The director of the conservatory emphasized to the new

Hey Prep Gmat
can u elaborate on your explanation for D?

Is it not a question of Subjunctive Mood (requirement)??

I will go with (A)..

Here is something that nocilis wrote on additive phrases a day or so ago:
And is the only additive that can make two singular subjects in to a plural one.

In addition to, not only X but also Y, etc. will not make the singular subjects in to a plural.


The boys, in addition to the girls, are participating in the games.

In the above example you gave, it is not in addition that makes the subject plural, it is the plural subject boys that makes it plural.

Even if your sentence were:
1) The boy, in addition to the girl, is participating in the games. -> still singular
2) The boy, in addition to the girls, is participating in the games. -> still Singular.

I am not sure if the question is about subjunctive mood, even if it is I think you cant mix 'that' and 'to' construction.

(A) - grammatically wrong ("not only talent")
(B) - subject-verb (musicians require, not requires)
(D) - not as concise as c
(E) - needs to become, instead of becoming

(C) for me

the original sentence mentions 'necessity' as opposed to 'requirement'. kind of necessary/sufficient condition stuff in SC?. I think we are expected to look for such subtelities in SC?.

but doesn't require and nescessary mean the same thing.

e.g.
You will require a password to go through this door.
A password is nescessary in order to pass through this door.

From the webster-merrian online dictionary:

Nescessary: absolutely needed : REQUIRED

C) !

D) incorrect becauce it distorts the meaning "not only talent but also hard work was necessary" it still is necessary...

C) "becoming" is better because it describes an ongoing process

Good point, chris. I failed to see the tense 'was'.

Yes, continuous tense makes sense. Thanks Christoph.

Isn't the whole sentence in past tense, then why there is an issue with the usage of "was" in choice "D" ? Or is it becose of the subjunctive mood.

C it is ....reason for me, is that its short and sweet!

gets rid of all the other "fatty" words!...cant really explain what else is good about C.

however, the rest all suffer from wordiness and in some options wrong idiom....i think it should be "to become"....some options have that wrong.

always prefer infinitive over gerund. then A and D are left. In A, 'were' does not agree with 'hardwork'. so, D is the right answer.

I would pick D. Straight forward and correct. respecting tense and meaning.
"Becoming and the on going process " mmmmmm? I don t understand the flow behind that statement.
I thought :
either you are successful or you are not.. you are not in the process of beeing successful. the wish, desire and will of beeing successful can be an on going process but not the fact that you are.

He is successful because he s having success.
I duno if I am clear.
anyway we are waiting for the OA

D for me.

A) to become successful musicians not only talent but also hard work were necessary INCORRECT
(B) in order to be successful musicians requires hard work as well as talent INCORRECT [ TENSE, UNIDIOMATIC]
(C) becoming a successful musician requires hard work as well as talent
[BECOMING....REQUIRES...UNIDIOMATIC. TO BECOME APPROPRIATE.
(D) not only talent but also hard work was necessary to become a successful musician CORRECT! I DON'T SEE ANYTHING WRONG WITH WAS, IT SURELY STILL IS BUT THAT IS NOT THE MAIN POINT IN THE QUESTION. THE TENSE USAGE IS ACCURATE.
(E) both hard work and talent were necessary for them becoming successful musicians INCORRECT.


The more I see it, i am convinced that becoming is incorrect. To become is probably the correct usage.

OA Banerjee??
What is the source of this question. Good ones.

oops my bad, OA is "C", no OE.