The best way to avoid Parkinson’s law of triviality is from the right

Question

The best way to avoid Parkinson’s law of triviality  is from the right agenda .

A. is from the right agenda

B. is by the right agenda

C. is to get the right agenda

D. is to get the agenda right

E. is to get to the right agenda

Helium · Answer

The best way to avoid Parkinson’s law of triviality is from the right agenda.

A. is from the right agenda

B. is by the right agenda

C. is to get the right agenda

D. is to get the agenda right

E. is to get to the right agenda

So if one has to avoid Parkinson's law of triviality then what should one do?

If one sets his agenda correctly one can avoid falling prey to triviality. So one has to set the agenda right for meeting. i.e. to get the agenda right.- Choice D

Now, even if one has worked really hard and found out/figured out the right agenda for the discussion..has he avoided triviality? or he has just got the right agenda with him. You better decide.....

Side Note : Is 'agenda' singular or plural?

Originally agenda was the plural of agendum, meaning ‘a thing to be done’. However, it became applied to a list of things to be done, and in this, the most usual modern sense, it has become firmly singular, with the plural agendas.

Hope this helps!! debubhb Mankodim

Side Note : Is 'agenda' singular or plural? Originally agenda was the plural of agendum, meaning ‘a thing to be done’. However, it became applied to a list of things to be done, and in this, the most usual modern sense, it has become firmly singular, with the plural agendas. Hope this helps!! debubhb Mankodim

DharLog · Answer

1. To maintain parallelism we have to have something like that: "The best way to avoid Parkinson's law of triviality is  to  ..."
So A, B are out.

2. Now the word "agenda". When I first tried to look this first in the dictionary, I understood that the translation in russian does not come along with what I see in movies, when I watch them in english.
It means there that it is "something in your had", "your motivation", "your goal".
And if it is so, only option D makes sense.

debubhb · Answer

what is the difference between option C and D??
"..... right Agenda" vs "..... agenda right?"
I have marked option C as my ans.
Please help.

Mankodim · Answer

+1 
I understand the difference between get the agenda right vs get the right agenda. But how do we know what the speaker is trying to imply? My answer, although correct, was a fluke

Posted from my mobile device

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

Yes, and for that reason this sentence would never fly on the GMAT. There's no way to tell the intended meaning from the limited information provided.

BenjaminS · Answer

IMO

C: means that The best way to avoid Parkinson’s law of triviality is to get the right agenda.
 The right modifies agenda.

D: means that The best way to avoid Parkinson’s law of triviality is to get the agenda right.
 right modifies get (action)

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Crytiocanalyst · Answer

A. is from the right agenda
from isn't the right usage therefore out

B. is by the right agenda
by isn' t the right usage therefore out

C. is to get the right agenda
even is he gets to the right agenda there is no guarantee that he gets the agenda right

D. is to get the agenda right
This is what we are looking for therefore our answer

E. is to get to the right agenda
Similar reasoning as C

Therefore IMO D

arya251294 · Answer

What I believe is that, when I say,  "The aim is to get the right agenda" , I necessarily am focusing on the  agenda .
But when I say that  "The aim is to get the agenda right" , then I am more worried about the  righteousness  of the agenda.

Hope I am making sense.

arya251294 · Answer

The reasoning you applied to C, can be applied to D as well, that, even if he gets the agenda right there is no guarantee that he got the  right agenda , right.

The best way to avoid Parkinson’s law of triviality is from the right

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The best way to avoid Parkinson’s law of triviality is from the right

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