The Supreme Court recently ruled that the state had failed to provide

Question

The Supreme Court recently ruled that the  state had failed to provide some inmates at the maximum-security prison with proper food and healthcare in violation of the constitution .

(A) state had failed to provide some inmates at the maximum-security prison with proper food and healthcare in violation of the constitution

(B) state failed to provide some inmates at the maximum-security prison with proper food and healthcare and is a violation of the constitution

(C) state has failed for providing some inmates at the maximum-security prison with proper food and healthcare in violation of the constitution

(D) state, in violation of the constitution, had failed to provide some inmates at the maximum-security prison with proper food and healthcare

(E) state, in violation of the constitution, had failed for providing some inmates at the maximum-security prison with proper food and healthcare

gloomybison · Answer

(A) state had failed to provide some inmates at the maximum-security prison with proper food and healthcare in violation of the constitution
"in violation of the constitution" is a misplaced prepositional phrase, conveying the ridiculous meaning that the healthcare is in violation of constitution

(B) state failed to provide some inmates at the maximum-security prison with proper food and healthcare and is a violation of the constitution
this choice conveys the ridiculous meaning that state is a violation of constitution 
Also use of past perfect "had failed" is better to reflect a meaningful time sequence since "failing to provide" comes before "the states' ruling"

(C) state has failed for providing some inmates at the maximum-security prison with proper food and healthcare in violation of the constitution
"in violation of the constitution" is a misplaced prepositional phrase, conveying the ridiculous meaning that the healthcare is in violation of constitution
Also use of past perfect "had failed" is better to reflect a meaningful time sequence since "failing to provide" comes before "the states' ruling"

(D) state, in violation of the constitution, had failed to provide some inmates at the maximum-security prison with proper food and healthcare
 Correct

(E) state, in violation of the constitution, had failed for providing some inmates at the maximum-security prison with proper food and healthcare
"had failed for" is not the preferred idiom

zhanbo · Answer

My answer is  (D) . It took me 01:16.

(A) "in violation of the constitution" can serve as an adjective (modifying either "healthcare" or "food and healthcare") or adverb (modifying either "failed" or "provide"). Its meaning is ambiguous.

(B) It is nonsensical to say that "the state ... is a violation".

(C) "Fail to do something" is idiomatic. "Fail for doing something" is not. 
(BTW, "Fail in doing something" can sometimes be correct; "A fails in doing something" means: in doing something, A fails.)

(D) It is clear that "in violation of the constitution" modifies "had failed". The failure (to provide service) is in violation of the constitution.

(E) "Fail to do something" is idiomatic. "Fail for doing something" is not.

kungfury42 · Answer

(A) "In violation of constitution" is misplaced, it seems to incorrectly describe proper food and healthcare.

(B) State failed to do X and state is a violation of the constitution? Illogical.

(C) "Failed for providing" is incorrect. Correct version should be "failed to provide"

(D) Perfect!! Is our answer

(E) Same error as in C. Failed for providing is incorrect.

Posted from my mobile device

rsrighosh · Answer

zhanbo  
Why "had failed" is correct? I am unable to understand what are the 2 events because of which we used "had". Are you considering "Supreme court recently ruled" as second event?

zhanbo · Answer

rsrighosh , The supreme court made the ruling on state's action that must have occurred before the ruling. So, indeed, The state had failed before the court ruled so. Try another perspective: The supreme court's ruling itself likely uses simple past tense: "To conclude, we find that the state failed to provide some inmates with proper care. " Yet, if an author is to report / indirectly quote the finding, the past perfect tense is in order after "the court ruled": The court ruled that the state had failed to provide some inmates with proper care. Such is the rule for "reported speech": We need to "backshift" the tense. Read more at https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/sen ... kshift.htm.

Suraj17018 · Answer

I took 37 seconds for this.

According to me, the answer should be D.

2 actions in the past support the usage of "had", which is required to put one action in the sequence of court giving verdict.

to provide vs for providing- infinitive form is preferred.

A- meaning seems to be an issue.

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  rsrighosh ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, in this sentence the order of events is that the state failed to provide some inmates at the maximum-security prison with proper food and healthcare, and then the Supreme Court ruled that the state had done so; naturally, the court's ruling on an event can only occur after the event has taken place, meaning the action of "failing" is the earlier of two actions that concluded in the past.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

The Supreme Court recently ruled that the state had failed to provide

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

The Supreme Court recently ruled that the state had failed to provide

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards