Because it regarded the environmentalists as members of an out-of-stat

Question

Because it regarded the environmentalists as members of an out-of-state organization, the city council voted  that they are denied permission for participating  in the parade.

(A) that they are denied permission for participating
 
(B) that they be denied permission for participating
 
(C) denying them permission for participation
 
(D) the denial of permission that they participate
 
(E) to deny them permission to participate

(SC00970)

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Accepted Answer

Hello Everyone!

Let’s take a look at the options, one problem at a time, and narrow things down to find the correct answer.

Because it regarded the environmentalists as members of an out-of-state organization, the city council voted  that they are denied permission for participating  in the parade.

A. that they  are denied  permission  for participating 
B. that they  be denied  permission  for participating 
C.  denying  them permission  for participation 
D. the  denial of  permission  that they participate 
E.  to deny  them permission  to participate

After a quick scan of each option, a few differences stick out that we should address:

1. Their endings: for participating/participation vs. participate
2. Passive vs. active voice

We can see that if we start with #1 on our list, no matter which way we go, will eliminate 2 or 3 options right away.  Let’s start there!

If you read options A and B carefully for their exact meaning, you may see a bit of a problem:

A. that they are denied permission  for participating 
B. that they be denied permission  for participating

By using the phrase “for participating,” the sentence means that the environmentalists were denied something   because   they participated in the parade. This isn’t accurate – the vote determined they were not allowed to be in the parade in the first place!  We can throw out options A and B  because the phrase “for participating” changes the intended meaning, making them  INCORRECT .

Next, let’s look at option C in its entirety:

C. Because it regarded the environmentalists as members of an out-of-state organization,  the city council voted denying them permission for participation in the parade.

This is  INCORRECT  because there needs to be a comma before “denying” for this to even work. It also sounds clunky and confusing, which is a bad thing on the GMAT.

Now we’re left with options D and E. Let’s look at them closely for any other problems:

D.  the denial of permission  that they participate

This sounds about as terribly awkward as option C, doesn’t it? This is  INCORRECT  because the phrase “the denial of permission” is in passive voice, which the GMAT does not like.

E. to deny them permission to participate

This is  CORRECT  because it is concise and conveys the correct meaning - and it's the only option left!

There you have it - option E is the correct answer!

Don’t study for the GMAT. Train for it.

daagh · Answer

1. It must be noted that the use of subjunctive mood in the context using the bare infinitive 'be denied' is incorrect, since 'voted' is not among the subjunctive mood verbs.

2. Yes. True. The very purpose of voting was to deny the environmentalists permission.

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

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 is that because the city council regarded the environmentalists as members of an out-of-state organization, it voted to deny them permission to participate in the parade.

Concepts tested here: Subjunctive Mood + Meaning + Redundancy/Awkwardness

• The use of the verb “voted” indicates that the subjunctive mood is preferable in this context. 
• “bossy verb (“voted”) + infinitive verb form (“to + base form of verb”- “deny” in this sentence)” and “bossy verb + that + something be done” are correct, subjunctive usages.

A:  This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "denied permission for participating"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the city council voted to deny the environmentalists   some unspecified   permission   because   they participated in the parade; the intended meaning is that the city council voted to deny the environmentalists the permission needed   to participate   in the parade. Further, this answer choice fails to maintain a correct subjunctive mood usage because of the usage “they are denied” rather than “they be denied”; remember, the use of the verb “voted” indicates that the subjunctive mood is preferable in this context, and “bossy verb + that + something be done” is the correct, subjunctive usage.

B:  This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "denied permission for participating"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the city council voted to deny the environmentalists   some unspecified   permission   because   they participated in the parade; the intended meaning is that the city council voted to deny the environmentalists the permission   to participate   in the parade.

C:  The sentence formed by this answer choice uses the phrase "voted denying them permission for participation", leading to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that because the city council regarded the environmentalists as members of an out-of-state organization, it voted to deny them permission to participate in the parade.

D:  The sentence formed by this answer choice uses the phrase "voted the denial of permission", leading to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that because the city council regarded the environmentalists as members of an out-of-state organization, it voted to deny them permission to participate in the parade.

E:   Correct.  The sentence formed by this answer choice uses the phrase "voted to deny them permission to participate", conveying the intended meaning - that because the city council regarded the environmentalists as members of an out-of-state organization, it voted to deny them the permission needed   to participate   in the parade. Further, Option E uses the correct, subjunctive mood construction “bossy verb (“voted”) + infinitive verb form (“to + base form of verb”- “deny” in this sentence)”. Besides, Option E is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

Hence, E is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Subjunctive Mood Structures" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~x minutes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv-VK7GkSbU

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

chetan2u · Answer

1) voted to/for is correct here..
Public voted them to power...
Public voted for a change

2) permission to participate is correct..

So voted to deny them permission to participate... Is correct

E

SSM700plus · Answer

Because it regarded the environmentalists as members of an out-of-state organization, the city council voted  that they are denied permission for participating  in the parade.

A. that they are denied permission for participating
 
B. that they be denied permission for participating
 
C. denying them permission for participation
 
D. the denial of permission that they participate
 
E. to deny them permission to participate

to participate in the parade. - is the correct usage.

to deny - is correct here.

So The city council voted to deny them permission to participate in the parade - IS correct

Note : - them refers to environmentalists .

Hence E is the best of all.

rahul2013 · Answer

My Take :-
A:- City council is singular , so they is wrong here
B:- Same as A
C:- denying is modifying whom ? wrong modifier used
D:- they participate sounds as the regular habbit rather than a purpose of this denial.
E:- correct

kashhtu · Answer

Hi, I have solved the question as follows:

Please correct me if I am wrong.

A. the word 'they' can refer to both council members or environmentalists.
B. Same as A
C. the word 'them' can refer to both council member or environmentalists.
D. wordy
E. Correct as 'them' is used for environmentalists.

daagh · Answer

It is a good attempt but is a little off the mark in certain perceptions. Please bear the logic in mind that 'they' or 'them' in all the choices refers only to the environmentalists and not to the members of the council since nobody will like to vote themselves out. I do not know why you exempted E alone from that perception. Therefore, one must look for other errors in this topic

First, let us get B and D out because we cannot use the command subjunctive as explained in my other note.

Now let us come to idioms. For participating, for participation are all wrong as in A, B, and C. Since there is a purpose involved in both voting and participation, the correct idiom is 'to vote' and 'to participate', as in E. 
 HTH

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

A quick way to get to the right option is to see what the sentence is trying to say.

The use of ‘for participating’ implies nonsensical meaning – that these people not be permitted for something else "for participating" in the parade.

This is clearly not the intended meaning here.

So  Option E  is the only one that is clear and concise.

Eliminate Options A, B, C and D.

Option E  is the best choice.

Hope this helps!

TheUltimateWinner · Answer

Request Expert Reply:    
Hi honorable experts,
 MartyTargetTestPrep ,  GMATNinja ,  GMATGuruNY ,  AjiteshArun ,  VeritasPrepHailey ,  BrightOutlookJenn , 
It seems that the use of 'them' in choice E is absurd! Shouldn't it be more logical if we replace  them   with  their ?
Thanks__

chetan2u · Answer

THEM is used instead of ‘environmentalists’, and is correct. 
Denied permission to whom? : To them. 
There is only one plural noun, and it is environmentalists. 
The city council is singular and is also shown accordingly in the non-underlined portion by usage of ‘it’.

Therefore, ‘their’ would change the intended meaning.

svasan05 · Answer

Hi, let me try to address your query.

The verb "deny" requires an object which is typically a noun or a pronoun, not a possessive. You deny "someone" or "something". Subsequently, what is being denied may also be specified.

For example:  She had denied him nothing

Who is being denied? "Him".
What is being denied? "Nothing".

Sometimes we could only have the "what" portion. For example:  Mac’s wish was denied.

Here, if we utilize the structure you have suggested:

Because it regarded the environmentalists as members of an out-of-state organization, the city council voted  to deny their permission to participate  in the parade.

In this, "who" is being denied is completely missing. Also, "what" is being denied is incorrectly specified - the permission is not "their" ie; it does not belong to the environmentalists. Therefore, this structure cannot be used.

On the other hand, using "them" explicitly specifies who is being denied ("they/m") and what is being denied ("permission"). Hence this is the correct usage.
Hope this helps.

ashmit99 · Answer

Hello experts,

Is the use of subjunctive fine in option B?

Thank you in advance!

AndrewN   GMATNinja   VeritasKarishma   AjiteshArun   EducationAisle

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  ashmit99 . No, the subjunctive is  not  fine in (B), since the action  voted  does not require such usage. (B) is a mess through and through, to be honest.

1)  voted that  is not idiomatically sound

2)  voted  +  be  is not grammatically sound

3)  permission for participating  is not idiomatically sound

To correct all three issues, we can turn to the infinitive instead:  voted to  in the first two cases and  permission to participate  in the latter case.

I hope that helps in the course of your studies. Thank you for thinking to ask.

- Andrew

KarishmaB · Answer

ashmit99

Subjunctive is not the problem here because one can correctly use subjunctive in this situation with verbs such as suggested, recommended, commanded, demanded, proposed, ordered, requested, insisted and advised.

But the sentence uses 'voted' as the verb and then talks about the thing they voted for. You can 'vote for something' or 'vote against something' or 'vote a bill into law' or 'vote to accept/deny' etc. In this case it becomes an idiomatic usage issue.

Bambi2021 · Answer

Is "voted that" never ok? Here is an example of this usage from CNN:

"The Senate voted that the second impeachment trial of former President Trump is constitutional despite..."

Posted from my mobile device

egmat · Answer

Hello Bambi2021 , I will glad to help you with this one.

Well, the rules of GMAT SC grammar are hardly followed outside the GMAT realm. Moreover, the context of the official sentence is such that we MUST use " voted to deny ". This is the only correct expression that works in this official sentence. Hope this helps.

Thanks. Shraddha

thereisaFire · Answer

Hi  egmat

Can you help me in eliminating choices(POE).
Are we eliminating just on the basis of Idiomatic expression?

egmat · Answer

Hello thereisaFire , Thank you for the question.

This is basically an "idiom-based" question. Since we need " voted to deny " in the context of this sentence, the first four answer choices can be eliminated for using incorrect expressions. Also, the usage of " for participating/participation " in Choices A, B, and C is incorrect. So, Choice E is the only answer choice that uses all correct expressions to present logical meaning. Hence, it is the correct answer. Hope this helps.

Thanks. Shraddha

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