Whereas heat transferred between the ocean and the atmo

[RonPurewal]

Hi guys, I really would like to resurrect this topic as it's a great question. Is D wrong only due to the pronoun issue? The ambiguous "it"...

like tim said ... read the thread.

already addressed in the fifth post.

[aliassad]

D is wrong for another reason. The use of transferring is wrong here.

For verb+ing you need an agent of action. Here we are concerned with the process of heat transfer and NOT who is transferring the heat.

I crossed out D with that consideration.

[tim]

indeed. i believe that was the second reason Ron cited for getting rid of D..

[divineacclivity]

choice a:
- if you take out modifiers, the basic structure of this sentence is 'whereas heat ... occurs more rapidly when blah blah blah, it is slow when blah blah blah.' that's unacceptable - it's not the heat that 'happens' (it's the transfer). remember that the gmat is very exacting about wording that means what it's supposed to mean.

choice d:
- 'transferring... occurs' is bad idiom (you can't use occurs with the gerund form)
- the 'it' toward the end of this choice is technically ambiguous (could theoretically refer to 'transferring' or 'ocean', or perhaps even 'air')

choice e:
- awkward phrasing in general (if you're a native speaker, you should definitely notice this)
- same problem as in choice a: the sentence says that the heat 'occurs slowly', which doesn't make any sense

Ron,

I just can't help but appreciate your explanations every time I go through them.
I did pick the right answer choice but wan't really sure why I picked what I picked but you make things so easy for your students that I'm pleasantly surprised every time.

I'm sure I'm only stating the obvious but a biggggg thanks to you.

[tim]

:)

[thanghnvn]

D is wrong for another reason. The use of transferring is wrong here.

For verb+ing you need an agent of action. Here we are concerned with the process of heat transfer and NOT who is transferring the heat.

I crossed out D with that consideration.

we do not use do_ing to refer to a general action if there is a noun. however, if there is no noun, (there is no "learnation") we have to use do-ing to refer to a general action. for example,

learning of gmat is good for english usage.

[RonPurewal]

thanghnvn, do you have a question? If so, I'm not clear on exactly what the question is.

(If you're just responding to that post, then there's no point in spending the time -- That post is 17 months old!)

[ChaosaurusM730]

Hi Ron,

Just with regard to what 'it' in A refers to, it would not make sense if 'it' refers to heat as you mentioned.

However, I remember in one of your posts, you said nouns need to be considered together with their modifiers.
so i reckon 'it' in A refers not to heat but to 'heat transferred'.
If that's the case, A looks pretty legit to me.

Hope you can help me with this one.

Cheers,

Chao

[RonPurewal]

nouns need to be considered together with their modifiers.
so i reckon 'it' in A refers not to heat but to 'heat transferred'.
If that's the case, A looks pretty legit to me.

Correct. This should always be understood, in any discussion of pronouns.

If all of the modifiers were explicitly spelled out in every single pronoun-related discussion, that would get really annoying really quickly.

[gmatkiller_24]

I cross off D not because of bad idiom since I am not a native speaker.

“Transferring heat” just dont seem to make sense，because it seems to suggest that “ someone is transferring the heat”

but the intended meaning is that heat itself can transfer.

is it a legitimate reasoning ? Thanks!

[RonPurewal]

one thing can definitely transfer heat to another thing. to see, just open a hot oven and touch the rack with your finger; the hot rack will most certainly transfer heat to your finger.

[RonPurewal]

in any case, this is a non-issue, because every construction in this problem implies that heat is transferred (by something, to something else).

"heat transfer" means that heat is transferred, in the same way "deer hunting" means that deer are being hunted.

"the transfer of heat" also means that heat is transferred, in the same way "the murder of Dominic Napolitano" refers to the incident in which napolitano was killed (i.e., not an incident in which napolitano killed someone).

so, in this aspect at least, all five choices are alike: in all of them, the heat is being transferred.

[RonPurewal]

also, note that "transfer" can't be used without an object. i.e., you have to transfer something from one place to another (or, equivalently, something must be transferred from one place to another).

the only exception is when a person changes jobs, or universities, or whatever (e.g., I transferred to Stanford from the University of Minnesota). you won't see this in a GMAC problem.

[staceyp29]

Hi guys, I really would like to resurrect this topic as it's a great question. Is D wrong only due to the pronoun issue? The ambiguous "it"...

I think D is also wrong with the word "transferring"
Transfer itself can be used as a noun. So no need to change it to "transferring".

[staceyp29]

D is wrong for another reason. The use of transferring is wrong here.

For verb+ing you need an agent of action. Here we are concerned with the process of heat transfer and NOT who is transferring the heat.

I crossed out D with that consideration.

Thanks! This makes sense in a way that can be applied in the future!