Events & Promotions
|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Nov 2011:00 AM EST
-11:59 PM EST
Don’t miss Target Test Prep’s biggest sale of the year! Grab 25% off any Target Test Prep GMAT plan during our Black Friday sale. Just enter the coupon code BLACKFRIDAY25 at checkout to save up to $625.
Nov 2007:30 AM PST
-08:30 AM PST
Learn what truly sets the UC Riverside MBA apart and how it helps in your professional growth
Nov 2211:00 AM IST
-01:00 PM IST
Do RC/MSR passages scare you? e-GMAT is conducting a masterclass to help you learn – Learn effective reading strategies Tackle difficult RC & MSR with confidence Excel in timed test environment- Nov 22
12:00 PM PST
-12:30 PM PST
olve GRE practice problems covering Quantitative reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, Text Completion, Sentence Equivalence, and Reading Comprehension Problems. Take this GRE practice quiz live with peers, analyze your GRE study progress, - Nov 23
10:00 AM PST
-11:00 AM PST
GMAT practice session and solve 30 challenging GMAT questions with other test takers in timed conditions, covering GMAT Quant, Data Sufficiency, Data Insights, Reading Comprehension, and Critical Reasoning questions. - Nov 23
11:00 AM IST
-01:00 PM IST
Attend this free GMAT Algebra Webinar and learn how to master the most challenging Inequalities and Absolute Value problems with ease. 
Nov 3010:00 AM EST
-11:59 PM EST
Get $325 off the TTP OnDemand GMAT masterclass by using the coupon code BLACKFRIDAY25 at checkout. If you prefer learning through engaging video lessons, TTP OnDemand GMAT is exactly what you need.
25 Jul 2020, 22:52
Kudos
Bookmarks
D
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
85%
(hard)
Question Stats:
39% (01:28) correct
61%
(01:26)
wrong
based on 884
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
When a corporation exploits loopholes in financial regulations in order to pay less taxes than it otherwise would owe, the government is forced to find alternative sources of revenue to compensate for the shortfall.
A) less taxes than it otherwise would owe
B) less taxes than what they otherwise owe
C) less taxes than are otherwise owed
D) less money in taxes than it would otherwise owe
E) less tax money than what is otherwise to be owed
The official explanation is here.
29 Jul 2020, 02:14
Kudos
Bookmarks
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
I'll talk about the SC kind right here.
I'll talk about the human kind in Notes, below.
I seriously doubt that GMAC will ever test you on the word taxes.
But I think that you will hit a question in Verbal in which you will know only part of the answer.
From that part, you figure out the other parts.
Yes, your job is to eliminate the four worst answers, not to look for the best answer.
But sometimes elimination requires that we group answers and include what we think is correct, or at least, better.
Then, in each group, we ask, which option is better? Which is worse?
Sometimes, in other words, we will be required to rule certain constructions in and work from there.
In Quant, sometimes we know only that the answer must be, say, a multiple of 7, and three of five answers are multiples of 7.
Well, those three are contenders.
When you come upon a question similar to this one in which everything looks a little hazy, start asking yourself:
Does anything in these options seem at least theoretically correct?
Or, even better, ask yourself, What does the pattern in the answer choices tell me?
Well, first of all, you must choose between less taxes and less money.
• Split #1 - less of what?
Whether taxes is a count or non-count noun is a really, really hard question.
One very good strategy is to avoid that issue.
If you do not yet know this next bit, etch it into your memory: money is a non-count noun.
Money is a collective noun that takes the adjectives more and less
→ In the U.S., states need more money to care for the skyrocketing number of patients hit by COVID-10.
→ After 10 weeks, reporters announced that the majority of senators want to send much less money to unemployed people than to corporations.
Fewer money?
One money, two moneys, three moneys?
No.
Options A, B, and C say "less taxes."
Options D and E say "less money."
Check option D against option E because you know that less money is correct.
Hold A, B, and C to one side.
Examine options D and E.
• Split #2: choose concision and active voice
Which option is better, D or E? Option D.
→ In (E) what is otherwise to be owed is vague, wordy, and not nearly as crisp or sensible as (D)'s would otherwise owe.
Furthermore, option D uses it to refer to the exploitative corporation, the one that would owe taxes were it not for unethical behavior.
ELIMINATE E
• Split #3: compare D to the other three options
We are fairly certain that nothing is wrong with option D.
For each of the remaining options, we ask whether it is better than D, keeping in mind that we are not too sure about "less" taxes but we are sure about "less money."
Option B: less taxes than what they otherwise owe
→ Dead wrong. The plural pronoun they cannot refer to the singular antecedent corporation.
ELIMINATE B
Option C: less taxes than are otherwise owed
→ are otherwise owed by what? by whom? Option D is clearer. In option D, it [= the conniving corporation] would otherwise owe the taxes.
ELIMINATE C
Option A: less taxes than it otherwise would owe
Option D: less money in taxes than it would otherwise owe
→ RULE: almost always, when a verb consists of a helping verb and a main verb, the adverb is placed between the helping and the main verb.
You should usually place the adverb right after the helping verb.
[See what I just wrote and where I placed the adverb?]
This short post, here, deals with adverb placement.
Okay. We are tilting towards option D.
Or not.
Suppose that we don't know where the adverbs should be placed.
Then we go back to the bare bones.
We know that less money is correct. (One money, two moneys, three moneys → NO. So we must use less.)
We do not know what to do with less taxes.
(At the least, you should have wondered whether the word taxes were a collective noun!)
Choose D.
As I can see from these posts, it is possible to think "fewer taxes."
Can you really think of yourself saying "fewer money"? (By now, that answer had better be "no.")
ELIMINATE A
The best answer is D.
Notes
At the moment, it's nearing dawn. I am tired. I may alter this OE in a few hours.
Discretion is the better part of valor. Still, I worry.
First, I worry that the tone I see here will discourage other posters.
I very much understand the pursuit of excellence.
I am a perfectionist.
But I compete against myself. Always.
I learned, early—perhaps because one of my degrees is in philosophy—that the quality of thought is more important than always getting the right answer.
So, second, to aspirants who might be on the sidelines: you have a standing invitation to post.
Don't worry about who is posting.
Don't worry about whether your answer is very similar to that of someone else.
Write out your answers because you need to take the GMAT and there is no better way to learn than to explain.
Third, I often award kudos for bravery, even if the answer is wrong, as long as the reasoning isn't completely off the train tracks.
I intend to do so in this instance.
COMMENTS
In the U.S., 21 of 50 states are in the "red zone."
I live in one of those 21 states.
I do not recognize my own country, for whose democratic principles and institutions I have fought fiercely, XyLan ,
and whose political economy, culture, and history I have written about and taught. Often.
Everyone has a story.
Speaking of which, I did not intend the Narnia reference to be disrespectful.
I read the book when I was a little child. I saw it mentioned when I was looking at the Modern Library's Top 100 Novels in English.
(Ulysses is still at #1.)
If I offended you, I apologize.
To no one in particular: think about your tone.
Think about the strategic placement of that tone.
Think about the context in which you operate and the effect you might have on others. Or even your effect on one other [person].
JonShukhrat , I could pick dozens of examples of official sentences that you should not utter or write in B school or elsewhere.
Here is one: It can hardly be said that educators are at fault for not anticipating the impact of microcomputer technology: Alvin Toffler, one of the most prominent students of the future, did not even mention microcomputers in Future Shock, published in 1970.
That sentence, here is a monstrosity.
The part before the colon is horrible. You read enough to know.
But let's be fair.
SC questions are really hard to write. (Try writing just one.)
I never say "less taxes." Neither, apparently, does she.
The Times and the Economist? Both use like to introduce examples. What should we do with that fact?
GMAC does not use like in that way. Yet.
I will never do so.
This academic fine tuning does not get to the heart of this question, so I will do so: can aspirants be flexible? Adaptable?
Can they think outside of the box?
Have you all heard of the 5-to-1 rule?
And do you all know that you can guest post? You get the post. You can read about guest posting in SC Butler here.
As mentioned, kudos to all.
generis
Let's talk about strategy for a minute.
I'll talk about the SC kind right here.
I'll talk about the human kind in Notes, below.
I seriously doubt that GMAC will ever test you on the word taxes.
But I think that you will hit a question in Verbal in which you will know only part of the answer.
From that part, you figure out the other parts.
Yes, your job is to eliminate the four worst answers, not to look for the best answer.
But sometimes elimination requires that we group answers and include what we think is correct, or at least, better.
Then, in each group, we ask, which option is better? Which is worse?
Sometimes, in other words, we will be required to rule certain constructions in and work from there.
In Quant, sometimes we know only that the answer must be, say, a multiple of 7, and three of five answers are multiples of 7.
Well, those three are contenders.
When you come upon a question similar to this one in which everything looks a little hazy, start asking yourself:
Does anything in these options seem at least theoretically correct?
Or, even better, ask yourself, What does the pattern in the answer choices tell me?
Well, first of all, you must choose between less taxes and less money.
• Split #1 - less of what?
Whether taxes is a count or non-count noun is a really, really hard question.
One very good strategy is to avoid that issue.
If you do not yet know this next bit, etch it into your memory: money is a non-count noun.
Money is a collective noun that takes the adjectives more and less
→ In the U.S., states need more money to care for the skyrocketing number of patients hit by COVID-10.
→ After 10 weeks, reporters announced that the majority of senators want to send much less money to unemployed people than to corporations.
Fewer money?
One money, two moneys, three moneys?
No.
Options A, B, and C say "less taxes."
Options D and E say "less money."
Check option D against option E because you know that less money is correct.
Hold A, B, and C to one side.
Examine options D and E.
• Split #2: choose concision and active voice
Which option is better, D or E? Option D.
→ In (E) what is otherwise to be owed is vague, wordy, and not nearly as crisp or sensible as (D)'s would otherwise owe.
Furthermore, option D uses it to refer to the exploitative corporation, the one that would owe taxes were it not for unethical behavior.
ELIMINATE E
• Split #3: compare D to the other three options
We are fairly certain that nothing is wrong with option D.
For each of the remaining options, we ask whether it is better than D, keeping in mind that we are not too sure about "less" taxes but we are sure about "less money."
Option B: less taxes than what they otherwise owe
→ Dead wrong. The plural pronoun they cannot refer to the singular antecedent corporation.
ELIMINATE B
Option C: less taxes than are otherwise owed
→ are otherwise owed by what? by whom? Option D is clearer. In option D, it [= the conniving corporation] would otherwise owe the taxes.
ELIMINATE C
Option A: less taxes than it otherwise would owe
Option D: less money in taxes than it would otherwise owe
→ RULE: almost always, when a verb consists of a helping verb and a main verb, the adverb is placed between the helping and the main verb.
You should usually place the adverb right after the helping verb.
[See what I just wrote and where I placed the adverb?]
This short post, here, deals with adverb placement.
Okay. We are tilting towards option D.
Or not.
Suppose that we don't know where the adverbs should be placed.
Then we go back to the bare bones.
We know that less money is correct. (One money, two moneys, three moneys → NO. So we must use less.)
We do not know what to do with less taxes.
(At the least, you should have wondered whether the word taxes were a collective noun!)
Choose D.
As I can see from these posts, it is possible to think "fewer taxes."
Can you really think of yourself saying "fewer money"? (By now, that answer had better be "no.")
ELIMINATE A
The best answer is D.
Notes
At the moment, it's nearing dawn. I am tired. I may alter this OE in a few hours.
Discretion is the better part of valor. Still, I worry.
First, I worry that the tone I see here will discourage other posters.
I very much understand the pursuit of excellence.
I am a perfectionist.
But I compete against myself. Always.
I learned, early—perhaps because one of my degrees is in philosophy—that the quality of thought is more important than always getting the right answer.
So, second, to aspirants who might be on the sidelines: you have a standing invitation to post.
Don't worry about who is posting.
Don't worry about whether your answer is very similar to that of someone else.
Write out your answers because you need to take the GMAT and there is no better way to learn than to explain.
Third, I often award kudos for bravery, even if the answer is wrong, as long as the reasoning isn't completely off the train tracks.
I intend to do so in this instance.
COMMENTS
In the U.S., 21 of 50 states are in the "red zone."
I live in one of those 21 states.
I do not recognize my own country, for whose democratic principles and institutions I have fought fiercely, XyLan ,
and whose political economy, culture, and history I have written about and taught. Often.
Everyone has a story.
Speaking of which, I did not intend the Narnia reference to be disrespectful.
I read the book when I was a little child. I saw it mentioned when I was looking at the Modern Library's Top 100 Novels in English.
(Ulysses is still at #1.)
If I offended you, I apologize.
To no one in particular: think about your tone.
Think about the strategic placement of that tone.
Think about the context in which you operate and the effect you might have on others. Or even your effect on one other [person].
JonShukhrat , I could pick dozens of examples of official sentences that you should not utter or write in B school or elsewhere.
Here is one: It can hardly be said that educators are at fault for not anticipating the impact of microcomputer technology: Alvin Toffler, one of the most prominent students of the future, did not even mention microcomputers in Future Shock, published in 1970.
That sentence, here is a monstrosity.
The part before the colon is horrible. You read enough to know.
But let's be fair.
SC questions are really hard to write. (Try writing just one.)
I never say "less taxes." Neither, apparently, does she.
The Times and the Economist? Both use like to introduce examples. What should we do with that fact?
GMAC does not use like in that way. Yet.
I will never do so.
This academic fine tuning does not get to the heart of this question, so I will do so: can aspirants be flexible? Adaptable?
Can they think outside of the box?
Have you all heard of the 5-to-1 rule?
And do you all know that you can guest post? You get the post. You can read about guest posting in SC Butler here.
As mentioned, kudos to all.
General Discussion
yashikaaggarwal
Senior Moderator - Masters Forum
Joined: 19 Jan 2020
Last visit: 17 Jul 2025
Posts: 3,086
Given Kudos: 1,510
Location: India
Schools: Cranfield (A) Warwick MiM "23 (M)
GPA: 4
WE:Analyst (Internet and New Media)
25 Jul 2020, 23:34
Kudos
Bookmarks
A) less taxes than it otherwise would owe (stating future aspect with conviction, while the passage state the contingent aspect)
B) less taxes than whatthey otherwise owe (the company is a non living entity not a person)
C) less taxes than are otherwiseowed (past participle wrong)
D) less money in taxes than it would otherwise owe
E) less tax money than what is otherwise to beowed (past participle wrong)
One is supposed to pay minimum money when is finding loopholes in taxation system not less taxes, Eliminate A,B,C and E
Hence D is a better choice.
Posted from my mobile device
B) less taxes than what
C) less taxes than are otherwise
D) less money in taxes than it would otherwise owe
E) less tax money than what is otherwise to be
One is supposed to pay minimum money when is finding loopholes in taxation system not less taxes, Eliminate A,B,C and E
Hence D is a better choice.
Posted from my mobile device
