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16 May 2021, 00:23
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Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
25%
(medium)
Question Stats:
76% (01:40) correct
24%
(01:53)
wrong
based on 355
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Using tax dollars to shift entire villages away from the path of hurricanes, a proposal having been long dismissed as being expensive and impractical, but swiftly gaining in popularity, marking the incumbent government’s new and more aggressive stance of putting lives before money.
A) hurricanes, a proposal having been long dismissed as being expensive and impractical, but swiftly gaining in popularity, marking
B) hurricanes, a proposal long dismissed as expensive and impractical, is swiftly gaining in popularity, marking
C) hurricanes is a proposal long dismissed as expensive and impractical, is swiftly gaining in popularity, and is marking
D) hurricanes is swiftly gaining in popularity, a proposal long dismissed as expensive and impractical, marking
E) hurricanes, a proposal that was long dismissed as expensive and impractical and that is swiftly gaining in popularity, marking
16 May 2021, 00:29
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OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
THE PROMPT
The sentence indicates that using tax dollars for the purpose mentioned is a proposal that had long been dismissed but that is now gaining in popularity thanks to the new stance of the government.
• The subject? A gerund phrase. (A verbING phrase)
→ The subject of the sentence is Using tax dollars to shift entire villages away from the path of hurricanes.
Yes, the phrase is long. It is still the subject of the sentence, though that fact may not strike until you read the other options.
Correct: Using water on an oil fire is a terrible idea. (Subject? Using water on an oil fire)
Correct: Using too many acronyms typically results in convoluted prose.
→ You do not need to know the words gerund and participle. Both are ___ING words.
Just know that ___ING words can be nouns (and subjects): in this case, the gerund using is the "head" or "main" noun in a noun phrase
THE OPTIONS
→ The subject Using tax dollars to shift entire villages away from the path of hurricanes does not have a working verb.
• stylistic problems. (Use stylistic problems to break ties at the end of analysis. This option would not still be standing at the end because the sentence does not contain a working verb. That problem is immediately fatal. I mention the issue in case you missed the absence of a working verb.)
→ remove the words having been and being.
Doing so does not change the meaning of the sentence. This outcome indicates that the removed words are unnecessary and make the sentence unnecessarily long.
→ do not automatically eliminate an option because it contains being or another passive construction such as having been long dismissed.
Such constructions are not always wrong. In a tight split, consider them. This option is not one that would be part of a tight split.
ELIMINATE A
• The subject using tax dollars is singular and agrees with the singular verb is swiftly gaining.
→ The subject is not "a proposal."
→ The "a proposal" phrase is an appositive—it is a synonym of or possibly replacement for the noun it modifies—namely the noun phrase "using tax dollars."
• marking modifies the whole previous clause.
KEEP
→ Using tax dollars (1) is a proposal, (2) is gaining, and (3) is marking
#1 consists of a linking verb (is) + a noun as a subject complement
#s 2 and 3 are just verbs in the present progressive tense (is gaining, is marking).
A linking verb and a present progressive verb may not technically be identical parts of speech.
The latter two are verbs in a different tense that do not include a subject complement.
→ This analysis could quickly get time-consuming.
I would shift gears immediately and compare (C) to (B).
• Compare to option B?
Option B is more concise, clear, and crisp.
→ I would stop there and move on.
-- If I were tracking on parallelism, I might read option C and go down a rabbit hole.
Those three items look like verb phrases. Are they parallel?
Rather than spend too much time on what might be a labyrinthine topic, I would examine option B.
It takes a little while to get comfortable comparing options.
Practice doing so.
Ultimately, such comparison saves time on hard questions; errors can be subtle but clarity usually stands out when two options are compared.
At the very least, if you are not sure about whether something in an option constitutes an error, compare the questionable option to an option to another that you think is not flawed.
ELIMINATE C
→ what does marking modify? A proposal? Maybe.
But COMMA + ___ING often modifies the subject of the previous clause. The subject is using tax dollars . . .
→ a proposal . . . modifies the noun phrase Using tax dollars . . ., but the noun modifier comes after the verb.
That placement is not ideal. Noun modifiers should be placed as close as possible to their nouns.
• overall, compared to option B, option D is jumbled.
Even if we can figure out what option D is trying to say, we should choose option B because it is clear and requires little work to understand.
ELIMINATE D
→ as is the case in option A, no working verb exists.
ELIMINATE E
The answer is B.
NOTES
• Gerunds and gerund phrases are singular
The subject of this sentence is a gerund phrase (a verbING phrase).
Gerunds (verbING nouns) are always singular.
A longer gerund phrase is still singular, even if the phrase ends with a plural noun such as hurricanes.
The subject of this sentence is Using tax dollars to shift entire villages away from the path of hurricanes and is singular.
COMMENTS
gmatlover1010 and Shan7anu , welcome to SC Butler.
rohit8865 , long time. Good to "see" you again.
I accidentally linked this day's questions incorrectly to Bunuel's SC Butler questions.
This question is now correctly linked in the SC Butler Master Directory, here, in which hundreds of questions are listed beneath the spoilers, and on the main SC Butler thread in this post, here.
(The links in the Master Directory and in the post are the same. The link in the Master Directory never goes away, but the link in the thread will disappear next month.)
Because I linked this question incorrectly, everyone gets kudos.
Stay safe, everyone.
Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1)
THE PROMPT
Quote:
• Meaning?
The sentence indicates that using tax dollars for the purpose mentioned is a proposal that had long been dismissed but that is now gaining in popularity thanks to the new stance of the government.
• The subject? A gerund phrase. (A verbING phrase)
→ The subject of the sentence is Using tax dollars to shift entire villages away from the path of hurricanes.
Yes, the phrase is long. It is still the subject of the sentence, though that fact may not strike until you read the other options.
Correct: Using water on an oil fire is a terrible idea. (Subject? Using water on an oil fire)
Correct: Using too many acronyms typically results in convoluted prose.
→ You do not need to know the words gerund and participle. Both are ___ING words.
Just know that ___ING words can be nouns (and subjects): in this case, the gerund using is the "head" or "main" noun in a noun phrase
THE OPTIONS
Quote:
• FRAGMENT: no working verb
→ The subject Using tax dollars to shift entire villages away from the path of hurricanes does not have a working verb.
• stylistic problems. (Use stylistic problems to break ties at the end of analysis. This option would not still be standing at the end because the sentence does not contain a working verb. That problem is immediately fatal. I mention the issue in case you missed the absence of a working verb.)
→ remove the words having been and being.
Doing so does not change the meaning of the sentence. This outcome indicates that the removed words are unnecessary and make the sentence unnecessarily long.
→ do not automatically eliminate an option because it contains being or another passive construction such as having been long dismissed.
Such constructions are not always wrong. In a tight split, consider them. This option is not one that would be part of a tight split.
ELIMINATE A
Quote:
• I do not see any errors
• The subject using tax dollars is singular and agrees with the singular verb is swiftly gaining.
→ The subject is not "a proposal."
→ The "a proposal" phrase is an appositive—it is a synonym of or possibly replacement for the noun it modifies—namely the noun phrase "using tax dollars."
• marking modifies the whole previous clause.
KEEP
Quote:
• Parallelism error?
→ Using tax dollars (1) is a proposal, (2) is gaining, and (3) is marking
#1 consists of a linking verb (is) + a noun as a subject complement
#s 2 and 3 are just verbs in the present progressive tense (is gaining, is marking).
A linking verb and a present progressive verb may not technically be identical parts of speech.
The latter two are verbs in a different tense that do not include a subject complement.
→ This analysis could quickly get time-consuming.
I would shift gears immediately and compare (C) to (B).
