The thousands of volcanic islands and coral atolls of the South Seas

Question

The thousands of volcanic islands and coral atolls of the South Seas have a total population of about four million, but the paucity of natural resources  does not permit such economic development that would be needed by them to support more population .

(A) does not permit such economic development that would be needed by them to support more population

(B) does not permit economic development such as is needed for supporting a larger number

(C) does not permit the economic development needed to support a larger population

(D) do not permit the economic development needed to support a larger population

(E) do not permit needed economic development for supporting a large number of people

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Verbal Review 2020 NEW QUESTION

GMATNinja · Accepted Answer

This is a tricky point. Let's start with a couple examples:

"I don't have money." - This implies that you completely lack money. 
 "I don't have the money needed to buy a house in Malibu." - This implies that you have SOME money, but you don't have  the specific amount of  money needed to buy a house in Malibu.

Now let's look at a stripped down version of choice (C):

"The paucity (scarcity) of natural resources does not permit (allow) the economic development needed to support a larger population."

Does that mean that there is no economic development at all? Not necessarily. Even with a scarcity of natural resources, we expect that there would be SOME economic development... just not enough economic development to support a larger population.

So, are we trying to say that the scarcity does not allow economic development? No. Instead, we are trying to say that the scarcity does not allow  the amount of  economic development needed to support a larger population. As with the 2nd Malibu example above, this meaning is clearer if we use the article "the".

That doesn't mean that you should quickly dismiss any answer choice without the article. I would certainly vote in favor of using the article, but we are not clearly breaking any well-defined rules by omitting it.

As with any GMAT choice, you have to look at each choice as a whole and decide which choice is best. Unless a choice VERY clearly breaks a rule (i.e. a subject-verb agreement error), you want to be conservative and avoid eliminating it until you're certain that there's a better option.

I hope this helps!

AshutoshB · Answer

A) does not permit such economic development that would be needed by   them   to support more population  -Them reference is not clear and not a concise choice

B) does not permit economic development such as   is needed for supporting a larger number      'Such as" is used to give examples

C) does not permit the economic development needed to support a larger population   CORRECT and concise

D)   do not   permit the economic development needed to support a larger population

E)   do not    permit needed economic development for supporting a large number of people

anothermillenial · Answer

The thousands of volcanic islands and coral atolls of the South Seas have a total population of about four million, but the paucity of natural resources   does not  permit such economic development that would be needed by them to support more population .

"Does not" is the correct subject-verb pair for "the paucity of." "Would be needed by them" is in passive voice. The "them" is also confusingly far from "volcanic islands and coral atolls."
 
Correct tense but "larger number" or what?
 
  Correct tense and clear meaning. Keep!

Wrong tense.

Wrong tense. Latter half also sounds awkward.

thangvietnam · Answer

look at choice a.
"would be" is wrong. simple present is used to show a condition existing indefinitely or about a characteristic of a thing. here the characteristic of development is needed to shown. so, simple present is used, not "would be". "would be" is a future in the past time or a hypothetical /subjuctive action.

we are talking about a group of persons living in an area. we can have one or two group, so, population must be count but not non count in this context. we need "a", or "the" of plural before "population" for this meaning

non count noun is used to refer to a general idea. non-count "population" refer to the persons living. for example

population is important to economic development.

so, I thing both non-count population and count population are correct in this context.

"such" in choice A is wrong. "such" is used to refer a thing similar to the thing mentioned in the preceding text. so, "such" must go with "a, an".

"a,an" is needed even if the noun is non-count generally because by using "such', we already mention a certain thing. read the explanation following

"knowlege" is normally non-count, but "a knowledge" refer a a specific knowledge.

knowlege of english is good for man kind.

inhere, "knowledge" refers to general idea.

I need a knowledge of english to pass gmat test.

inhere, "a knowledge" refers to a specific kind of knowledge.

this process of making non-count into count noun is normal and is explained in grammar books . so, this point is not new.

there is not any thing mentioned already. there is not any kind of economic development mentioned already. so , "such" in choice A is wrong.

there is no "a" after "such". this is wrong also. second error.

"such " can refer to a degree as in "she is a beautiful girl that..." this meaning is not relevant here.

topic tested here is "a/an" problem and "such" problem

Smitc007 · Answer

Is it necessary to use article "the " here and if "the" is necessary here , is it fine to neglect other answer choice which doesn't use "the" ?

Experts please help  GMATNinja   daagh

manass · Answer

how is D wrong.?

I got it but it doesn't look like a sub 600 lvl. It took me so much time and a guess between c and d

XyLan · Answer

Sentence Structure  
 Subject  -  Verb : 
 The thousands of volcanic islands and coral atolls of the South Seas   have  a total population of about four million
, but  the paucity of natural resources   does  not  permit  the economic development needed to support a larger population.

The subject(   the paucity of natural resources  ) is singular, so the verb mapped to it MUST be singular.

