GMAT Prep

Concision Sentence Correction Exercise

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TableofContents
Questions
Answers
Explanation

Questions
1InAristophanesLysistratawomenareseenasthemeansofbringingpeaceandgoodsensetoa
wartornworld.
(A)as
(B)asiftheyare
(C)thattheywillbe
(D)thattheyare
(E)forbeing
2Iftheproposedexpendituresforgatheringinformationabroadarereducedevenfurther,international
newsreportshavebeenandwillcontinuetodiminishinnumberandquality.
(A)havebeenandwillcontinuetodiminish
(B)haveandwillcontinuetodiminish
(C)willcontinuetodiminish,astheyalreadydid,
(D)willcontinuetodiminish,astheyhavealready,
(E)willcontinuetodiminish
3Inarecentpoll,86percentofthepublicfavoredaCleanAirActasstrongorstrongerthanthe
presentact.
(A)aCleanAirActasstrongorstrongerthan
(B)aCleanAirActthatisstronger,oratleastsostrongas,
(C)atleastasstrongaCleanAirActasis
(D)aCleanAirActasstrongorstrongerthanis
(E)aCleanAirActatleastasstrongas
4Onestudyfoundthatalthoughgovernmentpolicyandtheindustrialsectorinwhichacompany
operatescaninfluenceitsproductivityandfinancialstrength,managementdecisionshaveatleast
asgreatanimpactonacompanysperformance.
a)managementdecisionshaveatleastasgreatanimpact
b)decisionsbymanagementhaveagreatimpact
c)managerdecisionsimpactgreatly
d)decisionsbyacompanysmanagementimpactgreatly
e)whatacompanysmanagementdecideshasagreaterimpact
5Inaperiodoftimewhenwomentypicallyhavehadanarrowrangeofchoices,MaryBakerEddy
becameadistinguishedwriterandthefounder,architect,andbuilderofagrowingchurch.
(A)Inaperiodoftimewhenwomentypicallyhave
(B)Duringatimeinwhichtypicallywomenhave
(C)Typically,duringatimewhenwomen
(D)Atatimewhenwomentypically
(E)Typicallyinatimeinwhichwomen

6InDecemberof1987anautomobilemanufacturerpleadednocontesttocriminalchargesof
odometertamperingandagreedtopaymorethan$16millionincivildamagesforcarsthatwere
testdrivenwiththeirodometersdisconnected.
(A)carsthatweretestdrivenwiththeirodometersdisconnected
(B)carsthatithadtestdrivenwiththeirdisconnectedodometers
(C)itscarshavingbeentestdrivenwithdisconnectedodometers
(D)havingtestdrivencarswiththeirodometersdisconnected
(E)havingcarsthatweretestdrivenwithdisconnectedodometers
7InJapan,agovernmentadvisorycommitteecalledforthebreakupofNipponTelephoneand
TelegraphCompany,thelargesttelephonecompanyintheworld,soitwouldbetwolocalphone

companiesandonelongdistanceprovider.
(A)InJapan,agovernmentadvisorycommitteecalledforthebreakupofNipponTelephoneand
TelegraphCompany,thelargesttelephonecompanyintheworld,soitwouldbe
(B)Thebreakupoftheworldslargesttelephonecompany,NipponTelephoneandTelegraph
Company,wascalledforbyagovernmentadvisorycommitteeinJapan,soitwouldbe
(C)AgovernmentadvisorycommitteeinJapancalledforthebreakupofNipponTelephoneand
TelegraphCompany,theworldslargesttelephonecompany,into
(D)ThebreakupofNipponTelephoneandTelegraphCompany,theworldslargesttelephone
company,wascalledforbyagovernmentadvisorycommitteeinJapan,soitwouldbe
(E)Calledforbyagovernmentadvisorycommittee,thebreakupofNipponTelephoneandTelegraph
CompanyinJapan,theworldslargesttelephonecompany,wastobeinto
8InJuneof1989,PrincetonTownshipapprovedadevelopersplanstobuild300housesonalarge
portionofthe210acresiteoftheBattleofPrinceton,oneofonlyeightRevolutionaryWar
battlefieldsthathadremainedundeveloped.
(A)oneofonlyeightRevolutionaryWarbattlefieldsthathadremainedundeveloped
(B)oneofeightoftheonlyRevolutionaryWarbattlefieldsthathaveremainedundeveloped
(C)oneoftheonlyeightundevelopedRevolutionaryWarbattlefieldsthatremains
(D)onlyoneofeightRevolutionaryWarbattlefieldstoremainundeveloped
(E)onlyoneoftheeightremainingundevelopedRevolutionaryWarbattlefields
9In1978onlyhalfthewomengrantedchildsupportbyacourtreceivedtheamountawardedatleast
asmuchasamillionandmoreothershadnotanysupportagreementswhatsoever.
(A)atleastasmuchasamillionandmoreothershadnotany
(B)atleastasmuchasmorethanamillionothershadno
(C)morethanamillionothershadnotany
(D)morethanamillionothershadno
(E)therewasatleastamillionormoreotherswithoutany
10GeorgeWashingtondedicatedhislifetotheeconomicstrengtheningofthesouthwithimprovement
ofsoilanddiversificationofcorps.
A.theeconomicstrengtheningofthesouthwithimprovementofsoilanddiversificationofcorps.
B.strengtheningtheeconomyinthesouthwithsoilimprovementanddiversificationofcorps.
C.strengtheningtheeconomyofthesouththroughsoilimprovementandcropdiversification.
D.thestrengtheningoftheeconomyofthesouththroughimprovingsoilandcropdiversifying
E.theeconomicstrengtheninginthesouthwithimprovingsoilanddiversifyingcorp.
11Adiscussionofournationsforeignpolicymustbeginwiththefactoftherebeinganindependent
WesternEuropewhichnowthinksofitselfintransnationalistterms.

