The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft will orbit the as

According to Ron, answer should be A

https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/post26896.html

A. to make ever more precise measurements that scientists hope will enable them
to
Right idiom - To make..... Hope is the right verb to use with scientists.
B. to make ever more and more precise measurements, which scientists are
hoping to enable them
Wordy
C. for making ever more precise measurements, and scientists hope that they will
be able to

D. with the purpose of making more precise measurements than ever, and which
scientists hope will enable them to
WORDY
E. in order to make more precise measurements than it ever did, and scientists are
hoping they will be able to
WORDY

Was a close call between 'A' and 'C'. But after several readings, I realize that A should be the answer.

NEAR is doing something with intentions of taking precise measurements. Scientists hope that these measurements will enable them to do something.

A. to make ever more precise measurements that scientists hope will enable them
to We are getting the meaning that new precise measurements will enable scientists to do something
B. to make ever more and more precise measurements, which scientists are
hoping to enable them 'Hoping to enable them understand' is not right
C. for making ever more precise measurements, and scientists hope that they will
be able to the cause and effect is lacking, otherwise this sentence is correct.
D. with the purpose of making more precise measurements than ever, and which
scientists hope will enable them to unnecessary wordy
E. in order to make more precise measurements than it ever did, and scientists are
hoping they will be able to wordy, and wrong for same reason as in option C

I would chose OPTION A but very reluctant since all other options are equally bad.

I have a strong reservation about Option A
A) to make ever more precise measurements that scientists hope will enable them to

to make ever more precise measurements --> more precise than what ??? ---> there should have been some logical reference to explain the phrase"ever more precise"
more precise measurements than the measurements earlier spacecraft made?
more precise measurements than the measurements obtained by a computational model in the lab?
more precise measurements than the measurements calculated by the little boy who used his home made telescope?

"MORE" is an adjective of comparison. What is the second item to compare in this sentence ????
What are we comparing "more precise measurements to" ???

Not happy with this question at all

I agree that more crisp statement is preferred, but in option A is am not happy with MORE, since it requires MORE THAN, otherwise the comparison is illogical. I chose E - not so elegant, but at least with no obvious errors. Another case, in which this rule is broken...

Here "ever more" is used as an adverb to mean "for all time" - "than" is not required in such use. "More" when used as a comparative adjective or adverb requires "than".

A quick review of these:

B: "ever more and more precise" is redundant and idiomatically incorrect. "Ever more" and "more and more" have approximately the same meaning, but these constructions can't be put together. Furthermore, in "scientists are hoping to enable them," the pronoun "them" can't grammatically refer back to "scientists," but the meaning of the sentence requires that it do so.

D: "with the purpose of making more precise measurements than ever" is suspiciously wordy (though not enough to rule out this choice except by comparison with others). The bigger problem is the "and" before "which" -- to what is "and" connecting the "which" clause? There's no other relative clause modifying "measurements," so this "and" is incorrect.

E: "more precise measurements than it ever did" creates a verb tense problem. The idiom "ever more precise" means that the measurements will become more and more precise as time goes by, while E suggests that the spacecraft's measurements used to be less precise, and will now become more precise. However, E lacks the sense of continuing improvement that the other answer choices contain.

Furthermore, the creation of a compound sentence (", and scientists are hoping...") eliminates the direct connection between the measurements and scientific understanding that is present in the original sentence.

On to C and A. I believe that A is the winner here.

The second problem with answer choice E also affects choice C. The compound sentence structure links two ideas that each function on their own as complete thoughts. Therefore, choice C creates a sentence containing two separate ideas:
#1) A spacecraft is going to make some especially precise measurements.
#2) Scientists sure hope that they will learn how the solar system formed.

Choice A creates a clear relationship between these two ideas; the measurements are what make it possible for scientists to understand the formation of the solar system.

Furthermore, the beginning of choice C is worded in an awkward and idiomatically incorrect way. In A, "to make" functions as an adverb modifying "moving." "For making" cannot function in this way; this modifier phrase will work like an adjective in the vast majority of cases ("his talent for making pancakes..." -- "for making" modifies "talent").

The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft will orbit the asteroid Eros for a year, slowly moving closer to the surface of the object to make ever more precise measurements that scientists hope will enable them to understand how the solar system formed some four billion years ago.

A. to make ever more precise measurements that scientists hope will enable them to

"to make" infinitive form used to show purpose : Correct

B. to make ever more and more precise measurements, which scientists are hoping to enable them

Modification error; ,which modifies "measurement" : incorrect

C. for making ever more precise measurements, and scientists hope that they will be able to

"for making" can not be used for intention/purpose : incorrect

D. with the purpose of making more precise measurements than ever, and which scientists hope will enable them to

wrong comparison ; more precise measurements than ever

E. in order to make more precise measurements than it ever did, and scientists are hoping they will be able to

meaning error ; seams spacecraft was used in past : Incorrect

Was stuck between A and E. For A, them was ambiguous for me; is them referring to scientists or measurements? If we say them modifies the noun closest to it, scientists, then the ambiguity is resolved. Would have preferred a better construction

E. the first part is good. In fact, grammatically speaking, there is nothing wrong with E. However, grammar is not the only thing to watch out for. There is a meaning change in the second clause and scientists are hoping they will be able to. The causal relationship between precise measurements and scientists understanding the universe is lost.

A is correct, by POE.

The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft will orbit the asteroid Eros for a year, slowly moving closer to the surface of the object to make ever more precise measurements that scientists hope will enable them to understand how the solar system formed some four billion years ago.


A. to make ever more precise measurements that scientists hope will enable them to (Correct)

B. to make ever more and more precise measurements, which scientists are hoping to enable them moving closer to the surface of the object is hoping will enable them to understand not measurements.

C. for making ever more precise measurements, and scientists hope that they will be able to incorrect idiomatic expression

D. with the purpose of making more precise measurements than ever, and which scientists hope will enable them to parallelism error

E. in order to make more precise measurements than it ever did, and scientists are hoping they will be able to "In order to make" redundant it's same as "to make"

This question is based on Construction and Pronoun Usage.

The phrase “ever more and more” is redundant. In the latter part of the option, the relative pronoun ‘which’ refers to ‘measurements’. However, the use of this pronoun makes the other pronoun ‘them’ ambiguous. The phrase “the measurements which scientists are hoping to enable measurements to understand how the solar system formed” is distorted in meaning. So, Option B can be eliminated.

The phrase “moving closer to the surface of the object for making measurements” is not idiomatically appropriate. So, Option C can be eliminated.

The phrase “making more precise measurements than ever” is wordy. The conjunction ‘and’ is unnecessary. So, Option D can be eliminated.

The phrase “to make more precise measurements than it ever did” implies that the spacecraft had made measurements before; this meaning is not implied by the sentence. The pronoun ‘they’ is ambiguous; the antecedent of the pronoun is not clear. So, Option E can also be eliminated.

Option A is precise and idiomatically appropriate. Therefore A is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.

in choice C, 'for making' is wrong because 'making' dose not refer to the subject spacecraft. 'making' is general action which is not done in the future by the subject 'spacecraft'. 'to make' presents a would-be action done by the spacecraft.
in choice E, "it ever did" is wrong. the meaning in E is the measurements is more precise than those spacecraft made. the intended meaning should be the measurement are more precise than other measurements by any other previous equipment or spacecrafts

In Option A-
A) to make ever more precise measurements that scientists hope will enable them to

"that" refers to "measurements"? Or, "that" is initiating a substantive clause: "that scientists hope will enable...."? How do we know which one it is? I rejected A thinking that "that" is wrongly modifying "measurements".

Thank you so much GMATNinja

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.