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The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II

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goodyear2013
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The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II [#permalink] New post   18 Apr 2014, 15:39
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The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II relations between the superpowers, prompted families to build bomb shelters costing thousands of dollars but fortunately were never used.

A) families to build bomb shelters costing thousands of dollars but

B) families to invest in bomb shelters that would cost thousands of dollars and that

C) families to invest thousands of dollars in bomb shelters that

D) the building by families of bomb shelters costing thousands of dollars that

E) the building of bomb shelters by families that cost thousands of dollars but
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Re: The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II [#permalink] New post   13 Jun 2016, 12:51
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Parnika wrote:
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I have a different reason to eliminate A --

But is used to join independent clauses and since 'fortunately were never...' is not an independent clause. Hence, A and E will be eliminated.

Please correct me.


The conjunctions and, but etc without a comma can be used to join two verbs; both of these verbs have the same subject

I swim and play.
I eat a lot but exercise hard.

These conjunctions when used to join 2 independent clauses must be preceded by a comma.
I swim, and I play.
I eat a lot, but I exercise hard.

In option A two verbs ("prompted" and "were") are joined with "but" (without comma). The subject of both these verbs is "The cold war". Obviously the second verb is meaningless with this subject ( "The cold war were never used").
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Re: The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II [#permalink] New post   17 Nov 2014, 07:08
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The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II relations between the superpowers, prompted families to build bomb shelters costing thousands of dollars but fortunately were never used.

A) families to build bomb shelters costing thousands of dollars but - Present participle (verb+ing) wrongly modifying shelters, it seems that shelters are costing dollars instead of building of shelters.

B) families to invest in bomb shelters that would cost thousands of dollars and that - Grammatically correct but wordy

C) families to invest thousands of dollars in bomb shelters that - Relative clause correctly refers to shelters.

D) the building by families of bomb shelters costing thousands of dollars that - Passive and wrong construction. It seems that war prompted building. Also, it has modification error same as in A.

E) the building of bomb shelters by families that cost thousands of dollars but - Passive and wrong construction. It seems that war prompted building. That seems to modify families which is wrong. There are two ICs therefore comma is must before but and that is required after but to maintain II-ism.


Correct me if I am wrong in my approach or else give Kudos if you find my explanation useful..... :lol:
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Re: The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II [#permalink] New post   21 Apr 2014, 01:04
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Hi Swami,

A. Meaning. We need to use "that" instead of "but" at the end of this phrase to clarify what "fortunately were never used" refers to.

Hope this explains.
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Re: The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II [#permalink] New post   19 Apr 2014, 03:33
Correct answer choice: The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II relations between the superpowers, prompted families to invest thousands of dollars in bomb shelters that fortunately were never used.

is it not meaning that families invested in already built bomb shelters (which distorts the intended meaning that the families built them and invested their money)??
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Re: The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II [#permalink] New post   19 Apr 2014, 15:57
Correct answer choice: ...shelters that were never used. - modifies "shelters"
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Re: The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II [#permalink] New post   20 Apr 2014, 23:39
goodyear2013 wrote:
The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II relations between the superpowers, prompted families to build bomb shelters costing thousands of dollars but fortunately were never used.

A) families to build bomb shelters costing thousands of dollars but

B) families to invest in bomb shelters that would cost thousands of dollars and that

C) families to invest thousands of dollars in bomb shelters that

D) the building by families of bomb shelters costing thousands of dollars that

E) the building of bomb shelters by families that cost thousands of dollars but


What is prob in A) choice.

I know C) is right "that" refers to "shelters"

But what is wrong in A.. . Plz help me.


Thanks in Advance,
Swami.
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Re: The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II [#permalink] New post   13 Nov 2014, 06:32
goodyear2013 wrote:
The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II relations between the superpowers, prompted families to build bomb shelters costing thousands of dollars but fortunately were never used.

A) families to build bomb shelters costing thousands of dollars but

B) families to invest in bomb shelters that would cost thousands of dollars and that

C) families to invest thousands of dollars in bomb shelters that

D) the building by families of bomb shelters costing thousands of dollars that

E) the building of bomb shelters by families that cost thousands of dollars but


What is wrong with B?

It seems that B conveys the original meaning: the bomb shelters cost thousands of dollars and were never used while C says that family invests thousands of dollars in bomb shelters.
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Re: The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II [#permalink] New post   13 Nov 2014, 07:45
IMO C,

But, I have a doubt in the non-underlined part;"The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II relations between the superpowers....." . I think "among" should be used instead of "between".

As for the underlined portion, the meaning of the question calls for answer choice expecting that the bomb shelters that fortunately were never used not thousands of dollars that fortunately were never used. Option 'd' is out for that.
Option "B" fails in parallelism.
option 'e' looses the meaning, it means as if the families are building the bomb shelters.
Option 'a' is unclear and contrasting sentence makes it more complex.
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Re: The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II [#permalink] New post   13 Nov 2014, 12:38
meghaswaroop wrote:
IMO C,

But, I have a doubt in the non-underlined part;"The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II relations between the superpowers....." . I think "among" should be used instead of "between".
Hi meghas,

There were only two superpowers in the Cold War (the US and the Soviet Union), so between is correct.

