shabuzen102 wrote:
Hi Expert,
I still have not got a response on this question -
What's the difference between for + Verb-ing and to + Verb. In theory, yes, I know for + Verb-ing talks about function and to + Verb talks about intention/ purpose but the difference between these two meanings are fuzzy in these two following examples:
1. Warning that computers in the United States are not secure, the National Academy of Sciences has urged the nation to revamp computer security procedures, institute new emergency response teams, and create a special nongovernment organization to take charge of computer security planning.
=> It could easily be the case that they created an NGO and that NGO has the function of taking charge of computer security planning. Another way to say this is: "and create a special NGO designed to take charge of computer security planning." I don't see anything wrong with that "function" meaning. Why should I choose the purpose meaning over the function meaning in this sentence?
2. Responding to the public???s fascination with???and sometimes undue alarm over???possible threats from asteroids, astronomers have developed a scale for rating the likelihood that a particular asteroid or comet will collide with Earth.
Similarly, the function of this scale is for rating, which makes sense. However, I can also understand that they design this scale with the purpose of rating the likelihood. They don't design the scale randomly for fun, they have a purpose in mind, which is to rate the likelihood.
Therefore, at this point after doing these two sentences, I still don't know which is which. Please help, any Expert?
GMATNinja?
Thanks!
Good question! In the first example, you could argue that the presence of the verb "urged" suggests that there's some kind of intent here, and so we'd prefer to use the infinitive "to take charge" to capture that meaning. But I think it's also worthwhile to note that this question is older than some GMAT Club members. The likelihood that a newer question would come down to such a subtle little distinction is incredibly small. On the off chance that it does, there's no magic rule -- you would just have to think about the context of the question to figure out which version would make the most sense. But again, it's unlikely that you'll see exactly this situation on your actual exam.
In reality, it's far more likely that if you encountered a "to VERB vs for VERB-ing" split, the other answer choices would offer more concrete decision points, as they do in the second example, in which every incorrect answer has a definitive logical error.
Takeaway: don't try to memorize hundreds of rules about which construction is acceptable in which cases! Either use context and logic to make your decision, or look for other, more concrete decision points.
I hope this helps!
close
14 Feb 2020, 12:37
