The state board of education has directed assessments of schools in th

Question

The state board of education has directed assessments of schools in the highest populated districts,  with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools.

A) with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools

(B) with the objective to decisively decrease the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education

(C) decisively with the objective to decrease voicing of general unhappiness by the students with the school’s education

(D) in a decisive attempt to reduce the number of students that ends up voicing general unhappiness with the schools’ education

(E) with the decisive objective of decreasing the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education

GMATBuster's Weekly Verbal Quiz

GMATBusters · Accepted Answer

Official Solution

After a quick glance over the options, there are a few key things we can focus on:

1. This sentence deals with the correct idiomatic structure of the phrase “objective of.” 
2. It also addresses subject-verb agreement, meaning both subject and verb need to be either singular or plural. 
3. It is also important that the sentence gives clear and concise meaning.

Let’s take a look at each option and eliminate any problematic options:

A) with the decisive objective of  decreasing the students  who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools
This is  incorrect . The issue here is that by saying “decreasing the students,” it makes it seem like decreasing is referring to size, rather than numbers, making the sentence unclear.

(B) with the  objective to  decisively decrease the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education
This is  incorrect.  The correct idiomatic structure is “objective of” making “objective to” incorrect.

(C) decisively with the  objective to  decrease voicing of general unhappiness by the students with the school’s education
This is  incorrect.  The correct idiomatic structure is “objective of” making “objective to” incorrect.

(D) in a decisive attempt to reduce the number of  students  that  ends  up voicing general unhappiness with the schools’ education
This is  incorrect . There is a subject-verb agreement issue. Students are plural, and the verb referring to students “ends” is in the singular form.

(E) with the  decisive objective of  decreasing the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education
This is  correct.  This sentence is clear, uses correct idiomatic structure, and does not have any issues with subject-verb agreement.

Quarantinedguy · Answer

The state board of education has directed assessments of schools in the highest populated districts, with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools.

A) with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools

Distorted meaning. We can decrease the 'number' of students but not decrease the students themselves.

(B) with the objective to decisively decrease the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education

Correct Answer. Best of the lot

(C) decisively with the objective to decrease voicing of general unhappiness by the students with the school’s education

'decisively' is an adjective, whereas 'with' is a preposition. decisively cannot modify a preposition. Incorrect grammatically.

(D) in a decisive attempt to reduce the number of students that ends up voicing general unhappiness with the schools’ education

1st problem ----> the attempt was not decisive as per the intended meaning of the sentence.
2nd problem ----> 'decrease' is a better word than 'reduce' to use here
3rd problem ----> 'that' here seems to modify 'students'. 'That' is not used to modify living things. We need to use who here to modify the next part.
***Having said the 3rd problem, it could also be, grammatically, that 'THAT' is referring to the 'number' instead of 'students'. Hence the third problem is not decisive according to me.

(E) with the decisive objective of decreasing the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education

As we are showing intent in the second part of the complete sentence, 'to' is preferred rather than 'of'
Also decisive objective is changing the meaning making it more skeptical.

Answer should be 'B', IMO

NischalP · Answer

IMO E

The state board of education has directed assessments of schools in the highest populated districts, with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools.

A) with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools - Decisive should represent an action/verb. Wrong placement

(B) with the objective to decisively decrease the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education- IMO in my opinion.

(C) decisively with the objective to decrease voicing of general unhappiness by the students with the school’s education
-passive voice not preferred.
(D) in a decisive attempt to reduce the number of students that ends up voicing general unhappiness with the schools’ education- "A number of student that " takes plural "end" and voicing is wrongly used.

(E) with the decisive objective of decreasing the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education

1BlackDiamond1 · Answer

A humble request – please give kudos if the explanation helps.
The answer is E.
First lets dissect the sentence.
1) The state board of education has directed assessments of schools in the highest populated districts,
This is the main clause of the sentence.
SV pair – (Board) is the subject and (has directed.) is the verb
2) with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools.
This is the phrase in the sentence.

The core of this phrase is with the decisive objective of decreasing the students.
Students who voice… schools – who voice… schools is modifying the noun students correctly.
Note: decisive means Unmistakable/Determining or having the power to determine an outcome
The core sentence is: The… board… has directed assessments…, with the … objective of decreasing students…

A) with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools

… decreasing the students… - this is incorrect since you cannot decrease the students. This is illogical.

