Noting that the Federal Reserve had raised

[visitdhiraj]

Noting that the Federal Reserve had raised a key short-term interest rate against last month, analysts said that they expected orders for durable goods to decline soon because rising interest rates makes it more expensive to buy them on credit.

(A) rising interest rates makes it more expensive to buy them on credit
(B) rising interest rates make buying on credit more expensive
(C) a rise in interest rates make it more expensive to buy on credit
(D) a rise in interest rates make buying on credit more expensive
(E) a rise in interest rates makes it more expensive for them to be bought on credit

Hi Ron,

I couldn't find this problem on manhattan forum. This problem is from GMAT prep.

official answer is B

1.Could you please state the approach to get the solution to the above problem quickly?

2. is rising interest rates plural? Could you please guide through this structure. Is it correct to use rising interest rates?

Thanks
Dhiraj

[RonPurewal]

1.Could you please state the approach to get the solution to the above problem quickly?

First you'll have to state your approach. (:

What did you understand?
What didn't you understand?

2. is rising interest rates plural? Could you please guide through this structure.

It's plural.
Rising is just an adjective that's describing the interest rates.
High interest rates, low interest rates, rising interest rates, falling interest rates.

Is it correct to use rising interest rates?

The correct answer is (B). So this question is answered already.

[calm.jing]

Hi Ron,

I have a question about the "make it + adj. + to do" phrase.

In the sentence "Heavy commitment by an executive to a course of action, especially if it has worked well in the past, makes it likely to miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpret them when they do appear." the "makes it" is wrong, because it is not clear who or what is likely to miss the signs.

So is the "make it" correctly used here? For example, in C (if we fix the problem of agreement), "a rise in interest rates makes it more expensive to buy on credit". Does the "it" here rightly act as a place holder for "to buy on credit", or do we need to specify the "rise" makes WHO more expensive to buy on credits?

And is there any grammatically correct and "unawkward" example for "make it + adj. + to do"?

Thanks in advance! :)

[RonPurewal]

Hi Ron,

I have a question about the "make it + adj. + to do" phrase.

In the sentence "Heavy commitment by an executive to a course of action, especially if it has worked well in the past, makes it likely to miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpret them when they do appear." the "makes it" is wrong, because it is not clear who or what is likely to miss the signs.

So is the "make it" correctly used here? For example, in C (if we fix the problem of agreement), "a rise in interest rates makes it more expensive to buy on credit". Does the "it" here rightly act as a place holder for "to buy on credit", or do we need to specify the "rise" makes WHO more expensive to buy on credits?

You can use this construction without a subject, but only if the statement is universally true -- i.e., for everyone who might find him-/herself in the situation.
E.g., when interest rates go up, it becomes more expensive for absolutely anyone to buy on credit, because ... well, because interest rates went up.

In a sentence describing a consequence that's particular to a certain person/group, you have to say who that is. Here, you're talking about consequences that pertain to a certain executive, so the sentence must be specific.

[RonPurewal]

And is there any grammatically correct and "unawkward" example for "make it + adj. + to do"?

Thanks in advance! :)

If the "to ___" phrase is long enough, this construction will become preferable.
For instance, in this sentence, change "buy(ing) on credit" to "buy(ing) expensive items on credit or borrow(ing) substantial sums of money".
With a phrase that long, choice B, while still technically correct, will become completely unreadable. With its agreement problem fixed, choice C will still work well.

[calm.jing]

Thank you very much! :)

Wow, these usages really depend on the context!

[tim]

:)

[AbhilashM94]

Ron/Tim

I'm really confused.

I remember Ron once said.

Political situations have caused an increase in gas prices is right
Political situations have caused increasing gas prices wrong

by that logic, I was left to choose between C, D & E. However in this case, are the meaning of all options correct. If so, why so?

I have read in some forums that the below is the right way to approach the problem. ''It'' and make/makes is the way to go. Although it

A. rising interest rates makes it more expensive to buy them on credit
B. rising interest rates make buying on credit more expensive
C. a rise in interest rates make it more expensive to buy on credit
D. a rise in interest rates make buying on credit more expensive
E. a rise in interest rates makes it more expensive for them to be bought on credit

[RonPurewal]

I remember Ron once said.

