The Dean of the College accepted my apologies for the way

Question

The Dean of the College  accepted my apologies for the way which  I treated my fellow students.

(A) accepted my apologies for the way which
(B) accepted my apologies for the way in which
(C) excepted my apologies for how
(D) accepted my apologies for how
(E) excepted my apologies for the way in which

haas_mba07 · Answer

Answer: D

(A) accepted my apologies for the  way which 
 (B) accepted my apologies for the way in which 
 With all the talk about how "which" should be used with a noun, I am not sure about B... but this was close.
(C)  excepted  my apologies for how
 (D) accepted my apologies for how 
(E)  excepted  my apologies for the way in which

gmat_stuff · Answer

D.

I think B is also correct, but I took it off, because B is more concise.

pelihu · Answer

It comes down to B & D. I'm going to choose B because I believe that "the way in which" properly addresses the reason for the apologies. I don't think that "how" properly relates to apologies.

I'm sure there is an idiomatic reason why "the way in which" or "how" is the proper choice, but I don't know what it is.

GMATT73 · Answer

I'll play the devil's advocate and take (B) here. :-D

for the way in which~ is idiomatic

ak_idc · Answer

"The way in which" is clear than "how". How leaves scope for some element of vagueness..

haas_mba07 · Answer

Great point pelihu...

I was focussed on conciseness that I missed that...

Thanks/

Futuristic · Answer

choosing B. I just was 100% sure that D sounds very awkward...

GMATT73 · Answer

can you elaborate on "sounds?" :lol:

redbeanaddict · Answer

I choose B just becuase it sounds right.BUt m also stuck between B&D. What's d OA? And how is D or B wrong?

uguleri · Answer

earlier i chose D..but after reading so many explanations .. :roll:

...B

I wish i get similar chances to change my mind positively in final test.. -Guleri :lol:

sangarelli · Answer

What futuristic means is (B) is a better option than (D).

sumitsarkar82 · Answer

Going fro B here...

As mentioned by pelihu, B focuses on the reason for the aplogy rather than D, which focuses on the aploligies itself...

Futuristic · Answer

Matt,

The reason I picked B was because I thought of the following phrases:

"to apologize for one's behavior"
"to apologize for a mishap"
"to apologize for the catastrophe that he caused"

In all cases, I found that apologize is usually followed by an abstract noun.
"the way" seemed to fit this a lot better than "how"....does this help?

karlfurt · Answer

I go for D because D is more concise.
I'm not disturbed by the use of "how" since we coud as well use what, as in :
The Dean accepted my apologies for What I said.
rather than:
The Dean accepted my apologies for the words I said.

I've seen many examples in gmat sc where how, what, where can be used as object, so why not here...

Swagatalakshmi · Answer

OA is (B)

haas_mba07 · Answer

Great... good to know that "how" can be vague in some cases.

Do you happen to have an OE?
Thanks/

Swagatalakshmi · Answer

OE is not detailed enough .. here is the OE

 "The correct word in this case is "accepted", meaning to take in or receive. The word "excepted" means "apart from". The correct idiom is "the way in which", so the correct answer must be choice (B). "

karlfurt · Answer

Sorry to say that, but it it a poor OE.

Honestly I dont see much difference between how and way and where the confusion could be:

How did you treat him? Bad!
In which way did you treat him? In a bad way!

For me both mean the same and are idiom.

The Dean of the College accepted my apologies for the way

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