The Parks and Recreation office recognizes that by stalling the precis

Question

The Parks and Recreation office recognizes that by stalling the precise allocation of renovation funds for three months,  that it has prevented the commencement of work due to the onset of winter and thus has  use of the department’s workforce for other projects until fair weather returns.

A) that it has prevented the commencement of work due to the onset of winter and thus has

B) the onset of winter has prevented the commencement of work and thus has

C) it has delayed the commencement of work until the onset of winter and thus is having

D) the onset of winter has prevented the commencement of work, and thus the department is having

E) it has delayed the commencement of work until the onset of winter and thus has

generis · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2)

THE PROMPT

THE OPTIONS 
 
• ungrammatical redundancy
The underlined portion of the sentence contains the phrase  that it has prevented. 
This usage unnecessarily and ungrammatically repeats the  that  found in the prior portion  recognizes that .

• due to - meaning error
This modifier is tricky in this sentence.
Due to cannot modify verbs, a fact that leaves us with a very strange modifier indeed.
The commencement of work was not due to the onset of winter.
The  failure  to commence work was due to the onset of winter.
 Due to  cannot modify the verb  prevented .
ELIMINATE A

• meaning error
 The onset of winter  does not have use of the department's workforce.

• modifier / meaning error
 by stalling the precise allocation of renovation funds  cannot modify  the onset of winter. 
After the introduction, the next thing we should be reading about is  The Parks and Recreation Office  or the pronoun  it .
ELIMINATE B

• verb tense error
→  is having,  present progressive, is not the appropriate verb tense.
Present progressive (or present continuous) is used to convey events that are ongoing—that are happening right now.

The usage of present progressive is partly idiomatic.
 Wrong:  She is having the flu.
 Correct:  She has the flu.

Simple present tense  has  conveys the correct meaning.
 Is having  is rarely used in formal writing.

ELIMINATE C (or keep it and look for a better answer)

• verb tense error
Same problem as that in option C

• modifier / meaning error
 by stalling the precise allocation of renovation funds  cannot modify  the onset of winter. 
After the introduction, the next thing we should be reading about is  The Parks and Recreation Office  or the pronoun  it .
ELIMINATE D

• I do not see any errors
•  that  is not repeated
• the correct verb tense is used (simple present,  has )
• meaning is clear

The answer is E.

COMMENTS

Some of you were not fond of  has use of. 
The construction is rare but not wrong.
The verb is  has , as in  possesses,  but it would be very strange to use  possesses  in this instance.
What does the P & R Dept have? The use of the department's workforce. (The latter is the direct object of the verb.)

The verb  can use  would not work well in this context because  can  conveys ability.
Yes, the department has the ability to use the department's workforce, but the department kinda  stole  that ability to use the workforce. Can use, in short, whitewashes the manipulativeness of the department.

These answers are excellent.
 aarkay87  , I am bumping you to Best Community Reply.

Nice work, everyone!

aarkay87 · Answer

My Process of elimination:

Option-A: 
1) ‘Due to’ is a noun modifier AND we are looking to modify the verb
2) Repetition of THAT in clause “That it has prevented…’ is unnecessary AND anyway avoid repetition of little words: X THAT Y THAT Z

Option-B: 
1) Modifier “by stalling the precise allocation…” should modify the pronoun IT (=The Parks and Recreation office) and not “the onset of winter”
2) Illogical meaning: the onset of winter has use of the department’s workforce

Option-C: Notice the time marker “until fair weather returns”, so it is better to use present perfect tense to indicate an earlier action as it is provided in option-E

Option-D: same modifier issue as mentioned in option-B

Option-E: Correct

sj296 · Answer

The Parks and Recreation office recognizes that by stalling the precise allocation of renovation funds for three months, that it has prevented the commencement of work due to the onset of winter and thus has use of the department’s workforce for other projects until fair weather returns.

A)  that  it has prevented the commencement of work due to the onset of winter and thus has.................That is not needed IMO.

B)  the onset of winter has prevented  the commencement of work and thus has.............. Meaning issue. stalling has prevented the commencement of work, not the onset of winter.

C) it has delayed the commencement of work until the onset of winter and thus  is having ...................present continuous is not needed. Also, it has to be parallel to recognizes.

D)  the onset of winter has prevented  the commencement of work, and thus t he department is having
 ........................ Meaning issue. stalling has prevented the commencement of work, not the onset of winter.

E) it has delayed the commencement of work until the onset of winter and thus has.......................... Looks fine

IMO OA should be E

zhanbo · Answer

My answer is  (E) . It took me 01:49. "it  has use of  the department’s workforce for other projects" is rather peculiar. It turns out that all five options  have use of  this construction.

(A) "due to the onset of winter" cannot be used as an adverbial phrase to modify "prevented".

(B) "the onset of winter" cannot be the logical subject for "stalling the precise allocation of renovation funds".

(C) "is having" is even more repugnant than "has". There is no reason why a progressive tense is called for.

(E) See (B).

sumitkrocks · Answer

(E) is correct IMO

A) "That" is redundant and misplaced 
"Due to "is wrongly used 
"It" refers back to "The Parks and Recreation office"-No issue

B) Onset of winter has not stalled the allocation of renovation funds

C) "is having" is wrong

D) Onset of winter has not stalled the allocation of renovation funds

E) The Parks and Recreation office recognizes that by stalling the precise allocation of renovation funds for three months, it has delayed the commencement of work until the onset of winter and thus has ( X ) use of the department’s workforce for other projects until fair weather returns.

X = delayed (Ellipses)

Correct

swim2109 · Answer

Confused b/w C & E. In the end had to choose E.

A) that it has prevented the commencement of work due to the onset of winter and thus has-----> not parallel

B) the onset of winter has prevented the commencement of work and thus has-----> 'It' is needed to refer to the subject

C) it has delayed the commencement of work until the onset of winter and thus is having----> is having use jumps at me.

D) the onset of winter has prevented the commencement of work, and thus the department is having----->'It' is needed to refer to the subject

E) it has delayed the commencement of work until the onset of winter and thus has-----> Fine but has use jumps at me. 'Delayed' ellipses is being implied. This I guess works

The Parks and Recreation office recognizes that by stalling the precis

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

The Parks and Recreation office recognizes that by stalling the precis

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