(B) with the objective to decisively decrease the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education

The meaning of the sentence is changed in this sentence. Because the objective is decisive not the decrease in number is decisive.

(C) decisively with the objective to decrease voicing of general unhappiness by the students with the school’s education

Decisively with the objective is incorrect.
The intent is to decrease the number of students who voice general unhappiness and not decrease voicing of general unhappiness.
This choice changes the meaning of the sentence.

(D) in a decisive attempt to reduce the number of students that ends up voicing general unhappiness with the schools’ education
This is a dependent clause since we have a subject and a verb pair in the sentence.
The subject is attempt and the verb is ends up.
But this changes the meaning of the sentence as: attempt ends up voicing general unhappiness.
(E) with the decisive objective of decreasing the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education

This choice is correct. The meaning of the sentence is unchanged.

The answer is E.

NiftyNiffler · Answer

The state board of education has directed assessments of schools in the highest populated districts,  with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools.

A) with the decisive objective of  decreasing the students  who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools  -- We are decreasing a number, not the students directly.

(B) with the objective to  decisively decrease  the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education  -- Wrong adverbial modifier for verb decrease rather than for noun objective
 
(C) decisively with the objective to  decrease voicing  of general unhappiness by the students with the school’s education  -- We not trying to decrease the voicing of unhappiness, rather the no. of students
 
(D) in a decisive attempt to reduce the  number of students that ends  up voicing general unhappiness with the schools’ education  -- Here "that" modifies the "number" . It's the students who voice unhappiness, not their number

(E) with the decisive objective of decreasing the number of students  who  voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education  -- CORRECT. error in D is fixed with relative pronoun "who"

So, answer should be  E

Anuragjn · Answer

The state board of education has directed assessments of schools in the highest populated districts, with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools.

A) with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools
   We cannot decrease the students. We can only decrease the number of student .

(B) with the objective to decisively decrease the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education

Objective is Noun here, hence it should Objective Of

(C) decisively with the objective to decrease voicing of general unhappiness by the students with the school’s education
   School's should be Schools'. It's incorrect to say Decrease voicing

(D) in a decisive attempt to reduce the number of students that ends up voicing general unhappiness with the schools’ education
   That is not required. It refers to complete clause.

(E) with the decisive objective of decreasing the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education
  Objective of is correct. Who should be used for Students. Schools' is correct as we are talking about many schools in the non underline part

Archit3110 · Answer

The state board of education has directed assessments of schools in the highest populated districts,  with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools.

A) with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools ; education in school usage is wrong

(B) with the objective to decisively decrease the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education ; to decisively usage is wrong

(C) decisively with the objective to decrease voicing of general unhappiness by the students with the school’s education ; decrease voicing alters meaning

(D) in a decisive attempt to reduce the number of students that ends up voicing general unhappiness with the schools’ education ; voicing usage is wrong

(E) with the decisive objective of decreasing the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education
correct ; with the decisive objective ... possessive noun usage ( school's) is correct over option A ; 
OPTION E is correct

uc26 · Answer

Split 1) with the decisive objective, with the objective, decisively with the objective, in a decisive attempt

Decisive means 'convincing' and that does not make sense with objective. It makes more sense later in the sentence to be used with decisively (convincingly) decreasing the number of students. Hence options A, C and E are out.

Options left are B and D.
Split 2) Students who voice, students that ends up voicing

D has a clear subject verb agreement error. the 'that' in D modifies students and thus the verb ends up in incorrect since students are plural.

Answer: B

SiffyB · Answer

The state board of education has directed assessments of schools in the highest populated districts,  with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools.

A) with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools -  how can one decrease the students? What does that even mean? You can decrease the NUMBER of students, not the students itself. (A) is out.

(B) with the objective to decisively decrease the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education

(C) decisively with the objective to decrease voicing of general unhappiness by the students with the school’s education -  passive action 'voicing of general unhappiness' sounds weird. Also, this sentence changes the meaning of the sentence. The school wants to decrease the number of students who voice their opinion, not to decreased the voicing by students in general. OUT

(D) in a decisive attempt to reduce the number of students that ends up voicing general unhappiness with the schools’ education -  'that' is used to describe inanimate things. It should've been 'number of students WHO end up'. Also the attempt is not decisive, the objective is decisive. (D) is out.

