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The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft will orbit the asteroid Eros for a year, slowly moving closer to the surface of the object to make ever more precise measurements that scientists hope will enable them to understand how the solar system formed some four billion years ago.
A. to make ever more precise measurements that scientists hope will enable them to
B. to make ever more and more precise measurements, which scientists are hoping to enable them
C. for making ever more precise measurements, and scientists hope that they will be able to
D. with the purpose of making more precise measurements than ever, and which scientists hope will enable them to
E. in order to make more precise measurements than it ever did, and scientists are hoping they will be able to
this should be (a).
apoorva_srivastva wrote:
The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft will orbit the asteroid Eros for a year, slowly moving closer to the surface of the object to make ever more precise measurements that scientists hope will enable them to understand how the solar system formed some four billion years ago.
A. to make ever more precise measurements that scientists hope will enable them to
* "ever more..." is an acceptable idiomatic expression. its meaning is roughly the same as that of "increasingly" or "more and more".
in fact, "ever more" is the BEST way to write this. see "extra credit", below.
* "scientists hope" is interjected here in much the same way as "i think" would. (i have NO IDEA what the name of this sort of construction is ... sorry)
example:
here is a dish that i think will please your palate.
...has the same grammar as
here is a dish that will please your palate.
* "them" refers to "scientists". (if you actually omitted "scientists hope", then you would have to replace "them" by "scientists".)
Quote:
B. to make ever more and more precise measurements, which scientists are hoping to enable them
* REDUNDANCY: you can't combine 2 idioms that mean the same thing.
you say EITHER "ever more" OR "more and more", but not both.
this is a common theme on the gmat. i've also seen other examples of the same thing, such as "both X and also Y".
* "measurements, which scientists are hoping to enable them" doesn't make sense. you're trying to give "enable" 2 different objects: "measurements, which" and "them".
example:
i am hoping to HIT it --> "it" = object of "hit"
[i]...the ball, which i am hoping to HIT" --> "ball, which" = object of "hit"
[i]...the ball, which i am hoping to HIT it" --> nonsense; you can't have a double object.
Quote:
C. for making ever more precise measurements, and scientists hope that they will be able to
* "for making" is not idiomatic. this should be the infinitive "to make".
* the "and" connector is inappropriate here. if you use "and" like this, then you're implying that there are two ENTIRELY SEPARATE things going on: (a) the spacecraft is hanging around making measurements, and (b) scientists hope one day that blah blah blah.
these are clearly connected, so, "and" is inappropriate.
Quote:
D. with the purpose of making more precise measurements than ever, and which scientists hope will enable them to
* not parallel.
you can't place a prepositional phrase (with the purpose of...) in parallel with a relative-pronoun clause (which ...).
Quote:
E. in order to make more precise measurements than it ever did, and scientists are hoping they will be able to
same problem with "and" as in (c).
also unacceptably wordy / awkward.
ALSO KINDLY TELL ME WHETHER GERUNDS SHOULD BE PREFERRED OVER INFINITIVES AND IN PARALLELISM INFINITIVES SHOULD BE PREFERRED OVER GERUNDS....!!!
i guess i really don't understand what you're asking here, especially given its apparent urgency (bold and colored...!).
clearly, you can't make a blanket statement about which is "preferred" between gerunds and infinitives. there is obviously no universal preference; the choice will depend on context each time.
worse yet, there are many idiomatic constructions that take one or the other, for absolutely no logical reason whatsoever; you just have to memorize these, one by one. such is the english language.
as for parallelism, parallel constructions should just be ... parallel. if one half of a parallel construction features a gerund, then so should the other half. if one half features an infinitive, then so should the other half.
--
EXTRA CREDIT:
"ever more" is a bit of an obscure construction. BUT it is the BEST construction to use here, because it is STRICTLY AN ADVERB.
here's what i mean:
if i write "more precise measurements", that's ambiguous. it can mean one of two things:
more precise measurements (in which "more" is an ADJECTIVE -- i.e., a greater number of precise measurements);
or
more precise measurements (in which "more" is an ADVERB -- i.e., measurements that are more precise).
"more and more" has the same problem; it can still have either of these 2 meanings.
"ever more", on the other hand, has ONLY the second of these meanings. therefore, it unambiguously means what it's supposed to mean in this context.
this was very nicely done on the part of the gmat writers.
style, indeed. |
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