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25 Apr 2016, 09:28
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Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
15%
(low)
Question Stats:
77% (01:22) correct
23%
(01:37)
wrong
based on 2637
sessions
History
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Time
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Not Attempted Yet
Cash flows to stock and bond mutual funds have gained strength in the last two months, but fund managers have not been eager to invest the new money, instead of preferring to raise the cash levels in their portfolios at the highest level in six months.
(A) have not been eager to invest the new money, instead of preferring to raise the cash levels in their portfolios at
(B) have not been eager to invest the new money, instead preferring to raise the cash levels in their portfolios to
(C) have not been eager at investing the new money, instead of preferring to raise the cash levels in their portfolios to
(D) were not eager to invest the new money, instead of preferring to raise the cash levels the cash levels in their portfolios at
(E) were not eager at investing the new money, instead preferring to raise the cash levels in their portfolios to
(A) have not been eager to invest the new money, instead of preferring to raise the cash levels in their portfolios at
(B) have not been eager to invest the new money, instead preferring to raise the cash levels in their portfolios to
(C) have not been eager at investing the new money, instead of preferring to raise the cash levels in their portfolios to
(D) were not eager to invest the new money, instead of preferring to raise the cash levels the cash levels in their portfolios at
(E) were not eager at investing the new money, instead preferring to raise the cash levels in their portfolios to
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25 Apr 2016, 22:17
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lotrgandalf
Actually more than looking at a grammatical reason for that, let's look at the meaning difference between instead and instead of.
Samuel bought a laptop instead of a desktop.
- This means that Samuel bought a laptop; he did not buy a desktop.
Samuel did not buy a laptop; instead he bought a desktop.
- This means that Samuel bought a desktop; he did not buy a laptop.
This underlines the typical difference between instead and instead of:
a) X instead of Y: X was done, Y was not
b) X instead Y: X was not done, Y was done
In the sentence under consideration, Y was done (raise the cash levels in their portfolios). Hence, meaning-wise, it makes sense to use instead.
The grammatical difference between instead and instead of has been well covered by Abhishek already: instead is an Adverb (which means instead should be followed by a clause) and instead of is a preposition (well, because it ends with preposition of:)).
lotrgandalf
Again, even we don't explore the exact reason for choosing present perfect (have not been eager) over simple past (were eager), hopefully it is clear from the meaning of the sentence that two events happened in the same chronological sense in the last two months:
i) Cash flows to stock and bond mutual funds have gained strength
ii) Fund managers have not been eager to invest the new money
So, since both these events happened in the same chronological sense, both should be in the same tense. Since event i) is in the non-underlined portion (and is in present perfect), event ii) should also be in present perfect.
p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses the usage of instead, its application and examples in significant detail. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id, I can mail the corresponding section.
18 May 2019, 21:01
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inakihernandez
Quote:
• instead of means in place of. This sentence is nonsense.
Look at the underlined phrase and its interaction with the highlight in the two clauses (I added explanatory words to the second one but it is fundamentally unaltered):
-- In place of not being eager to invest the new money,managers preferred [not to invest the new money and thereby] to raise the cash levels.
-- In the first clause, managers prefer not to invest cash. In the second clause, managers prefer not to invest cash. Identical meanings.
The problem is modification by the phrase instead of
-- Instead of = in place of. But the managers DO prefer to let the inflow of cash sit there, thus "raising" cash levels.
• raise a cash level . . . AT? No.
Quote:
• adverb "instead" correctly modifies reduced clause "preferring to raise"
• instead means "in the stead of" = "in the place of" = as a substitute or alternative. Managers did not invest the cash. They chose an alternative to investing: NOT investing. That construction is correct.
Quote:
• "instead of" creates the same logical nonsense as that in option A
• "eager at investing" is ungrammatical and unidiomatic. A person is eager TO do something. Occasionally, "eager for" is okay. "Eager AT"? Never.
Quote:
• same meaning problem as A. Exactly backwards.
• were is incorrect
-- the conjunction BUT is a parallelism marker
-- no reason exists to shift from present perfect
• same AT problem as A has
Quote:
• as in option D, were is incorrect
• as in option C, "eager at" is wrong
NandishSS
Hi NandishSS ,
no, were is not correct, though there are easier bases upon which to eliminate D and E.I can see how it might seem fine to use "were." During the time that cash flowed into the funds [implied: time period is over], the fund managers were not eager to invest the cash . . .
We have a slightly different time sequence here.
Either the time period or the effects of the influx are not finished—or both are not are not finished.
HAVE IS CORRECT;WERE IS NOT CORRECT
• BUT is a conjunction, so clauses and verbs should be parallel
Almost always, a conjunction such as "but" in this sentence is a parallelism marker: X but Y.
X = cash flows to stock and bond mutual funds have gained strength
BUT
Y = fund managers have not been eager to invest the new money
• given the time frame mentioned, no reason exists to shift verb tenses
The sentence mentions that cash flows into mutual funds have increased in the last two months
Present perfect bridges past and present.
The construction is
have/has + past participle (for active voice)
have/has + been + past participle (for passive voice)
Present perfect is used in a number of instances, two of which are
(1) when the action started in the past and hasn't finished yet
(2) when the action started in the past but its effects have impact or hold true in the present
Nothing in the sentence suggests that this pattern of cash flow and reluctant investors has changed.
No reason exists to shift verb tenses.*
I like the explanation of present perfect and the examples given on this site, here.
INSTEAD OF v INSTEAD
• INSTEAD OF is a compound preposition
-- It means in place of, as an alternative to, or as a substitute for
-- It must be followed by a noun, noun phrase, pronoun, or present participle (verbING, gerund)
-- Because it is a preposition, it can only introduce phrases (not clauses with a subject and verb)
-- GMAC likes to pit "instead of" against "rather than," and has shown a marked preference for rather than.
Nonetheless, instead of, if followed by a noun phrase, is correct (and a few correct official answers use instead of):
The fund managers decided to let the cash accrue instead of investing it.
-- X instead of Y often suggests that Y is the "normal" or "expected" choice.
He drank white wine instead of red. (He normally drinks red wine.)
• INSTEAD is an adverb
-- It should be attached to a clause (with a subject and a verb)
-- It usually comes at the beginning or end of a clause, but like all adverbs, its placement is fairly flexible.
He planned to visit England, but he visited the U.S. instead.
If we cannot buy that book, which book should we buy instead?
I thought that this post was a decent summary for quick reference.
I hope that analysis helps.
**Sometimes when a conjunction is involved (usu. and, but, and or), a verb tense shift is necessary.
I can say,
I do not eat bugs, no matter what GMATNinja says about deliciously prepared caterpillars, so I will eat the vegetable dish instead.
[Yes. I know that a caterpillar is not, entomologically, a "bug." Let's go with vernacular. Creepy crawly things are bugs.]
-- The verb tenses shifted. In the first clause, I want to announce that I never eat bugs, not that "just this time" I "will" not eat bugs.
In the second clause, I want to announce that, given my general anti-bug-eating sentiment and this particular situation that I face right now, I will eat the vegetable dish instead.
-- (Charles, I'm sure you make a mean ratatouille—or the Greek version, which I learned as "sibetherio." Or any vegetable dish. Or almost any dish. Without bugs.)