(E) with the decisive objective of decreasing the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education

Let's put (B) and (E) together and analyze them:

(B) with the objective to decisively decrease the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education 
(E) with the decisive objective of decreasing the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education

The only difference we can spot is 'objective of' vs 'objective to' and the usage of 'decisive' vs 'decisively'.
Both 'decisive' and 'decisively' have been sued correctly.
However, we use the infinitive verb (to) when we want to explain the reason for why something was done, whereas, 'objective of' is used to generally present related information.

Of course we want to convey what the assessment is all about, thus, we have to use infinitive.  (B) is the correct option.

Raxit85 · Answer

The state board of education has directed assessments of schools in the highest populated districts, with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools.

Prepositions are very versatile modifiers. It is perfectly fine for a prepositional phrase to modify an action. Use of With gives us extra information about the action “has directed”. With the comma, this modifier (like present participle -ing modifiers) refers to the entire preceding clause and not just the preceding word. The "with" +   +   structure is used in original sentence may be correct.

The state board has directed assessments of schools, with the decisive objective (showing intention) of decreasing the students (those students who voice unhappiness with education in the schools)

A) with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools - hold it

(B) with the objective to decisively decrease the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education - Incorrect placement of decisively changes the meaning of the original sentence.

(C) decisively with the objective  to decrease voicing  of general unhappiness by the students with the school’s education - ing modifier without comma modifies the immediately preceding word, i.e. to decrease, changes the meaning of original sentence.

(D) in a decisive attempt to reduce the number of students that ends up voicing general unhappiness with the schools’ education - decisive objective is missing and changes the meaning completely

(E) with the decisive objective of decreasing the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education - hold it
(A) with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools 
As per meaning comparison of both A & E, E is more elegant structure that means board has directed assessment with intention of decreasing the number of unhappy students.

Imo. E

MayankSingh · Answer

IMO E

The state board of education has directed assessments of schools in the highest populated districts,  with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools.

A) with the decisive  objective of   decreasing the students  who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools -  Incorrect  - Decreasing the "Number of students" not "the students"

(B) with the objective to  decisively decrease  the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education-  Incorrect  - Decisively decrease changes the intended meaning. Additionally gmat prefers "Objective of " Over "objective to"

(C) decisively with the objective to  decrease voicing of general unhappiness  by the students with the school’s education -  Incorrect  - Objective was not to decrease Voicing , Connector missing after comma

(D) in a decisive  attempt  to reduce the number of students that  ends  up voicing general unhappiness with the schools’ education -  Incorrect  - SVA - Students (Plural) end up

(E) with the  decisive objective  of decreasing the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education -   Correct

adstudy · Answer

The state board of education has directed assessments of schools in the highest populated districts,  with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools.

A) with the decisive objective of  decreasing the students  who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools

Distorted meaning. We can decrease the 'number' of students but not decrease the students themselves.

(B) with the objective to decisively decrease the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education

Correct Answer. Best of the lot

(C)  decisively with  the objective to decrease voicing of general unhappiness by the students with the school’s education

'decisively' is an adjective, whereas 'with' is a preposition. decisively cannot modify a preposition. Incorrect grammatically.

(D) in a  decisive attempt  to  reduce the number   of students that  ends up voicing general unhappiness with the schools’ education

1st problem ----> the attempt was not decisive as per the intended meaning of the sentence. 
2nd problem ----> 'decrease' is a better word than 'reduce' to use here
3rd problem ----> 'that' here seems to modify 'students'. 'That' is not used to modify living things. We need to use who here to modify the next part.
***Having said the 3rd problem, it could also be, grammatically, that 'THAT' is referring to the 'number' instead of 'students'. Hence the third problem is not decisive according to me.

(E) with the  decisive objective of decreasing  the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education

As we are showing intent in the second part of the complete sentence, 'to' is preferred rather than 'of'
Also decisive objective is changing the meaning making it more skeptical.

Answer should be   'B'  , IMO

Shrividhyaa · Answer

The correct answer is E. Primarily, the meaning of the passage is that there is an assessment directed by the state education board to reduce the number of students who are unhappy with the education provided by the subject schools.

