The members of the scavenger team were discouraged when they realized

Question

The members of the scavenger team were discouraged when they realized the ocean in  their sector was so deep as to be bottomless, so they decided immediately to terminate  their search and assist other teams.

a. their sector was so deep as to be bottomless, so they decided immediately to terminate

b. their sector was so deep it could have been bottomless, so they decided to immediately terminate

c. their sector was so deep it might have been bottomless, so they decided immediate termination should end

d. their sector was so deep it could have been bottomless, so it decided to immediately terminate

e. their sector was deep enough to be called bottomless, so they decided immediately to terminate

AdityaHongunti · Accepted Answer

ParthSanghavi  hey there !
Lemme try :

The members of the scavenger team were discouraged when they realized the ocean in   their search and assist other teams.

Meaning:
Members of X were discouraged..why?? Because they realised that the ocean in their sector was deep... The extent of the deepness was so much that it FELT as if it were bottomless ( not actually bottomless...an ocean cannot be bottomless..that is much general knowledge)...so they quit Thier project and decided to....

The key point here is understanding that the members FELT as if it were bottomless...it is more of a metaphorical way of speaking to emphasize the emotion..just as we say "sky is the limit" is it actually the limit?? Nope...but yet we say it to emphasize the emotion..

Errors analysis:
Members(plural...were(plural)...they...their - all SV pairs are accounted for ...no pronoun problem.
Verb tense is also correct as all the things actually happened at almost the same time.
Modifier - there is no modifier 
Parallelism: all verbs are parallel ...
Idiom : so X as to Y 
Here X is the cause 
Y is the effect...
Ocean was so deep(X) as to be bottomless (Y) ... The ocean was so deep that the effect felt like the ocean was bottomless...

So answer choice A is correct

b. their sector was so deep it could have been bottomless, so they decided to immediately terminate 
- here we are actually trying to say that the ocean actually is bottomless... How can that be?? 5th standard science : earth is made up of matter and the water surface is on that matter so there actually is a bottom ... In option A the idiom " so X as to be Y" does not actually convey LITERAL meaning , it is more of a metaphorical... But in option B ,directly stating "it could have been bottomless" is straight-away wrong...

With the same analysis you can eliminate C and D

Option E does convey the intended meaning BUT the idiom " enough to be" actually Coveys a meaning that the sector of ocean is sufficient to be called as if there is a measure of deepness of ocean to be called bottomless..like it could be even more bottomless but right now the depth is enough to be called bottomless... whenever you see "enough" , always try to ask that is that the intention of the noun?? Or the verb?? As in is the author trying to prove a sufficiency or does he want to emphasize an emotional response...
Where is enough right :
There was enough charge in the batteries to give me a headstart.. here the charge is actually playing a role in a way by giving me a headstart...it means that this much charge is sufficient for me to get a headstart...there could be more charge but right now this much is enough

Take away :
So X as to Y : X is cause..Y is effect

Enough to : sufficiency ( always be careful about this idiom ..unless and until we are talking about sufficiency the use of this idiom may not be best )

Try to use general knowledge and then assimilate it with the intended meaning...I guess you didn't look for the meaning part...
Hope this helps

Posted from my mobile device

NinetyFour · Answer

I chose B and I am still unsure why A is correct. Here is my POE:

A) We are comparing the ocean's depth to bottomless (adjective).
B) Removes the comparison, and describes the ocean to be bottomless. Immediately does change position here to modify TERMINATE as opposed to DECIDED, but I think the author could be trying to convey either meaning. Did they immediately decide to terminate AND assist other teams or did they immediately terminate only?
C) MIGHT have is wrong in this context, DECIDED and assist are not parralel
D) IT is not referring to MEMBERS
E) Changes meaning when you say "deep enough to be called bottomless". The members don't know how deep the area is

ParthSanghavi · Answer

AdityaHongunti   broall   nightblade354

Could you please explain why (B) is wrong and (A) is correct?

ArupRS · Answer

all : Based on my understanding, Option b actually changes the meaning. If the ocean is very deep, then it is actually bottomless, not that it could have been bottomless. There is no uncertainty over the bottomlessness of the ocean. The second point is the correct usage of the idiom SO X AS Y . Using an adjective, after AS is wrong, but the usage of infinitive after AS is correct. Please read the below link : https://gmatclub.com/forum/idiom-use-so-x-as-y-220549.html Please let me know if this helps.

regards, Arup

hiranmay · Answer

The members of the scavenger team were discouraged when they realized the ocean in their sector was so deep as to be bottomless, so they decided immediately to terminate their search and assist other teams.

a. their sector was so deep as to be bottomless, so they decided immediately to terminate -->correct : so <adj> + as to <verb>

b. their sector was so deep it could have been bottomless, so they decided to immediately terminate --> missing "so <adj> + as to <verb>" construction

c. their sector was so deep it might have been bottomless, so they decided immediate termination should end --> same as B

d. their sector was so deep it could have been bottomless, so it decided to immediately terminate--> same as B

e. their sector was deep enough to be called bottomless, so they decided immediately to terminate -->awkward: A is better

energetics · Answer

... Members ... were discouraged (that) ...  their sector was so deep as to be bottomless, so they decided immediately to terminate  their search and assist other teams.

1. Meaning of "so deep" vs. "deep enough" 
e. their sector was  deep enough  to be called bottomless, so they decided immediately to terminate
The members were discouraged that it was very deep, not that it was deep enough.

2. Meaning of "immediate termination" / "it" doing ... vs. "they" doing 
c. their sector was so deep it might have been bottomless, so they decided  immediate termination should end 
d. their sector was so deep it could have been bottomless, so  it decided to immediately terminate 
The members are the ones that did the action of terminating the search. Immediate termination and the sector did not stop the search. Also breaks parallelism by changing "to terminate and (to) assist."

3. Idiom So X as to Y  
a. their sector was  so deep as to be bottomless , so they decided immediately to terminate 
b. their sector was  so deep it could have been  bottomless, so they decided to immediately terminate
Also, I didn't see this immediately but "might/could have been" in B, C, D all incorrectly use the hypothetical to say that they were discouraged at the possibility of the sector being deep in the past. This doesn't make sense... they were discouraged because it IS deep.

yvankd · Answer

IMHO what makes B incorrect is a split infinitive. While there isn't a strict rule that makes split infinitives wrong, I usually try to avoid them. In answer choice A, the infinitive isn't split.

vipulgoel · Answer

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hi, could you please name the source, personally i dislike the quality of question, reason being the placement of modifier "immediately" in correct option A
 they decided immediately to terminate AND so they decided to immediately terminate both have different meanings, and in meaning context " so they decided to immediately terminate" wins, which is in option B, however if idiom is the only filter here, then clearly A wins..

draftpunk · Answer

the   so  X  as to  Y  construction implies a notional result. The subject of the clause beginning with "as" is omitted, so we can infer that the subject of the non-finite clause (i.e. beginning with "to") is identical to the main clause.

In answer choice A, "the ocean ... was so deep as to be bottomless" suggests that the ocean is bottomless, but does not definitively state it is.

On the other hand, the   so  X  that  Y  construction entails a factual result.

VerbalBot · Answer

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The members of the scavenger team were discouraged when they realized

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