On a Chippewa reservation in Wisconsin, young members of the tribe are

Question

On a Chippewa reservation in Wisconsin, young members of the tribe are using computers  for learning their ancient language that was nearly forgotten .

(A) for learning their ancient language that was nearly forgotten

(B) for learning their ancient language that they nearly forgot

(C) to learn their ancient language, which they nearly forgot

(D) to learn their ancient and nearly forgotten language

(E) to learn their language that was ancient and nearly forgotten

What's wrong with a ?

I googled this question, but nobody mentioned why a was wrong(in fact, most people seemed to pick OA right away.)

The verb "use" has to be used with "to", not "for" like a ?

https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,953474-5,00.html

Many of the approximately 100,000 computers now in U.S. schools—roughly one for every 400 students—are in affluent suburbs like Ridgewood, a national leader in computer education. But the machines are also found in the unlikeliest of places. On a Chippewa Indian reservation in Wisconsin, computers are being used by young members of the tribe  to learn their ancient and nearly forgotten language . Alaska's small rural schools have been ordering computers to meet a special need: they allow students of different ages and abilities in the same small classrooms to learn at their own pace. Dubuque, Iowa, where The New Yorker Founding Editor Harold Ross disdainfully located his provincial old lady, has 13 machines and another 20 on order. Bill Holloway, a professor of computer education at the University of Kansas, calls the spread of small computers in the classroom nothing less than an avalanche. According to various industry studies, there may be from 300,000 to 650,000 computers in the schools by 1985.

GMATNinja · Accepted Answer

You can eliminate (A) and (B) easily enough based on the idiom error, but there's actually a pretty huge meaning difference between (C), (D), and (E).

In (C): "they" refers back to "young members of the tribe," so we have: "... young members of the tribe are using computers to learn their ancient language, which   nearly forgot." Wait -- that's suggesting that the problem is that the ancient Chippewa language was forgotten  by the young members of the tribe.

But that's not what the sentence is trying to say: the heart of the sentence is that the ancient language has nearly been forgotten  in general   -- not just by young members of the tribe -- and that's why it's noteworthy that young Chippewas are learning the language on computers now. (D) conveys that meaning much more clearly.

I don't think anybody was all that worried about (E), but for what it's worth: it doesn't make sense to use the past tense in the phrase "their language that  was  ancient", since "ancient" is a general characteristic of the language -- not a characteristic that was only true in the past.

I hope this helps!

boomtangboy · Answer

Hi ,

On a Chippewa reservation in Wisconsin, young members of the tribe are using computers for learning their ancient language that was nearly forgotten.

(A) for learning their ancient language that was nearly forgotten => "For learning" is an incorrect Idiom. The Idiom should be "To Learn"

(B) for learning their ancient language that they nearly forgot => Same as A

(C) to learn their ancient language, which they nearly forgot => Implies that the young members forgot the language but it is actually that the ancient language was forgotten by every one

(D) to learn their ancient and nearly forgotten language. = > Correct

(E) to learn their language that was ancient and nearly forgotten => Awakward & wordy

Hope this helps :-D

Prashant10692 · Answer

What is wrong with C?

It even carries the meaning and intent of the original sentence.

How to know when parallelism is sneaking in between the meaning.

daagh · Answer

1. use of past tense: Was the language only forgotten in past, giving a feeling that it has been revived now? Or has it been forgotten until now? One can appreciate that the ancient language has been forgotten until now.

Therefore the use of past tense is utterly wrong. We should remove A, B, C and E for this reason alone

We can see D is the most relevant since it scrupulously avoids the past tense.

2. for learning vs. to learn: 
Why are the young members using computers? 
- For a purpose, namely to learn the forgotten language- When a purpose is involved, the right thing is to use the infinitive. That is the reason 'to learn' is the correct idiom.

3. How can 'and' be a parallel marker?: True that ancient is an adjective and nearly forgotten is also an adjectival phrase. Since nearly is modifying the adjective forgotten, it does not interfere with the parallelism marked by the conjunction 'and'

avinashiitp · Answer

Even though I selected D. I would like raise one issue.

In option D

On a Chippewa reservation in Wisconsin, young members of the tribe are using computers  to learn their ancient and nearly forgotten language.

Is D implying computers to learn ancient and nearly forgotten language? According to me, it feels that D is implying the computers to learn not young members.

One more thing I am considering 'to learn -----' phrase adjective modifier not adverbial modifier.

And Option A seems ok

I would be glad if you can elaborate.

daagh   GMATNinja   Abhi077

Abhi077 · Answer

avinashiitp   'young members'  is the subject followed by the verb  'are using'  this clearly presents that young members are using computers for an intent. what is that intent? it's  'to learn'  We also use the to-infinitive to express purpose/intention.

avinashiitp · Answer

Abhi077  Yes, I understand but to me sentence seems to imply computer to learn.

If the Sentence was framed in below mentioned format I would made sense.

On a Chippewa reservation in Wisconsin, young members,  to learn their ancient and nearly forgotten language , of the tribe are using computers

But in this context the phrase ''to learn their ancient and nearly forgotten language'' seems to modify computers, which seems non sensical.

For Option A,

On a Chippewa reservation in Wisconsin, young members of the tribe are using computers  for learning their ancient language that was nearly forgotten .

computers for learning   this seems to imply function of the computer, and it seems to be correct.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Abhi077 · Answer

Can you tell me where is the verb in the sentence that I've highlighted in red? There is no verb. it's a fragment sentence. 'to learn' is not modifying computers, it's certainly not a noun modifier, it's modifying the verb ' are using' to present an intention if you break the sentence in Subject-Verb pairs as I've done above, you'd notice that

avinashiitp · Answer

Yeah Sure, Bolded Parts are Modifier. Underline parts are subject and Verb.

On a Chippewa reservation in Wisconsin ,  young members (Subject),  to learn their ancient and nearly forgotten language ,  of the tribe   are using  (Verb)computers

Abhi077

Abhi077 · Answer

The verb here should be close to the subject because 'to learn their and nearly foreign language' is modifying the verb 'are using'. why are they using computers? because of the intention to learn their language that's what the meaning is

avinashiitp · Answer

Yeah true If I consider the phrase 'to learn their ancient and nearly forgotten language' as adverbial Phrase

Then it make sense.

Abhi077

EducationAisle · Answer

Well, that seems quite a fragmented sentence. Better way would be to bring the entire infinitive phrase towards the beginning:

To learn their ancient and nearly forgotten language, young members of the tribe on a Chippewa reservation in Wisconsin, are using computers.

Yes non sensical and hence, it would need a significant flight of imagination, to interpret the sentence in that manner.

On the other hand, something along the following lines would be more ambiguous;

I need my teachers to first learn basics of grammar .

This could mean:
i) I want to learn basics of grammar, and for that, I need my teachers

Or

ii) My teachers should first learn basics of grammar (before they perhaps start teaching me!).

avinashiitp · Answer

For this purpose I wanted to avoid Option D.

and Select Option A in which the phrase 'computers  for learning their ancient language that was nearly forgotten ' contains underlined part modifying the Computer , thus modification implies function of Computer.

EducationAisle

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi Avinash, as I mentioned in my post above, option D  cannot  be considered  ambiguous , because the  other  interpretation ( computers  learning their ancient and nearly forgotten language) is non-sensical.

In any case, when two verb forms ( use  and  learn  in this sentence) are used together in a sentence, then the  first  verb determines whether the second verb will be in the  gerund  form (  for learning ) or in the  infinitive  form ( to learn ). There are no fixed rules for this, and this is largely an  idiom  issue.

Having said that, the good part is that in  most  cases, the  infinitive  form ( to learn ) should be used for the second verb form.

p.s. Our book    EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana    discusses  the case of two verb forms appearing together , their application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

shades28 · Answer

Hi  GMATNinja , 
Hope you are well. Can we eliminate C on the basis of ', which'? ', which' according to Manhattan SC guide is wrong as ', which' can't reprsent a clause. Could you please clear this? TIA!

GMATNinja · Answer

I hope you're doing well too!

While you're right that "which" won't generally modify an entire clause, in this case you could make the argument that "which" is describing the noun phrase "their ancient language." On its own, that seems reasonable enough.

A better reason to eliminate (C) is to see that its meaning is problematic. Because "they" seems to refer to the "young members of the tribe," it sounds as though it's these youngsters who nearly forgot the language! That doesn't make sense. If you  nearly  forget something, don't you still know it? Then why would they be using computers to learn a language they already know?

It makes far more sense to describe the language itself as "nearly forgotten," as (D) does. In other words, the ancient language is still around, but it might not be for long, hence the effort to get the young tribe members to learn it.

Because (C) has an illogical meaning and (D) makes perfect sense, (D) is our winner.

I hope that helps!

armaankumar · Answer

The correct idiomatic expression is "Use to": 
 Use to  + Noun/Gerund
 Use to  + Base Verb

On a Chippewa reservation in Wisconsin, young members of the tribe are using computers  for learning their ancient language that was nearly forgotten .

(A)  for  learning their ancient language that was nearly forgotten 
 Incorrect idiomatic expression

(B)  for  learning their ancient language  that they nearly forgot  
 Incorrect idiomatic expression.
The Young members did not nearly forget the ancient language, it was the language that was nearly forgotten by the general population.

(C)  to  learn their ancient language,  which they nearly forgot  
 Incorrect idiomatic expression.
The Young members did not nearly forget the ancient language, it was the language that was nearly forgotten by the general population.
The use of "which" introduces a nonrestrictive clause. We need to specify which ancient language is being talked about. The usage of which can suggest any ancient language.

(D)  to  learn their ancient and nearly forgotten language

(E) to learn their language  that was ancient  and nearly forgotten 
 The language is either ancient or not.
The language cannot stop being ancient in the present, so the use of was is incorrect.

Oppenheimer1945 · Answer

Why are we eliminating A? Is this rule still ironclad in today's era? " for learning" vs "to learn". D has a meaning diff from A.

GMATNinja · Answer

Indeed, (D) and (A) are slightly different in meaning.

In (A), the past tense verb "was" makes it sound as though the language WAS nearly forgotten at some point in the past So does that mean that the language is alive and well today? If so, why are young members of the tribe using computers to learn it (as opposed to, say, just learning it from other people in the tribe)?

The meaning implied by (D) makes more sense: the youngsters are using computers to learn a nearly forgotten language If the language is nearly forgotten, then it probably isn't spoken or taught by many people in the tribe. That suggests that it would be hard to learn the language without help from computers.

Remember, there's nothing special about choice (A), and we certainly don't have to stick to the meaning suggested by choice (A).

Are there ironclad rules when it comes to idioms? Not really. And even if they were, trying to memorizing them all would be a waste of time and brainpower. Luckily, this is a very old question, and the GMAT seems to have gradually shifted away from relying on idioms as a decision point. For more on idioms, check out our  no-BS guide to GMAT idioms .

I hope that helps!

On a Chippewa reservation in Wisconsin, young members of the tribe are

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On a Chippewa reservation in Wisconsin, young members of the tribe are

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