Sentence Analysis:

i) All the subject-verb pairs have been accounted for and agree in number (1. state board of education has directed assessments and 2. students who voice). 
ii) The verb tense has been rightly established in past tense (in case of directed) as the sentence is about a past order made by the authority and in present tense as it explains an event that has happened in the past and is still continuing in the present. 
iii) The pronoun 'who' correctly refers to the students. 
iv) The modifier in the sentence are rightly placed and convey the intended meaning. 
v) The sentence does not have any parallel entities. 
vi) The idiomatic usage of the term 'decreasing the students' is not correct. The students cannot be decreased. The correct idiomatic usage would be 'reducing the number of students' as students is a countable noun.

Answer choice analysis: 
(A) Incorrect - for the reasons explained above. 
(B) Incorrect - The phrase 'decisively decrease' alters the meaning intended to be communicated by the initial sentence. The passage conveys that the objective was decisive in nature and not the decrease. 
(C) Incorrect - The term 'decisively' does not modify the objective of the board. This is not what the original sentence intended. Further, the verb 'voice' is now 'voicing' without a helping verb, rendering the subject 'students' w/o a verb
The state board of education has directed assessments of schools in the highest populated districts, (D) Incorrect - The subject verb numbers in the phrase 'students that ends up' don't agree. Further, the subj 'students' does not have a verb now as the verb voice has been changed to 'voicing' without a helping verb
(E) Correct - Errors corrected without introducing any new errors.

mrinaljindal · Answer

I think it’s E

E shows the right interpretation of what actual meaning of the sentence..

Posted from my mobile device

urshi · Answer

ANSWER : B

A) with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools -INCORRECT
Reason : The intension is to decrease the number of students and not to decrease the student

(B) with the objective to decisively decrease the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education -  CORRECT 
Reason : Decisively correctly modifies decrease. decrease correctly modifies the number of students. The use of infinitive correctly conveys the intention to decrease

(C) decisively with the objective to decrease voicing of general unhappiness by the students with the school’s education - INCORRECT
Reason : The intension is to decrease the number of students voicing of general unhappiness and not to decrease the voicing of general unhappiness

(D) in a decisive attempt to reduce the number of students that ends up voicing general unhappiness with the schools’ education - INCORRECT
Reason : That cannot be used to modify students (people)

(E) with the decisive objective of decreasing the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education - INCORRECT
Reason : Decisive incorrectly modifies objective.

roopen3482ch · Answer

Option B.. menions the objective

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iPrasad · Answer

The state board of education has directed assessments of schools in the highest populated districts, with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools.

A) with the decisive objective of  decreasing the students  who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools - we can not decrease students but a number

(B) with the objective to  decisively decrease  the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education - wrong modifier

(C) decisively with the objective to  decrease voicing of  general unhappiness by the students with the school’s education - same as 'A'

(D) in a decisive attempt to reduce the number of  students that ends  up voicing general unhappiness with the schools’ education - students are living things, who is better than that

(E) with the decisive objective of decreasing the number of students who voice general unhappiness with the schools’ education - correct

IMO - E

Kritisood · Answer

The state board of education has directed assessments of schools in the highest populated districts,  with the decisive objective of decreasing the students who voice general unhappiness with the education in the schools.

There's no issue with how the sentence begins. The first issue is with "decreasing the students" it should be decreasing the NUMBER of students. 
2nd issue: the end part; the education in the schools. It seems to be dangling in the end.

Here the adjective "decisively" is placed before decrease and not before objective and hence it changes the meaning. The other two issues as noticed with A have been fixed.

Here, the sentence begins with decisively. which is incorrect. also, decrease voicing of general unhappiness is also the wrong usage.

the number of students that ENDS up is SV error.

Fixes all the previously discussed issues and hence, the correct ans!

ashwini2k6jha · Answer

Answer :Correct option E
A:decreasing the student is wrong .It should be decreasing the number of students
B:t should be decisive objective ,not decisively decrease.
C:Decisively-adverb wrongly placed with preposition "with".Also intended meaning changed by decreasing voicing instead of decreasing number of students.
D:Intended meaning changed by "ends up voicing".Also "to reduce "indicates purpose
E:correct

The state board of education has directed assessments of schools in th

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

The state board of education has directed assessments of schools in th

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

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From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards