The sale of government surplus machinery will begin at 9 a.m. and cont

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that the sale of government surplus machinery will begin at 9 a.m. and will continue until the supply is exhausted.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Tenses + Grammatical Construction + Redundacy/Awkwardness

• The simple future tense is used to refer to actions that will take place in the future.
• The simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, to indicate habitual actions, to state universal truths, and to convey information that is permanent in nature.
• Information important to the core meaning should not be placed within two commas.
• The introduction of present participle ("verb+ing"- “continuing” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.

A: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “until the supply lasts”; the construction of this phrase illogically implies that the sale of government surplus machinery will continue until the supply is not exhausted; the intended meaning is that the sale of government surplus machinery will continue until the supply is exhausted.

B: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “continuing until the supply lasts”; the construction of this phrase illogically implies that the sale of government surplus machinery will begin at 9 a.m, and as a result continue until the supply is not exhausted; the intended meaning is that the sale of government surplus machinery will begin at 9 a.m, and as a separate action continue until the supply is exhausted; please remember, the introduction of present participle ("verb+ing"- “continuing” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship. Further, Option B incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb “begins” to refer to an action that will take place in the future; please remember, the simple future tense is used to refer to actions that will take place in the future, and the simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.

C: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “until the supply lasts”; the construction of this phrase illogically implies that the sale of government surplus machinery will continue until the supply is not exhausted; the intended meaning is that the sale of government surplus machinery will continue until the supply is exhausted. Further, Option C incorrectly puts information vital to the meaning of the sentence – until what point in time the sale will last – between two commas; please remember, information that is important to the core meaning should not be placed within two commas.

D: This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present tense verbs “begins” and “continues” to refer to actions that will take place in the future; please remember, the simple future tense is used to refer to actions that will take place in the future, and the simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature. Further, Option D incorrectly puts information vital to the meaning of the sentence – until what point in time the sale will last – between two commas; please remember, information that is important to the core meaning should not be placed within two commas. Additionally, Option D uses the needlessly wordy phrase “the supply may last”, leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

E: Correct. This answer choice uses the phrase “continue as long as the supply lasts”, conveying the intended meaning – that the sale of government surplus machinery will begin at 9 a.m, and as a separate action continue until the supply is exhausted. Further, Option E correctly uses the simple future tense verbs “will begin” and “will…continue” to refer to actions that will take place in the future. Additionally, Option E avoids the grammatical construction errors seen in Options C and D, as it places no information between commas. Besides, Option E is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

Hence, E is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



To understand the concept of "Extra Information Between Commas" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~4 minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

E.

(A) will begin at 9 a.m. and continue until the supply lasts <-- "until the supply lasts" is incorrect. It's more appropriate to say "until the supply ends" or "until everything is gone"
(B) begins at 9 a.m., continuing until the supply lasts *same with A
(C) will begin at 9 a.m. and, until the supply lasts, will continue *same with A
(D) begins at 9 a.m. and, as long as the supply may last, it continues <-- "it" is unclear
(E) will begin at 9 a.m. and continue as long as the supply lasts <-- correct

What is the difference between A and E? For me both sounds good.

May be, E is better.

Difference between A and E;

A uses "until", which can be used as a preposition and also as a conjunction. Here it's used as a conjunction.
used as a function word to indicate continuance to a specified time. Now, always try to grasp the meaning of the sentence and you'll catch it faster than grappling with the intricacies of grammar.
Choice "A" says that sales continue until " the sales last". It does not specify the "end time", until which sales continue.

Whereas in "E", "as long as" is the idiom.( a well known idiom!...for example " as long as you are surrounded by idiot people, you can't achieve your goals ). It implies continue "For the period of time that" that sales last! Till the sales last...it continues!

Thus this is better choice.

"Until" denotes continuation until a stopping event triggers. ie I kept working until he told me to stop.
"As long as" is conditional and can be written to "provided that", "at the condition that" i.e. I will keep working as long as you work with me. Or the sale will continue as long as supplies last. Very subtle difference.
So "Until" is not the best choice here because there is no "triggering event" that will stop the sale.
Rather, the stop of the sale is conditional, under the condition that as soon as the supplies run out, the sale will stop.
So it becomes E

my take on 'as long as' and 'until' is...

Both are triggering events but only differ in their significance.

For e.g take event A depends on event B.

