a GMAT sentence correction question

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Joseph Yang - 20 Jan 2004 01:38 GMT

Could anyone please help me with the following GMAT sentence correction
question?

The Product Liability Act would prohibit _________________ that the
manufacturer knew the product was defective.

c. the victim of a defective product from recovering money from the
manufacturer unless he or she can prove

d. victims of defective products from the recovery of money from a
manufacturer unless it can be proved

Which one of the two do you think is better?

Thank you for your help.

Joseph Yang

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Mike Bandy - 20 Jan 2004 03:09 GMT

>Could anyone please help me with the following GMAT sentence correction
>question?
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
>Which one of the two do you think is better?

I'd go with (d). Rewboss once suggested that it's more elegant to use
the plural in order to avoid "he or she" or the singular "they." I
miss him, by the way. Does anyone know what happened to him?

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Mike Bandy

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Robert Lieblich - 20 Jan 2004 03:27 GMT

> >Could anyone please help me with the following GMAT sentence correction
> >question?
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> the plural in order to avoid "he or she" or the singular "they." I
> miss him, by the way. Does anyone know what happened to him?

I disagree (except that I too miss Rewboss).

At least in American English, (d) is unidiomatic at best, and I'd
argue that it's ungrammatical. The phrase "prevent from," even with
intervening words, requires a gerund; an ordinary noun will not do.
There is the further problem with (d) that it speaks of "victims"
(plural) but of "a manufacturer" (singular). I would unhesitatingly
mark it wrong on any examination at any level of English.

(c), on the other hand, looks fine to me. "He or she" may be clumsy,
but anything in that position is clumsy. It's both grammatically
correct and idiomatic.

YMMV.

Signature

Bob Lieblich
FTM, MMMV

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Joseph Yang - 20 Jan 2004 04:06 GMT

Thank you so much. And my choice is the same with yours.

BTW, did you notice that in D the phrase "defective products" does not go
with the singular "product" at the end of the sentence?

But I am so dumb as to be unable to convince my friend.

Gong Hee Fat Tsai (New Fortunes for Your Lunar New Year)

Joseph Y.

> > >Could anyone please help me with the following GMAT sentence correction
> > >question?
[quoted text clipped - 32 lines]
> Bob Lieblich
> FTM, MMMV

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Mike Bandy - 20 Jan 2004 05:16 GMT

...

Yes. I made an error.

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Mike Bandy

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Dr Robin Bignall - 20 Jan 2004 17:07 GMT

>>Could anyone please help me with the following GMAT sentence correction
>>question?
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>the plural in order to avoid "he or she" or the singular "they." I
>miss him, by the way. Does anyone know what happened to him?

I've been meaning to e-mail rewboss and his pal redwine to see how they
are. I'll do that right now.
***
Done and sent.

Signature

wrmst rgrds
Robin Bignall

Quiet part of Hertfordshire
England

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Dr Robin Bignall - 20 Jan 2004 23:08 GMT

>>>Could anyone please help me with the following GMAT sentence correction
>>>question?
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>***
>Done and sent.

Heard from redwine. He's okay and moving from Berlin to Hamburg soon. He'll
be back with us after the move. Still waiting on rewboss.

Signature

wrmst rgrds
Robin Bignall

Quiet part of Hertfordshire
England

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Martin Ambuhl - 20 Jan 2004 04:06 GMT

> Could anyone please help me with the following GMAT sentence correction
> question?
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> Which one of the two do you think is better?

I would prefer "victims of a defective product from recovering money form
the manufurer unless it can be proved [or proven]".

This incorporates the (d) avoidance of "he or she" while keeping the
singular "product" of (c) (which is, after all, how it appears in the tail
of the sentence) and avoiding the error of "prevent from recovery."

Of the two choices, (c) has no errors, even if infelicitous, while (d) has
two errors, so I must choose (c).

Signature

Martin Ambuhl

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2004

a GMAT sentence correction question