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Bunuel
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The Purple Heart, a United States military decoration, can be awarded 21 Sep 2023, 01:30
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59% (01:29) correct 41% (01:41) wrong based on 186 sessions

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The Purple Heart, a United States military decoration, can be awarded for an injury sustained during battle on foreign soil, on a US ship in combat, and during an attack on US soil, but not awarded for one due to the soldier’s own negligence.

A. and during an attack on US soil, but not awarded for one
B. and during an attack on US soil, but excluding it when
C. and during an attack on US soil, but not awarded when it is
D. or during an attack on US soil, but not for one
E. or during an attack on US soil, but it cannot be awarded if it is


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D
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The Purple Heart, a United States military decoration, can be awarded 22 Sep 2023, 03:09
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can someone please explain why not e

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The Purple Heart, a United States military decoration, can be awarded 22 Sep 2023, 06:08
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belanieshaan
can someone please explain why not e

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in GMAT we use "if" only for conditionals
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The Purple Heart, a United States military decoration, can be awarded 23 Sep 2023, 00:27
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Bunuel
The Purple Heart, a United States military decoration, can be awarded for an injury sustained during battle on foreign soil, on a US ship in combat, and during an attack on US soil, but not awarded for one due to the soldier’s own negligence.

A. and during an attack on US soil, but not awarded for one
B. and during an attack on US soil, but excluding it when
C. and during an attack on US soil, but not awarded when it is
D. or during an attack on US soil, but not for one
E. or during an attack on US soil, but it cannot be awarded if it is


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A. and during an attack on US soil, but not awarded for one - use of "and" is incorrect here because the list given represents one of the situations in which the medal will be awarded. If we use "and" then it would mean that the medal will be awarded when two of three situations exist which is illogical.
B. and during an attack on US soil, but excluding it when - Eliminated for the same reason as above
C. and during an attack on US soil, but not awarded when it is - Eliminated for the same reason as above
D. or during an attack on US soil, but not for one - Or is used correctly, but...for is parallel to can be awarded for.. so the structure is correct. Meaning is also clearly conveyed because we can link can be awarded for this... to but not for this.
E. or during an attack on US soil, but it cannot be awarded if it is - Here there is pronoun issue. There are "2 it" - first it refers to "the medal or The Purple Heart" and second it refers to "the injury" - because both refer to singular nouns we cannot differentiate the pronoun-antecedent of the first it from the second it.

Therefore, option D is the correct answer.
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The Purple Heart, a United States military decoration, can be awarded 23 Sep 2023, 00:28
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belanieshaan
can someone please explain why not e

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Hi belanieshaan,

In option E, there is a pronoun issue. There are "2 its" - first it refers to "the medal or The Purple Heart" and second it refers to "the injury" - because both refer to singular nouns we cannot differentiate the pronoun-antecedent of the first it from the second it.
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The Purple Heart, a United States military decoration, can be awarded 01 Oct 2023, 21:00
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Bunuel
The Purple Heart, a United States military decoration, can be awarded for an injury sustained during battle on foreign soil, on a US ship in combat, and during an attack on US soil, but not awarded for one due to the soldier’s own negligence.

A. and during an attack on US soil, but not awarded for one
B. and during an attack on US soil, but excluding it when
C. and during an attack on US soil, but not awarded when it is
D. or during an attack on US soil, but not for one
E. or during an attack on US soil, but it cannot be awarded if it is


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Magoosh Official Explanation:



A question about the Purple Heart.

Split #1: “and” vs. “or”

The sentence is speaking of a single injury. A single injury could be sustained “during a battle on foreign soil” or “on a US ship in combat” or “during an attack on foreign soil.” Those are three distinct and different situations: it would be essentially impossible for a single injury to sustained in all three places at once. For all practical purposes, the “and” statement is logically impossible—again, no single injury would have been sustained in all three places at once. What we are trying to convey is that an injury from any of those three categories would be eligible, and the word “or” correctly conveys that. Choice (A) & (B) & (C) are incorrect.

Split #2: double pronoun usage

In choice (E), in the phrasing “it cannot be awarded if it is …” the pronoun “it” appears twice and refers to two different antecedents: the first refers to the decoration, the Purple heart, and the second refers to the injury. When the same pronoun appears in one part of a sentence, it must consistently refer to the same antecedent. Here, the same pronoun refers to two different things—a classic pronoun mistake. Choice (E) is incorrect.

The only possible answer is (D).
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