The Brexit negotiations are faltering and the

Question

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2) 
 For SC butler Questions  Click Here

The Brexit negotiations are faltering and the UK government's  hopes to opening talks on a future trade deal with the EU this autumn looks likely to be increasingly dashed , the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has reported back to the bloc's member states.

A) hopes to opening talks on a future trade deal with the EU this autumn looks likely to be increasingly dashed

B) hopes of opening talks on a future trade deal with the EU looks increasingly likely to be dashed this autumn

C) hopes to open talks on a future trade deal with the EU this autumn look likely to be increasingly dashed

D) hopes of opening talks on a future trade deal this autumn with the EU look likely to be dashed increasingly

E) hopes of opening talks on a future trade deal with the EU this autumn look increasingly likely to be dashed

generis · Answer

For    forum member aspirants and non-experts   :
All correct answers that contain good  explanations  will be awarded  ONE KUDOS .

Exceptional answers may be "bumped" to Best Community Reply.

Kudos will be awarded after the OE is posted.

PyjamaScientist · Answer

Meaning of the sentence:   EU's chief negotiator has reported that Brexit negotiations are faltering, and the UK government's hopes to talk to EU this autumn about a future trade deal are likely to be dashed.

Glaring error 1: Hopes to Vs. Hopes of. 
 Though both are correct. But their usage is different.
1. I   hope to   get a good score on GMAT. Here, hope is an action/verb.
2. My   hopes of   getting a good score in GMAT have been dashed (ouch!) Here hope is not an action rather a noun.

In the question, it is the second type. So,  option (A) and (C)  are eliminated.

Glaring error 2: Hopes is plural noun. 
Since  Hopes  is plural,  look  will be used, not  looks . As discussed above,  hopes   is now acting as a noun. So,  option (A) and (B)  can be eliminated on those grounds too.

Meaning error: 
 From the meaning, they were supposed to have "trade talks" this autumn with EU.

Option (B)  implies that, their hopes of opening talks will be dashed this "autumn". Meaning change + Sub-Verb disagreement as discussed above.
 future trade deal with the EU  looks increasingly likely  to be dashed this autumn

Option (D)  implies that, a future trade deal was supposed to occur in Autumn
 opening talks  on a future  trade deal  this autumn  with the EU

Option (E)  , however, is void of meaning/idiomatic error. Only thing that I couldn't understand in it was the usage of  increasingly likely , since  increasingly  is an adverb, it should be modifying a verb and be placed close to its verb. Here, it seems like  increasingly likely  are acting as one adverb modifying  to be dashed  or maybe  increasingly  is modifying  likely . This is something that I am not confident about. But, this option conveys the meaning better than other options.

Thus the correct choice is (E) .

Anuragsharma93 · Answer

IMO E

There are three major errors -
1. Looks vs Look - If you look closely after removing the fluff the subject is UK Governments' Hopes which is plural hence we require plural Look to match.
 The Brexit negotiations are faltering and the UK government's  hopes looks likely  to be increasingly dashed.

2. Hopes of vs Hopes to - We need Hopes of Opening which is Parallel with Faltering.

3. Modifier increasingly should be paired with likely and "Future trade deal should be followed by with EU"

A) hopes to  opening talks on a future trade deal with the EU this autumn looks likely to be  increasingly dashed

B) hopes of  opening talks on a future trade deal with the EU looks  increasingly likely  to be dashed this autumn

C) hopes to  open talks on a future trade deal with the EU this autumn look likely to be  increasingly dashed

D) hopes of  opening talks on  a future trade deal this autumn  with the EU look likely to be dashed  increasingly

E) hopes of opening  talks on a future trade deal with the EU this autumn look  increasingly likely  to be dashed

hersheyzk · Answer

Imo it’s E

hopes to  vs  hopes of  
hopes ->  look  and not  looks

This eliminates A, B, and C.

We’re left with D and E. It’s down to:
 Look likely to be dashed increasingly  vs  look increasingly likely

E is our winner.

Posted from my mobile device

TarunKumar1234 · Answer

The Brexit negotiations are faltering and the UK government's hopes to opening talks on a future trade deal with the EU this autumn looks likely to be increasingly dashed, the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has reported back to the bloc's member states.

A) hopes to opening talks on a future trade deal with the EU this autumn looks likely to be increasingly dashed -> Are we trying to say, hopes were already dashed and dashed are increased, it doesn't make sense, or, we are trying to say, increasingly chances to be dashed (higher probability to get failed). The later seems to be the intended meaning. So, this option is incorrect.

B) hopes of opening talks on a future trade deal with the EU looks increasingly likely to be dashed this autumn -> The intended meaning is "future trade deal with the EU this autumn", not "to be dashed this autumn". Incorrect.

C) hopes to open talks on a future trade deal with the EU this autumn look likely to be increasingly dashed -> Same error as A. Incorrect.

D) hopes of opening talks on a future trade deal this autumn with the EU look likely to be dashed increasingly -> "dashed increasingly" doesn't make sense. Incorrect.

E) hopes of opening talks on a future trade deal with the EU this autumn look increasingly likely to be dashed -> This is better, we see talks happened this autumn and higher probability to get deal failed.

So, I think E.

shrishreyusg · Answer

HI,

I wanted to understand the difference between option D and E and why Option D is wrong

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Here are (D) and (E) with the two differences highlighted by boldfaced type.

(D) hopes of opening talks on a future trade deal  this autumn  with the EU look likely to be dashed  increasingly

(E) hopes of opening talks on a future trade deal with the EU  this autumn  look  increasingly  likely to be dashed

There are two issues with (D).

One is that, in "a future trade deal  this autumn  with the EU," "this autumn" is poorly placed between "trade deal" and "with the EU." The point is that the trade deal is a "trade deal with the EU." So, the wording "trade deal with the EU" should be one phrase with "this autumn" coming after it to modify "opening talks," as in "opening talks ... this autumn."

So, the entire thing should be "opening talks on a trade deal with the EU  this autumn ."

Also, "dashed increasingly" doesn't make sense." The point to be made in this context is not that the hopes will be dashed increasingly. We can see from the context that what makes sense is that the negotiator is reporting that it is likely that the hopes will be simply "dashed."

On the other hand, "increasingly likely to be dashed" in (E) makes sense, as it makes sense that the likelihood that the hopes will be dashed is increasing.

VerbalBot · Answer

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.

The Brexit negotiations are faltering and the

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

The Brexit negotiations are faltering and the

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards