A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Af

This is a pretty tricky question and one in which none of the options "sound" natural.

Let us start with the preposition-based idioms. "Ability" requires the preposition "to" when associated with action - "ability + TO DO+ [action]" is the correct construction. This eliminates A and C.

B - This is the best "looking" option - "access" or "block" are in parallel; however; the pronoun "it" should refer to "access", but "to access" is present as an infinitive verb and cannot be referred to by using a pronoun. Eliminate

Between D and E -

The modifier "such as cobalt" should be offset by two commas. This is incorrect in E - "that are..." should be outside the comma. Eliminate E

This leaves us with D as the best answer.

A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Africa is the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.


A) the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are -- "ability to"

B) the ability to access or block it to strategic metals, such as cobalt,

C) the ability of either having or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, that are -- "ability to"

D) either access or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt,

E) either to have or to block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt that are,

Therefore, D

As a noun, access is an abstract noun, and an abstract noun can be parallel to simple gerund, such as blocking access. So access and blocking access are parallel. Below is a similar OG problem:

Recently implemented "shift-work equations"... have reduced sickness, sleeping on the job, and fatigue…

Two abstract nouns, such as sickness and fatigue, are parallel to simple gerund sleeping.

A. A comma before that doesn’t make A incorrect. We can’t suggest that comma+that should be replaced with comma+which, because, in this case, which will refer to cobalt, an uncountable noun. So, we would need which is. Actually, a comma before that is not wrong if that comma belongs to a modifier: , such as cobalt,
When that modifier and its commas are stripped out, we will have … supplies of strategic metals that are important…

An example from RonPurewal: This is the book, recommended to me by my brother, that i bought at the store.

What makes A, B, and C inferior to D and E is their wording: objective is the ability of access / to access / of having.
Instead we can simply say: objective is access to supplies/ to have access to supplies
In case we aren’t aware of a correct idiom ability to do, the above split can help us make an educated guess.

B. The preposition to after it, in block it to strategic metals, hints that preceding access should be in a noun from, not in a verb form as it is in B.

The correct version would be: the ability to have access or block it (access) to strategic metals. Now it can refer to preceding access because access is noun.

Besides, B misses supplies.


C. It’s already obvious that ability of having is unidiomatic.

Ability of and ability to can both be correct idioms, but they mean different things. Ability of refers to someone’s ability, as in this example: The sprinting ability of the cheetah is unmatched. On the other hand, ability to introduces the ability that is being discussed: The ability to sprint fast is vital to the cheetah’s survival. C uses ability of when it should use ability to. Eliminate C. (examples are from MGMAT SC guide 7th edition)

More interesting split is: strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt. Cobalt is an example of metal, not supply. But now metals is an adjective, not noun, so this reference isn’t possible. C is trying to say that cobalt is an example of supply. That’s nonsensical.

We need: supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt in which metals is a noun, and cobalt can be an example of that noun.

D. This choice has parallel elements such as access and blocking access. However, D repeats the above mistake: strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt.

E. Strategic metals, such as cobalt is superior to what we have in C and D. However, cobalt that are is incorrect because cobalt is uncountable. E would be much preferable option if comma came before that are.

Shoot, I end up choosing none of the options. I hope there is a typo in E, otherwise I went wrong with my analysis of D.

Dear generis, thank you very much for such an interesting question. I just couldn’t stop commenting on this one despite being tired out. Your comments on my analysis of D are much appreciated. No doubt, your explanations are true gems - I love them.

A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Africa is the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.



B) the ability to access or block it to strategic metals, such as cobalt,( modifier ,important in ............ , is not clear enough to suggest what it is modifying , hence wrong)


D) either access or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt,( modifier ,important in ............ , is not clear enough to suggest what it is modifying , hence wrong)


Now i got confused, supplies of strategic metals such as cobalt.

whether the noun phrase with supply as subject can provide examples such as cobalt. Generis has to clarify this doubt. Because this runs in all the 3 options A,C,E ( either as supplies of metals or as metallic supplies) . so i am proceeding ignoring this error.

capable of is idiomatic similarly able to or ability to is correct idiom. But idiom is a stylistic error , so lets come to it atlast.

considering this
E) either to have or to block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt that are, ( this gives wrong intended meaning, cobalt that are important in formulas for producing. Hence this option is wrong)


between C and A in which both are unidiomatic,

A) the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are ( access and block access is not parallell in A. i dont know about the usage of Of + verb. ( again generis has to clarify this doubt) i know only about of + verbing or to + verb. so for this error i am removing A. )




C) the ability of either having or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, that are
so the correct choice is C after POE. but a strange doubt

if we use either or then it means we are restricting the southern african powers to have only one of the two. actually power is power to have as many things as possible, so we are not giving them the choice of both. ie to have and to black the access to strategic metal supplies. so after choosing this option Now i am confused whether this is a major decision point.



Hi, generis, thanks to you because of this question, i learned once again diff between either or and or, two new doubts clicked my mind of using of + verb and of using examples after noun phrases. One more fact on this question is as i already mentioned to you in the earlier post , its my friend/well wisher/guide Jonshukhrat who asked and advised me to follow you and to study your posts. This is the first time we both are posting for the same post of you . i am glad for this despite the fact that we are banking on different answer choices.

JonShukhrat " And that are can’t be which are because, in this case, which will refer to cobalt, an uncountable noun."

Hi jon, i cant understand the link between usage of which and that vis a vis countable and uncountable noun. sorry for my naive knowledge, i wud have chosen unambiguously the noun supplies even if which are is present instead of that are , due to the usage of are (plural one). where am i wrong?

A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Africa is the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.

A) the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are
Ability to do something is the correct structure to use ability
of access or of block access -> is not parallel . access is noun here whereas block access is the action being performed of blocking access
access - should be combined with verb - allow access or provide access for it to be consistent with the parallel forms

B) the ability to access or block it to strategic metals, such as cobalt,
rivalry is the ability to access or ability to block it to metals -> there is no reference to it .

C) the ability of either having or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, that are
rivalry is the ability of either having access or is the ability of blocking access -> parallelism is correct
that -> refers to supplies. supplies are not important in formulas but metals are important -> changes the meaning

D) either access or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt,
As with A, access and blocking access are not parallel. this also suggests supplies are important in formulas

E) either to have or to block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt that are,
either to have access or to block access -> parallelin the second part of sentence is "are" verb which suggests that 'That' refers to plural noun , the closest plural noun is Metals. So 'that' correctly refers to metals and metals are important in formulas

E seems to be the best answer!

V good question, it took initial time to find the rhythm on this one

Hi ccheryn,

You are right. Explanations from generis are indeed the most comprehensive ones, full of helpful links and thorough analyses. I am always amazed at her dedication and ingenuity. If I could borrow her brain for some time… So, if you are after creating a solid SC basis, you are definitely at the right place.

1. Now, back to your question. Take a look at the second sentence above:

Explanations from generis are indeed the most comprehensive ones, full of helpful links and thorough analyses.

That blue part after the comma is called an appositive modifier. This type of modifier usually gives additional information about a noun or noun phrase standing before it. In our case above, that noun is ones (explanations). So, the sentence says that ones (explanations) are full of helpful links and thorough analyses. generis already wrote a detailed post about appositives here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/in-june-of-1 ... 49895.html

China has huge supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.

In this sentence, we have two appositives standing in a row. Have you figured out them already? The first appositive is such as cobalt. It gives additional information about strategic metals, by introducing an example of them. The second appositive is important in formulas for producing high-performance steel. It gives additional information about the noun standing before it - cobalt. So, cobalt is important for making high performance steel.
(Indeed, adding cobalt into steel can reduce the coefficient of friction and improve its grindability.) So, both in B and D, there is nothing wrong with this modifier because in both cases cobalt is correctly modified.

2.

Sorry for that confusion. I wrote about which vs. that because one of the posts above suggested that that are should be replaced with which are. I just decided to share my thoughts on that, and I hope the author of that post doesn’t mind. This place is for sharing thoughts and learning from each other, all in all.

In short, if A looked like: …supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, which are important… then which would definitely refer to cobalt, not to metals or supplies. Hence, which are would be incorrect because cobalt is uncountable. We would need which is.
It’s impossible for which to jump over another inessential modifier in the middle. Most folks try cross off what is in between commas and glue the remaining part: …supplies of strategic metals , such as cobalt, which are important… But that’s incorrect.

Important: which can jump only over prepositional phrases if those phrases are noun modifiers. generis wrote about that a lot. You can also read RonPurewal here: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/foru ... ml#p104933

3. I wasn’t rooting for any answer choice. However, D has the highest probability of being correct because the second appositive correctly modifies cobalt. It’s indeed cobalt what is important in producing high-performance steel.

B and D say that people are trying to get access to many or all types of strategic metals.
A,C, and E say that people are trying to get access only to those strategic metals that are important in making good steel. They aren’t interested in other types.

A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Africa is the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.


A) the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are - "The ability of block access is just wrong."
B) the ability to access or block it to strategic metals, such as cobalt,
C) the ability of either having or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, that are
D) either access or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, ability to access strategic supplies,......,important in formulas. It looks like a fragment to me. I guess the parallelism is fine though. either access to SM or blocking access to SM.
E) either to have or to block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt that are, cobalt that are is incorrect. metals that are is correct.
[/quote]

Wow.! This one is tricky! I am going for C.

A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Africa is the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.

Thorough read-through establishes that the problem tests modifiers and parallelism. There is a 3-2 split, so let's quickly review each option.

A) the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are
- Incorrect. The parts in blue are not parallel.

B) the ability to access or block it to strategic metals, such as cobalt,
- Incorrect. What does it do here? What is the antecedent?

C) the ability of either having or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, that are
- Contender. Let's break the highlighted pieces down:
1. The ability of having access to smth
2. The ability of blocking access to smth

The ability of is quite weird idiom, in most cases the idiom is the ability to do smth.

Strategic metal supplies, ..., that are blah-blah looks fine, too.

Let's keep it.

#1 and #2 seem to be parallel.

D) either access or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt,
- Condenter. Parallelism is questionable here. Perhaps, there should be a gerund in front of access to make it parallel to blocking access. Also, the sentence seems to have an issue if we remove such as cobalt piece, i.e. blocking access to strategic metals supplies, important in formulas blah-blah. Let's keep it.

E) either to have or to block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt that are,
- Incorrect. As zhanbo said, punctuation is ruined, making the sentence too weird. That is, such as cobalt is an example and should be highlighted with commas.


Between C and D, I choose the former.

Correct answer: D

A: Incorrect use of "block" [n.] as a verb. "Ability of" is an incorrect idiom.
B: No antecedent for "it."
C: "Ability of" is an incorrect idiom.
D: Correct
E: Incorrect placement of the modifier, "that are, ..."

A primary objective of the rivalry between great powers in Southern Africa is the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.

Meaning Analysis: A primary objective between the great powers ---> is the ability to have or block access to supplies of strategic metals, e.g cobalt
Strategic metals which are important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.

Now, when you say--> is the ability of access or of block access --> It doesn't clearly mean that the objective is to have or block access to supplies--> The meaning the author wants to communicate.

ability to access or block access renders illogical meaning and poor structure.

Next, That(I was hoping to see those) are important refers to strategic metals and not cobalt.

Choice C uses either having or blocking access which corrects the error and that(those preferred) are correctly modifies metals.

generis I think you meant great in the original sentence. I guess it's just a typo. Also, let me know if choice C uses those or that.

IMHO C

Since we are talking about an objective, the purpose is explicit. Ability to + verb is better than ability of + gerund. Based on this, option C can be eliminated.

Ability of is unidiomatic. The right form should be ability to. Options A and C can also be eliminated on this basis.

Option B can be eliminated because the pronoun it does not have any logical antecedent in the sentence.

Option E: A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Africa is either to have or to block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt that are, important in formulas for producing high-performance steel. There is a punctuation error in option E. The placement of the comma should have come after such as cobalt in order for option E to be correct. such as introduces an example or examples. The usage of that are suggests cobalt is being modified, but that is not the case. In any case, if cobalt is being modified by that are, then there is a subject-verb agreement error, considering cobalt is a singular noun in this context. We can, therefore, eliminate option E as well.

Option D is the best option out of the lot. A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Africa is either access or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, that are important in formulas for producing high-performance steel. The non-essential modifier such as cobalt rightly modifies metals supplies. In addition the essential that clause modifier: that are important in formulas for producing high-performance steel rightly modifies metals supplies.

A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Africa is the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.


A) the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are - the ability to

B) the ability to access or block it to strategic metals, such as cobalt, incorrect which antecedent does it refers to ?

C) the ability of either having or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, that are - the ability to

D) either access or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, -- access or blocking access is not parallel and is awkward

E) either to have or to block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt that are, -- to have or to block is a correct parallelism, and cobalt that are important... is correct

Therefore E is the correct answer choice

thanks jon, now it is turning into a cliche, but sorry no other words to express it,

in your single post i got 3 eternal take aways

first usage of appositives, now i am clear how to use appositives at the end and how it modifies only the noun nearby.

second usage of which that it cannot jump the modifiers in between

third, how the verb after the which turns into a important decision maker vis a vis noun it modifies earlier ( i will look for countable or uncountable from here on that too especially uncountable ending with s. such as acoustics classics logistics politics aerobics economics mathematics statistics aerodynamics electronics mechanics thermodynamics aeronautics genetics obstetrics athletics linguistics physics) .

its fun learning gmat, if somebody has a friend like u.

The answer has to be D

A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Africa is the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.


A) the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are The construction the ability of access is wrong

B) the ability to access or block it to strategic metals, such as cobalt, The only possible antecedent for it is the rivalry and that does not make sense

C) the ability of either having or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, that areOnce again, the ability of is used here

D) either access or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, The structure is parallel.The objective is access and if a nation can not get access, the objective is blocking access to these materials

E) either to have or to block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt that are,Yh, this is definitely wrong. The placement of the comma after "are " is a problem. Secondly,that seems to modify cobalt when we want it to modify supplies of strategic materials

Imo D.

A primary objective of the rivalry between greet powers in Southern Africa is the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are important in formulas for producing high-performance steel.


A) the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are - Correct idiom is X is able (ability) to do Y. Here, the wrong idiom is used, hence incorrect.

B) the ability to access or block it to strategic metals, such as cobalt, - One major error is missing an important word, i.e. supplies. In addition to that, pronoun it does not have any reference noun in the sentence. Hence, it's vauge pronoun in the sentence.

C) the ability of either having or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, that are - - Correct idiom is X is able (ability) to do Y. Here, the wrong idiom is used, hence incorrect.

D) either access or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, - In the sentence, the parallelism is maintained as access and blocking both act as noun. Besides, abstract noun is used in the last part of the sentence which modifies strategic metal supplies. Seems ok, so hold it

E) either to have or to block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt that are,[/quote] - Subject verb agreement error as that refers to the cobalt, which is singular.

A) the ability of access or of block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are : ability of is incorrect

B) the ability to access or block it to strategic metals, such as cobalt,: Meaning not clear

C) the ability of either having or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt, that are : Correct

D) either access or blocking access to strategic metals supplies, such as cobalt,: Not parallel

E) either to have or to block access to supplies of strategic metals, such as cobalt, that are,: not parallel

C is correct

I have posted the official explanation HERE[