GMATPREP2- VERBAL 10

[RonPurewal]

we're not talking about physically "taking" anything. this sentence talks about "taking time".

if the subject is the person/thing that performs some action, or the action itself, then this verb is active.
The whole process took two months.
The company took 6 weeks to send out the replacement parts.

this verb can appear in the passive (e.g., there was only 15 minutes left for lunch because too much time had been taken by the previous speakers).

[Chi HoC263]

Hi Ron,

I still don't quite understand why Ans E should not be a in a passive voice.

Ans (E): new of these shots took four days by swift messenger to reach New York City and another eleven days

The main reason I do not understand is that the wording in (E) "by swift messenger" clearly shows that the action was performed by someone, rather than that the news itself took four days to reach a place, so the sentence should be in passive voice (was taken)

The following is my thought process (I know the correct answer is always correct but i just want to see why my thinking is wrong):
Maybe, if we want to emphasize how long it took the news to reach 2 places, then we should just say:
new of these shots took four days to reach New York City and another eleven days (skip "by swift messenger")

If we want to emphasize the who carried out the action, then we should say:
new of these shots was taken four days by swift messenger to reach New York City and another eleven days

Please let me know why my thinking is not correct.

Cheers

[RonPurewal]

oh, no, this is a different use of "by". it's an idiomatic usage: by + method.

here, "method" can mean, essentially, any means by which some process can be carried out.

e.g.,
There are no roads leading to Iqaluit, so you will have to travel there by airplane.
The printer is broken, so you'll have to write the letter by hand.

[Chi HoC263]

Oh I see. Thanks Ron!

[RonPurewal]

you're welcome.

[prepp]

Salute the God for such amazing clarity and explanations!!

Here are some more differences between "to+verb" and "in order to + verb". (This is by no means an exhaustive list, or even a particularly good list; it's just a list of whatever I could discover by thinking about the issue for a few minutes.)

"- "In order to + verb" is more appropriate to describe preparatory activities, while "to+verb" is more appropriate for things that are components of an action itself. (This is where the "order" comes from, by the way"”it's a sequence of preparation and then execution.)
E.g.,
In order to run a marathon, one must start training several months in advance.
"Training several months in advance" is not actually part of running a marathon; it's a preparatory activity.

To run a marathon, one must begin at a relatively slow pace.
This is part of the actual running process.

"- "In order to" often suggests that something is essential"”i.e., that, had such an action not been taken, that the consequence would not have occurred.
E.g.,
I took some pills to stay awake.
Here, we know the writer's intention, but we don't know whether the pills were absolutely necessary"”i.e., the writer might have stayed awake without them.
I took some pills in order to stay awake.
This seems to imply a degree of certainty that the writer would have fallen asleep without the pills.

Obviously, the GMAT will never test anything like this. But you asked.
(:

[RonPurewal]

Salute the God

^^ please do not do this.
not only do i find it personally distasteful, but, it's also extremely disrespectful of actual religious faiths.

thank you.