Believed by many leaders is that, in order for our nation to achieve

Question

Believed by many leaders is that, in order for our nation to achieve financial solvency, each of our millions of citizens has  to seek financial solvency, because a nation can be only as solid as its citizens.

(A) Believed by many leaders is that, in order for our nation to achieve financial solvency, each of our millions of citizens has

(B) So that our nation achieves financial solvency, many leaders believe that all of our millions of citizens has

(C) It is believed by many leaders that, for our nation to achieve financial solvency, each of our millions of citizens who has

(D) Many leaders believe that, in order for our nation to achieve financial solvency, every one of our millions of citizens have

(E) So that our nation will achieve financial solvency, many leaders believe that each of our millions of citizens has

Correctly answering this question requires noticing subject-verb agreement issues and paying careful attention to the meanings conveyed by the basically grammatically correct choices. The correct answer is written to seem a little off. So, if we’re not careful, we’ll be tempted to choose one of the more correct sounding incorrect choices.

Believed by many leaders is that, in order for our nation to achieve financial solvency, each of our millions of citizens has to seek financial solvency, because a nation can be only as solid as its citizens.

(A) Believed by many leaders is that, in order for our nation to achieve financial solvency, each of our millions of citizens has

This choice employs an inverted sentence structure to obscure the fact that it is the correct answer to this question. Notice, the subject of the sentence is expressed by the noun clause that follows “is.” So, we could reverse the sentence to make it the following:

That, in order for our nation to achieve financial solvency, each of our millions of citizens has to seek financial solvency, because a nation can be only as solid as its citizens is believed by many leaders.

Also, this version correctly uses the singular verb “has” with the singular subject “each of our millions of citizens.”

Correct Answer

(B) So that our nation achieves financial solvency, many leaders believe that all of our millions of citizens has

This choice can be eliminated because the version created via the use of this choice does not make sense, since it does not make sense to say that “many leaders believe” something in order for the nation to achieve financial solvency.

Also, this version incorrectly uses a singular verb, “has,” with subject “all of our millions of citizens,” which does not start with “each” or “every” but, rather, with “all,” and so this subject is plural, not singular.

(C) It is believed by many leaders that, for our nation to achieve financial solvency, each of our millions of citizens who has

While this version starts off correctly, when we combine this answer choice with the non-underlined portion, we see that what may at first appear to be a noun clause beginning with “that” actually has no main verb. As a result, we have the following illogical structure: “that … each of our millions of citizens who has to seek financial solvency.” We can see even more clearly why this structure does not work if we read it along with the rest of the sentence.

It is believed by many leaders that … each of our millions of citizens who has to achieve financial solvency ….

(D) Many leaders believe that, in order for our nation to achieve financial solvency, every one of our millions of citizens have

This version is correct except for one word, the plural “have,” which does not agree with the singular subject “every one of our millions of citizens.”

(E) So that our nation will achieve financial solvency, many leaders believe that each of our millions of citizens has

All subjects and verbs in this version agree, and this version is basically grammatically correct.

However, this version expresses an illogical meaning, that many leaders believe something so that the nation will achieve financial solvency. It doesn’t make sense that leaders would believe something so that the nation will achieve financial solvency. We have to be careful to notice such meaning issues, so that we don’t choose an illogical choice like this one over one like the inversely structured, somewhat odd sounding choice (A).

Correct answer: A

SUBHRASIL · Answer

(A) Believed by many leaders is that, in order for our nation to achieve financial solvency, each of our millions of citizens has - Can't see any grammatical error

(B) So that our nation achieves financial solvency, many leaders believe that  all of our millions of citizens has

(C) It is believed by many leaders that, for our nation to achieve financial solvency, each of our millions of citizens who has -  Once put into the original sentence does not give a complete meaningful sentence.

(D) Many leaders believe that, in order for our nation to achieve financial solvency,  every one of our millions of citizens have

(E)  So that our nation will achieve financial solvency , many leaders believe that each of our millions of citizens has

Hence (A) is the OA

devtashrey · Answer

Believed by many leaders is that, in order for our nation to achieve financial solvency, each of our millions of citizens has to seek financial solvency, because a nation can be only as solid as its citizens.

(A) Believed by many leaders is that, in order for our nation to achieve financial solvency, each of our millions of citizens has :  Sounds wrong but rest all are ok grammatically. Lets keep it

(B) So that our nation achieves financial solvency, many leaders believe that all of our millions of citizens has :  Wrong Idiom use of SO THAT

(C) It is believed by many leaders that, for our nation to achieve financial solvency, each of our millions of citizens who has  : 'It' has no antecedent but it could be a place holder too. Passive voice is an issue here.

(D) Many leaders believe that, in order for our nation to achieve financial solvency, every one of our millions of citizens have  : Each/every/everyone are singular and hence HAS should be used and not have.

(E) So that our nation will achieve financial solvency, many leaders believe that each of our millions of citizens has  : Wrong Idiom use

Hence A is our answer.

gloomybison · Answer

Hi  MartyTargetTestPrep

I was stuck between A and E

Is E wrong because of the place of the first subordinate clause or because of the usage of "so that"?

A) Believed by many leaders is that, in order for our nation to achieve financial solvency, each of our millions of citizens has...

If we change the place of subordinate clause starting with "in order" we get; "In order for our nation to achieve financial solvency, Believed by many leaders is that each of our millions of citizens has..."
and ı guess this sentence conveys a similar meaning to E, implying that "in order to achieve something many leaders believe..." just as E implies that "so that nation achieves something many leaders believe..."

E) So that our nation will achieve financial solvency, many leaders believe that each of our millions of citizens has...

Thank you for your valuable reply

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  gloomybison ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, the error in Option E is that the construction "So that our nation will achieve financial solvency", incorrectly implies that many leaders hold a particular belief (that all the citizens have to seek financial solvency)   for the purpose of   our nation achieving financial solvency; the intended meaning is that many of our leaders hold a particular belief,   and that belief is that   in order for our nation to achieve financial solvency, all of the citizens have to seek financial solvency.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

IanStewart · Answer

I don't know where the question and this explanation are from, but it misses the point of GMAT SC altogether. GMAT SC questions are not testing rote application of grammar rules. GMAT SC is testing if you know how to write clearly and precisely. The correct answers to GMAT SC are not "written to seem a little off". or as is the case here, written in terrible English, to try to disguise correct answers to trick test takers. If you ever saw the phrase "Believed by many leaders is that" in a real GMAT SC question, you would be looking at a wrong answer every time, because there is no earthly reason to write that when the phrase "Many leaders believe" is simpler, clearer, and more concise. If forced to choose an answer here, I'd pick D, because the subject/verb agreement issue there is a minor issue (and is occasionally debated) compared to the sentence construction issue in A, which is catastrophically bad. The meaning of E is illogical as explained above.

The situation could be different if a sentence included the phrase "It is believed that", without any implied subject. That would be a passive construction, but it might still be acceptable if it is expressing an idea that is widely held. "It is believed that dinosaurs became extinct roughly 65 million years ago" is a perfectly fine sentence; the passive construction is fine because the sentence has nothing to do with who holds that belief. The problem in the sentence in this question is that it says "It is believed  by  leaders", and I can't think of any reason to ever write a sentence that way.

Dhwanii · Answer

Was stuck bw A and E, even though ExpertsGlobal5 has explained why E is wrong, I still can't understand. I can't understand the difference between A and E. Any help probably with easy example will be of great help, thanks

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ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  Dhwanii ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, the problem in E is that the use of "So that" implies that many leaders hold a particular belief in order to make the nation achieve financial solvency.

Consider this example, "So that he is not late, John always leaves an hour early.": the meaning this construction conveys is the same as that conveyed by "John always leaves an hour early, so that he is not late." - that John always leaves an hour early, in order to make sure that he is not late.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Dhwanii · Answer

Does E convey that a particular belief will help us achieve financial solvency (belief is the doer) and not the financial solvency of citizens ?  ExpertsGlobal5

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ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  dhwani , we hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, E conveys that the leaders believe that the citizens must do X, and they believe this   in order to   make Y happen.

The intended meaning is that the leaders believe that citizens must do X, and they believe that   by doing   X   citizens   will make Y happen.

The error in Option E is that it gives a  purpose  to the act of the leaders believing something. The intended meaning simply states that the leaders believe something, without giving the action of believing a purpose.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Believed by many leaders is that, in order for our nation to achieve

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Believed by many leaders is that, in order for our nation to achieve

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