Tuesday, June 30, 2009

SC - Republic of Phillipines

Open for discussion and comments

The republic of Philippines encompasses more than seven thousand islands, two of them with two thirds of its area.

A) two of them with two thirds of its area
B) two thirds of their area being in two of them
C) and its area is two thirds in two islands
D) two of them have two thirds of its area
E) which have two thirds of its area in two of them

and the right answer is....

Friday, June 26, 2009

Parallelism Examples

931). While some propose to combat widespread illegal copying of computer programs by attempting to change people's attitudes toward pirating, othersby suggesting reducing software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others by calling for the prosecution of those who copy software illegally.

(A) by suggesting reducing software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others by calling

(B) by suggesting the reduction of software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others call

(C) suggest the reduction of software prices for decreasing the incentive for pirating, and still others call

(D) suggest the reduction of software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others by calling

(E) suggest reducing software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others are calling

E is the best choice - maintains parallelism - While some propose to combat widespread illegal copying of computer programs by attempting to change people's attitudes toward pirating, others suggest reducing software prices to decrease the incentive for pirating, and still others are calling for the prosecution of those who copy software illegally.

A, B - lack parallelism - ...some propose....others by suggesting

C - incorrect - unidiomatic - for decreasing - correct idiom to decrease

D - incorrect - lack parallelism - ...some propose...others suggest.....others bycalling

Source: http://gmatsentencecorrection.blogspot.com/search/label/Like%20vs%20such%20as

Less Vs Fewer

Very Well Explained - *****

Count Nouns Versus Mass Nouns


Now I'm worried that I've scared you off, but it's easy to remember the difference between mass nouns and count nouns.


A count noun is just something you can count. I'm looking at my desk and I see books, pens, and M&M's. I can count all those things, so they are count nouns and the right word to use is fewer. I should eat fewer M&M's.

Mass nouns are just things that you can't count individually. Again, on my desk I see tape and clutter. These things can't be counted individually, so the right word to use is less. If I had less clutter, my desk would be cleaner. Another clue is that you don't make mass nouns plural: I would never say I have clutters on my desk or that I need more tapes to hold my book covers together.

Sometimes it isn't obvious if something is a mass noun or a count noun because some words can be used in different ways. For example, coffeecan refer to either a mass of liquid or a cup of liquid. If you're responsible for filling the coffee decanter at a wedding, and you're getting carried away, your boss might ask you to make less coffee. But if you're a waiter serving cups of coffee to the tables, and the crowd is waning, your boss might tell you to bring out fewer coffees next time. She means cups of coffee, but it's common to hear that shortened to just coffee as in “Bring me a coffee, please.” Remember that I said mass nouns (like coffee) can't be made plural? In this example, I've made a mass noun plural, but in the process I transformed it into a count noun. So the rule still holds.

Furniture is another tricky word; it isn't immediately obvious whether it is a mass noun or a count noun. If I think of a furniture store, I think of lots of individual pieces of furniture, but furniture is a collective name for a mass of stuff. You could say, “Look at all those couches,” but you would never say, “Look at all those furnitures.” Furniture is a mass noun. Therefore, you'd say, “We need less furniture in this dance hall. Can we have fewer chairs?”

Exceptions

There are exceptions to these rules; for example, it is customary to use the word less to describe time, money, and distance (2, 3). For example, you could say, “That wedding reception lasted less than two hours. I hope they paid the band less than $400.” So keep in mind that time, money, and distance are different, but if you stick with the quick and dirty tip that less is for mass nouns and fewer is for count nouns, you'll be right most of the time.

Memory Tricks

There are two ways that I remember when to use less and when to usefewer.

First, I think of the classic example of the grocery store express lane. Most of the signs for these lanes read, “10 items or less,” and that's just wrong. The signs should read, “10 items or fewer,” because items are individual, countable things. Between hearing people complain about the signs and seeing the signs every week or so, it sticks in my head that it should be fewer items. And when I stand in line and count the 15 items that belong to the person in front of me in the 10-items-or-fewer lane, I'm strongly reinforcing the idea that items are countable.

Second, I have a memory trick, and I've even had a cartoon drawn up so that you can see into my imagination. I think of Aardvark sitting by a lake. He's fishing. The water is low in the lake this year, so there is less water in the lake. Less and lake both begin with the letter l. There is less water in the lake. Squiggly is worried about dinner. Aardvark usually catches four fish, but what if there are only three? “We'll have fewer fish for dinner,” Squiggly thinks to himself fretfully. Fewer and fish both start with the letter f, and Squiggly is counting fish in his head. We'll have fewer fish for dinner.


Source: http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/less-versus-fewer.aspx

Participle

A participle is a verbal (verb form) which is used as an adjective.

