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Snow leopards live in the snow-capped mountain ranges of Central Asia, from eastern Iran all the way to Nepal and China, and in some of the higher alpine regions prey, like Himalayan Blue Sheep, is sometimes of such scarcity so that in a range of 1,000 square kilometers of territory support only five adult snow leopards.

A. prey, like Himalayan Blue Sheep, is sometimes of such scarcity so that in a range of 1,000 square kilometers of territory support

B. prey, such as Himalayan Blue Sheep, is sometimes so scarce that a range of 1,000 square kilometers of territory supports

C. prey, like Himalayan Blue Sheep, is sometimes so scarce that a range of 1,000 square kilometers of territory support

D. prey, for example, Himalayan Blue Sheep, is sometimes of such scarcity that in a range of 1,000 square kilometers of territory supporting

E. prey, such as Himalayan Blue Sheep, is sometimes as scarce as to make a range of 1,000 square kilometers of territory supporting

OA after three responses

It is OA time now
Beautiful; All the three respondents have hit the bull's eye. OA is indeed B


hi daagh

I have a query here.

Snow leopards live in the snow-capped mountain ranges of Central Asia and in some of the higher alpine regions prey

here we are saying two things about snow leopards. Now i just want to know prey is referring to what . how it is referring to Snow leopards.

Please clarify.

Thanks
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‘Prey’ in this context refers to the victim animal such as the blue sheep. The second part means that the animal that is eaten (called prey) is so scarce or such scarce ------.
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OE Magoosh:



Split #1: the example of "prey." On the GMAT, when we are giving a noun and then a list of examples of the noun, the correct way to introduce this list of example is with the words "such as." The word "like' is 100% wrong (be careful: this mistake is common in colloquial English, which is precisely why the GMAT tests it!) (A) and (C) have the incorrect form "like." Choice (D) has the awkward structure "prey, for example, Himalayan Blue Sheep" --- this structure will not be correct on the GMAT either. Only (B) & (E) are correct on this one.

Split #2: how scarce? The structure "so scarce that" is perfectly correct and elegant: this is what (B) & (C) have. By comparison, the structure "of such scarcity that", while grammatically correct, is wordier, less concise: this is what (A) & (D) have. This latter structure would be more appropriate for a noun that didn't have a convenient adjective form: "of such quality that." The structure in (E), "as scarce as to" is wrong: this conflate the two correct patterns: (i) "so [adjective] as to [action]" vs. (ii) "as [adjective] as [noun]." See this blog for more on the "so" idioms.

Split #3: We need what follows "that" to be a bonafide [noun] + [verb] clause. The subject, "a range", is singular, so the verb must be singular. (A) & (C) have the plural verb "support", which is wrong. Choice (B) is the only one with the singular "supports", so that the word "that" is followed by a proper [noun] + [verb] pair. Choice (D) has "supporting," a participle, so there's no verb at all for the "that" clause: this is a classic mistake, the "no verb" mistake. Choice (E) has the strangely informal "make a range … supporting" --- using "make" for a situation is a colloquial construction that would never be correct on the GMAT, so this is completely wrong.

For all these reasons, the best answer is (B).
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Hi aragonn

[quote=]"so [adjective] as to [action]" vs. (ii) "as [adjective] as [noun]." See this blog for more on the "so" idioms.[/quote]

can you provide the link to the blog?


aragonn

OE Magoosh:



Split #1: the example of "prey." On the GMAT, when we are giving a noun and then a list of examples of the noun, the correct way to introduce this list of example is with the words "such as." The word "like' is 100% wrong (be careful: this mistake is common in colloquial English, which is precisely why the GMAT tests it!) (A) and (C) have the incorrect form "like." Choice (D) has the awkward structure "prey, for example, Himalayan Blue Sheep" --- this structure will not be correct on the GMAT either. Only (B) & (E) are correct on this one.

Split #2: how scarce? The structure "so scarce that" is perfectly correct and elegant: this is what (B) & (C) have. By comparison, the structure "of such scarcity that", while grammatically correct, is wordier, less concise: this is what (A) & (D) have. This latter structure would be more appropriate for a noun that didn't have a convenient adjective form: "of such quality that." The structure in (E), "as scarce as to" is wrong: this conflate the two correct patterns: (i) "so [adjective] as to [action]" vs. (ii) "as [adjective] as [noun]." See this blog for more on the "so" idioms.

Split #3: We need what follows "that" to be a bonafide [noun] + [verb] clause. The subject, "a range", is singular, so the verb must be singular. (A) & (C) have the plural verb "support", which is wrong. Choice (B) is the only one with the singular "supports", so that the word "that" is followed by a proper [noun] + [verb] pair. Choice (D) has "supporting," a participle, so there's no verb at all for the "that" clause: this is a classic mistake, the "no verb" mistake. Choice (E) has the strangely informal "make a range … supporting" --- using "make" for a situation is a colloquial construction that would never be correct on the GMAT, so this is completely wrong.

For all these reasons, the best answer is (B).
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Blog mentioned in the post is, I have updated the OE with it too.:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/so-lets-t ... 1514114233

Thanks for pointing out.
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