The Federal investigators at Stapleton Industries have failed to find

Question

The Federal investigators at Stapleton Industries have failed to find any evidence that has suggested that the unusually large contributions to its accounts are derived from government kickbacks, nor its officers guilty of improper relations with industry regulators.

(A) that has suggested that the unusually large contributions to its accounts are derived from government kickbacks, nor its officers guilty
Wrong.
- "have failed" means negative --> "nor" is double negative.
- "that has suggested that" --> awkward (two "that")

(B) that suggests that the unusually large contributions to its accounts are derived from government kickbacks, or its officers guilty
Wrong.
- "that has suggested that" --> awkward (two "that")
- Need "that" before "its officers" to make a parallel structure (..have failed to find X to suggest that ..... or that.......)

(C) suggesting that the unusually large contributions to its accounts had been derived from government kickbacks, with its officers guilty
Wrong.
- Not parallel: evidence suggesting that..., with its.......... ==> Should be "suggesting that............or that..............."
- - Past perfect is not necessary

(D) to suggest that the unusually large contributions to its accounts are derived from government kickbacks or that its officers are guilty
Correct.
Parallel: .....have failed to suggest that............ or that................

(E) to suggest that the unusually large contributions to its accounts had been derived from government kickbacks, nor were its officers guilty[/color]
Wrong.
- "have failed" means negative --> "nor" is double negative.
- Past perfect is not necessary.

Hope it helps.

pqhai · Accepted Answer

The Federal investigators at Stapleton Industries have failed to find any evidence  that has suggested that the unusually large contributions to its accounts are derived from government kickbacks, nor its officers guilty  of improper relations with industry regulators.

(A) that has suggested that the unusually large contributions to its accounts are derived from government kickbacks, nor its officers guilty
  Wrong.   
- "have failed" means negative --> "nor" is double negative.
- "that has suggested that" --> awkward (two "that")

(B) that suggests that the unusually large contributions to its accounts are derived from government kickbacks, or its officers guilty
  Wrong.   
- "that has suggested that" --> awkward (two "that")
- Need "that" before "its officers" to make a parallel structure (..have failed to find X to suggest that ..... or that.......)

(C) suggesting that the unusually large contributions to its accounts had been derived from government kickbacks, with its officers guilty
  Wrong.  
- Not parallel: evidence suggesting that..., with its.......... ==> Should be "suggesting that............or that..............."
- - Past perfect is not necessary

(D) to suggest that the unusually large contributions to its accounts are derived from government kickbacks or that its officers are guilty
  Correct.   
Parallel: .....have failed to suggest that............ or that................

(E) to suggest that the unusually large contributions to its accounts had been derived from government kickbacks, nor were its officers guilty 
  Wrong.   
- "have failed" means negative --> "nor" is double negative.
- Past perfect is not necessary.

Hope it helps.

Bluelagoon · Answer

Thanks Mike for the problem. The answer is D and it involved parallelism involving the relative pronoun 'that'.
The core sentence is : 
The Federal investigators at Stapleton Industries have failed to find any evidence for 2 things :
a)the unusually large contributions to its accounts are derived from government kickbacks
b)its officers are guilty

D connects it beautifully.

A has parallelism error and verb tense error: has suggested is incorrect. The prosecutors have failed , it's results are out. So don't need perfect tense here. The parallelism error :
that has suggested blah blah....nor its officers guilty

B) parallelism error:
1 )  that  suggests  that  the unusually large contributions to its accounts are derived from government kickbacks" is a that clause. Two uses of that are probably not correct. 
2)its officers guilty - this is NOT.

C)suggesting that the unusually large contributions to its accounts had been derived from government kickbacks, with its officers guilty
Screws up the original meaning by using the -Ing modifier.

E)Parallelism Error:
1)to suggest that the unusually large contributions to its accounts had been derived from government kickbacks,
2)nor were its officers guilty

ashish8 · Answer

To suggest is really correct? I was between B and D. B seemed awkward where it states "or its officers guilty". D seemed awkward with the "to suggest"

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear ashish8 , Yes, the structure " to suggest " is 100% correct, particularly in reference to " evidence " --- " the evidence to suggest that ..." That's a very common phrase in science writing. My friend, apart from GMAT preparations, how much reading do you do? You develop an ear for more sophisticated structures only by reading high quality material. Here are some suggestions: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-reading-list/ Mike :-)

nhattruong1302 · Answer

D is correct

analyst the original sentence:
1. "that suggested that" is unecessary wordy.
2. The Federal Investigators failed to find evidence t suggest that A or that B. The usage of Nor changes the intended meaning of the sentence. with "nor" the sentence mean that the Investigators failed to find evidence to suggestA but they success in finding evidence to suggest B.
3. suggest that .... or that .... must be used to maintain the parrallelism.

for the 1st reason, A & B go out
For the 2nd and 3rd reasons, C and E go out

Hence D correct

The use of present tense correctly reflex what is going on at the time of the investigation.

Ergenekon · Answer

Nice question. Chose D. Past perfect is wrong because we do not have past tense in the sentence.

mango1banana · Answer

Hi Mikeyy...could you explain a query of mine...

*Yo-yo Ma,  whom according to the classical cellists of the world is perhaps the world’s best, plays in a versatile style which is ever-changing but which also employs  aspects of genres as varied as Baroque, American bluegrass, and modern minimalism.

* considered perhaps the world’s best by the classical cellists of the world, plays in a versatile style, which at the same time employs

It's a veritas question and answer mentioned above in greeen. Here , which refers to noun style.

Now a concept which we all knw through E Gmat SC notes :

In the past several years, astronomers have detected more than 80 massive planets, most of them as large or larger than Jupiter, which circle other stars.

Here which refers to 80 massive planets....

Wat exactly do we have to follow ?

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear mango1banana I'm happy to respond. :-)

First of all, my friend, I will urge you to be careful. In your post, you spelled several things incorrectly, including my name. Think about this. Any person reading this forum could one day be your coworker, your boss, your partner, or some other professional relationship. In any relationship, you get only one chance to make a first impression, and first impressions are enduring in their effects. You are an adult in the adult world, and people will judge your words & actions as reflections of who you are. In such a situation, it always makes sense to put forth the highest quality. It is one of the habits of excellence to bring the very best of one's self to each and every task. It is much harder for any student to achieve excellence on the GMAT if that student has not be practicing the habits of excellence consistently throughout his studies. In particular, when you cite any question, it is a courtesy to quote the entire question, not just the part about which you are making a point. Now, to your question itself, it appears you are unclear on the distinction of a vital vs. non-vital noun modifier. See these two blogs: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/that-vs-which-on-the-gmat/ https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-gramm ... modifiers/ Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

mango1banana · Answer

Sorry Mike Clearly , I have offended you. My intentions were not the same. Just infected by this bad habit of abbreviations and aliases in today's world of SMS ,chatting and social forums . Never though about being formal while posting on the forums. I apologize for the same. I would like to assure you that I pay my respect to people when addressing them in real life. Words might not reflect it but we have huge respect for you and for other moderators who have come forward to guide us students. However, would request you to take it easy on forums as there are people who can be mean . Just my opinion for a better life on the internet. ( Btw Mikeyy was not a spelling mistake :-D

)

grimbergen · Answer

Could anyone please check if my logic about why the past perfect tense doesn't work here?

At first glance, I thought that the past perfect tense(to suggest that the unusually large contributions to its accounts  had been derived from  government kickbacks) was a better option because we're talking about something that happened in the past, before the investigation started. But we are not simply describing what they used to do so in the past, but it is the "evidence" we are talking about; it is the evidence to suggest something(to suggest that the unusually large contributions to its accounts  are derived from  government kickbacks). So, you could even say that this is like a historical fact, which technically happened in the past, but the influence holds true up to now. So, there is no need to use past perfect tense, which indicates something happened in the past and it ended in the past.

If I am wrong, please correct me or elaborate more on this issue.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear grimbergen , I'm happy to respond. :-)

Remember, first of all, that while the past perfect is used to set one event in the past of another past event, we do not use the past perfect when other indicators of time sequence would make it redundant. For example, if the sentence says, " he did X before he did Y ," the adverb " before " already indicates the sequence, so the use of the past perfect would be redundant. See: Past Perfect on GMAT Sentence Correction Here, though, the action is not in the past. It's also a little more than the influence of a past historical event. The verb " to derive " means " to obtain something " or " to have one's source ." Consider this sentence: The Fourteenth Amendment is derived from the popular sentiment of the Reconstruction period . This verb is a present action. It's true that the " Reconstruction period " was over 100 years ago, in the historical past. Nevertheless, the relationship of having one's origin from someplace is a present-moment relationship. Right now, today, the Fourteenth Amendment has its origin from that past event. Much in the same way, the " unusually large contributions to its accounts " mentioned in this question have their origin from someplace, and this relationship of having their origin exists in the present time. The GMAT SC is all about meaning, and the meaning of this particular verb can create a unique link between past and present. It can refer to something in the past even though it is discussing a present relationship. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

grimbergen · Answer

Wow, Mike! Thank you so much for the precise and detailed explanation! I did not consider the meaning as much when it came to the tense issue. As you said, now I certainly realize that how much it weighs in the GMAT. For the first part you explained regarding how to avoid redundancy, I've got it thanks to your wonderful Magoosh lessons.

I once again deeply appreciate your big help! =)

chesstitans · Answer

an awesome explanation from a friend of Mike.

Split #1: "are derived" vs. "had been derived". The present tense "are derived" is correct. The past perfect "had been derived" would only be used to contrast with another past tense verb, which isn't the case here. (C) & (E) are wrong.

Split #2: parallelism. The first "that" clause properly has a full verb, so the second part must also be a "that" clause with a full verb. (A) & (B) & (C) all have an absolute phrase,   +  , in the second half.

Split #3: double negative. The verb "fail" in the main clause has a negative meaning. The "nor" in (A) & (B) & (E) is therefore a double negative that changes the meaning of the sentence.

For all these reasons, (D) is the only possible answer

aragonn · Answer

Official Explanation 
Split #1: "are derived" vs. "had been derived". The present tense "are derived" is correct. The past perfect "had been derived" would only be used to contrast with another past tense verb, which isn't the case here. (C) & (E) are wrong.

Split #2: parallelism. The first "that" clause properly has a full verb, so the second part must also be a "that" clause with a full verb. (A) & (B) & (C) all have an absolute phrase,   +  , in the second half.

Split #3: double negative. The verb "fail" in the main clause has a negative meaning. The "nor" in (A) & (B) & (E) is therefore a double negative that changes the meaning of the sentence.

For all these reasons, (D) is the only possible answer.

sriramsundaram91 · Answer

I don't understand something here.
1. The investigation has already taken place and the investigators have failed to find any evidence.
(The investigators have failed to find evidence clearly indicating that it is an event in the past.) Why would you not use the past perfect "had been?"....
2. What is wrong with the answer choice C... suggesting? What am I missing here?

Sidharth8 · Answer

A – double negative- wrong
B – parallelism problem, should be a ‘that’ before ‘its officers’ – wrong
C – also parallelism problem, ‘evidence suggesting that’ is being paralleled with ‘with its’ – wrong
D – no issues – correct
E – also has a double negative – wrong
 
So D is the only correct option.

PreiteeRanjan · Answer

The Federal investigators at Stapleton Industries have failed to find any evidence that has suggested that the unusually large contributions to its accounts are derived from government kickbacks, nor its officers guilty of improper relations with industry regulators.

(A) that has suggested that the unusually large contributions to its accounts are derived from government kickbacks, nor its officers guilty
(B) that suggests that the unusually large contributions to its accounts are derived from government kickbacks, or its officers guilty
(C) suggesting that the unusually large contributions to its accounts had been derived from government kickbacks, with its officers guilty
(D) to suggest that the unusually large contributions to its accounts are derived from government kickbacks or that its officers are guilty
(E) to suggest that the unusually large contributions to its accounts had been derived from government kickbacks, nor were its officers guilty

fROM meaning point of view the FI has failed to find whether X is guilty of Y is.simple
A-nor changes the intended meaning, so wrong
B-presence of OR is leading to parallelism error as Y has no verb atall (clause is not parallel to phrase)
C-Issue with intended meaning.
D-wait
E-NOR presence is tempting but listen the first statement says "failed" but not using either "not" or "neither".

OA-D

Understand the meaning first.

JDF · Answer

If B said “that suggest” instead of “that suggests that” would it be okay? Is “that” incorrect, or just the repetition?

Posted from my mobile device

VerbalBot · Answer

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The Federal investigators at Stapleton Industries have failed to find

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The Federal investigators at Stapleton Industries have failed to find

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