OFFICIAL EXPLANATIONProject SC Butler: Day 199: Sentence Correction (SC2)
Quote:
THE PROMPT
Quote:
The management of the minor league team considered raising admission and parking fees so that the costs would be higher than they had been charged in more than five years.
• The underlined part of this sentence is nonsensical and illogical.
Fees get raised, not costs.
The management . . . thought about raising admission and parking fees . . .
so that the
costs would be higher than they had been charged in more than five years.
• Meaning? The management of the team thought about raising admission and parking
fees— to a higher level than had been charged [by the management] in more than five years.
THE OPTIONS Quote:
A) so that the costs would be higher than they had been
• COSTS? No. Fees. Fees would increase.
• "So that" means "for the purpose of" or "in order to."
-- The language is off. GMAC does not like
so that to express result. On the GMAT,
so that expresses purpose.
-- Did the management consider raising fees because they had a purpose, and that purpose was to raise fees to a level higher than had been charged in a long time? Doubtful.
Eliminate A
Quote:
B) so that they were higher than those had been
•
so that presents the same issue as that in A
--
So that is supposed to mean "as a result of what management was considering."
-- I have never seen GMAC use "so that" to express result.
• the first
they refers to fees.
After that part, things go downhill.
What is the comparison?
Fees were higher than those had been in over five years?
The second pronoun,
those, is still talking about fees.
Those should be
they.
Fees were higher than
fees had been in over five years.
Same subject, two verbs. We do not switch pronouns, especially to pronouns that sounds as if they are not referring to the subject.
Eliminate B.
Quote:
C) so that fees would be higher than they were
• Same "so that" problem as in A and B.
=-- Did the management consider raising fees "so that" (in order to make sure that) fees would be higher than before?
Doubtful. "A higher level of fees than before" is a
result. so that fees
would be higher than they were
• Rhetorical disaster.
The management of the minor league team considered raising admission and parking fees
so that fees would be higher than they were charged in more than five years.
Fees would be higher than they were charged? This sentence makes no sense.
Eliminate C
Quote:
D) to a higher level than had been
-- Looks promising.
-- The management . . . considered raising fees to a higher level than had been charged in over five years.
The switch from active to passive voice is not great but not horrible, either.
KEEP
Quote:
E) to a level higher than that had been
• The trap answer. You are supposed to believe that the sentence keeps some comparison parallel.
• The word "that" has no referent.
RHS of "than":
that had been charged in over five years. ← ← this is a fragment
LHS of "than: [fees raised to] a level higher than
• We would need two "thats," this way:
to a level higher than that that had been charged . . .The management . . . considered raising fees to a level high than [
the level]
that had been charged
This sentence is nonsensical.
Eliminate E.
The answer is D.Similar phrasing: Arctic air drove the temperature to a lower level than had been recorded in two decades.
COMMENTS
adstudy , welcome to SC Butler.
This question is difficult, but it's a good lesson in this way: try not to overthink it.
You all did very well as you narrowed answers down.
More importantly, you were brave and posted.
Everyone gets kudos.