A.Adiscussionofournationsforeignpolicymustbeginwiththefactoftherebeing
B.Beginninganydiscussionofournationsforeignpolicymustbethefactoftherebeing
C.Anydiscussionofournationsforeignpolicymustbeginwiththefactthatthereis
D.Anydiscussionofournationsforeignpolicymustbeginbyacknowledgingtheexistenceof
E.Tobegindiscussingournationsforeignpolicytheemustbeanacknowledgmentofthefactthat

Answers
1a
2e
3e
4a
5d
6d
7c
8a
9d
10c
11d

Explanation
1Choiceaisnotonlymostconcise,butalsoeffectivelydepictsthemeaning.

2"willcontinuetodiminish"implicitlymeansthatthistrend(ofreportsdiminishingin
numberandquality)hasbeenobservedinthepastaswell.So,"havebeen"or"asthey
alreadydid"areredundantphrases.

3"asstrongorstrongerthan"isredundant.

WhynotC?Eisjustslightlybetterfromclarityperspective.Wesay:

IfavorXoverY.

Teacherfavoredbrightstudentsoverdullstudents.

So,basically'favor'shouldbepreferablyimmediatelyfollowedby...favorwhat?

Ebringsitoutbetterthananyotherchoice:"favoredacleanact".

4"Managementdecisions"isparallelto"governmentpolicy"alsofewotherschangethe
meaning,sincetheoriginalsentencesays"atleastasgreatatimpact"whichisnotthe
sameas"greatimpact"inb,c,d,e.

Ifyoulookattheoriginalsentenceclosely,thesentenceisessentially"comparing",by
sayingthatmanagementdecisionshaveatleastasgreatanimpact(asgovernment
policyandtheindustrialsector).

B,C,DandEchangethismeaning.Theyjustmentionthatgovernmentpolicyand
industrialsectorhaveanimpactmanagementdecisionsalsohaveanimpact.

So,theelementofcomparisonisnotcomingoutatallinB,C,DandE.

UsageasmentionedinA,isconsideredcompletelyacceptable.Forexamplefollowingis
acorrectsentence:

WhilehardworkisimportantforsuccessinGMAT,presenceofmindisasimportant.

Basicallythemeaningisthatpresenceofmindisasimportant(ashardwork).

WhileBmightseemmoreconcise,rememberconcisioncomes"after"meaningclarity.

5Concisionandmeaning."periodoftime"isredundant.

6Itdidnotpaydamagesfor'cars'itpaiddamagesfora'practice'whatwasthat?"having
testdrivencarswiththeirodometersdisconnected".

SamelogicappliesforE."havingcars"(asinE)wasnotthepracticethatitwas
penalizedfor."havingtestdrivencarswiththeirodometersdisconnected"wasthe

practiceforwhichitwaspenalized.

Itisimportanttonotethat"havingtestdriven"isastructure"having"+"pastparticiple"
("driven").Youcangetpenalizedfor"havingdonesomething"inthiscontext,"having
testdrivencars".

Youcannotbepenalizedfor"havingcars"(Here"having"isusedinthesenseof
"possessing"cars).

7Preferactiveoverpassive.So,b,dareout.Everyclumsy.

8Whilereadingtheoriginalsentence,itisclearthatsiteofBattleofPrincetonisone
amongtheeightbattlefieldsthathadnotbeendevelopedbeforeJuneon1989.Hence,
pastperfecttense(hadremained)alsomakessense.

Also,Dchangesmeaning.Inoriginalsentence,onlymodifieseight(so,authorwants
tostressthattherewereonlyeightrevolutionarybattlefields),whileDsays:onlyoneof
eight(onlymodifiesone).

9"women"cannotbe"asmuch".Theycanbe"asmany"or"more".So,a,bareout."not
any"incisredundant.

10GeorgeWashingtonbasicallyusedtheleversofsoilimprovementandcropdiversification
toachieveeconomicstrengtheningoftheSouth.Hence,'through'ratherthan'with'makes
moresensehere.
11Chasmoreofalogicissue.Thinkaboutitthisway:
Adiscussionofournationsforeignpolicymustbeginwithwhat?

Beginwithsomeactionright?Beginwithdiscussion,beginwithdrinkingwater,begin
withclapping,beginwithacknowledging(choiceD)orwhateveritcannotbeginwiththe
fact.

Hence,choiceDiscorrect.