We should use 'as long as' to indicate that A is valid till the time B is valid, i.e., the moment B completes, A is also over.

We should use 'until' to indicate that A is valid till the time B is invalid, i.e. the moment B starts, A is over.

Ex:

1. Ram stays here as long as Lakshman stays here --> the moment Lakshman leaves, Ram also leaves.
2. Ram stays here until Lakshman arrives here --> the moment Lakshman comes, Ram leaves.

In both of the cases Ram's staying depends on Lakshman's presence but how is the question.

Hope this is helpful.

1. The sale of government surplus machinery will begin at 9 a.m. and continue until the supply lasts.

2. The sale of government surplus machinery will begin at 9 a.m. and continue as long as the supply lasts.

Can anyone help to understand the difference in meaning?

These should help you well! Thank you for asking this question

--> the-sale-of-government-surplus-machinery-will-begin-at-64024.html#p1022169

--> https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/unt ... 12746.html

Enjoy!

until suggest abrupt trigger to stop an ongoing event whereas as long as suggest something ended over a period of time.

Thus as sales will continue over a period of time and stop automatically when stock will be over we should use as long as here.

All choices eliminated except A & E. I chose A .

Digging further into this topic, I understood the following usage of Until VS As long As :

Until : refers to a point in time, deadline. The activity will STOP when that moment occurs.

So,The sale will stop the moment supply ends >> The sale will continue until the supply ends (and not lasts)

As long as : denotes "While", the activity will endure only during the moment (not before or after).

Accordingly, the sentence above implies that the sale will continue as long as the supply lasts (which means sale will continue only while supply is there, not after the supply is finished

My guess between A and E - 'Until' is used for nouns, example until dawn, until success; 'as long as' is used for clauses. Experts , please prove or disprove this theory. Thanks.

Jon

Until:
"until" used as preposition goes with noun: We talked until midnight.
"until" used as conjunction goes with a clause: We kept walking until it got dark.
In either case the part after until (noun or clause) denotes a point in time.
(until success does not make sense: success is not a point in time. Until we succeeded is alright - it denotes a point in time when we succeeded.)

As long as:
"As long as" goes with clause.
I kept walking as long as there was light.
Unlike "until", "as long as" does not indicate a point in time, but denotes a period of time or a condition.
The implication is: X happens as long as period Y continues OR the condition Y is satisfied.

Can anyone explain why option B is wrong and why option E is right .
And here is a conjunction so full sentence with subject -verb would follow after and .
B avoids this problem .
Am i correct ?
egmat any word on this .
Please help

Hello arvind910619,

I am sorry to get back to this one so late.

Let me present the sentence with Choice B:

The sale of government surplus machinery begins at 9 a.m., continuing until the supply lasts.

Please note that continuing in this choice has been used as a comma + verb-ing modifier placed after a clause. Hence, it modifies the preceding action begins.

The comma + verb-ing modifier modifies the preceding action by presenting either the "how" aspect or the "result" of the preceding action. So let's see if continuing does any of this action.

The sale begins at 9 a.m. by continuing until the supply lasts. --> Makes no sense

Because the sale begins at 9 a.m., it continues until the supply lasts. --> Illogical again.

So Choice B is incorrect for the usage of comma + verb-ing modifier continuing.

This choice is incorrect for the usage of until also. Usage of until seems to suggest that action of the sale starting at 9 a.m. stops the moment the supply lasts.

Choice E conveys the intended meaning through correct expression as long as the supply lasts.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

(E) is the correct answer.

(A) has one error. It uses the preposition "until"--which should be used to indicate something will occur after an ongoing action--rather than while or as long as, which indicate simultaneously ongoing actions. Sales can only go on as long as the supplies last.

(B) contains the same preposition error as (A) and inappropriately uses the participle "continuing" rather than the conjugated verb "[will] continue."

(C) is a wordier variant of (A) and contains the same error with "until."

(D) uses the correct preposition but its use of "it continues" creates a run-on sentence, combining two subject-verb pairs ("the sale ... will begin" and "it continues.") Additionally, the future tense of the verb would be required, as indicated by the future tense in the beginning of the sentence.

(E) is the correct answer.

I am having doubt regarding SV error

here sale is singular so how continue can be used.

In E Continue(Plural verb) takes Sale (Singular Subject) Is that Okay Iam Confused and thats why dint consider E Can you clarify that ?