• Compare to option B?
Option B is more concise, clear, and crisp.
→ I would stop there and move on.
-- If I were tracking on parallelism, I might read option C and go down a rabbit hole.
Those three items look like verb phrases. Are they parallel?
Rather than spend too much time on what might be a labyrinthine topic, I would examine option B.
It takes a little while to get comfortable comparing options.
Practice doing so.
Ultimately, such comparison saves time on hard questions; errors can be subtle but clarity usually stands out when two options are compared.
At the very least, if you are not sure about whether something in an option constitutes an error, compare the questionable option to an option to another that you think is not flawed.
ELIMINATE C
Quote:
• modifier misplacement and error
→ what does marking modify? A proposal? Maybe.
But COMMA + ___ING often modifies the subject of the previous clause. The subject is using tax dollars . . .
→ a proposal . . . modifies the noun phrase Using tax dollars . . ., but the noun modifier comes after the verb.
That placement is not ideal. Noun modifiers should be placed as close as possible to their nouns.
• overall, compared to option B, option D is jumbled.
Even if we can figure out what option D is trying to say, we should choose option B because it is clear and requires little work to understand.
ELIMINATE D
Quote:
• FRAGMENT: no working verb
→ as is the case in option A, no working verb exists.
ELIMINATE E
The answer is B.
NOTES
• Gerunds and gerund phrases are singular
The subject of this sentence is a gerund phrase (a verbING phrase).
Gerunds (verbING nouns) are always singular.
A longer gerund phrase is still singular, even if the phrase ends with a plural noun such as hurricanes.
The subject of this sentence is Using tax dollars to shift entire villages away from the path of hurricanes and is singular.
COMMENTS
gmatlover1010 and Shan7anu , welcome to SC Butler.
rohit8865 , long time. Good to "see" you again.
I accidentally linked this day's questions incorrectly to Bunuel's SC Butler questions.
This question is now correctly linked in the SC Butler Master Directory, here, in which hundreds of questions are listed beneath the spoilers, and on the main SC Butler thread in this post, here.
(The links in the Master Directory and in the post are the same. The link in the Master Directory never goes away, but the link in the thread will disappear next month.)
Because I linked this question incorrectly, everyone gets kudos.
Stay safe, everyone.
16 May 2021, 05:03
Kudos
Bookmarks
Using tax dollars to shift entire villages away from the path of hurricanes, a proposal having been long dismissed as being expensive and impractical, but swiftly gaining in popularity, marking the incumbent government’s new and more aggressive stance of putting lives before money.
A) hurricanes, a proposal having been long dismissed as being expensive and impractical, but swiftly gaining in popularity, marking..INCORRECT
B) hurricanes, a proposal long dismissed as expensive and impractical, is swiftly gaining in popularity, marking...CORRECT
C) hurricanes is a proposal long dismissed as expensive and impractical, is swiftly gaining in popularity, and is marking......INCORRECT
D) hurricanes is swiftly gaining in popularity, a proposal long dismissed as expensive and impractical, marking...misplaced modifier...INCORRECT
E) hurricanes, a proposal that was long dismissed as expensive and impractical and that is swiftly gaining in popularity, marking..no verb ...INCORRECT
ANS B
A) hurricanes, a proposal having been long dismissed as being expensive and impractical, but swiftly gaining in popularity, marking..INCORRECT
B) hurricanes, a proposal long dismissed as expensive and impractical, is swiftly gaining in popularity, marking...CORRECT
C) hurricanes is a proposal long dismissed as expensive and impractical, is swiftly gaining in popularity, and is marking......INCORRECT
D) hurricanes is swiftly gaining in popularity, a proposal long dismissed as expensive and impractical, marking...misplaced modifier...INCORRECT
E) hurricanes, a proposal that was long dismissed as expensive and impractical and that is swiftly gaining in popularity, marking..no verb ...INCORRECT
ANS B
