action over another
(C) that each individual is responsible, choosing one course of action over another
(D) that each individual is responsible to choose one course of action over the other
(E) each individual is responsible for choosing one course of action over other ones
NOTE I have changed the format of the OE and added clarifying details. I have not omitted any words from the OE. MY word additions are in black text or [ in square brackets].
• Choice A is faulty because that is needed after believed to make the clause parallel with the two that . . . clauses following it
• Also the idiomatic expression is responsible for choosing rather than responsible to choose —
and one is superfluous.
• Choice C distorts the intended meaning because it says, in effect, only
-- that individuals are responsible and that they choose a course of action,
not, [as the sentence should say]
-- that they are responsible for choosing such a course.
• In choice D, responsible to choose is unidiomatic and
the other wrongly suggests
that there is some particular alternative under discussion.
• Choice E lacks the necessary that, and other ones is less precise than another.There is only way to know that the phrase
other ones has a lower degree of precision and that such imprecision matters: compare answer choices.
The missing "that" in this option is fatal.
Save your time for meaning issues in C.
• Choice B is best
ANSWER B***************************
sowmiyav - welcome to GMATClub!
dave13 - :-D
Il n'y a pas d'entrée!
Most of these answers are very good.
Two are excellent because their authors caught issues about meaning
in answers.
On the GMAT, unfamiliar constructions, strange-looking idioms, and
obscure phrases will be present, especially as questions get more difficult.
At those times, the ability to tease out the meaning of the sentence will be invaluable.
Everyone who posted has a good command of the grammar issues in this instance.
A test taker does not need to know that Sartre was among the twentieth century's most famous
philosophers/authors in order to recognize that we are dealing with a point of view
and a very particular point of view at that.
Cue words followed by that clauses with dense and sequential content -- "Believed that" signals an opinion, an ideological commitment.
-- in the clauses that follow, content both describes the belief and emphasizes the fact that we are dealing with a belief -- a point of view.
This question presents itself as ripe for understanding
what Sartre was trying to convey.Many philosophers and writers stress individual responsibility.
These clauses, however, are not typical:
--
it is the choice that gives value to the act--
nothing that is not acted upon has value.Those claim are radical.
When we encounter questions
• that deal with content-based positions of thinkers, authors, artists, etc.;
• that have answer choices conveying different meanings; or
• that have answer choices whose "grammar rules" don't quite fit ...
... just as is the case in certain CR and RC questions, we are being asked to see the material
from the point of view of the author, that is, to understand the meaning (s)he is trying to convey.No grammar rule announces that "the other," for example, incorrectly implies that a particular second alternative exists.
The inference must be drawn from the meaning of this sentence in this instance.
That inference depends on this context and cannot be generalized; it cannot be made into a larger guideline.
No grammar rule announces that C distorts meaning.
C's construction is not inherently incorrect. COMMA + ___ing (participial phrase)
can and often does modify the entire previous clause.
I am happy to say that a person who has just begun to study for the GMAT or
who struggles with SC (99% of takers!) could read this thread and be helped.
That collectively created helpfulness has been the case for every question I have posted.
sowmiyav and
warrior1991 wrote the best answers to this question.
Kudos!
Can you please explain the difference between "another", "other" and "one another"....which to use and when.