Political situations have caused an increase in gas prices is right
Political situations have caused increasing gas prices wrong

by that logic, I was left to choose between C, D & E. However in this case, are the meaning of all options correct. If so, why so?

You can't memorize this kind of thing as a structure, because structure isn't the issue. The issue is what the sentence means.

In the pair above, the incorrect example is wrong because political situations don't "cause gas prices"; that's nonsense. (Gas prices are not an event precipitated by political events.) In this instance, "increasing" is an adjective.

In the current sentence, the meaning is altogether different.
We're talking about the action of "buying on credit".

In addition, "buying" is the best noun available, because there's no dedicated noun form available (e.g., there's no such thing as, say, "buyage"). By contrast, the noun "increase" is available.

[RonPurewal]

I have read in some forums that the below is the right way to approach the problem. ''It'' and make/makes is the way to go. Although it

A. rising interest rates makes it more expensive to buy them on credit
B. rising interest rates make buying on credit more expensive
C. a rise in interest rates make it more expensive to buy on credit
D. a rise in interest rates make buying on credit more expensive
E. a rise in interest rates makes it more expensive for them to be bought on credit

Some words appear to have been cut off here; this looks like half of a post.

[AbhilashM94]

Sorry my post got cut off for some weird reason.

I have found in many cases that eliminating a choice just because of pronoun ambiguity maybe wrong.

Why is this not the case here Ron?

[RonPurewal]

Sorry my post got cut off for some weird reason.

I have found in many cases that eliminating a choice just because of pronoun ambiguity maybe wrong.

Why is this not the case here Ron?

I'm confused; no one has said anything about pronoun ambiguity in this thread. Nor is pronoun ambiguity an issue in this problem.

Please clarify, thanks. Please include explanations, too. (Shading words in different colors does not constitute an explanation.)

[eggpain24]

I got the correct answer

but have some doubts, please clarify, Ron. Thank you!

when I compared choice A and E

both of them indicate what is expensive to buy(durable goods, and the rest of the choices fail to do so. )

therefore, is E much wordy and indirect than A , and thus should be eliminated?

Also, I confused about the "rising interest rates" vs. "a rise in interest rates"

the former seems to indicate that "the rising of interest rates" is still ongoing

while the latter seems to indicate that " a rise in interest rates" has already finished (better corresponds to the meaning of non-underlined sentence: had raised a key short-term interest rate again last month)

Is there something wrong with my thinking? Please clarify, thank you !

[gmatkiller_24]

I got the correct answer

but have some doubts, please clarify, Ron. Thank you!

when I compared choice A and E

both of them indicate what is expensive to buy(durable goods, and the rest of the choices fail to do so. )

therefore, is E much wordy and indirect than A , and thus should be eliminated?

Also, I confused about the "rising interest rates" vs. "a rise in interest rates"

the former seems to indicate that "the rising of interest rates" is still ongoing

while the latter seems to indicate that " a rise in interest rates" has already finished (better corresponds to the meaning of non-underlined sentence: had raised a key short-term interest rate again last month)

Is there something wrong with my thinking? Please clarify, thank you !

I also got the same doubt here.

1. "rising interest rates" vs. "a rise in interest rates"

the former seems to indicate that "the rising of interest rates" is still ongoing

while the latter seems to indicate that " a rise in interest rates" has already finished (better corresponds to the meaning of non-underlined sentence: had raised a key short-term interest rate again last month)

in addition to that.

2. is it virtually the same to use "buying on credit more expensive" as to use the placeholder it:makes it more expensive to buy them on credit

3. How can I eliminate choice E?

Thank you!

[RonPurewal]

1. "rising interest rates" vs. "a rise in interest rates"

the former seems to indicate that "the rising of interest rates" is still ongoing

while the latter seems to indicate that " a rise in interest rates" has already finished

this is a basically accurate summary of the difference between these constructions. however, this difference is a non-issue, because both of these options make sense here.
• if interest rates are currently rising, then lines of credite are going to get more expensive.
• likewise, if interest rates have already risen, then lines of credit are going to be more expensive now.

remember--sometimes, more than one option will work!
if you find a split, that split will NOT necessarily lead to an elimination. (i'm comfortable saying that most splits, if fully understood, can eliminate at least something--but certainly not all splits.)