Pack 17 Q5: The city decided to offer free compost pickup...

Question

Pack 17, Question 5 of 5:

The city decided to offer free compost pickup services at every residence within the city limits,  with the goal of reducing the number of bags of trash which Waste Management picks up each year by 15%.

A. with the goal of reducing the number of bags of trash which Waste Management picks up each year by 15%.

B. with the goal to reduce the number of bags of trash that Waste Management pick up each year by 15%.

C. with the goal of reducing the number of bags of trash that Waste Management pick up each year by 15%.

D. with the goal of reducing the number of bags of trash that Waste Management picks up each year by 15%.

E. with the goal to reduce Waste Management and the number of bags of trash, which are picked up each year, by 15%.

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nghiabui2012 · Answer

I think the answer should be A.
I prefer " with the goal of reducing ' => B and E are eliminated.
C : the verb " pick " should be singular => eliminated. 
I prefer answer A than D because I think " which " could be preferable in this situation.

Brian30116 · Answer

A,C,D all contain "with the goal  of ". 
A:seems no problem
C:"Management   pick   up", the verb is plural but the subject is singular.
D:seems no problem
=====
then go to B&E
B:"Management   pick   up", the verb is plural but the subject is singular.
E:"reduce Waste Management   and   the number of bags of trash", change the meaning to   reduce two things  
=====
So now we left A&D,
The only different between these two sentences is the use of "which"&"that",
D:"that" is not as concise as "which", the original meaning of the sentence is "trash  picked up by Waste Management ".
Finally, the answer is  A .

Ranasaymon · Answer

1. 'with the goal of' vs 'with the goal to'

=>With the goal of(correct idiom)
Eliminate options B and E

2. That vs which

=>In GMAT, which can't be used without comma(,) because 'which' is not a vital modifier. That is a vital noun modifier and used without comma. 
Eliminate option A

3. 'Waste Management picks up' vs 'Waste Management pick up'

=>Waste Management(singular)..picks up(singular verb) 
Eliminate option C

Option D is the correct answer

HoneyLemon · Answer

imo ,  D

The city decided to offer free compost pickup services at every residence within the city limits,  with the goal of reducing the number of bags of trash which Waste Management picks up each year by 15%.

A. with the goal of reducing the number of bags of trash which Waste Management picks up each year by 15%.
 1.Which is used as a non-essential modifier .

B. with the goal to reduce the number of bags of trash that Waste Management pick up each year by 15%.
 
 1. goal to  is unidiomatic

C. with the goal of reducing the number of bags of trash that Waste Management pick up each year by 15%.
 
 1.Waste Management pick up-- SV error . WM is singular ..

D. with the goal of reducing the number of bags of trash that Waste Management picks up each year by 15%.
 -- Correct  
 
E. with the goal to reduce Waste Management and the number of bags of trash, which are picked up each year, by 15%.
 1.Meaning error . goal to reduce Waste Management has no meaning . 
 2. goal to  is unidiomatic

Varunsawhney8 · Answer

Pack 17, Question 5 of 5:

The city decided to offer free compost pickup services at every residence within the city limits,  with the goal of reducing the number of bags of trash which Waste Management picks up each year by 15%.

A. with the goal of reducing the number of bags of trash  which  Waste Management picks up each year by 15%.

Incorrect use of which

B. with the goal to reduce the number of bags of trash that  Waste Management   pick  up each year by 15%.

Waste management- singular, so it should be picks

C. with the goal of reducing the number of bags of trash that  Waste Management   pick  up each year by 15%.

Waste management- singular, so it should be picks

D. with the goal of reducing the number of bags of trash that Waste Management picks up each year by 15%.
No Error

E. with the goal to reduce  Waste Management and the number of bags of trash , which are picked up each year, by 15%.

Incorrect Sentence formation

nothing345 · Answer

Question stem: The city decided to offer free compost pickup services at every residence within the city limits

Split 1: with goal of vs. with the goal to

The former is the correct idiomatic usage. So we eliminate B and E.

B. with the goal to reduce the number of bags of trash that Waste Management pick up each year by 15%.

E. with the goal to reduce Waste Management and the number of bags of trash, which are picked up each year, by 15%.

Split 2 - Subject-verb agreement mistakes and modifier errors

A. with the goal of reducing the number of bags of trash which Waste Management picks up each year by 15%. 
Which preceded by a comma is used for non-essential modifiers. This changes the meaning of the sentence.

C. with the goal of reducing the number of bags of trash that Waste Management pick up each year by 15%. 
Waste Management is singular so using the plural form 'pick up' is incorrect.

D. with the goal of reducing the number of bags of trash that Waste Management picks up each year by 15%. 
This is our answer. Corrects all mistakes and has a clear, concise meaning. The use of that is appropriate. The trash bags that Waste Mgmt is responsible for are singled out.

PoojanB · Answer

Few points that can be deciding factor for this one 1) With the- goal of/ goal to- --So we can eliminate B& E right away. 2) Management being a singular noun needs a singular verb- so picks up / pick up - B, C is gone too( though we have already eliminated B earlier.

) 3) Meaning- goal is only to reduce Number of bags and not Waste Management and the number of bags of trash - E is out too.(Again!!!.) SO by POE mentioned above, we are left with only A & D Now In A&D we have which / that split 4) which+comma - is for non-essential modifier. The reason not to use which+comma should not be used is that the information regarding trash bags is essential part. so That without comma will be a proper choice Wrong as per the point no4. Wrong for the reasons mentioned in point -1 & 2 Wrong for the reason mentioned in point-2 Correct Choice Wrong choice as mentioned above in point 1 & 3. EMPOWERgmatVerbal - Manhattan guide says "GMAT has acknowledged that this which/that differentiation is controversial, so the GMAT is unlikely to make this distinction the make-or-break issue for any answer choice."- but here A&D are differ solely on this split(or is it so that A doesn't have comma before which making it a wrong choice?)

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Official Explanation

The city decided to offer free compost pickup services at every residence within the city limits,  with the goal of reducing the number of bags of trash which Waste Management picks up each year by 15%.

A.  with the goal of reducing  the number of bags of trash  which  Waste Management  picks up  each year by 15%.

B.  with the goal to reduce  the number of bags of trash  that  Waste Management  pick up  each year by 15%.

C.  with the goal of reducing  the number of bags of trash  that  Waste Management  pick up  each year by 15%.

D.  with the goal of reducing  the number of bags of trash  that  Waste Management  picks up  each year by 15%.

E.  with the goal to reduce  Waste Management and the number of bags of trash,  which  are  picked up  each year, by 15%.

After a quick glance over the options, we have a few key areas we can focus on:

1. with the goal of reducing / with the goal to reduce (Idioms)
2. which vs. that
3. picks up / pick up / picked up (Verb Tense)

Let’s go ahead and start with #1 in our list.  The proper idiom in this case is “with the goal  of verb+ing .” The phrase “with the goal  to verb ” is incorrect. Let’s eliminate any that don’t follow the proper idiom format:

A. with the goal  of reducing  the number of bags of trash which Waste Management picks up each year by 15%.

B. with the goal  to reduce  the number of bags of trash that Waste Management pick up each year by 15%.

C. with the goal  of reducing  the number of bags of trash that Waste Management pick up each year by 15%.

D. with the goal  of reducing  the number of bags of trash that Waste Management picks up each year by 15%.

E. with the goal  to reduce  Waste Management and the number of bags of trash, which are picked up each year, by 15%.

We can eliminate options B & E because they don’t follow the correct idiom format.

Now let’s move on to #2 and #3 on our list.  We need to make sure that any phrases starting with “that” are essential information, and any phrases starting with “which” are non-essential phrases and offset by commas. We also need to make sure we’re using the correct verb tenses throughout.

A. with the goal of reducing the number of bags of trash  which  Waste Management picks up each year by 15%.

This is  INCORRECT  because the “which” phrase, “which Waste Management picks up” is essential information. We’re not talking about all bags of trash picked up in the city - only those picked up by Waste Management. The phrase also doesn’t have any commas to offset it, which is incorrect punctuation.

C. with the goal of reducing the number of bags of trash that Waste Management  pick up  each year by 15%.

This is  INCORRECT  because the plural verb “pick up” doesn’t match up with the singular “Waste Management.” Remember - company names are considered collective nouns, which are always treated as singular!

D. with the goal  of reducing  the number of bags of trash  that  Waste Management  picks up  each year by 15%.

This is  CORRECT ! It uses the proper idiom format, correctly handles the essential “that” phrase, and uses correct verb tenses throughout.

There you have it - option D is our correct choice!

Don’t study for the GMAT. Train for it.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

You were very close, nghiabui2012 ! Check out the official explanation in the comments to see why option D is the better choice.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

You were so close, Brian30116 ! Check out the official explanation in the comments to see why D is the better choice!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done, Ranasaymon ! You cracked the code on this one! Kudos to you, and have a nice weekend!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done, DasAshishAshutosh ! Another great explanation! Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done Varunsawhney8 ! You cracked the code on this one! Kudos to you and have a nice weekend!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done, nothing345 ! Another great explanation - kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Great job PoojanB ! Kudos to you! To answer your question: While we understand that the which/that split is not likely going to be the deciding factor in most GMAT questions, punctuation can definitely be a deciding factor. Many of the more advanced GMAT SC questions cover sentence construction, and punctuation is a big part of that. You did a great job of catching the missing comma before "which," so it seems you're prepared to handle it if you do run across it on the test!

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