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02 Jul 2019, 10:42
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E
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
35%
(medium)
Question Stats:
71% (01:34) correct
29%
(01:48)
wrong
based on 901
sessions
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In a move that delighted their shareholders as much as distressed their competitors, the two shipping companies decided to merge, and this led to the formation of the second largest shipping company in the world.
(A) In a move that delighted their shareholders as much as distressed their competitors, the two shipping companies decided to merge, and this led
(B) In a delightful move for their shareholders and a distressful one for their competitors, it has been decided by the two shipping companies to merge, leading
(C) In a move delighting their shareholders as much as distressing their competitors, the two shipping companies decided to merge, which led
(D) The two shipping companies, in a move that delighted their shareholders and distressed their competitors, decided to merge and to lead
(E) In a move that delighted their shareholders as much as it distressed their competitors, the two shipping companies decided to merge, leading
02 Jul 2019, 10:46
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OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
THE PROMPT
In a move that delighted their shareholders as much as distressed their competitors, the two shipping companies decided to merge, and this led to the formation of the second largest shipping company in the world.
THE OPTIONS
The opening clause is trying to make two things equal: the delight of the shareholders and the distress of the competitors.
The use of the phrase as much as necessitates the use of the noun move before both the things being compared; repeating the noun move would be awkward, so we need an it before distressed to get the comparison correct.
To keep the comparison parallel, we need the move delighted the shareholders as much asit [the move] distressed the competitors.
• THIS without a clear reference is almost always wrong.
-- Typically, GMAC requires "this" to "point" to a noun: this red chair near me, not that white couch on the other side of the room. (that, used in this way, is also a demonstrative adjective)
-- For the first time that I know of, OG 2020 published a question in which THIS was a standalone pronoun rather than (grammar Nazi here
) a demonstrative adjective.
-- That is, GMAC allowed THIS to refer to a situation described but not actually named by a noun.
Spoiler alert: if you click on the link, the correct answer to a new official question is revealed
You can find that official question HERE
-- although introductory prepositional phrases have many fewer restrictions than other kinds of introductory phrases (see examples of those restrictions in this post), we go by meaning. The intro modifies the two shipping companies; the companies should be the subject of the subsequent clause
• passive voice is not automatically wrong
• if you want to be conservative, KEEP and compare
• PARALLELISM - as is the case in A, we need an IT (the move) before distressing, but "it distressing" is not grammatical.
• WHICH cannot modify the action of the entire preceding clause
Really, they decided to do just one thing—merge—and merging, in turn, led to the formation of the world’s second largest shipping company.
• leading is a participial modifier (comma + verbING) that correctly modifies the entire preceding clause
Compare (B) to (E). Option B is not as clear and its passive voice is not as effective.
ANSWER E
COMMENTS
Hmm. Interesting. No one mentioned parallelism, although everyone picked the correct answer, which uses IT.
as much as is a parallelism marker.
I am glad to see that people picked up on the problem with (D).
I thought it would throw people. Apparently not.
Good and full explanations get kudos.
I am about to post questions for Wednesday, 7/3. (Pacific Daylight Time )
Project SC Butler: Day 132: Sentence Correction (SC2)
THE PROMPT
In a move that delighted their shareholders as much as distressed their competitors, the two shipping companies decided to merge, and this led to the formation of the second largest shipping company in the world.
THE OPTIONS
Quote:
• PARALLELISM - we need an IT
The opening clause is trying to make two things equal: the delight of the shareholders and the distress of the competitors.
The use of the phrase as much as necessitates the use of the noun move before both the things being compared; repeating the noun move would be awkward, so we need an it before distressed to get the comparison correct.
To keep the comparison parallel, we need the move delighted the shareholders as much asit [the move] distressed the competitors.
• THIS without a clear reference is almost always wrong.
-- Typically, GMAC requires "this" to "point" to a noun: this red chair near me, not that white couch on the other side of the room. (that, used in this way, is also a demonstrative adjective)
-- For the first time that I know of, OG 2020 published a question in which THIS was a standalone pronoun rather than (grammar Nazi here
) a demonstrative adjective. -- That is, GMAC allowed THIS to refer to a situation described but not actually named by a noun.
Spoiler alert: if you click on the link, the correct answer to a new official question is revealed
You can find that official question HERE
Quote:
• modifier error - the introduction says THEIR. The introduction refers to the two shipping companies, but the subject of the subsequent clause is IT.
-- although introductory prepositional phrases have many fewer restrictions than other kinds of introductory phrases (see examples of those restrictions in this post), we go by meaning. The intro modifies the two shipping companies; the companies should be the subject of the subsequent clause
• passive voice is not automatically wrong
• if you want to be conservative, KEEP and compare
Quote:
• The phrase move delighting their shareholders as much as distressing their competitors is not very clear and makes parallelism impossible to achieve.
• PARALLELISM - as is the case in A, we need an IT (the move) before distressing, but "it distressing" is not grammatical.
• WHICH cannot modify the action of the entire preceding clause
Quote:
• MEANING: This sentence suggests that the two shipping companies decided to do two things: to merge and to lead.
Really, they decided to do just one thing—merge—and merging, in turn, led to the formation of the world’s second largest shipping company.
Quote:
• No errors
• leading is a participial modifier (comma + verbING) that correctly modifies the entire preceding clause
Compare (B) to (E). Option B is not as clear and its passive voice is not as effective.
ANSWER E
COMMENTS
Hmm. Interesting. No one mentioned parallelism, although everyone picked the correct answer, which uses IT.
as much as is a parallelism marker.
I am glad to see that people picked up on the problem with (D).
I thought it would throw people. Apparently not.
Good and full explanations get kudos.
I am about to post questions for Wednesday, 7/3. (Pacific Daylight Time )
General Discussion
XyLan
ESMT Berlin School Moderator
Joined: 16 Jun 2018
Last visit: 15 Apr 2026
Posts: 240
Given Kudos: 104
Status:The darker the night, the nearer the dawn!
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Schools: ESMT Jan21 (A$) WHU MBA (WL) (A$) Smurfit "21 (A)
GMAT 1: 640 Q50 V25
GMAT 2: 680 Q50 V32
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02 Jul 2019, 11:56
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generis
Sentence Structure
Subject - Verb:
- In a move that( move) delighted their shareholders as much as it( move) distressed their competitors,
- leading to the formation of the second largest shipping company in the world.
Issues:
- The option-A sounds good and is correct in colloquial english.
However, the phrase this led is INCORRECT because the usage of this demands a subject for the action( led) that is taking place.
- this led ------> This WHAT?
What entity led to this - an action, the merger, the move or the intent of the two companies.
- We simply CANNOT assume this merger led ...
- For the Grammar Nazi
: -- This is a demonstrative pronoun.
Pronouns that point to specific things: this, that, these, and those, as in “This is an apple,” “Those are boys,” or “Take these to the clerk.”
The same words are used as demonstrative adjectives when they modify nouns or pronouns: “this apple,” “those boys.
Answer choice analysis:
- (A) In a move that delighted their shareholders as much as distressed their competitors, the two shipping companies decided to merge, and this led
- - Structure issue
(B) In a delightful move for their shareholders and a distressful one for their competitors, it has been decided by the two shipping companies to merge, leading
- - The result of leading need to be performed by the companies. Thus, the passive voice is INCORRECT.
- The modifier( In a delightful move for their shareholders ... ) should modify the companies, NOT it( the placeholder-noun )
(C) In a move delighting their shareholders as much as distressing their competitors, the two shipping companies decided to merge, which led
- - "which" is a relative-noun-modifier, which CANNOT modify action/verbs( to merge).
Notice, how effortlessly the underlined which has been used to refer to the noun( relative-noun-modifier).
(D) The two shipping companies, in a move that delighted their shareholders and distressed their competitors, decided to merge and to lead
- - Gramatically correct. However, meaning change: Unsolicited simultaneous actions - to merge and to lead
(E) In a move that delighted their shareholders as much as it distressed their competitors, the two shipping companies decided to merge, leading
- Nice and easy. E is the champ!
