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28 Nov 2020, 22:57
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C
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
25%
(medium)
Question Stats:
72% (01:44) correct
28%
(01:45)
wrong
based on 294
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
The reason that iron fertilization of the earth's oceans has not been implemented is because scientists are still unsure whether this expensive and extreme method can actually alleviate the effects of global warming.
A) The reason that iron fertilization of the earth's oceans has not been implemented is because scientists are still unsure whether this expensive and extreme method can actually alleviate the effects of global warming
B) The reason that iron fertilization of the earth's oceans has not been implemented is that scientists are still unsure whether this expensive and extreme method can actually alleviate the effects of global warming or not
C) Iron fertilization of the earth’s oceans has not been implemented because scientists are still unsure whether this expensive and extreme method can actually alleviate the effects of global warming
D) Iron fertilization of the earth’s oceans has not been implemented because scientists are still unsure if this expensive and extreme method can actually alleviate the effects of global warming
E) The reason that iron fertilization of the earth's oceans has not been implemented is that scientists are still unsure whether this expensive and extreme method can actually bring about the alleviation of global warming effects
28 Nov 2020, 23:02
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OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
THE PROMPT
• redundancy - on the GMAT and in good writing generally, "the reason is" and "because" are redundant.
GMAC prefers concision. "The reason that" and because repeat the same idea.
The reason that tells us why something happened.
Because also tells us why something happened.
-- The reason that already announces that we are about to hear a causal explanation. Because indicates the same idea.
-- This site, here discusses the construction at issue. When we use both "reason is/that" and "because," essentially we are saying that "the reason is the reason.”
-- In speech, native speakers frequently use "the reason . . is because." They also use "the reason why." Both usages are redundant.
-- GMAC follows the typical rule for formal writing: because and the reason is are redundant, and concision is important.
Redundancy is not necessarily fatal. Make sure that a correct answer without redundancy exists.
When redundancy arises, see whether you can find a better answer—one that does not repeat ideas.
-- Takeaway: Compare options. Which is better? Which is worse? Pick the better one.
The reason that he arrived early to lecture is because he wanted to get a seat near the front. [WORSE]
He arrived early to lecture because he wanted to get a seat near the front. [BETTER]
THE OPTIONS
ELIMINATE A
→ or not adds nothing to the meaning of the sentence. GMAC likes concision.
→ Despite what most of you have been taught, whether or not is not always wrong.
→ On the GMAT, the phrase is almost always wrong, but that fact stems from the way that GMAC tests whether or not
• that is, when whether anchors a noun clause (the situation that occurs 95+ percent of the time on the GMAT), do not use "or not."
• If you are curious about when whether or not is correct, read this post, here.
ELIMINATE B
→ the redundancies in (A) and (B) have been corrected
→ the rest of sentence is grammatical
KEEP
→ if is used only in conditionals, and this sentence is not a conditional (XYZ will happen if ABC happens)
→ whether is used to demonstrate that two alternatives are possible (iron fertilization of the oceans can help with global warming or such fertilization of oceans cannot help)
• Editor's/writer's trick: see whether you can reverse the order of the clauses. If not, use whether. If so, use if.
→ In all five types of conditionals, the IF clause and the THEN clause can be reversed. Suppose that we have:
Correct: If a free press does not exist, then democracy does not exist.
Correct, reversed: Democracy does not exist if a free press does not exist.
→ Reversing the clauses in this sentence does not work.
Scientists are still unsure if this [] method can actually alleviate the effects of global warming.
Reversed and insensible: If this method can actually alleviate the effects of global warming, scientists are still unsure.
→→ So . . . because this clause cannot be reversed, the word whether is correct and the word if is not correct.
ELIMINATE D
Concision: if you can say something in one word rather than five words, say one.
ELIMINATE E
The best answer is C.
COMMENTS
Anuragsharma93 and praveen27sinha , welcome to SC Butler.
These answers range from good to excellent.
Be safe, everyone.
Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1)
THE PROMPT
Quote:
HIGHLIGHTS
• redundancy - on the GMAT and in good writing generally, "the reason is" and "because" are redundant.
GMAC prefers concision. "The reason that" and because repeat the same idea.
The reason that tells us why something happened.
Because also tells us why something happened.
-- The reason that already announces that we are about to hear a causal explanation. Because indicates the same idea.
-- This site, here discusses the construction at issue. When we use both "reason is/that" and "because," essentially we are saying that "the reason is the reason.”
-- In speech, native speakers frequently use "the reason . . is because." They also use "the reason why." Both usages are redundant.
-- GMAC follows the typical rule for formal writing: because and the reason is are redundant, and concision is important.
Redundancy is not necessarily fatal. Make sure that a correct answer without redundancy exists.
When redundancy arises, see whether you can find a better answer—one that does not repeat ideas.
-- Takeaway: Compare options. Which is better? Which is worse? Pick the better one.
The reason that he arrived early to lecture is because he wanted to get a seat near the front. [WORSE]
He arrived early to lecture because he wanted to get a seat near the front. [BETTER]
THE OPTIONS
Quote:
• the reason that and because are redundant
ELIMINATE A
Quote:
• In this case, whether . . . or not is redundant.
→ or not adds nothing to the meaning of the sentence. GMAC likes concision.
→ Despite what most of you have been taught, whether or not is not always wrong.
→ On the GMAT, the phrase is almost always wrong, but that fact stems from the way that GMAC tests whether or not
• that is, when whether anchors a noun clause (the situation that occurs 95+ percent of the time on the GMAT), do not use "or not."
• If you are curious about when whether or not is correct, read this post, here.
ELIMINATE B
Quote:
• I do not see any errors
→ the redundancies in (A) and (B) have been corrected
→ the rest of sentence is grammatical
KEEP
Quote:
• if should be whether
→ if is used only in conditionals, and this sentence is not a conditional (XYZ will happen if ABC happens)
→ whether is used to demonstrate that two alternatives are possible (iron fertilization of the oceans can help with global warming or such fertilization of oceans cannot help)
• Editor's/writer's trick: see whether you can reverse the order of the clauses. If not, use whether. If so, use if.
→ In all five types of conditionals, the IF clause and the THEN clause can be reversed. Suppose that we have:
Correct: If a free press does not exist, then democracy does not exist.
Correct, reversed: Democracy does not exist if a free press does not exist.
→ Reversing the clauses in this sentence does not work.
Scientists are still unsure if this [] method can actually alleviate the effects of global warming.
Reversed and insensible: If this method can actually alleviate the effects of global warming, scientists are still unsure.
→→ So . . . because this clause cannot be reversed, the word whether is correct and the word if is not correct.
ELIMINATE D
Quote:
• bring about the alleviation of means alleviate, as in option C
Concision: if you can say something in one word rather than five words, say one.
ELIMINATE E
The best answer is C.
COMMENTS
Anuragsharma93 and praveen27sinha , welcome to SC Butler.
These answers range from good to excellent.
Be safe, everyone.
28 Nov 2020, 23:15
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My answer is (C). It took me 1:27.
First, between "the reason ... is because" and "the reason ... is that": We should choose "the reason ... is that" because "the reason ... is because" is redundant. Eliminate A.
Second, between (B) and (C), C replaces "the reason that ... is that" with "because" and thus provides the most concise version. Shorter is better. So B is out.
In (D), if should be replaced with "whether", as in (C).
In (E), besides wordy "the reason that ... is that", this version also use "bring about the alleviation of" in the place of "alleviate". Shorter is better.
First, between "the reason ... is because" and "the reason ... is that": We should choose "the reason ... is that" because "the reason ... is because" is redundant. Eliminate A.
Second, between (B) and (C), C replaces "the reason that ... is that" with "because" and thus provides the most concise version. Shorter is better. So B is out.
In (D), if should be replaced with "whether", as in (C).
In (E), besides wordy "the reason that ... is that", this version also use "bring about the alleviation of" in the place of "alleviate". Shorter is better.
