Prep question: The thirteen original British colonies

[balabaladou]

The thirteen original British colonies in North America, some formed as commercial ventures, others as religious havens, each had a written charter that set forth its form of government and the rights of the colonists.
A. some formed as commercial ventures, others as religious havens, each had a written charter
B. some being formed as a commercial venture, others as religious havens, all of which had written charters
C. some that formed as commercial ventures, others as religious havens, all had written charters
D. with some being formed as a commercial venture, others as religious havens, all had a written charter
E. with some formed as commercial ventures, while others as religious havens, each had a written charter

Hi,

Here is a PREP question, Could you please tell me what is the problem of E?
OA is A, but i choose E. "With" and "while" are dubious but i can tell what exactly the problem is.

Thank you in advance.

[JonathanSchneider]

The main problem is that the "with" and the "while" are unnecessary. The "with" is unnecessary because we can instead use an appositive (fancy grammar lingo for a noun modifier that starts with a new noun). "While" is incorrect because it means "at the same time as," which is imprecise.
[editor: "while" doesn't have to signify simultaneity; in fact, it's more commonly used to indicate contrast. the problem with "while" is actually grammatical; see the content at the link below. --ron]

[anoo.anand]

what exactly is wrong with C ?

C. some that formed as commercial ventures, others as religious havens, all had written charters

> the subject is : the British Colonies. >> plural ? thus colonies is needed .. ?

[sachin.iet]

Look C has used "ALL" which is plural noun.But in non underlined part there is "ITS"-singular possesive pronun form.hence Subject--Verb INagreement.
With "ALL" we should used "THEIRS" not "ITS"

Hope this clears.

[RonPurewal]

Look C has used "ALL" which is plural noun.But in non underlined part there is "ITS"-singular possesive pronun form.hence Subject--Verb INagreement.
With "ALL" we should used "THEIRS" not "ITS"

Hope this clears.

well done.

if you use "all", then the singular pronoun "it" is stranded.

[RonPurewal]

thirteen-colonies-t7407.html

if there are further questions, please post on that thread, not this one. thanks.

[523128572]

Look C has used "ALL" which is plural noun.But in non underlined part there is "ITS"-singular possesive pronun form.hence Subject--Verb INagreement.
With "ALL" we should used "THEIRS" not "ITS"

Hope this clears.

well done.

if you use "all", then the singular pronoun "it" is stranded.

but i have a question RON:why not put a and between the two appositives,some formed as commercial ventures and others as religious havens??

[RonPurewal]

Look C has used "ALL" which is plural noun.But in non underlined part there is "ITS"-singular possesive pronun form.hence Subject--Verb INagreement.
With "ALL" we should used "THEIRS" not "ITS"

Hope this clears.

well done.

if you use "all", then the singular pronoun "it" is stranded.

but i have a question RON:why not put a and between the two appositives,some formed as commercial ventures and others as religious havens??

that would work, too.

[523128572]

http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/thirteen-colonies-t7407.html

if there are further questions, please post on that thread, not this one. thanks.

ron, i have another question:
While it costs about the same to run nuclear plants as
other types of power plants, it is the fixed costs that
stem from building nuclear plants that makes it more
expensive for them to generate electricity.
A) While it costs about the same to run nuclear
plants as other types of power plants, it is the
fixedcoststhat stemfrom building nuclear
plants that makes it more expensive for them to
generate electricity.
(B) Whilethe cost of running nuclear plants is about
the same as for other types of power plants,
the fixed coststhat stemfrom building nuclear
plants make the electricity they generate more
expensive.
(C) Even though it costs about the same to run
nuclear plants as for other types of power
plants, it is the fixed coststhat stem from
buildingnuclear plants that makes the electricity
they generate more expensive.
(D) It costs about the same to run nuclearplants as
for other types of power plants, whereas the
electricity they generate js more expensive,
stemming from the fixed costsof building
nuclearplants.
(E) The cost of running nuclear plants is about the
same as other types of power plants, but the
electricity they generate is made more
expensive because of the fixed costsstemming
from building nuclear plants.
In choice (A),is this "it costs about the same to run nuclear
plants as other types of power plants" right? can we leave out "to run" after "as"?or we should correct it into"it costs about the same to run nuclear plants as to run other types of power plants"?
i think we can leave out we can leave out "to run" after "as" because this condition will not result in ambiguity in the meaning. is this right ron? hope for your reply!

[523128572]

Look C has used "ALL" which is plural noun.But in non underlined part there is "ITS"-singular possesive pronun form.hence Subject--Verb INagreement.
With "ALL" we should used "THEIRS" not "ITS"

Hope this clears.

well done.

if you use "all", then the singular pronoun "it" is stranded.

RON，i have another question from PREP~

The infant mortality rate has decreased steadily over the past decades and is now at a lower rate than ever before.
A. now at a lower rate than
B. now lower than
C. now a lower rate than
D. presently lower than it was
E. presently lower than the rate was
OA:B
You said: VERB TENSE SHIFT,and you also gave us an example. but the explanation says: D. The phrase ever before introduces a continuous expanse of time before the present moment (presently) that should be described with the present perfect tense it has been rather than the simple past tense of it was. Also the word order it was ever is the reverse of the more standard and less awkward it ever was
i am quite confused why here now lower than ever before is right? i think "it has been" must be added after "than" .
hope for your reply RON!

[RonPurewal]

You said: VERB TENSE SHIFT,and you also gave us an example. but the explanation says: D. The phrase ever before introduces a continuous expanse of time before the present moment (presently) that should be described with the present perfect tense it has been rather than the simple past tense of it was. Also the word order it was ever is the reverse of the more standard and less awkward it ever was
i am quite confused why here now lower than ever before is right? i think "it has been" must be added after "than" .
hope for your reply RON!

hi,
this is a different problem, so, per forum rules, you need to post it in a different thread. thanks.

[thanghnvn]

I am confuse, pls help.

The thirteen original British colonies in North America, each HAS a written charter that set forth its form of government

is correct or not

subject is "the thirteen colonies" or "each". why "each" can be appsitive of "the thirteen person" .a singular can be appositive of a plural. pls, explain.

I think the sentence should be

the thirteen persons, the good students, LEARN gmat.

in this sentence, "students" is plural and logically refers to 13 persons.

I am wrong ? pls help

[jlucero]

As Ron posted above, if you have any other questions about this problem, please refer to this thread:

thirteen-colonies-t7407.html