Thought by some to prey on unsuspecting and vulnerable individuals

Question

Thought by some to prey on unsuspecting and vulnerable individuals,  the government is still researching the structure of sub-prime mortgages  in order to determine the best way to address some of the problems that they have caused.

(A) the government is still researching the structure of sub-prime mortgages
(B) the structure of sub-prime mortgage industry is being researched by the government
(C) the government are still researching the subprime mortgage industry's structure
(D) sub-prime mortgages, and the structure of that industry, are being researched by the government
(E) the government is still researching the structure of the sub-prime mortgage industry

u1983 · Answer

Thought by some to prey on unsuspecting and vulnerable individuals, the government ....

Currently the modifier  'Thought by some.....individuals'  is modifying  'the government' .... which is not logical.
The  same error  is being repeated  at option A, C & E .

Now .... option B mentions 'the structure of sub-prime mortgage industry is being researched by the government'. This is grammatically correct .... but when we look at the next part of the non underlined portion, we notice 'that they have caused'. Here the plural 'they' cannot logically point to 'some' or 'the government'. Moreover,The same is grammatically wrong when points to singular 'the structure of sub-prime mortgage industry'.

At option D, it correctly points to plural 'sub-prime mortgages, and the structure of that industry,'.

At option D, it  correctly points to plural 'sub-prime mortgages, and the structure of that industry,' .

Thus I would like to go with option D.

Masterscorp · Answer

I'm wondering whether sub-prime mortgages can prey on people, because mortgages are a thing not a living person or closely related to it.
To my understanding a company, industry, person or animal can prey on something in contrast to something like a contract. Yes, companies and industry are inanimate as well but it makes sense that they can prey.

Can somebody shed light on this issue please?

GMAT215 · Answer

pls discuss why option D is correct as compared to B.

u1983 · Answer

Hello GMAT215,

I already have mentioned below in my previous reply.

Now .... option B mentions 'the structure of sub-prime mortgage industry is being researched by the government'. This is grammatically correct .... but when we look at the next part of the non underlined portion, we notice 'that they have caused'. Here the plural 'they' cannot logically point to 'some' or 'the government'. Moreover,The same is grammatically wrong when points to singular 'the structure of sub-prime mortgage industry'.

At option D, it correctly points to plural 'sub-prime mortgages, and the structure of that industry,'.

At option D, it correctly points to plural 'sub-prime mortgages, and the structure of that industry,'.

Please let me know if there are any confusion. I will try again.

manik919 · Answer

OE
As wrirten, this sentence has a misplaced modifier: the government isn't what's preying on people.
Choices (A), (C), and (E) all repeat that error and can be eliminated. Choice (B) incorrectly refers
to the sub-prime mortgage industry in the singular, while the non-underlined portion uses the word
they,signaling that you need a plural noun.

naftalihazony · Answer

You are right, subprime mortgages  cannot   prey on people.

I have yet to see an OG question that has such a serious flaw.

However, I have seen OG answers that aren't perfect. The correct answer here is better than the rest and if you meet such a flaw in the test, you should be able to see that regardless of its flaws, D is the best answer.

kingyoungin211 · Answer

I am severely confused. How can sub-prime mortgages prey on unsuspecting and vulnerable individuals? The government can, but sub-prime mortgages? How??

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

We might well talk like this in real life, but it wouldn't fly on the GMAT. Nor would the use of ",and the structure of that industry" to create a compound subject.

vishalsinghvs08 · Answer

With due respect, I don't think any of the answers are correct. The closest to correct is B, if you don't look at the non underlined part following the underlined part.

The OA is wrong because if does not follow the rules of parallelism that a connector such as "and" is supposed to follow. For a connector, such as and, the structure is - x and y, where x and y needs to be  completely  parallel.

Can someone please correct me if I am wrong

KarishmaB ,  GMATNinja ,  GMATNinjaTwo ,  Bunuel

KarishmaB · Answer

Here is the thing - "complete parallelism" may not even be possible in many cases. It's a language and the intent is not to follow rules but to get the message across as clearly and unambiguously as possible. Hence, "rules" are just guidelines. You follow them to the extent possible.

Both "sub-prime mortgages" and "the structure of that industry" are nouns and can be considered parallel. I have issues with the use of the Oxford comma with two members in the list. The use of Oxford comma itself is not fully accepted even with more than two members in the list - using it for two is just not ok. 
I don't like the use of 'that' either. Use of 'this' might be better or simply say "real estate industry' etc. 
But here is the thing, if faced with such a question, I would pick (D) over (B) because (B) is plain wrong.

Now the point is - will I face such a question in actual GMAT? Most likely NOT!

Thought by some to prey on unsuspecting and vulnerable individuals

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