Some business leaders’ newfound confidence has been inspired by a rece

Question

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1) 
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Some business leaders’ newfound confidence has been inspired by a recent regulatory pullback, not so much because deregulation is saving money as because the current administration has instilled confidence that companies  will be subject to less regulations  for at least the next several years.

A) will be subject to less regulations

B) will be subjected to less regulations

C) are subject to fewer regulations

D) will be subject to fewer regulations

E) are subjected to fewer regulations

generis · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1)  
 
 • HIGHLIGHTS

Countable nouns  -  regulations  are rules, laws, or directives and they are countable
One regulation, two regulations, three regulations. 
When nouns are countable we always use  fewer,  not  less .

There may have been some confusion, because  regulation , singular, can be a count or non-count noun.
If this singular  regulation  belongs to the group I just defined above,  regulation  would be a countable noun.
→  After the state congress enacted the first regulation about medical marijuana use, its members reconvened to enact another regulation because they had failed to specify sales tax. 
→  Should these representatives enact fewer regulations of this sort of sale than do the representatives of the neighboring state?

On the other hand, if this singular  regulation  means "the action of controlling an activity or process," such as government regulation of food safety, then  regulation  would be an uncountable noun and we would use "less" regulation—just as we might write "less oversight" or "less guidance" or "less management."

Distraction

The  subject to  and  subjected to  distinction is a red herring (a distraction).
This distinction is too fraught with controversy to be tested by GMAC.
More to the point, all four incorrect answers have something  else  that is flat out wrong.

Verb tense?

The phrase  for at least the next several years  indicates that the sentence is describing a future scenario.

Not So Much X As Y 
Notice that this question uses the idiom   Not So Much X As Y.  
I've seen two or three official questions in official materials from the last few years that test this idiom.
Don't memorize it. Just remember that you saw it.

-- When we say that something is not so much one thing as something else, we mean that the something is "more" the second thing. 
-- Examples
 The cynic did not so much scorn people as ignore them. 
(The cynic ignored people more than he scorned them.)

A variation on a dictionary example:  They were not so much friends as lovers. 
(The degree of their love connection was more intense than the degree of their friendship connection.)

• Split #1: regulations are countable and require  fewer

Correct:  The United States tends to impose fewer regulations on businesses than European countries impose. 
Options A and B incorrectly use  less  regulations.
Eliminate A and B.

• Split #2:  are  vs.  will be

As noted, we need a future tense. Options C ("are subject to") and E ("are subjected to") use present tense.
Eliminate C and E.

The correct answer is D, which properly uses the future tense  will be  and uses "fewer" regulations .

COMMENTS

KumarSri  ,  GDT  , AND  NischalP  , welcome to SC Butler.

I see other relative newcomers, too.
I am glad to see all of you.

To state the obvious, this whole lock down thing is weird.
I rarely get distracted. Not my style.

Today I'm kinda fascinated by two videos that originate in Uganda.
One consists of 75-year-old President Museveni doing push ups and an indoor workout,  here . (I am no fan of Museveni. Just kinda saying "huh?" about the video. CNN did a double take, too.) 
The other, which someone special alerted me to, consists of Ugandan musicians singing about COVID-19. Trending on YouTube, it has nearly a million views,  here

Random question of the day: 
Which musical group does original songs and covers that are arranged by a cello-playing beat boxer who speaks fluent Mandarin and who graduated from Yale?
Their songs have more than 4 billion views on YouTube.
The group has won three Grammy awards. I have never heard them on any radio station.

This song is one that you may have heard:  here .
This song is a vocal masterpiece and one that you should put earphones on for. It's that good.  here .

Most of this group's songs are arranged by Kevin Olusola. He is stage left in the Sound of Silence video (to your right).
You can see him beatboxing in this Daft Punk medley,  here .

These answers are very good. Kudos to all.

thenikhilseth · Answer

My choice is  D  option.
1) Split - Less vs Fewer 
Now Here 'Regulations' is countable noun, therefore 'Fewer' will be used.
  But Regulation is uncountable noun, keep in mind.  
Eliminate A and B

2) Now future tense should be used, therefore D is the correct choice

A) will be subject to  less  regulations

B) will be subjected to  less  regulations

C)  are  subject to fewer regulations

D) will be subject to fewer regulations-  Correct

E)  are  subjected to fewer regulations

NischalP · Answer

fewer Vs Less - As mentioned above Regulations is a countable noun, So fewer is preferred over less.
"are subject to" is making a general statement whereas the author intends that regulations will ... in future.
IMO D for those reasons.