There are three participles that are commonly used as adjective: the present participle(active voice); the past participle (passive voice) and the perfect participle (active voice).

* The present participle always ends in ing
* The past participle usually ends in ed, d, t, n, or en.The past participle of some of the verbs do not have distinctive endings: swum, gone, sung etc.
*The perfect participle is always formed by prefixing the word having to the past participle: having sung, having driven, having seen etc

Consider an example from GMAT Prep SC:

First discovered more than 30 years ago, Lina's sunbird, a four-and-a-half-inch animal found in the Phillippines and that resembles hummingbird, has shimmering metallic colors on its head; a brilliant orange patch, bordered with red tufts, in the center of its breast; and a red eye.

A. found in the Phillippines and that resembles
B. found in the Phillippines and that, resembling
C. found in the Phillippines and resembling
D. that is found in the Phillippines and it resembles
E. that is found in the Phillippines and that, resembling

OA : C

As we know :

Past participle ---- represents
1) a past condition, or
2) the passive voice or
3) a condition done onto the subject


Present participle ---- represents
1) a present condition, or
2) the active voice or
3) a condition performed by the subject


In the given sentence, we can clearly see that for the 1st participial phrase, the action of "
found" happened in the past because Lina's sunbird was found more than 30 years ago. Further Lina's sunbird did not do any finding instead they were found by X not mentioned in the sentence so passive voice is right.

The second participial phrase starting with "
resembling" implies that the "Lina's sunbird" is still resembling in the present(a present condition), so the use of present participle is better. We cannot say that the Lina's sunbird "resembled" because then this would illogically mean that they no longer resemble the humming bird.

The present and past participles are used to describe the "Lina's sunbird", they act as adjectives..

Aim to vs Aim at

I personally don't find this very convincing..

Aim to (idiom)


Meaning - Try or intend to do something.


e.g : We aim to please our customers, or She aims to fly to California.

Correct usage: aim to + verb


Aim at (idiom)

Meaning - Direct a missile or criticism at something or someone; to plan, intend or to have as one's purpose

e.g: In his last speech the President took aim at the opposition leader.
He aims at finishing tomorrow.

Correct usage: aim at + noun

Appositive

Recognize an appositive when you see one.

An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that renames another noun right beside it. The appositive can be a short or long combination of words. Look at these examples:

The insect, a cockroach, is crawling across the kitchen table.

The insect, a large cockroach, is crawling across the kitchen table.

The insect, a large cockroach with hairy legs, is crawling across the kitchen table.

The insect, a large, hairy-legged cockroach that has spied my bowl of oatmeal, is crawling across the kitchen table.

Here are more examples:

During the dinner conversation, Clifford, the messiest eater at the table, spewed mashed potatoes like an erupting volcano.

My 286 computer, a modern-day dinosaur, chews floppy disks as noisily as my brother does peanut brittle.

Genette's bedroom desk, the biggest disaster area in the house, is a collection of overdue library books, dirty plates, computer components, old mail, cat hair, and empty potato chip bags.

Reliable, Diane's eleven-year-old beagle, chews holes in the living room carpeting as if he were still a puppy.

Punctuate the appositive correctly.

The important point to remember is that a nonessential appositive is always separated from the rest of the sentence with comma(s).

When the appositive begins the sentence, it looks like this:

A hot-tempered tennis player, Robbie charged the umpire and tried to crack the poor man's skull with a racket.

When the appositive interrupts the sentence, it looks like this:

Robbie, a hot-tempered tennis player, charged the umpire and tried to crack the poor man's skull with a racket.

And when the appositive ends the sentence, it looks like this:

Upset by the bad call, the crowd cheered Robbie, a hot-tempered tennis player who charged the umpire and tried to crack the poor man's skull with a racket.


Source: http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/appositive.htm

Monday, June 8, 2009

Example: Possessive and Object pronoun

Agatha Christie's travels with her archaeologist husband inspired her to write several mystery novels; travelers to Egypt can still stay at the Old Cataract Hotel, the model for the hotel in one of Christie's most famous books.

1. Agatha Christie's travels with her archaeologist husband inspired her to write several mystery novels
2. Agatha Christie used her travels with her archaeologist husband to inspire several mystery novels
3. Because her husband was an archaeologist, Agatha Christie was able to use their travels as inspiration for several of her mystery novels
4. Together with her archaeologist husband, Agatha Christie was inspired to incorporate their travel into several of her mystery novels
5. Agatha Christie's travels with her archaeologist husband served as inspiration for several of her mystery novels

Answer:

This sentence has a pronoun agreement error. Subject and object pronouns cannot refer back to possessive nouns; they must refer only to subject and object nouns. The subject in this sentence is "Agatha Christie's travels," not Agatha Christie herself. The first instance of "her" is correct because this pronoun is used as a possessive: "her [Agatha Christie's] archaeologist husband." However, the second instance of "her," an object pronoun, is incorrect: "inspired her [Agatha Christie, who is not an object in this sentence] to write..."

