* Since February, the Federal Reserve has raised its

[tim]

Joe, it's not clear at all what you're asking, but i think you would want to use "will" with both "predict" and "probably" if we do not have a subjunctive issue (i.e. use of the word "if"). Please clarify if i haven't answered your question satisfactorily..

Sudaif, your analysis looks correct on all counts..

[vicksikand]

There were concerns about the source of this problem and its official answer.

This indeed is a GMAT Prep question and the OA is A.

[ChrisB]

Hi,

Thanks for posting. The source of this problem was confirmed by a student and verified by an instructor. I think Ron was just confused by the weird numbers in front of the problem. For future reference for future readers - we got it, it's a GMAT Prep problem.

Thanks,
Chris

[thanghnvn]

I meet this question ong gmatprep test 2.

Why C is wrong", pls, help.

[RonPurewal]

I meet this question ong gmatprep test 2.

Why C is wrong", pls, help.

* "continues strong" doesn't make sense.
"strong" is an adjective; there is no noun here for it to modify.

* "would" is wrong; it should be "will".
http://www.beatthegmat.com/demographers ... tml#216712

* the analysts' predictions are ongoing into the present, so the past tense "predicted" is inappropriate.

[thanghnvn]

ntaksatorn wrote:
Can someone please comment on the grammatical rules regarding

because of/because/due to/due to the fact that

I believe due to the fact of is wrong ?


here's the easiest way to figure out "due to":

"due to" means "caused by".
if you can't replace "due to" with "caused by", then it's wrong.

for instance:

i was late due to the construction --> incorrect (because you can't say "i was late caused by the construction")

i was late because of the construction --> correct.

--

in general, "due to" only applies to nouns, since it means "caused by".

for instance,
the traffic jam was due to an obstruction in the left lane
or
the traffic jam due to the obstruction in the left lane caused 30-minute delays

these are correct because "caused by" works just fine - the noun modified is "the traffic".

--

should be (a). what's the source of the problem?

if this problem is not from GMAT PREP, we're going to have to delete it. what is the strange number given at the start of the problem?


Thank you , Ron,

"due to" will be used as a past participle phrease- ed phrase. So,

due to the bad policy of government, the inflation is high

is correct.

ed phrase has to refer to a noun. So, "due to" has to refer to a noun.

is my thinking correct?

"because of " is a preposion, in contrast.

[tim]

yes, "due to" must refer to a noun. i couldn't tell if you had other questions as well; if so, please let us know so we can help you with those..

[thanghnvn]

I am sorry. I need to ask again

because "due to" can be used as ed-phrase

it must refer to 2 nouns.

due to bad polycy, the inflation is hight

due to NOUN 1, NOUN 2 is good

one noun is following "to" , other noun is modified by the "due to"

Is my thinking correct?

[tim]

i would say that your second noun really needs to be an entire clause, and the "due to" phrase is modifying the entire clause in most cases.

[thanghnvn]

i would say that your second noun really needs to be an entire clause, and the "due to" phrase is modifying the entire clause in most cases.

pls, help

why DUE TO PHRASE can be a adverb modifying a clause?

because DUE TO is CAUSED BY

it can be used with 1 noun and 1 clause

due to the bad policy, the inflation is high.

in this case, DUE TO modifies ONLY the noun after the comma and can not modiy the whole clause.

or

it can be used after to be

the inflation is due to the bad policy.

[tim]

I disagree with your assertion that "due to..." modifies "inflation" in your example. Beyond that, I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to ask. Please be careful with your grammar, at least enough that we can understand what you are asking and help you..

[jp.jprasanna]

hi - Can you please let me know the sentence structure of the problem pls

Since February, the Federal Reserve has raised its short-term interest rate target five times, and because of the economy’s continued strength, analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target will be raised again in November

if you drop the modifier it becomes

Since February and because of........, main clause

I really dont get the sentence structure can you pls help!

Cheers

[tim]

what exactly do you think is a modifier here? you're not going to get anywhere with sentence structure until you can accurately identify parts of speech..

[jp.jprasanna]

what exactly do you think is a modifier here? you're not going to get anywhere with sentence structure until you can accurately identify parts of speech..

hi Tim are the below correct?

Since February,
the Federal Reserve has raised its short-term interest rate target five times, - Modifier -2
and because of the economy’s continued strength, - Modifier -3
analysts have been predicting for weeks that the target will be raised again in November. - Main sentence?

Dropping 2 and 3 the sentence would go like

Since February, Analyst have been predicting blah blah...."
So the sentence structure is

Conjunction Noun , clause , and clause , main sentence?

Cheers

[tim]

this is actually a compound sentence. your 2 is an independent clause on equal footing with what you've called the main sentence. also, i would recommend using "due to" rather than "because". i'm not sure how picky the GMAT is on this, but preferred use of "because" involves a clause rather than just a noun:

I carried an umbrella because it was raining