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mikemcgarry
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The CEO of Ergon, a multi-million dollar company, asked the consultant 08 Apr 2015, 14:25
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E
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5% (low)

Question Stats:

90% (00:48) correct 10% (00:57) wrong based on 271 sessions

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The CEO of Ergon, a multi-million dollar company, asked the consultant for an economical forecast of the entire sector, so that he would be able to plan business strategy for coming year.

(A) economical forecast of the entire sector, so that he would be able to
(B) economical forecast of the entire sector, and could
(C) economic forecast of the entire sector, now he can
(D) economic forecast of the entire sector, so as to possess the ability to
(E) economic forecast of the entire sector, so that he could

One of the eight major areas tested on the GMAT SC is Diction. For a discussion of Diction, with this practice question and 5 others, as well as the TE for this question, see:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2014/more-on-diction/

Mike :-)
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E
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The CEO of Ergon, a multi-million dollar company, asked the consultant 08 Apr 2015, 15:57
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mikemcgarry
The CEO of Ergon, a multi-million dollar company, asked the consultant for an economical forecast of the entire sector, so that he would be able to plan business strategy for coming year.
(A) economical forecast of the entire sector, so that he would be able to
(B) economical forecast of the entire sector, and could
(C) economic forecast of the entire sector, now he can
(D) economic forecast of the entire sector, so as to possess the ability to
(E) economic forecast of the entire sector, so that he could

One of the eight major areas tested on the GMAT SC is Diction. For a discussion of Diction, with this practice question and 5 others, as well as the TE for this question, see:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2014/more-on-diction/

Mike :-)
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I will go with E.

Economical vs Economic :- Economical means cheap, so that is not possible. A and B out.
C is out because Asked needs could and not can.
D is out because " so as to possess the ability to" looks awkward

E is the one for me !!!
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The CEO of Ergon, a multi-million dollar company, asked the consultant 08 Apr 2015, 20:47
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mikemcgarry
The CEO of Ergon, a multi-million dollar company, asked the consultant for an economical forecast of the entire sector, so that he would be able to plan business strategy for coming year.
(A) economical forecast of the entire sector, so that he would be able to
(B) economical forecast of the entire sector, and could
(C) economic forecast of the entire sector, now he can
(D) economic forecast of the entire sector, so as to possess the ability to
(E) economic forecast of the entire sector, so that he could

One of the eight major areas tested on the GMAT SC is Diction. For a discussion of Diction, with this practice question and 5 others, as well as the TE for this question, see:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2014/more-on-diction/

Mike :-)
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Hi Mike,

Could you please help me with this?

Actually I ruled out A, C and E simply because the pronoun "he" is kind of ambiguous and could refer to either the CEO or the consultant

and out of B and D, I chose D as it completes the meaning of the sentence.

Can you please explain why E wins over D or even B?

I know that the correct answer is not always the ideal answer but shouldn't ambiguous pronoun issue take precedence over wordiness?
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The CEO of Ergon, a multi-million dollar company, asked the consultant 08 Apr 2015, 20:51
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My answer is E.

(A) economical forecast of the entire sector, so that he would be able to -> wrong in economical
(B) economical forecast of the entire sector, and could -> wrong in economical
(C) economic forecast of the entire sector, now he can -> could be better
(D) economic forecast of the entire sector, so as to possess the ability to -> wordy
(E) economic forecast of the entire sector, so that he could
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The CEO of Ergon, a multi-million dollar company, asked the consultant 08 Apr 2015, 21:36
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My 2 cents...E

A & B are out because of economical.

D is awkward, C because of " he can" which doesn't go well with first half.

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The CEO of Ergon, a multi-million dollar company, asked the consultant 08 Apr 2015, 22:48
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"economical" is giving an incorrect meaning. So, A and B are not correct.

E is much more concise than D. C is a run on and hence cannot be correct.
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The CEO of Ergon, a multi-million dollar company, asked the consultant 09 Apr 2015, 00:11
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mikemcgarry
The CEO of Ergon, a multi-million dollar company, asked the consultant for an economical forecast of the entire sector, so that he would be able to plan business strategy for coming year.
(A) economical forecast of the entire sector, so that he would be able to
(B) economical forecast of the entire sector, and could
(C) economic forecast of the entire sector, now he can
(D) economic forecast of the entire sector, so as to possess the ability to
(E) economic forecast of the entire sector, so that he could

One of the eight major areas tested on the GMAT SC is Diction. For a discussion of Diction, with this practice question and 5 others, as well as the TE for this question, see:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2014/more-on-diction/

Mike :-)
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Answer E
A,B out due to economical
Between, C,D,E, E is the best choice. D is wordy and C does not make sense.
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The CEO of Ergon, a multi-million dollar company, asked the consultant 09 Apr 2015, 13:43
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King407
Hi Mike,

Could you please help me with this?

Actually I ruled out A, C and E simply because the pronoun "he" is kind of ambiguous and could refer to either the CEO or the consultant

and out of B and D, I chose D as it completes the meaning of the sentence.

Can you please explain why E wins over D or even B?

I know that the correct answer is not always the ideal answer but shouldn't ambiguous pronoun issue take precedence over wordiness?
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Dear King407,
I'm happy to help. There are many good responses on this page, but because you ask, I will respond personally. :-)

I assume that, after all the discussion on this page, you understand why (A) & (B) are irredeemably wrong, using the word "economical" instead of "economic."

It's important to understand that the pronoun is not as ambiguous as you think. You see, when the subject is also the principle actor and focus of the sentence, it's obvious that a pronoun that appears in a clause refers back to this overall subject.

In particular, the clause of consequence ("so that . . . ") creates a powerful logical connection between the independent clause and the clause following the word "that."
A did X so that he could . . .
See:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-idiom ... nsequence/
It's very clear that the subject of the "that" clause has to be the same as A, the subject of the sentence overall. If the purpose of the action involves the original actor, then a single pronoun suffices to show the connection. If the CEO were doing something to make something possible for someone else, such as the consultant, this would have to be spelled out explicitly.
The CEO of Ergon did XYZ with the consultant, to allow the consultant to do PQR.

For all these reasons, the pronoun is not ambiguous at all. Thus choice (E) is concise, clear, and not ambiguous in the least. That makes it considerably better than (D).

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)
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The CEO of Ergon, a multi-million dollar company, asked the consultant 09 Apr 2015, 14:06
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mikemcgarry
King407
Hi Mike,

Could you please help me with this?

Actually I ruled out A, C and E simply because the pronoun "he" is kind of ambiguous and could refer to either the CEO or the consultant

and out of B and D, I chose D as it completes the meaning of the sentence.

Can you please explain why E wins over D or even B?

I know that the correct answer is not always the ideal answer but shouldn't ambiguous pronoun issue take precedence over wordiness?
Dear King407,
I'm happy to help. There are many good responses on this page, but because you ask, I will respond personally. :-)

I assume that, after all the discussion on this page, you understand why (A) & (B) are irredeemably wrong, using the word "economical" instead of "economic."

It's important to understand that the pronoun is not as ambiguous as you think. You see, when the subject is also the principle actor and focus of the sentence, it's obvious that a pronoun that appears in a clause refers back to this overall subject.

In particular, the clause of consequence ("so that . . . ") creates a powerful logical connection between the independent clause and the clause following the word "that."
A did X so that he could . . .
See:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-idiom ... nsequence/
It's very clear that the subject of the "that" clause has to be the same as A, the subject of the sentence overall. If the purpose of the action involves the original actor, then a single pronoun suffices to show the connection. If the CEO were doing something to make something possible for someone else, such as the consultant, this would have to be spelled out explicitly.
The CEO of Ergon did XYZ with the consultant, to allow the consultant to do PQR.

For all these reasons, the pronoun is not ambiguous at all. Thus choice (E) is concise, clear, and not ambiguous in the least. That makes it considerably better than (D).

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)
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Thanks Mike.. It's clear now.

I missed the idiom part before comparing.
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The CEO of Ergon, a multi-million dollar company, asked the consultant 07 Apr 2022, 02:34
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