Some business leaders’ newfound confidence has been inspired by a recent regulatory pullback, not so much because deregulation is saving money as because the current administration has instilled confidence that companies will be subject to less regulations for at least the next several years.

A) will be subject to less regulations --

B) will be subjected to less regulations

C) are subject to fewer regulations

D) will be subject to fewer regulations  -  IMO

E) are subjected to fewer regulations

GDT · Answer

Some business leaders’ newfound confidence has been inspired by a recent regulatory pullback, not so much because deregulation is saving money as because the current administration has instilled confidence that companies will be subject to less regulations for at least the next several years.

Decision markers : 1) regulations are countable , so "fewer" is preferred to less(used for non count nouns)
 2) Sentence is talking about newfound confidence whose origin lies in "a recent regulatory pullback"-this helps us determine the tense 
 structure of the case. The use of phrase "for next several years" sets the time frame for the regulations as present-future. 
 Therefore, "will be" is correct
A) will be subject to  less  regulations   Incorrect. pt. 1 applies here

B) will be subjected to  less  regulations   Incorrect. pt. 1 applies here

C)  are  subject to fewer regulations   Incorrect. pt. 2 applies here

D)  will be  subject to  fewer  regulations   Correct.

E)  are  subjected to fewer regulations   Incorrect. pt. 2 applies here

KumarSri · Answer

IMO D,

A) will be subject to less regulations
 Less for countable noun is incorrect

B) will be subjected to less regulations
 Less for countable noun is incorrect

C) are subject to fewer regulations
 Usage of simple present tense is incorrect

D) will be subject to fewer regulations
 Correct answer

E) are subjected to fewer regulations
 are subjected - Incorrect usage

h31337u · Answer

Some business leaders’ newfound confidence has been inspired by a recent regulatory pullback, not so much because deregulation is saving money as because the current administration has instilled confidence that companies will be subject to less regulations for at least the next several years.

A) will be subject to less regulations
--> wrong. less is for uncountable nouns

B) will be subjected to less regulations
--> wrong. less is for uncountable nouns
--> also "subjected" is a verb and has a different meaning. "be subject to" is correct usage.

C) are subject to fewer regulations
--> will is better here because it clearly states that a future "next several years"

D) will be subject to fewer regulations
--> correct

E) are subjected to fewer regulations
--> will is better. 
--> also "subjected" is a verb and has a different meaning. "be subject to" is correct usage.

ayush19 · Answer

Thank you so much for introducing me to Pentatonix. Now I'm hooked.

iamdivs · Answer

generis  @daaag  GMATNinja

I am not sure if the future tense is so obvious here.

It could be the case that "is subject to" begins right at this very moment and continue until the next few years. Would that still be considered future tense?

generis · Answer

ayush19 , I'm catching up and just saw this post. I'm glad that you like them! I'm even more glad that someone actually checked the link.

Pentatonix is unique, versatile, and underappreciated.

generis · Answer

iamdivs  , even if the future tense is not "so obvious," as you remark, it is still better than the present tense.

Yes, it could be the case that companies are subject to fewer regulations right this moment.
If so, we still want to use future tense because we need to convey that companies are confident because they  will remain  subject to fewer regulations for the next few years.

We would not say, for example, "I live here for the next few years."
If the verb itself implies the future, we might say, "I plan to live here for the next few years."
But the most appropriate way to talk about what will happen in the next few years —even if the action begins now—is to use future tense:  I will live here for the next few years .

GMAC rarely tests future tense, but when it does so, almost without exception you will see a specific reference to a time span in the future.
In this case that reference is  the next several years .

I hope that answer helps.

ayush19 · Answer

"Pentatonix is unique, versatile, and underappreciated" - Truer words were never spoken.
And gosh! Kevin - the walking and talking "Music Man"- is simply unbelievable.

Some business leaders’ newfound confidence has been inspired by a rece

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Some business leaders’ newfound confidence has been inspired by a rece

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