GMAT语法补充材料（共885题）中的几道题讨论。

luoyx

I was confused by following questions. Please help me out. Thanks in advance.


Section A

11.    Marketing researchers have found that, because many residents of the Southeast do not share the same ethnic heritage as Northeasterners, the two varieties of commercially prepared coleslaw most popular in New York City and Boston are virtually ignored by consumers in Richmond and Raleigh.
(A) because many residents of the Southeast do not share the same ethnic heritage as
(B) because many residents of the Southeast do not share the same ethnic heritage with
(C) because many residents of the Southeast do not have the same ethnic heritage as
(D) due to many residents of the Southeast not sharing the same ethnic heritage with
(E) whereas many residents of the Southeast do not share the same ethnic heritage as

Option A and C only have 1 difference. A uses "Share" while C uses "Have". Why the answer is C? I can not see any big difference between these 2 words.

Section B

1.    Not all employment selection mechanisms that have a “disparate effect,” that is, that screens out a percentage of minorities or women disproportionate to their presence in the relevant labor market, are unlawful.
(A) that is, that screens out a percentage of minorities or women disproportionate to
(B) which means, that screens out a percentage of minorities or women disproportionate with
(C) which means, that screen out a percentage of minorities or women disproportionate with
(D) that is, that screen out a percentage of minorities or women disproportionate to
(E) that is, that screens out a percentage of minorities or women disproportionate with

The answer is D. However, first, "Screen out sth" is not consistent with plural "ARE unlawful". Secondly, the sentence divides the subject and predicate without any parenthesis, thus againsting the rule of LZM that subject and predicate can't be divided without reasons. Third, "Screen out" is a Verb, not a Noun. "Screening out " should be used instead. From my point of view, the correct should be:
which means that screening out a percentage of minorities or women disproportionate to their presence in the relevant labor market is unlawful.

5.    In presenting his modus vivendi proposal, Lansing implied that the American government accepted the German view that armed merchant vessels were warships: however, when the proposal was dropped by the Wilson administration, it seemed to be reverting to the British view on this question.
(A) when the proposal was dropped by the Wilson administration, it
(B) after it was dropped, the Wilson administration
(C) by dropping the proposal, the Wilson administration
(D) the Wilson administration dropped the proposal when it
(E) when they dropped the proposal, the Wilson administration

The answer is B. However, I believed D is also correct. Any comments?


8.    One pervasive theory explains the introduction of breakfast cereals in the early 1900s as a result of the growing number of automobiles, which led to a decline in horse ownership and a subsequent grain glut; by persuading people to eat what had previously been horse feed, market equilibrium was restored.
(A) by persuading people to eat what had previously been horse feed, market equilibrium was restored
(B) persuading people to eat what had previously been horse feed restored market equilibrium
(C) by persuading people to eat what had previously been horse feed, it restored market equilibrium
(D) the persuasion of people to eat what had previously been horse feed restored market equilibrium
(E) market equilibrium was restored when people were persuaded to eat former horse feed

The answer is B. While I think D is better. According to LZM theories, persuading emphasis action and lasting, while persuasion underline the result of action which is more appropriate here.

luoyx

up!

ios

1 I think share and same have the same meaning.
2 The subject is mechanisms

gemj

Section A-11
我觉得这个题目挺高级的。虽然只是一字只差，但句子的句子表达的方便性存在很大的差异。
如果是share, 就应该是share sth with sb, 但share 后面又有the same, 后面需要接as。这里于是有了矛盾，你到底是用with sb还是as sb？
用have便巧妙地绕开了这个问题。

[此贴子已经被作者于2003-9-8 17:02:32编辑过]

luoyx

Thank ios and gemj.

I agree with gemj on A-11. "Have" is more appropriate than "Share".

As for B-5, after reconsidered it, I think if "Wilson administration" refer to people, answer B and D are all correct. else only B is correct because we don't know whether "it" substitute for "Wilson administration" or "proposal".

However, I still not very clear with B-1 and B-8. Do you two have any comments?

viv

For my humble ideas,
1)B1
As bother ios said, "mechanisms" is the subject of the whole sentence, "that is" parenthesis, and "that screen ..." sub-clause.
So I think B is more reasonable.
2)B8
"persuasion" is something an abstract conception. "The persuation of people" can be interpreted as "人民的说服“. divergent phrase.
It can be understood as: it was the act "persuading", not the conception "persuasion" that restored the market.
But I think E is also correct. Somebody can help me?
Thanks.

luoyx

Thank Viv.

I'm afraid I have a different opinion on persuasion. We can get the sentence from XDict:

The persuasion of a democracy to big changes is at best a slow process (Harold J. Laski)
“要民主国家做重大变革，最好能缓慢进行”(哈罗德J.拉斯基)

We can't translate the "persuasion of a democracy" to " a democracy's persuasion" here. Neither can option D.

Also, I can help you with E. In GMAT, "When" only refer to time concept without any cause relationship. In answer E, we don't know whether the "people were persuaded to eat former horse feed“ caused the "market equilibrium".

viv

Yes, luoyz, maybe you are correct.
"persuasion" can be paraphrased as "the act of persuading". But I still think D is not correct. Maybe the phrase "persuasion of sb to do sth" is not as popular as "persuading sb to do sth" when they are the same meanings.

In B8, is it something related to the ETS's preference to active voice than passive?

luoyx

I don't think there  is something related to active or passive. Option E is wrong just because of the "when".

gabrielpei

...The correct answer of B-5 is C. Can you double check that?