The expected rise in the price of oil could be a serious impact to

Question

The expected rise in the price of oil could  be a serious impact to industrialized nations and severely diminish the possibility to have  an economy free of inflation.

(A) be a serious impact to industrialized nations and severely diminish the possibility to have
(B) seriously impact on industrialized nations and severely impede the possibility to have
(C) seriously impact on industrialized nations and severely impede the possibility of having
(D) have a serious impact on industrialized nations and severely impede the possibility to have
(E) have a serious impact on industrialized nations and severely diminish the possibility of having

mikemcgarry · Accepted Answer

Hi, there. I'm add my two cents to this discussion.

The expected rise in the price of oil could be a serious impact to industrialized nations and severely diminish the possibility to have an economy free of inflation. (A) be a serious impact to industrialized nations and severely diminish the possibility to have (B) seriously impact on industrialized nations and severely impede the possibility to have (C) seriously impact on industrialized nations and severely impede the possibility of having (D) have a serious impact on industrialized nations and severely impede the possibility to have (E) have a serious impact on industrialized nations and severely diminish the possibility of having As I read the prompt, two things grated on me --- "a serious impact to . . ." and "the possibility to . . . ." Those are both wrong. To eybrj2 , I would say: I don't know who says that "impact" should not go with "on", but those people are wrong. If the verb "to impact" is going to be followed by a preposition, the preposition "on" is the exact right one. That's the correct idiom. Another correct idiom is the word "of" following "probability". We speak of a "probability of" something, not a "probability to" something. Just with those two issues, here are the answer choices: (A) be a serious impact to industrialized nations and severely diminish the possibility to have (B) seriously impact on industrialized nations and severely impede the possibility to have (C) seriously impact on industrialized nations and severely impede the possibility of having (D) have a serious impact on industrialized nations and severely impede the possibility to have (E) have a serious impact on industrialized nations and severely diminish the possibility of having That leaves (C) and (E). Then we get to that funny word "impede." First of all, "impede" means to hinder, to put up obstacles in front of. The word "diminish" means to make less. Probability is an abstract mathematical thing --- ultimately, it's a number. One can make this number more or less, but something is quite bizarre about the idea of impeding a number. It's like being told that a football player tackled the number pi --- it just doesn't make sense. Furthermore, to "diminish the probability of X" is idiomatic, whereas there's something inherent wrong/awkward/strange about "impede the probability of X." That means (C) is out also, so (E) is the only choice remaining that is free of all mistakes and awkwardness. Answer = (E) Does all this make sense? Here's another SC question with some similar issues. https://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/1160 When you submit your answer to this question, the following page will have the video explanation. At Magoosh, each one of our 800+ practice GMAT questions has its own video explanation. We offer high quality GMAT prep at a ridiculously low price, and at the moment (until Thursday 3/29) we are having a sale (see the banner at the top of the page, or click the link in my signature.) Let me know if anyone reading this has any additional questions. Mike

chetan2u · Answer

hi,
The expected rise in the price of oil could  be a serious impact to industrialized nations and severely diminish the possibility to have  an economy free of inflation.

(A) be a serious impact to industrialized nations and severely diminish the possibility to have
 "The expected rise in the price of oil " could not itself be a serious impact BUT can HAVE a serious impact..
Parallelism ISSUE

(B) seriously impact on industrialized nations and severely impede the possibility to have
 It could seriously impact industrialized .. NOT IT could seriously impact ON industrialized..
changes the meaning by using 'impede' instead of diminish..
impede means delay while diminish means making less

(C) seriously impact on industrialized nations and severely impede the possibility of having
 It could seriously impact industrialized .. NOT IT could seriously impact ON industrialized..
changes the meaning by using 'impede' instead of diminish..
impede means delay while diminish means making less

(D) have a serious impact on industrialized nations and severely impede the possibility to have
 Corrects the parallelism issue but changes meaning by using 'impede' instead of diminish

(E) have a serious impact on industrialized nations and severely diminish the possibility of having
 CORRECT as it is 
E ans

PTK · Answer

Accorindg to some sources:

A,B,C - incorrect -- Always remember in GMAT -- impact should remain a noun ; a proposal can have an impact.(The only thing that can be impacted is a wisdom tooth).

maddy2u · Answer

I believe E is the right answer . Please find my explanation above. Is there an OA for this question ?

Kudo if you like my explanation.

shikhar · Answer

Impede means to obstruct :
diminish means to reduce in value or effect. 
You cannot obstruct the possibility of riots.
But,
You can obstruct the riots
on the other hand ::
you cannot diminish the riots
But,
You can diminish the possibility of riots.

So B ,D and C wrong
A wrong because ::
Noun (be a serious impact )  AND  verb (severely diminish)
E correct by POE

IMO Correct answer should be ::
 Seriously Impact industrialized nations and severely diminish the possibility of ...

Please correct me if i am wrong

alchemist009 · Answer

i would go for C here. verb is better than noun. possibility+to verb is unidiomatic expression. so C wins the bill

egmat · Answer

Hi there,

Choice C has three errors:
1. In this choice, "impact" has been used as "verb". It is absolutely ungrammatical to say that "A seriously impact on B." The correct sentence would be: A seriously impact B. Hence, "seriously impact on industrilaized nations" is incorrect.
2. There is difference between "impeded" and "diminish". "impede" means "hinder" and "diminish" means "reduce". These two words cannot be used interchangeably. 
3 The idiom "possibility of" is "preferred over "possibility to".

These three errors make Choice C incorrect.

Choice E is the correct answer as the usage of "impact" is correct, "diminish", the word from original choice, is retained, and "possibily of" has been used.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

daagh · Answer

Between D and E

D) have a serious impact on industrialized nations and severely impede the possibility to have ---- impede means to obstruct, hinder , block , The meaning is changed –  possibility to have is unidiomatic  
 (E) have a serious impact on industrialized nations and severely diminish the possibility of having---  diminish means to reduce, the right intent. Possibility of having is idiomatic

So E

kusha25 · Answer

the expected rise in the price of oil could  be a serious
impact to industrialized nations and severely diminish
the possibility to have  an economy free of inflation.
(A) be a serious impact to industrialized nations
and severely diminish the possibility to have
(B) seriously impact on industrialized nations and
severely impede the possibility to have
(C) seriously impact on industrialized nations and
severely impede the possibility of having
(D) have a serious impact on industrialized nations
and severely impede the possibility to have
(E) have a serious impact on industrialized nations
and severely diminish the possibility of having

Solution says that correct answer is E. I would request someone to explain how use of having is justified.

Thanks!

KarishmaB · Answer

We look for a noun after "possibility of ..."
e.g. possibility of an earthquake...

The -ing form of the verb can be used as present participle or as a gerund (looks like a verb but functions as a noun)

Here, 'having ...' works as a gerund and hence the sentence is fine.

Note that "impede" means to hinder or obstruct. How can someone impede the possibility of something? One can decrease the possibility (of say, success) by impeding some action. 
Possibility can be increased or decreased, not impeded.

Hence, (E) is correct.

thangvietname · Answer

WONDERFULL EXPLANTION.
there are 2 kinds of error on gmat sc, grammar error and meaning error. the first is grammar rules simple to remember. but, the second error is the key to success on sc. to find out meaning error, we use OUR COMMON SENSE OF OUR WORLD. this is the thing less discussed. of course, we have to have a good grammar before finding meaning logicness.

in our world , it make no sense to say: impede possibility. we impede a growth, a car, . this is the place gmat test us. very simple concept we need to know .

we should say, to lessen possibility. to diminish possibility.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear thangvietnam My friend, I will simply add that I believe there are at least six kinds of errors on GMAT SC. 1) Grammar mistakes = B/W violations of clear grammar rules (SVA, verb tense, pronouns, etc.) 2) Logic mistakes = phrasing that are inherently illogical (e.g. " the student taller than everyone in her class .") 3) Changes in meaning = correct in and of itself, but different from the prompt meaning 4) Idiom mistake = wrong combination of words (" able for doing X ") 5) Diction mistakes = using a word in the wrong way (" There were less accidents ." 6) Rhetorical problems = a rhetorically strong sentence is clear, crisp, direct, and powerful, and it forcefully makes its statement. A rhetorically strong sentence is rambling, weak, unclear, tentative, mealy-mouthed, and unsure of itself. GMAT SC is hard because you have to keep all these dimensions in mind at once. Mike :-)

Kunni · Answer

Hi  egmat

You mentioned that The idiom "possibility of" is "preferred over "possibility to".

Don't we use Prefer to instead of prefer over?

Please advise as it is really confusing.

ChiranjeevSingh · Answer

Here's the   official explanation   provided by the GMAC for this question:
 
This sentence describes effects an expected rise in the price of oil could have on industrialized nations. When the noun  impact  is used to mean a strong effect, rather than a physical blow, it is conventionally followed by the preposition  on , not  to.  And the noun  possibility  is conventionally followed by a prepositional phrase starting with  of  or by a subordinate clause, not by a verb in the infinitive.
 
 Option A:  In this context, using the noun  impact  with the preposition  to  violates the conventions of English diction. So does using the noun  possibility  with the infinitive  to have.

Option B:  The phrasal verb  impact on  is not widely accepted in formal English. The phrase  impede the possibility  makes no sense, because  to impede  means "to slow the progress of," and a possibility is not something that progresses. Using the noun  possibility  with the infinitive  to have  violates the conventions of English diction .

Option C:  The phrasal verb  impact on  is not widely accepted in formal English. The phrase  impede the possibility  makes no sense, because  to impede  means "to slow the progress of," and a possibility is not something that progresses.

Option D:  The phrase  impede the possibility  makes no sense, because  to impede  means "to slow the progress of," and a possibility is not something that progresses. Using the noun  possibility  with the infinitive  to have  violates the conventions of English diction .

Option E:  Correct. The noun  impact  is appropriately used with the preposition  on ; the phrase  diminish the possibility  makes sense because a possibility can be increased or diminished; and the noun  possibility  is appropriately followed by the prepositional phrase  of having an economy free of inflation .
 
The correct answer is E.

Please note that I'm not the author of this explanation. I'm just posting it here since I believe it can help the community.

NandishSS · Answer

HI  AndrewN  ,  GMATCoachBen   GMATGuruNY

Can you please help me this problem. Bit confused with Sub-Verb.
 
What is the role of   Could Have   here?

GMATGuruNY · Answer

Below is a list of MODAL VERBS:
 can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would 
Generally, a modal verb is followed by the BARE INFINITIVE ( to  + VERB with the  to  omitted).
In many cases, a modal verb serves to convey that the following bare infinitive action is POSSIBLE or OBLIGATORY.

D and E:  The expected rise...could  have a serious impact . 
 expected  = adjective modifying  rise 
 rise  = subject
 could  = modal verb
 have  = bare infinitive ( to have  with the  to  omitted)
 serious  = adjective modifying  impact 
 impact  = direct object of  could have 
Here, the usage of  could  conveys that the bare infinitive action in blue is POSSIBLE.

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  NandishSS . I agree with the thorough analysis  GMATGuruNY  has supplied above. I will confess to thinking in less grammatical terms during my own approach to the question (one I had not done previously, so I am glad you called my attention to it). What catches my eye is  expected . An expectation is not the same as a prediction, so whereas the latter often incorporates definitive projections in the language—e.g.,  will  do something—the former adopts less decisive language, as in  could have  (rather than  will  or  must ) or  could do  something. Remember, too, that  and  in options (D) and (E), without the comma, should join parallel entities. What are those entities?

(D)   have a serious impact  on industrialized nations   and    severely impede the possibility  to have 
(E)   have a serious impact  on industrialized nations   and    severely diminish the possibility  of having

To be clear, each continuation is parallel through the noun, following a verb + modifier + noun basic construct (even if the modifiers are not the same part of speech and fall in different places). But in choice (D), we get a prepositional phrase at the end of the first part and an infinitive at the end of the second. Notice how this lack of parallelism is corrected in (E), where we see prepositional phrases at the end of the two like entities.

I hope that helps shed some more light on the question. Thank you for thinking to ask me about it.

- Andrew

NandishSS · Answer

Thank you  AndrewN  ,  GMATGuruNY

sssanskaar · Answer

E.
'Impact on' as a verb is incorrect. 'Impact' as a verb is correct.

The expected rise in the price of oil could be a serious impact to

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The expected rise in the price of oil could be a serious impact to

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