With an awaress that there are connotations associated with

With an awareness that there are connotations associated with the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B, companies conducting consumer taste tests of foods or beverages typically choose numbers such as 697 or 483 to label the products.

A. With an awareness that there are connotations associated with the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B - meaning issue -does not actually say that the companies know what the connotations are. It just says that the companies know "that there are connotations
B. Because the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B have connotations they are aware of - changes meaning
C. Because of an awareness of the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B having connotations - meaning issue same as A
D. Aware of the connotations of the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B - Correct
E. Since the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B have connotations associated with them and they are aware of it - Pronoun it needs to refer to plural connotations ; meaning issue as A

Answer D

In (B), "they" does most logically refer to "companies," but the way the sentence is written, "they" feels as though it refers to "the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B." So, the use of "they" is not ideal. This issue is not a strong decision point, but it contributes a little to the case for choosing (D) over (B).

The stronger reason to eliminate (B) is the following meaning issue. Notice that "Because the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B have connotations they are aware of," doesn't effectively convey that the reason companies don't use ""the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B" is that they have particular connotations that make them unsuitable. Rather, it suggests that the companies don't use them because they have connotations in general that the companies are aware of, as if the companies don't use them simply because they have connotations. The fact that the numbers and letters have connotations does not really make sense as a reason not to use them.

Regarding (A), the (A) version has a problem similar to that had by the (B) version. The (A) version suggests the somewhat illogical idea that the companies don't use "the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B" simply because the companies are aware that they have connotations, as if the companies don't need to know what the connotations are, but rather the simple fact that the companies are aware that they have connotations makes sense as a reason why the companies don't use them.

Also, since "connotations" are implied meanings, connotations are by definition "associated with" what they are connotations of. So, "connotations associated with" in (A) is redundant.

Finally, the use of "with an awareness" in (A) is not ideal since it doesn't effectively convey that what precedes the comma is a reason for what follow the comma. It more communicates simply that the companies use the other numbers with awareness as opposed to because of they are aware.

B,E->Incorrect : they , them ->refering to what?
C->awkward
Between A and , picked D for conciseness

With an awareness that there are connotations associated with the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B, companies conducting consumer taste tests of foods or beverages typically choose numbers such as 697 or 483 to label the products.

A. With an awareness that there are connotations associated with the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B - long and redundant

B. Because the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B have connotations they are aware of - Change in meaning. Ambiguous 'They'

C. Because of an awareness of the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B having connotations - "Having'' makes it Passive....wrong on GMAT.

D. Aware of the connotations of the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B - Concise and precise

E. Since the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B have connotations associated with them and they are aware of it - Long. Change in meaning. Ambiguous 'They' and 'Them.

Correct me if i am wrong...

Can someone explain why option 'A' is wrong!

also please provide me 'the usage of with'

I am a nonnative speaker.
In my opinion, connotation means other (implied) meaning.

Intended meaning of the main sentence: The companies are AWARE that NUMBER 1 & 2 have other (implied) meanings, so they avoiding those numbers (i.e. they are using other numbers such 789).

Option B:
Because the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B have connotations they are aware of

Here, they are aware of is the Modifier of connotations. CROSS out this modifier.
NOW the sentence becomes: Because the numbers 1 and 2 HAVE CONNOTATION, the companies are avoiding number 1 &2 (i.e. companies are using 789).
in other words, meaning of option B is HAVING OTHER (implied) MEANING is the REASON for AVOIDING Number 1 & 2.
This is mostly nonsense. In real world, most of the companies accept WORDS which have other POSITIVE meaning. For example, why iPhone uses APPLE ? because it have another meaning (apple symbolizes knowledge). NORMALLY, when peoples are AWARE that XXXX word has NEGATIVE implied meaning, they avoid that XXXX word.

So, HAVING OTHER MEANING may NOT be the reason of avoiding a number or word (So, cross B)
BUT, KNOWING/AWARE OF the implied (perhaps negative) meaning may be the reason for avoiding a number or word (as stated in option D)

This question is based on Modifiers and Construction.

The word ‘connotations’ means the hidden meaning of something. So, the word ‘associated’ is redundant after the word ‘connotations’. “The connotations of the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B” is sufficient.
The preposition 'with' implies an instrument. So, the meaning conveyed is that companies use the awareness to choose numbers. Since the meaning is distorted, Option A can be eliminated.

The pronoun ‘they’ is ambiguous in Option B. Besides, the two parts of the sentence do not have a cause-effect relationship. So, Option B can be eliminated.

The conjunction ‘because’ implies a cause-effect relationship, which is not intended in the sentence. So, Option C can be eliminated.

Option E is wordy. This option also has the conjunction ‘since’, which implies a cause-effect relationship. Furthermore, this option has the ambiguous pronoun ‘they’. So, Option E can be eliminated.

Option D is concise and avoids the errors in the other options. Therefore, D is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.

Poojita

Collective nouns are only singular when they refer to an entire group: the company is restructuring or my team is winning. Any time we join two nouns, we immediately have a plural, except in rare cases such as a title (Sense and Sensibility) or a process (research and development). A phrase such as "the numbers 1 and 2" will always be plural. We'd only use a singular if we were referring to, say, the set of numbers that includes 1 and 2.

D.

It's concise.

Using POE, B, C, E should be easily eliminated.

B,E->Incorrect : they , them ->refering to what?
C->awkward
Between A and , picked D for conciseness

OA is D. Thanks for the great discussion!!

A - original sentence is right as it conveys the meaning right
B - they is used before noun is specified
C - changes meaning
D - changes the meaning. companies are aware about the connotations but not necessary know those connotations
E - Lengthy

distorted meaning is a hard concept. but gmat like to present this error.
look at choice B. B seem that companies have the connotations first and then number 1 and 2 and letters A and B latter have those connotations. this meaning is wrong.

but in the test room, I , a nonnative, can not firgure out this distorted meaning in a few seconds.

INTENDED MEANING:
Option B: HAVING OTHER MEANING is the reason of avoiding a number or word
Option D: KNOWING/AWARE OF the implied (perhaps negative) meaning is the reason for avoiding a number or word (as stated in option D)


Hope it would work.

mjzakaria, you can see this question.

B,E->Incorrect : they , them ->refering to what?
C->awkward
Between A and , picked D for conciseness