Although the government has taken several steps to counter the effects

Question

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2) 
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Although the government has taken several steps to counter the effects of the debilitating recession that has gripped the nation over the past six months, questions continue to linger about  how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue, which companies will be most affected by it, and what further steps will be required to recover from it .

A) how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue, which companies will be most affected by it, and what further steps will be required to recover from it.

B) how deep the slowdown is, for how long it will continue, which companies will be most affected by it, and what further steps will be required to recover from it.

C) how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue, which companies will be most affected by it, as well as about further steps that will be required to recover from it.

D) how deep the slowdown is and for how long it will continue, the companies will be most affected by it, and further steps will be required to recover from it.

E) how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue as well as the companies that will be most affected by it, along with further steps that will be required to recover from it.

generis · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2)

THE PROMPT  
 
• Issue: parallelism

The sentence contains a list of questions that need to be made parallel: how deep, how long, which companies, and what further steps . . .

THE OPTIONS  
 
• meaning error
→ By combining  how deep  and  for how long , this sentence is erroneously asking  how deep this slowdown will continue . 
That meaning is nonsensical. We would ask how deep this shutdown  is  or  will be.  
ELIMINATE A

• I do not see any errors
→ The four interrogatives are parallel (see Notes) and the last item in the list is preceded by COMMA + AND
KEEP

• meaning error
→ identical to the error in option A
By combining  how deep  and  how long , this sentence is erroneously asking  how deep this slowdown will continue . Nonsensical.

• as well as - its use is improper in this format 
→ These list structures are okay:
A, B, C, and D
A, B, and C, as well as D
→ This structure is not okay:
A and B, C, as well as D
The "C" needs an "and" before it. (Yes, even if "A and B" are supposed to go together. I've seen that pairing only a couple of times.) 
If D is not grouped with A, B, and C, then the last item in the bigger group  must  be preceded by  .
ELIMINATE C

• not parallel
By eliminating the interrogatives  which  and  what , this sentence incorrectly tries to make  how  parallel with  the companies  and  further steps. 
ELIMINATE D

• meaning error
→ Just as is the case in options A and C,  how deep . . . this slowdown will continue  is nonsensical.
• diction disaster
→ diction means choosing the proper word or phrase
→ this list should not be peppered with additive phrases such as  as well as  and  along with . 
The phrases create an awkward and confusing sentence. 
The best construction to connect a list of items is  and .
ELIMINATE E

The answer is B.

NOTES

FOR HOW LONG vs. HOW LONG

I discussed this issue in this thread,  in this post, here .

That post is dense. 
Try reading it.
Do not worry if it makes no sense to you or if you cannot understand it fully.
Answering this question correctly does not require you to understand that post.
Just expose yourself to the idea that some areas are highly contested and see how that issue plays out in my analysis.

You would just be stretching yourselves a little.
I cannot stress enough that familiarity breeds comfort—not contempt.
As long as you remember that I am telling you to get way outside your comfort zone and not to worry if you do not understand, you will be fine.

COMMENTS

These answers are quite good.
Nicely done!
Stay safe.

sumitkrocks · Answer

A)  how deep and for how long  this slowdown will continue, which companies will be most affected by it, and what further steps will be required to recover from it.

Parallelism issue "how deep and for how long this slow down will continue" logically not parallel i.e "how deep the slowdown will continue" is not the right way rather we should right "how deep the slowdown is"

B) how deep the slowdown is, for how long it will continue, which companies will be most affected by it, and what further steps will be required to recover from it. 
B eliminates the error highlighted in A 
 
C)  how deep and for how long this  slowdown will continue, which companies will be most affected by it,  as well as  about further steps that will be required to recover from it.
Parallelism issue

D) how deep the slowdown is and for how long it will continue, the companies will be most affected by it, and further steps will be required to recover from it.

Parallelism issue 
E) how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue as well as the companies that will be most affected by it, along with further steps that will be required to recover from it. 
Parallelism issue

B is the right answer IMO

Aswin12 · Answer

But in option B ... wouldn't the sentence read "questions continue to linger about for how long it will continue"
is this correct?

zhanbo · Answer

My answer is  (B) . It took me 01:39.

(A) At first glance, (A) seems to be ok. It is only after I read (B) that I realized the issue with (A): we cannot say "how deep this slowdown will continue". 
(B) It fixed the issue in (A). This is a rather long list consisting of 4 items. 
(C) See (A).
(D) Lack of parallelism.
(E) So poorly written that it can never be a plausible answer. It is also the longest verion.

ramlala · Answer

Although the government has taken several steps to counter the effects of the debilitating recession that has gripped the nation over the past six months, questions continue to linger about  how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue, which companies will be most affected by it, and what further steps will be required to recover from it .

Underline part is telling about questions related to recession. Here they are four and all shall be in parallel.

A)  how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue , which companies will be most affected by it, and what further steps will be required to recover from it.
 Meaning is changed. It reflects "how deep this slowdown  will continue "

B)  how deep the slowdown is, for how long it will continue , which companies will be most affected by it, and what further steps will be required to recover from it.
 Error highlighted in A is adressed here.

C)  how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue , which companies will be most affected by it,  as well as about further steps that will be required to recover from it .
 Same error mentioned in A. Also parallelism issue in last clause

D) how deep the slowdown is and for how long it will continue,  the companies will be most affected by it, and further steps will be required to recover from it .
 Parallelism issue in last two clauses

E)  how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue   as well as  the companies that will be most affected by it, along with further steps that will be required to recover from it.
 Parallelism issue

IMO B

ananya3 · Answer

IMO B

A) how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue, which companies will be most affected by it, and what further steps will be required to recover from it. -   Incorrect  
Illogical. how deep this slowdown will continue ??.

B) how deep the slowdown is, for how long it will continue, which companies will be most affected by it, and what further steps will be required to recover from it. -   Correct

C) how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue, which companies will be most affected by it, as well as about further steps that will be required to recover from it.   Incorrect  
Illogical. how deep this slowdown will continue ??.

D) how deep the slowdown is and for how long it will continue, the companies will be most affected by it, and further steps will be required to recover from it.   Incorrect  
Parallelism issue. the part before the comma are 2 question, but the other two portions after the comma with and are clauses

E) how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue as well as the companies that will be most affected by it, along with further steps that will be required to recover from it.   Incorrect  
Parallelism issue. As well as is a parallelism marker and the part before it is a question but after the marker we have a clause

generis · Answer

Aswin12 , you ask a good question, albeit one whose answer contains nuances, most of which you would not be expected to understand. Essentially, (1) we need "for" because the time period is unspecified and "for how long" means "for what length of time," in which case, the preposition is needed; (2) "about for" is not a thing; (3) items in parallel lists must be similar parts of speech and must play the same logical role in the sentence, but the items do not have to be structured identically; and (4) this list is a collection of WH words: what, how, and which . I agree that the word "for" makes the list stutter a bit, but that stutter is probably unavoidable because "for" is often required when duration is not specified. Parallelism does not require that the items be written in identical formats. If you want to skip the discussion of "for how long" and "how long," read → "About for": Preposition + Preposition? After that part, skip down to the bolded bullet point ( •• A simpler approach ) to find what I think is the simplest approach. A good handful of you will not be satisfied with "simple." Don't blame the messenger if you don't skip to the bullet point.

→ "About for": Preposition + Preposition? Think about the fact that about is used as a preposition in this context. See the Oxford online dictionary, here. Now, what part of speech is "for"? A preposition. In English, phrasal prepositions exist. Phrasal prepositions contain more than one preposition. Examples include along with, according to, in front of, and on the basis of. About for is not a recognized phrasal preposition. About for contains back-to-back prepositions, a usage that is both not standard and usually ungrammatical. Finally, about for does not actually mean anything to a native speaker. The phrase is nonsensical. → "FOR how long" vs "how long"? There is a bit of a squabble about whether how long and for how long are different and whether for is needed. In spoken English, when we are asking about the time period during which an event lasts, "for" is often dropped, but such usage is not okay across the board. Let's look at statements and the way in which they would be turned into questions. When specific time periods are given (durations, really), for is often not needed and sometimes wrong. Correct: It will take two hours to cook the roast. Not: It will take for two hours to cook the roast. Correct question: How long will it take to cook the roast? Not: For how long will it take to cook the roast?

When the duration of the time period is not specified, we may need for. Correct in both spoken and written form: We studied worldwide racism for years to understand its societal cost. Not: We studied worldwide racism years to understand its societal cost. Correct: For how long did you study worldwide racism? Informal, common, but probably not grammatical: How long did you study worldwide racism? If we use for in the statement, we should probably use for in the question. Correct: The forest fires lasted for weeks. Not: The forest fires lasted weeks. We can also look at meaning. For how long could be replaced with for what length of time. Correct: We corresponded with each other for years. Wrong: We corresponded with each other years. Correct for sure: For what length of time did you correspond with each other? Informally used but probably not grammatical: What length of time did you correspond with each other? In order to maintain unnecessarily perfect structural parallelism, some people might be tempted to write, How long will the meeting last for? Be careful. GMAC usually frowns on prepositions placed at the end of sentences, but not always. Again, some disagreement exists about the phrase for how long. (I am with the formalists. I think that the use of "for" in this context is correct.) Unless we are sure that GMAC has sanctioned a disputed usage (e.g. on the GMAT, "compare with" and "compare to" are interchangeable, so we need not worry about being tested on the distinction between them), we should err on the side of safety. For those of you who like to read somewhat impenetrable grammar and linguistic analysis (cue yours truly), go here and here. In the second linked page, pay attention to the discussion between Lian and Pete855217. The answer to the question posed is not straightforward. I would not worry about these razor-thin distinctions.. •• A simpler approach I think the better approach is to recognize that (1) parallelism does not require that all the items be structured identically, and (2) our job is to eliminate the four worst answers, not to find a perfect answer. Three of these five options contain serious meaning problems. Incorrect meaning always trumps what might seem like slightly imperfect grammar. Finally, can you argue that any other option is better? If so, then option B is not the best answer and you are right. I hope that helps. (Whew!) Posted from my mobile device

RajatJ79 · Answer

Although the government has taken several steps to counter the effects of the debilitating recession that has gripped the nation over the past six months, questions continue to linger about  how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue, which companies will be most affected by it, and what further steps will be required to recover from it .

Pre-thinking :  Parallelism  with 'wh' questions

A)  how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue , which companies will be most affected by it, and what further steps will be required to recover from it.
 The meaning of the above highlighted text is 'how deep this slowdown will continue' which does not make sense.

B)   how deep the slowdown is  , for how long it will continue, which companies will be most affected by it, and what further steps will be required to recover from it.

C)  how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue , which companies will be most affected by it,  as well as  about further steps that will be required to recover from it.

D) how deep the slowdown is and for how long it will continue,  the companies will be  most affected by it, and  further steps will be  required to recover from it.
 Parallelism with 'wh' questions not present for the last 2 parts.

E)  how deep and for how long this slowdown will  continue as well as the  companies that will  be most affected by it,  along with further steps  that will be required to recover from it.
 Parallelism missing similar to Option D.

IMO answer should be Option B.

TarunKumar1234 · Answer

Although the government has taken several steps to counter the effects of the debilitating recession that has gripped the nation over the past six months, questions continue to linger about how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue, which companies will be most affected by it, and what further steps will be required to recover from it.

A) how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue, which companies will be most affected by it, and what further steps will be required to recover from it. Incorrect

how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue - illogical meaning

B) how deep the slowdown is, for how long it will continue, which companies will be most affected by it, and what further steps will be required to recover from it. Correct

C) how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue, which companies will be most affected by it, as well as about further steps that will be required to recover from it.Incorrect

how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue - illogical meaning
there is no and between list, so as well as uses wrong

D) how deep the slowdown is and for how long it will continue, the companies will be most affected by it, and further steps will be required to recover from it. Incorrect

parallelism error - ............how deep.......and for how long......, the companies will........., and further steps will............

E) how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue as well as the companies that will be most affected by it, along with further steps that will be required to recover from it. Incorrect

how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue - illogical meaning
as well as uses wrong

winterschool · Answer

Although the government has taken several steps to counter the effects of the debilitating recession that has gripped the nation over the past six months, questions continue to linger about how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue, which companies will be most affected by it, and what further steps will be required to recover from it.

A)  how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue,  which companies will be most affected by it, and what further steps will be required to recover from it.  Incorrect

how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue - illogical meaning

B)  how deep the slowdown is, for how long it will continue, which companies will be most affected by it, and what further steps will be required to recover from it.   Correct

C)  how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue , which companies will be most affected by it,  as well as about further steps that will be required to recover from it.  Incorrect

how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue - illogical meaning
there is no and between list, so as well as uses wrong

D)  how deep  the slowdown is and for how long it will continue,  the companies will be  most affected by it, and  further steps will  be required to recover from it.  Incorrect

parallelism error - ............how deep.......and for how long......, the companies will........., and further steps will............

E)  how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue   as well as  the companies that will be most affected by it, along with further steps that will be required to recover from it.  Incorrect

how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue - illogical meaning
as well as uses wrong

carouselambra · Answer

IMO B

Straight cut parallelism.

Although the government has taken several steps to counter the effects of the debilitating recession that has gripped the nation over the past six months, questions continue to linger about how deep and for how long this slowdown will continue, which companies will be most affected by it, and what further steps will be required to recover from it.

A) how deep (subject missing) and for how long this slowdown will continue, which companies will be most affected by it, and what further steps will be required to recover from it.
Lacking parallelism

B) how deep the slowdown  is , for how long it  will continue , which companies will be  most affected by it , and what further steps will be  required to recover from it. 
Correct.

C) how deep (subject missing) and for how long this slowdown will continue, which companies will be most affected by it,  as well as  about further steps  that  will be required to recover from it.
Lacking parallelism

D) how deep the slowdown is and for how long it will continue,  the companies  will be most affected by it, <question missing> and further steps will be required to recover from it.
Lacking parallelism

E) how deep (subject missing)and for how long this slowdown will continue  as well as the  companies that will be most affected by it, along with further steps that will be required to recover from it.
Lacking parallelism

generis · Answer

The official explanation is  here .

Although the government has taken several steps to counter the effects

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Although the government has taken several steps to counter the effects

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