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sudeep
Renowned economist Susan Albernaght once stated,as an illustration of opportunity cost, that a companythat earned a return lower than the interest rate on asavings account ought to be liquidated and theproceeds distributed to the shareholders.

that a company that earned a return lower thanthe interest rate on a savings account ought to be
- correct
that a company, earning a return lower thanthe interest on a savings account, should be
- we need restrictive clause here as we need to classify the companies with lower earnings.
- also, I think we need interest rate for correct comparison.

that a company which earned returns lower thansavings account interest rates ought to be
- we need a singular return for a company(singular company ==> singular return). Also we have a singular saving account interest rate(* at least in this context).
- note: here usage of which is correct. If in a clause 'that' is already used, then we can use which or that for restrictive clause.
a company that was earning a lower returnthan a savings account was
- need 'that'
- incorrect comparison (return vs saving account)
- 'was' is incorrect here.

a company earning a return lower than that ofa savings account should be
- need 'that'

what is the correct answer A or C, if Which should not be used, could you please state an explanation

I picked A, but I don't know OA.

In C, I implied that 'which' is correctly used, but C has another error.

Blue: correct usage
Red: incorrect usage.

What's the question?
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I don't know why my thought is saying that the answer should be E.
If this is correct, then I can provide my reasoning.
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A.

>> "ought" is "something that is likely"...in B "should" changes the meaning
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Yeah A definitely looks better

but i dont think usage of Which is wrong in C could some one please elaborate on this plzzz
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Renowned economist Susan Albernaght once stated,as an illustration of opportunity cost, that a companythat earned a return lower than the interest rate on asavings account ought to be liquidated and theproceeds distributed to the shareholders.

that a company that earned a return lower thanthe interest rate on a savings account ought to be
that a company, earning a return lower thanthe interest on a savings account, should be
that a company which earned returns lower thansavings account interest rates ought to be
a company that was earning a lower returnthan a savings account was
a company earning a return lower than that ofa savings account should be

in C "which earned" giving a additional info ,so we can rewrite this sentence as "that a company ought to be" by dropping the non restrictive part ,it doesnt specify which company in that case .
makes sense ??
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sacmanitin
Renowned economist Susan Albernaght once stated,as an illustration of opportunity cost, that a companythat earned a return lower than the interest rate on asavings account ought to be liquidated and theproceeds distributed to the shareholders.

that a company that earned a return lower thanthe interest rate on a savings account ought to be
that a company, earning a return lower thanthe interest on a savings account, should be
that a company which earned returns lower thansavings account interest rates ought to be
a company that was earning a lower returnthan a savings account was
a company earning a return lower than that ofa savings account should be

in C "which earned" giving a additional info ,so we can rewrite this sentence as "that a company ought to be" by dropping the non restrictive part ,it doesnt specify which company in that case .
makes sense ??

Actually in C 'which earned' is not an additional info. It is a restrictive clause.

Boys that are dressed in white uniform are ....
(note: restrictive clause classify a subset out of a bigger set). Here, Boys in white uniform is a subset of the bigger set of boys in different colored uniform.

same case is the above sentence.

Company that earned lower return is a subset of the set of all the companies, which include high rate earner companies as well as low-rate earner companies.
Also, the subject of the sentence is the subset.

HTH
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+ A

"That"--->Used for Essential thing
"Which"--->Used for Non-Essential thing

Here Company is essential so that is the correct word to use rather than which
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There are a few points that I wish to open up for further munching.

1. This is a general observation by an economist and does not refer to any specific company; therefore there is no need for restrictive markers such as ‘that

2. ought to and should mean the same thing and in this case, it means that it is advisable to dissolve underperforming companies. I think it is not one of the splits.

3. Return when used as a noun to mean the income or profit arising from investments or commerce is usually a pluralistic term. Therefore, there is no necessity for a separate plural word ‘returns
4. Although B seems to fit in well as per my thinking, still it is not clear what the modifying phrase introduced by earning tries to modify. If it is modifying a company, then the comma is unnecessary.
5. Most importantly, the observation that the non-restrictive comma plus which can be rendered restrictive by dropping the comma is very interesting. For me this is the first time I am hearing such a thing but I will love such a facility
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+1 for A.

Searched in other forums, OA is A indeed.
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how come that EARN is compared with Interest rate??!
I choose B
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I was between C and possibly A... but it seems there is no OA :/
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B
only B makes sense: return is lower than interest.
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sacmanitin
Renowned economist Susan Albernaght once stated,as an illustration of opportunity cost, that a companythat earned a return lower than the interest rate on asavings account ought to be liquidated and theproceeds distributed to the shareholders.

that a company that earned a return lower thanthe interest rate on a savings account ought to be
that a company, earning a return lower thanthe interest on a savings account, should be
that a company which earned returns lower thansavings account interest rates ought to be
a company that was earning a lower returnthan a savings account was
a company earning a return lower than that ofa savings account should be

help in irradicating the weeds :) ,but with a reason ..

I had gone with C. But found this post on another thread on gmatclub. Looks like OA is "A".

OA is (A)

This question is from hard SC of Princeton Review course.
Their reasoning is that only (A) correctly uses "company that ..." to specify a "restricted clause". The sentence is not perfect, but it is the best one.

I would pick (B) also, but my reasoning is little different. Take a look at (A)

Renowned economist Susan Albernaght once stated, as an illustration of opportunity cost, that a company that earned a return lower than the interest rate on a savings account ought to be liquidated and the proceeds distributed to the shareholders.


This comparison is incorrect because it compares "a return" to "interest rate". But we all know we don't "earn" on "interest rate", we "earn" on "interest" itself.

Earn $$ = Rate x SUM

Rate x SUM = interest

Earn CANNOT equal INTEREST RATE
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