Quote:
As for the underlined portion, the meaning of the question calls for answer choice expecting that the bomb shelters that fortunately were never used not thousands of dollars that fortunately were never used. Option 'd' is out for that.
Option "B" fails in parallelism.
option 'e' looses the meaning, it means as if the families are building the bomb shelters.
Option 'a' is unclear and contrasting sentence makes it more complex.
Good explanation! Notice that (A) violates parallelism as well, making it a slam-dunk elimination.
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Re: The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II [#permalink] New post   14 Nov 2014, 07:12
Hi EliLTG,

Haha Ya I got it, I was completely lost in the question and forgot the history :D. Thank you for correcting me .

Regards,
Swaroop
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Re: The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II [#permalink] New post   14 Nov 2014, 07:23
meghaswaroop wrote:
Hi EliLTG,

Haha Ya I got it, I was completely lost in the question and forgot the history :D. Thank you for correcting me .

Regards,
Swaroop

No problem! It's a good thing that you're looking, though--indeed, "between" and "among" are commonly tested. Your question indicates you're developing good test-taking instincts!
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Re: The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II [#permalink] New post   24 Apr 2015, 22:51
I'm not sure if anyone noticed that there is a change in the meaning in option c.

Option C says "families to invest XXX XXX in bomb shelters", while the "families to build the bomb shelters".. It kills the meaning..

I don't understand if the word 'Invest' is correct here....But OA says C :shock:

Grammar experts, any thoughts?
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Re: The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II [#permalink] New post   10 Jun 2016, 12:35
IMO option C distorts the entire meaning. Hence, chose A :(

"invest in shelters" (may be already built !!!) is different from "invest to build".

Please advise if anyone understands this better.
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Re: The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II [#permalink] New post   11 Jun 2016, 05:14
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aditi2013 wrote:
IMO option C distorts the entire meaning. Hence, chose A :(

"invest in shelters" (may be already built !!!) is different from "invest to build".

Please advise if anyone understands this better.


Yes, the meanings could be different. Nonetheless in absence of another grammatically correct option, it is alright to select an option even with a shift from the meaning conveyed in the original sentence.
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Re: The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II [#permalink] New post   11 Jun 2016, 11:50
sayantanc2k wrote:
aditi2013 wrote:
IMO option C distorts the entire meaning. Hence, chose A :(

"invest in shelters" (may be already built !!!) is different from "invest to build".

Please advise if anyone understands this better.


Yes, the meanings could be different. Nonetheless in absence of another grammatically correct option, it is alright to select an option even with a shift from the meaning conveyed in the original sentence.


Thank you Sayantan. It does perplex me at times, when we choose grammar over meaning because the basic rules always convey that meaning should be maintained no matter what.
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Re: The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II [#permalink] New post   13 Jun 2016, 03:53
I have a different reason to eliminate A --

But is used to join independent clauses and since 'fortunately were never...' is not an independent clause. Hence, A and E will be eliminated.

Please correct me.
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Re: The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II [#permalink] New post   13 Jun 2016, 03:54
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I have a different reason to eliminate A --

But is used to join independent clauses and since 'fortunately were never...' is not an independent clause. Hence, A and E will be eliminated.

Please correct me.
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Re: The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II [#permalink] New post   13 Jun 2016, 13:21
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aditi2013 wrote:
sayantanc2k wrote:
aditi2013 wrote:
IMO option C distorts the entire meaning. Hence, chose A :(

"invest in shelters" (may be already built !!!) is different from "invest to build".

Please advise if anyone understands this better.


Yes, the meanings could be different. Nonetheless in absence of another grammatically correct option, it is alright to select an option even with a shift from the meaning conveyed in the original sentence.


Thank you Sayantan. It does perplex me at times, when we choose grammar over meaning because the basic rules always convey that meaning should be maintained no matter what.


The meaning conveyed in option C is definitely a valid one and can as well be the one intended to be conveyed by the speaker / author. It is not mandatory to assume that the intended meaning is always the one conveyed by the first (original) sentence.

If there is no other grammatically correct option, it is alright to deviate from the meaning conveyed by the original sentence. However, if there are more than one grammatically correct sentences, then the one that retains the original meaning (if it is a logical one) should be selected.
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The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 16 Apr 2018, 00:27
The Cold War, an apt name for the nervous post-World War II relations between the superpowers, prompted families to build bomb shelters costing thousands of dollars but fortunately were never used.

(A) families to build bomb shelters costing thousands of dollars but
(B) families to invest in bomb shelters that would cost thousands of dollars and that
(C) families to invest thousands of dollars in bomb shelters that
(D) the building by families of bomb shelters costing thousands of dollars that
(E) the building of bomb shelters by families that cost thousands of dollars but

Originally posted by praveenbaranwal on 15 Apr 2018, 22:30.
Last edited by praveenbaranwal on 16 Apr 2018, 00:27, edited 1 time in total.
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