For an in-house public relations department, the budget

Question

For an in-house public relations department, the budget is often quite different from that of other departments, because operating expenditures are  low and payroll is high, as the corporation, rather than the department, absorbs  most non-payroll office expenses.

A) low and payroll is high, as the corporation, rather than the department, absorbs
B) low and their payroll is high as they, rather than the corporation, absorb
C) low with higher payroll in the process of absorbing
D) low, as payroll is higher as the corporation, rather than the department, absorbs
E) low, but its payroll is higher in the corporation's effort to absorb

daagh · Answer

For an in-house public relations department, the budget is often quite different from that of other departments, because operating expenditures are l ow and payroll is high, as the corporation, rather than the department, absorbs  most non-payroll office expenses.

A) low and payroll is high, as the corporation, rather than the department, absorbs -- - the correct choice  
B) low and their payroll is high as they, rather than the corporation, absorb --- ‘ their’ is unfit for the singular dept. 
 
C) low with higher payroll in the process of absorbing ---  the corporation absorbs non-payroll expenses. This choice implies that the PR dept. is absorbing – wrong

D) low, as payroll is higher as the corporation, rather than the department, absorbs ---  payroll being high is not due to the corporation’s absorption of expenses. The budget is low because of that.

E) low, but its payroll is higher in the corporation's effort to absorb –  again a misplaced cause and effect as in D .

ravigupta2912 · Answer

A) low and payroll is high, as the corporation, rather than the department, absorbs  Correct. Presents the difference, which is two-fold. Lower op-ex and higher payroll and correctly presents the reason using "as" construction.

B) low and their payroll is high as they, rather than the corporation, absorb  Incorrect. "Their" incorrectly seems to be referring to operating expenditures.

C) low with higher payroll in the process of absorbing  Incorrect. "Process of absorbing". We don't need present progressive tense here. The sentence is explaining the difference in budget of PR Deptt with that of other departments by presenting a general characteristic about budgets of PR department. Simple present is to be used.

D) low, as payroll is higher as the corporation, rather than the department, absorbs  Incorrect. As payroll is higher incorrectly seems to be suggesting the reason for lowering operating expenditures. We are explaining the difference in budget which is two-fold. Lower operating expenditure and higher payroll costs.

E) low, but its payroll is higher in the corporation's effort to absorb  Incorrect. "higher in the" awkwardly presents the cause of higher payroll. Should have used "because of". Also "effort to absorb" distorts the general characteristic tone of the sentence.

Experts, please provide your comments if my reasoning to eliminate is correct. Many thanks!

arvind910619 · Answer

Imo A

A correct 
B pronoun " their' is wrong as it can not refer to singular PR department.Also "they" is worng.
C is just absolute ridiculous. Superlative "Higher" is used so we should have a comparison, but that is not the case here. Drop it.
D "as payroll is higher as the corporation" does make sense here. Expanses seem to be compared to corporation.
E Again wrong comparison we should have "than". What is is corporation's effort. Drop it

sanjayparihar16 · Answer

Official Explanation:
There are no errors in the sentence as written. The sentence flows logically from clause to clause, pronouns are avoided where they would cause confusion, and the expressions used are all idiomatic. The parallel construction "expenditures are low and payroll is high" is correct, and the placement of the modifying phrase between commas, "rather than the department," is next to the "corporation" its drawing the contrast with. 
Scan and Group the Answer Choices:
There is no obvious grouping of answer choices. (A) and (D) both use the phrase "the corporation, rather than the department," but (B), (C), and (E) all use very different phrases in its place. 
Eliminate Wrong Answer Choices:
When (B) uses the plural pronoun "they," it is either illogically referring to "other departments" and distorting the meaning of the sentence, or it is incorrectly using "they" to refer to the singular "public relations department." Also, (B) changes the meaning of the sentence. In the original sentence, it is the corporation that absorbs the expenses, but here the department is absorbing them. Additionally, in (B) the antecedent for "they" is difficult to identify. As a plural pronoun, it could refer to "budgets" or "other departments." 
(C) eliminates important information from the sentence (the comparison between the department and the corporation. It also uses an awkward construction to do it, as "in the process of absorbing" is unwieldy. 
(D) repeats the word "as," making the sentence sound clumsy and changing its meaning. Also, it appears that the absorption of the expenses causes high payroll but not low operating expenditures. 
Finally, (E), in addition to misusing the pronoun "its" (does the pronoun refer to "the budget" or "the department"?), uses the phrase "in the corporation’s effort to absorb." The comparison must be expressed as "higher than." There is no mention at all of "effort" or a similar concept in the original sentence. 
The sentence as written, (A), avoids all the errors introduced by the other answer choices. 
TAKEAWAY: Don't be tempted to overcorrect a sentence. If the original sentence contains no errors or awkward wording, (A) is the correct answer.

alex73195 · Answer

Can anyone please breakdown the sentence structure of choice A?

For an in-house public relations department, the budget is often quite different from that of other departments, because operating expenditures are low and payroll is high, as the corporation, rather than the department, absorbs most non-payroll office expenses.

I think "because .... high," is a dependent clause.

Is the "as" in "as the corporation" is a preposition?

",rather than the department," is a modifier.

"as the corporation, rather than the department, absorbs most non-payroll office expenses." Is this another dependent clause set off by commas?

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  alex73195 ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your queries, "because operating expenditures are low and payroll is high" is indeed a dependent clause.

In this context, "as" is a conjunction that together with a comma joins the independent clause "the corporation, rather than the department, absorbs most non-payroll office expenses" to the independent clause "the budget is often quite different from that of other departments".

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

For an in-house public relations department, the budget

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For an in-house public relations department, the budget

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