The 151 member governments of the World Bank

[RonPurewal]

B. a concern as an obstacle to congressional passage
C. as an obstacle to congressional passage the concern

I think I udnerstand Jonathan's point, but I am still seeing in both cases that a concern is cited as an obstacle. Pls explain again what is wrong w B?

(b) breaks up "a concern" from "that the bank’s loans will help...". once that modifier is divorced from "a concern", it is no longer clear exactly what is the concern.
also, "a concern" is problematic. since the sentence cites one very specific concern, it should say "the concern".

very very great!!!!

thanks

[ashish-mohan]

Sputnik, grammatically D parses out fine in that it modifies "the concern" with the appositive "an obstacle to congressional passage." But there's a change in meaning by setting "an obstacle to congressional passage" off in commas. It makes it a nonessential modifier, but this fact is necessary to the meaning of the sentence.

Another approach: consider the idiom "cite X as Y." In this case we (essentially) have "legislators cite the concern as an obstacle." What makes C tricky is that the structure is written "cite as Y X": "legislators cite as an obstacle the concern." It's a weird inversion, but it works. If you go with D, the core of that clause becomes "legislators cite the concern" and we lose the important "as an obstacle" piece.

Hi rfernandez, I don't think this is correct. In D, since there is no 'comma' after 'passage', "an obstacle to congressional passage" is not an appositive. The real issue with D is that 'that' would modify 'obstacle', while it should actually modify 'concern'.

Theoretically, if there were a comma after 'passage', option D would have been correct.

In the same mail chain, another instructor Jonathan remarks "That obstacle IS a concern". Would request Jonathan to re-read the sentence. The obstacle is NOT a concern; The concern (that bank’s loans will help foreign producers compete with American businesses) IS the obstacle (to increase the bank's funding).

[RonPurewal]

Hi rfernandez, I don't think this is correct. In D, since there is no 'comma' after 'passage', "an obstacle to congressional passage" is not an appositive. The real issue with D is that 'that' would modify 'obstacle', while it should actually modify 'concern'.

i think you guys are both on the same page here -- rey was remarking that choice (d) is constructed as though it were the beginning of an appositive modifier, onto which the authors simply "forgot" to append the second comma. it seems clear that both of you know what you're talking about.

Theoretically, if there were a comma after 'passage', option D would have been correct.

it would be grammatically correct, sure.

there would still be two problems.

the first, and much less important, of those problems is that the resulting sentence would still be fatally awkward, to the point of being absolutely unreadable to native speakers of english. (this is not something that will be tested on the gmat.)

the second issue would be that the resulting sentence would have a different meaning.
if you say "these people have cited (as a Y) (X)" -- or, equivalently, "these people have cited X as a Y" -- then it's not an objective fact that X is a Y; that's just what these people are saying.
on the other hand, if you say "these people have cited X, a Y", then that sentence carries the meaning that it is an objective fact that X is a Y.

example:

some parents have cited as a hazard to their children the old swing set on the school's playground.
--> the swing set is not necessarily a hazard. it may be one, but it's equally possible that these parents are just being paranoid.

some parents have cited the old swing set on the school's playground, a hazard to their children.
--> according to this sentence, it is an unarguable fact that the old swing set is a hazard to children.

same problem here.
this difference in meaning is subtle enough that it will almost certainly not be the only difference between two choices, but it's still worth pointing out.

[gaurav.sethi18]

deleted

[mschwrtz]

Thanks Ron.

[vicksikand]

Hi rfernandez, I don't think this is correct. In D, since there is no 'comma' after 'passage', "an obstacle to congressional passage" is not an appositive. The real issue with D is that 'that' would modify 'obstacle', while it should actually modify 'concern'.

i think you guys are both on the same page here -- rey was remarking that choice (d) is constructed as though it were the beginning of an appositive modifier, onto which the authors simply "forgot" to append the second comma. it seems clear that both of you know what you're talking about.

Theoretically, if there were a comma after 'passage', option D would have been correct.

it would be grammatically correct, sure.

there would still be two problems.

the first, and much less important, of those problems is that the resulting sentence would still be fatally awkward, to the point of being absolutely unreadable to native speakers of english. (this is not something that will be tested on the gmat.)

the second issue would be that the resulting sentence would have a different meaning.
if you say "these people have cited (as a Y) (X)" -- or, equivalently, "these people have cited X as a Y" -- then it's not an objective fact that X is a Y; that's just what these people are saying.
on the other hand, if you say "these people have cited X, a Y", then that sentence carries the meaning that it is an objective fact that X is a Y.

example:

some parents have cited as a hazard to their children the old swing set on the school's playground.
--> the swing set is not necessarily a hazard. it may be one, but it's equally possible that these parents are just being paranoid.

some parents have cited the old swing set on the school's playground, a hazard to their children.
--> according to this sentence, it is an unarguable fact that the old swing set is a hazard to children.

same problem here.
this difference in meaning is subtle enough that it will almost certainly not be the only difference between two choices, but it's still worth pointing out.

Option D - does have a "," after passage, I believe it was left out while copying. An admin may want to correct that error.

[RonPurewal]

Option D - does have a "," after passage, I believe it was left out while copying. An admin may want to correct that error.

i'll make a note on the original page.

[aps_asks]

Hi Ron ,

I am not sure why choice d) is inferior Vs Choice c) ???

