ShaikhMoice
How come C is better than A.
Even when an important info is missing in option C i.e. who required the device
TIA
Hello,
ShaikhMoice. I feel compelled to point out, first, that this question is spun off of
an official CR passage from GMAT Prep.
Quote:
Nitrogen dioxide is a pollutant emitted by automobiles. Catalytic converters, devices designed to reduce nitrogen dioxide emissions, have been required in all new cars in Donia since 1993, and as a result, nitrogen dioxide emissions have been significantly reduced throughout most of the country. Yet although the proportion of new cars in Donia's capital city has always been comparatively high, nitrogen dioxide emissions there have showed only an insignificant decline since 1993.
Since the OA is plagiarized or lifted directly from the passage, that really may be all there is to the matter. Someone probably thought the sentence was peculiar and decided to create a question around it, with some other wrong versions tossed in. That said, I do think answer choice (C), without the above to consider, is still a better sentence than (A). It has to do with the passive construct used in (C), a construct that allows for a little wiggle room in interpretation. Compare the base information on the converters between (A) and (C):
(A) The government has required catalytic converters in all new cars
(C) Catalytic converters have been required in all new cars
There is a missing action in the original sentence that hinders the expression of meaning. Someone can require that a certain part
be installed in a car, but the verb
require does not operate on its own in the active form
require [something] in. The passive construct in (C) shifts the emphasis from the government requiring something to the auto part itself, and allows the reader to bypass the part about installation. That is just the way the different verb tenses work. Think of an analogous sentence:
1) Active—The school is required to have fire alarms [installed].
2) Passive—Fire alarms are required in the school.
It is not as though we, as readers of the second sentence, picture students coming to school with fire alarms in their backpacks. We simply lean on the context of the sentence to give shape to a reasonable interpretation.
- Andrew