(A) This choice is incorrect as it repeats the original sentence.

(B) This choice illogically states that the travels inspired the novels themselves, rather than inspiring Christie to write the novels.

(C) This choice introduces a false cause-effect statement. The original meaning indicates that Christie traveled because her husband was an archaeologist. According to this choice, however, Christie used their travels as inspiration because her husband was an archaeologist, which is clearly illogical.

(D) This choice seems to indicate that Christie and her husband were inspired to write the novels together. This cannot be the case because this choice also clearly states that they are "her mystery novels," not both of theirs.

(E) CORRECT. This choice corrects the original pronoun agreement error by moving the second instance of "her" in front of "mystery novels," which changes it from an object pronoun to a possessive pronoun: "Agatha Christie's travels...her [Agatha Christie's] mystery novels..."

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Pronouns

Definition. - A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Pronouns can be in one of three cases: Subject, Object, or Possessive.

Rule 1. Subject pronouns are used when the pronoun is the subject of the sentence. You can remember subject pronouns easily by filling in the blank subject space for a simple sentence.

Example: ______ did the job.
I, you, he, she, it, we,
and they all fit into the blank and are, therefore, subject pronouns.

Rule 2. Subject pronouns are also used if they rename the subject. They follow to be verbs such as is, are, was, were, am, and will be.

Examples: It is he.
This is she speaking.
It is we who are responsible for the decision to downsize.

NOTE: In spoken English, most people tend to follow to be verbs with object pronouns. Many English teachers support (or at least have given in to) this distinction between written and spoken English.
Example: It could have been them.
Better: It could have been they.
Example: It is just me at the door.
Better: It is just I at the door.

Rule 3. Object pronouns are used everywhere else (direct object, indirect object, object of the preposition). Object pronouns are me, you, him, her, it, us, and them.

Examples: Jean talked to him.
Are you talking to me?

To be able to choose pronouns correctly, you must learn to identify clauses. A clause is a group of words containing a verb and subject.

Rule 4a. A strong clause can stand on its own.

Examples: She is hungry.
I am feeling well today.

Rule 4b. A weak clause begins with words such as although, since, if, when, and because. Weak clauses cannot stand on their own.

Examples: Although she is hungry...
If she is hungry...
Since I am feeling well...

Rule 4c. If a sentence contains more than one clause, isolate the clauses so that you can decide which pronoun is correct.

Examples: Weak Strong
[Although she is hungry,] [she will give him some of her food.]
[Although this gift is for him,] [I would like you to have it too.]

Rule 5. To decide whether to use the subject or object pronoun after the words than or as, mentally complete the sentence.

Examples: Tranh is as smart as she/her.
If we mentally complete the sentence, we would say, "Tranh is as smart as she is." Therefore, she is the correct answer.
Zoe is taller than I/me.
Mentally completing the sentence, we have, "Zoe is taller than I am."
Daniel would rather talk to her than I/me.
We can mentally complete this sentence in two ways: "Daniel would rather talk to her than to me." OR "Daniel would rather talk to her than I would." As you can see, the meaning will change depending on the pronoun you choose.

Rule 6. Possessive pronouns show ownership and never need apostrophes.
Possessive pronouns: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs

NOTE The only time it's has an apostrophe is when it is a contraction for it is or it has.
Examples: It's a cold morning.
The thermometer reached its highest reading.

Rule 7. Reflexive pronouns - myself, himself, herself, itself, themselves, ourselves, yourself, yourselves- should be used only when they refer back to another word in the sentence.

Correct: I worked myself to the bone.
Incorrect: My brother and myself did it.
The word myself does not refer back to another word.
Correct: My brother and I did it.
Incorrect: Please give it to John or myself.
Correct: Please give it to John or me.

Source: http://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/pronoun.asp

Rule 5 example:

777). The man was always aware, sometimes proudly and sometimes resentfully, that he was a small-town Midwesterner who was thrust into a world that was dominated by wealthier, better-educated, and more polished people than him.

(A) who was thrust into a world that was dominated by wealthier, better-educated, and more polished people than him

(B) who had been thrust into a world that was dominated by more wealthy, educated, and polished people than him

(C) who had been thrust into a world dominated by wealthier, better-educated, and people more polished than he was

(D) thrust into a world dominated by more wealthy, educated, and polished people than him

(E) thrust into a world dominated by wealthier, better-educated, and more polished people than he

Answer: E