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Noting subtle differences in GMAT Sentence Correction answers
There are often many ways to get to the right answer in GMAT Sentence Correction questions, but the right answer isn't always obvious. It’s important to look at the many (but sometimes subtle) differences in the answer choices.
Consider the following question from The Economist GMAT Tutor's question bank:
There are currently 192 states with representatives in the United Nations assembly, which annually meets several times a year.
A) There are currently 192 states with representatives in the United Nations assembly, which annually meets several times a year
B) There is currently 192 states with representatives in the United Nations assembly, which meets several times a year
C) In the United Nations assembly, which has its meetings several times annually, there are currently representatives from 192 states
D) In the United Nations assembly, which meets several times a year, there are currently representatives from 192 states
E) In the United Nations assembly, which meets several times a year, there is currently 192 state representatives.
As with all SC questions, first check for grammatical errors. A sentence beginning with “there is” or “there are” will often have a singular / plural issue. In the original passage, “there are” agrees with the plural “192 states”: So far so good. You will quickly notice the redundancy of “annually” and “a year”. There is bound to be a better choice.
Let’s consider C and D. Note that answer option C has “several times annually” and D has “several times a year”. “Several times a year” seems preferable to me, but this is a subtle difference. You may be confused by the fact that “several times annually” is shorter than “several times a year”, and the GMAT does like shorter answer choices. Is there anything else that can help you in deciding between these two choices? Look for another difference.
C has “which has its meetings”. D has “which meets”. Clearly D is shorter, not only in this part of the sentence, but also shorter overall. There is no reason to add verbs if it does not add clarity or grammatical or stylistic correctness to the sentence. Even though D is only shorter than C by one word altogether, this is significant. Your identification of the shorter choice (D) confirms the feeling that “several times a year” is better than “several times annually” but only because of the wordy part that comes before it; "annually" and "a year" carry the same meaning and are both fine, really.
With Sentence Correction questions, you may often find yourself narrowing the answer choices down to two. The work you have done to achieve this may not carry you any further. Now is the time to search for those subtle differences in the remaining choices and also remember the non grammatical aspects such as stylistic preferences, ambiguities, and changes in meaning.
Originally posted at Economist GMAT Blog
There are often many ways to get to the right answer in GMAT Sentence Correction questions, but the right answer isn't always obvious. It’s important to look at the many (but sometimes subtle) differences in the answer choices.
Consider the following question from The Economist GMAT Tutor's question bank:
There are currently 192 states with representatives in the United Nations assembly, which annually meets several times a year.
A) There are currently 192 states with representatives in the United Nations assembly, which annually meets several times a year
B) There is currently 192 states with representatives in the United Nations assembly, which meets several times a year
C) In the United Nations assembly, which has its meetings several times annually, there are currently representatives from 192 states
D) In the United Nations assembly, which meets several times a year, there are currently representatives from 192 states
E) In the United Nations assembly, which meets several times a year, there is currently 192 state representatives.
As with all SC questions, first check for grammatical errors. A sentence beginning with “there is” or “there are” will often have a singular / plural issue. In the original passage, “there are” agrees with the plural “192 states”: So far so good. You will quickly notice the redundancy of “annually” and “a year”. There is bound to be a better choice.
Let’s consider C and D. Note that answer option C has “several times annually” and D has “several times a year”. “Several times a year” seems preferable to me, but this is a subtle difference. You may be confused by the fact that “several times annually” is shorter than “several times a year”, and the GMAT does like shorter answer choices. Is there anything else that can help you in deciding between these two choices? Look for another difference.
C has “which has its meetings”. D has “which meets”. Clearly D is shorter, not only in this part of the sentence, but also shorter overall. There is no reason to add verbs if it does not add clarity or grammatical or stylistic correctness to the sentence. Even though D is only shorter than C by one word altogether, this is significant. Your identification of the shorter choice (D) confirms the feeling that “several times a year” is better than “several times annually” but only because of the wordy part that comes before it; "annually" and "a year" carry the same meaning and are both fine, really.
With Sentence Correction questions, you may often find yourself narrowing the answer choices down to two. The work you have done to achieve this may not carry you any further. Now is the time to search for those subtle differences in the remaining choices and also remember the non grammatical aspects such as stylistic preferences, ambiguities, and changes in meaning.
Originally posted at Economist GMAT Blog
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