[RonPurewal]

Hi Ron ,

I am not sure why choice d) is inferior Vs Choice c) ???

first, read the explanation by rey ("rfernandez") in the 4th post on the first page.

second -- look at the placement of the modifiers.
"that the bank's loans with..." should immediately follow "the concern", since that is what it modifies.
similarly, "as an obstacle..." should be as close as possible to "cite", because that's what it modifies.

in the correct answer, both of these modifiers are placed immediately next to the things that they're supposed to modify; in (d), both constructions are needlessly separated.

[aps_asks]

Thanks Ron !

[tim]

:)

[davetzulin]

B. a concern as an obstacle to congressional passage
C. as an obstacle to congressional passage the concern

I think I udnerstand Jonathan's point, but I am still seeing in both cases that a concern is cited as an obstacle. Pls explain again what is wrong w B?

(b) breaks up "a concern" from "that the bank’s loans will help...". once that modifier is divorced from "a concern", it is no longer clear exactly what is the concern.
also, "a concern" is problematic. since the sentence cites one very specific concern, it should say "the concern".

Ron, so is it correct that (b) is a clarity issue instead of an outright grammar problem?

a giant fungus that is an interwoven filigree of mushrooms and rootlike tentacles spawned <--spawned participle skips the intervening prep phrase

"a concern as an obstacle to congressional passage that"

my interpretation is "that" is properly modifying "concern" by skipping the prep phrase modifier. so overall this construction is grammatically correct, but it is not clear since there is another way to write it without having to create such a distance between modifier and what is modified. is that a correct interpretation?

[davetzulin]

i compiled the various usages of "being" that are supposed to be OK. Can a instructor confirm?

despite, inspite of + being
Charles Lindbergh, for his attempt at a solo transatlantic flight, was very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane, he therefore refused to carry even a pound of mail, despite being offered $1,000 to do so. - this is part of an OG problem and the bolded "being" non-underlined

- usually despite, or in spite of, is followed by some noun form (with or without modifiers), so being is acting as a gerund here, not as a participle.

being as subject

being a CEO implies a high salary


- being starts a phrase that acts as the subject of the main clause, so it appears to also be acting as a gerund

some form of "be" + being

he was being nice to me
the person is being videotaped
the cat was being difficult

- is it true that if "being" is followed by a verb of form "be" it is acting as a verb itself? i thought of dozens of examples that seem to align with that statement.

[RonPurewal]

dave, i get what you're doing, but in all likelihood you are just going to end up with the same list that you'd have for (any other verb)+ING.
so, this list could potentially be helpful, but probably not in the way you're thinking. instead, the list could be helpful if it helps you learn how these forms work in general.

here's a better (and simpler) criterion:
try knocking "being" out of the sentence. if the sentence still makes sense, then you don't need "being".
if you go back to most (just about all) problems in which "being" is incorrect, you'll find that this criterion is sufficient to make that judgment.

i compiled the various usages of "being" that are supposed to be OK. Can a instructor confirm?

despite, inspite of + being
Charles Lindbergh, for his attempt at a solo transatlantic flight, was very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane, he therefore refused to carry even a pound of mail, despite being offered $1,000 to do so. - this is part of an OG problem and the bolded "being" non-underlined

- usually despite, or in spite of, is followed by some noun form (with or without modifiers), so being is acting as a gerund here, not as a participle.

(i had to go google "gerund", but, yes, that's right)

this is all correct, but it's not peculiar to "being". the same stuff is true for just about every other verb+ING type deal.

being as subject

being a CEO implies a high salary


- being starts a phrase that acts as the subject of the main clause, so it appears to also be acting as a gerund

yes, but, again, this is just a lesson in the use of verb+ING as a noun.

some form of "be" + being

he was being nice to me
the person is being videotaped
the cat was being difficult

- is it true that if "being" is followed by a verb of form "be" it is acting as a verb itself? i thought of dozens of examples that seem to align with that statement.

well, this is just a certain verb tense. (i think it's called "progressive" or something like that ... there are probably a hundred posters here who could tell you for sure. i don't know very many grammatical names.)
whatever it's called, it's a tense that indicates that the action in question is ongoing in the present timeframe (or in a past timeframe, in the case of was/were verbING).
so, as usual with tenses, it's an issue of what you actually mean to say.
for instance, let's take your last example and run with it.
the cat is being obnoxious --> the cat is not necessary obnoxious by nature, but, at the present moment, it is being obnoxious.
the cat [b]is obnoxious[/i] --> this is now a statement about a fundamental personality trait of the cat.

[divineacclivity]

Sputnik, grammatically D parses out fine in that it modifies "the concern" with the appositive "an obstacle to congressional passage." But there's a change in meaning by setting "an obstacle to congressional passage" off in commas. It makes it a nonessential modifier, but this fact is necessary to the meaning of the sentence.

Another approach: consider the idiom "cite X as Y." In this case we (essentially) have "legislators cite the concern as an obstacle." What makes C tricky is that the structure is written "cite as Y X": "legislators cite as an obstacle the concern." It's a weird inversion, but it works. If you go with D, the core of that clause becomes "legislators cite the concern" and we lose the important "as an obstacle" piece.

sentence structures in B and C are exactly the same:
B says: site an X (=a concern) as Y
C says: site as Y the X

So, how do we decide which one of the two is better?
thanks in advance