In between C and D -
 (C)  does  not permit the economic development needed to support a larger population
   SV - agreement

(D)  do  not permit the economic development needed to support a larger population
   SV - disagreement

mba757 · Answer

Hello experts!

Answer choice A definitely does not seem to be the correct option. However, it doesn't seem super clear as to why it's wrong. In my analysis, I noted two points: (1) "needed by them" is passive with an obscure "them" and (2) "to support more population" just seems inferior to "support a larger population." Both of these reasons don't seem definitive enough. Is there a better reason as to why A is wrong?

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Here's the version created via the use of (A).

The thousands of volcanic islands and coral atolls of the South Seas have a total population of about four million, but the paucity of natural resources does not permit such economic development that would be needed by them to support more population.

"Would be" does not really make sense. It is the case that economic development  is needed  in order for a larger population to be supported.

"Support more population" does not make sense. It seems to suggest that economic growth is needed to support the act of population.

"Such" is misused. Using "such" with "that is" is redundant. The following would be better:

does not permit  the  economic development that would be needed by them

MHIKER · Answer

Paucity needs a singular verb does, So D, E are out.
A. is a verbose and grammatically incorrect sentence.
B. Such as is is incorrect, and larger number is redundant

C is the correct answer.

Basshead · Answer

The thousands of volcanic islands and coral atolls of the South Seas have a total population of about four million, but the paucity of natural resources  does not permit such economic development that would be needed by them to support more population .

(A) does not permit such economic development that would be needed by  them  to support more population

-- 'them' has no clear antecedent
 
(B) does not permit economic development  such as  is needed for supporting a larger number

-- 'such as' is used to give examples.

(C)  does not permit the economic development needed to support a larger population

-- Looks good. Keep.

(D)  do  not permit the economic development needed to support a larger population

-- Paucity is singular and requires singular 'does'

(E)  do  not permit needed economic development for supporting a large number of people

-- Paucity is singular and requires singular 'does'

Answer is C.

100mitra · Answer

Correct Option C

Original Sentence 
The  thousands of volcanic islands and coral atolls of the South Seas   have  a total population of about four million, 
but 
The  paucity of natural resources   does  not permit such economic development that would be needed by them to support more population.

Sentence Exam on: 
 Subject verb agreement 
1. The thousands of volcanic islands and coral atolls of the South Seas - Subject - Plural
have - Verb - Plural
2. The paucity of natural resources - Subject - Singular
does - verb - Singular

(A) does not permit such economic development that would be needed by  them  to support more population
 Wrong:  Pronoun Error : " them " Singular, creates ambiguity referance to which subject, is it either 
economic development / The paucity / Population.

(B) does not permit economic development such as is needed for supporting a larger number
 Wrong:  Meaning Error
economic development example is shown for supporting large numbers by "such as" 
Makes Intended meaning error

(C) does not permit the economic development needed to support a larger population
 Correct:  
SV Agreement correct
Tense correct - "needed"
Intended meaning correct

(D) do not permit the economic development needed to support a larger population
 Wrong:  
Only one error - SV Agreement "Do" Plural verb for singular subject
One of easy trap to fall!

(E) do not permit needed economic development for supporting a large number of people
 Wrong:  
SV Agreement error - "do" is plural
Tense Error - "supporting
since "do" usage is plural, noun used "people" also becomes plural, makes sentence intended meaning flaw

krndatta · Answer

100mitra

Can you please explain the tense error in option E apart from the subject verb disagreement?

100mitra · Answer

Hello  krndatta ,
happy to share and, also, welcome your suggestions for any improvement ahead.
to address your query,

: as per author statement, the intended meaning is to describe about future referance, in such sitution we use "simple present tense". such as here is " to  support" highlight about future, this is correctly inlined with the intended meaning of correct sentence.

whereas, the option B, and E, 
: use of "for  supporting ", which is "present participle" decribing about current situation, 
here we needed future indicator, not which is going on in current situation.
: another flaw, in option E - " permit " needed ( economic development ) for  supporting 
 permit  acts as noun,  needed  acts as verb and  Economic Development  as object
this both does'nt support the intended meaning of sentence.

hope, its incline with the taught, in case you may pls share your view too.
happy learning

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  krndatta ,

We hope this finds you well.

Another way to look at the error of Option E is through the perspective of verb forms; Option E uses the present participle ("verb+ing" - "supporting" in this sentence) phrase "for supporting" to refer to the purpose of the action "needed", whereas Option C uses the preferred construction - the infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb" - "to + support" in this case); remember, for referred to the purpose/intent of an action, the infinitive verb form is preferred over the present participle.

To understand the concept of "Infinitives" vs "Present Participle" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKizVOYx0_k

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

krndatta · Answer

100mitra

I am not understanding the tense issue you are describing. 
Basically what you are saying is that the intended meaning is to talk about future, and for future references present tense is required. 
Options B and E using present participle(ing forms) that don't talk about future. 
Am I right?

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The thousands of volcanic islands and coral atolls of the South Seas

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