When airline carriers are able to impose a significant fare

Question

When airline carriers are able to impose a significant fare increase without deterring many price-sensitive passengers , it is an encouraging sign for the health of the airline industry.

(A) When airline carriers are able to impose a significant fare increase without deterring many price-sensitive passengers

(B) When airline carriers are able to impose a significant fare increase without deterring many passengers who are price-sensitive

(C) When airline carriers may raise fares significantly without it acting as a deterrent to many price-sensitive passengers

(D) When airline carriers may raise fares significantly without it deterring many price-sensitive passengers

(E) When airline carriers are able to impose a significant fare increase without it deterring many price-sensitive passengers

rashminet84 · Answer

not very sure,but i would have gone with E.

"may increase ...... is a sign of " doesnt sound correct.

without "it" deterring, because price increase is deterring passengers, not airline carriers. 
both these conditions are satisfied only in E

GMATaddict · Answer

Looks like a question of clarity and concision. I would go with (A) - the most concise choice, one which has no particular grammatical flaws.

(B) "many passengers who are" is an unnecessarily wordy choice, especially compared to (A).
(C) & (D) I think the phrase "may raise" changes the meaning of the sentence. The original meaning suggests that airlines "HAVE THE CAPABILITY" to do something, it does not discuss the likelihood of that "something" being done. The phrase "may raise" on the other hand, might have that implication, so both choices are less clear than the original. Furthermore, "it acting..." & "it deterring..." are wordy phrases.
(E) Again, "It deterring..." is wordy.

sudeep · Answer

I will go with A for clarity.

can we say that using 'it' creates ambiguity for the second 'it' in the not underlined part and also the reason of eliminating E.

skim · Answer

Your observations are point on. Do refer to the official explanation for choice (E).

skim · Answer

Dear All,

I agree with choice (A). The official explanation is as follows:

The meaning of the original sentence is clear: If passengers are not deterred by a significant fare increase, the airline industry must be doing well. The original sentence also uses concise language ("price-sensitive passengers") to make its point. Additionally, the pronoun "it" in the original sentence clearly refers to the fact that passengers are not deterred by a significant fare increase.

(A) CORRECT. This choice is correct as it repeats the original sentence.

(B) This choice incorrectly replaces the concise phrase "price-sensitive passengers" with the wordy alternative "passengers who are price-sensitive."

(C) In this choice, the pronoun "it" is used initially to refer to a fare increase. In the non-underlined 
portion of the sentence, a second "it" is used to refer not to a fare increase, but to the fact that a fare increase does not deter price-sensitive passengers. The use of the pronoun "it" is incorrect in this answer choice as it causes the antecedent to be unclear for the second "it" in the non-underlined portion of the sentence. Also, "acting as a deterrent" is unnecessarily wordy, and the use of the term "may raise" suggests that the airlines are being given permission to increase their fares.

(D) In this choice, the pronoun "it" is used initially to refer to a fare increase. In the non-underlined portion of the sentence, a second "it" is used to refer not to a fare increase, but to the fact that a fare increase does not deter price-sensitive passengers. The use of the pronoun "it" is incorrect in this answer choice as it causes the antecedent to be unclear for the second "it" in the non-underlined portion of the sentence. Also, the use of the term "may raise" suggests that the airlines are being given permission to increase their fares.

(E) In this choice, the pronoun "it" is used initially to refer to a fare increase. In the non-underlined portion of the sentence, a second "it" is used to refer not to a fare increase, but to the fact that a fare increase does not deter price-sensitive passengers. The use of the pronoun "it" is incorrect in this answer choice as it causes the antecedent to be unclear for the second "it" in the non-underlined portion of the sentence.

PiyushK · Answer

Here "it" is a pronoun in non underlined portion and as per my understanding it must refer back to an antecedent.

explanation says: 
 "it" in the original sentence clearly refers to the fact that passengers are not deterred by a significant fare increase.

I think it refers to "a significant fare increase "

gaurav89 · Answer

Although 'A' is the answer, this problem breaks a cardinal GMAT rule: there should be at least one difference at the beginning and the end of the underline.

NikGujju · Answer

In C, D and E, the two it’s have to mean the same thing, which is not the case. 
The meaning of the original sentence is clear: hence A

swapnilce.nitdgp · Answer

can anybody tell me the difference between ''significant fare increase'' and ''fare increase significantly'' ?

kadamhari825 · Answer

Hello  zhanbo

Though i understood option A is best among all. But it is really hard to see IT is referring to any singular noun here. is IT referring to price increase? if yes then  price increase is an encouraging sign for the health of the airline industry  does not make sense to me.

please clarify my understanding.

thanks and regards

zhanbo · Answer

After spending more than 3 minutes, I did end up choosing (A), but I think the use of "it" in the un-underlined part is rather sloppy.

We are trained to always find an appropriate antecedent for pronouns such as "it". The only possible antecedent for "it" is "a significant fare increase". While the clause "a significant fare increase is an encouraging sign for the health of the airline industry" can be defended to a certain degree, we know, as the OA states, "it" actually means "Carriers' ability to hike prices without losing customers". We could not find the proper antecedent for  it , a fact that should be a very good reason to eliminate (A).

The only difference between (A) and (B) are between " price-sensitive passengers" and "passengers who are price-sensitive". (A) is shorter. Shorter is better. 
In (CD), there is definitely no precedent for "it" in "it acting". 
In (E), "it" in "it deterring" can refer to "a significant fare increase". But, strictly speaking, "its" should be used. because "deterring many price-sensitive passengers" is a noun / gerund.

So, in the end, I guess  option (A)  is the best option among five, but I would eliminate  it  in an actual GMAT test question.

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  kadamhari825 ,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe we can help resolve your doubt.

In Option A, "it" is a placeholder pronoun, a pronoun that refers to a "that/who/whether" clause; here "it" refers to the "that" clause "that airline carriers are able to impose a significant fare increase without deterring many price-sensitive passengers".

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

nahid78 · Answer

Can someone please explain in details with some other examples the use of the pronoun "it" in the nonunderlined part. Feeling lost ...

Thanks in advance...

zhanbo · Answer

Do check the question from kadamhari825, and then two replies to it, one of which is from me.

I remain convinced that the "it" in the nonunderlined part is not used appropriately to the standard of GMAT test.

(This question seems to be sourced from ManhattanGMAT CAT Verbal Free Online)

jim441 · Answer

How to choose between Option A & B, both of them literally have the same meaning. So why prefer A over B?

I have seen in many other questions that the correct answer is of type B, hence I choose B.

zhanbo · Answer

For essentially the same meaning, A is shorter than B. Shorter is better.

When airline carriers are able to impose a significant fare

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

When airline carriers are able to impose a significant fare

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards