Wednesday, October 28, 2015

A challenge SC

22. The recent spate of traffic jams on Beijing-Tibet highway reportedly caused by a spurt in traffic by heavy trucks carrying coal and heading to Beijing as part of the illegal trade in coal that has flourished due to lack of government control enroute as well as by the delayed response of the maintenance agencies to undertake timely repairs to the roads damaged in the recent incessant rains


(A) The recent spate of traffic jams on Beijing-Tibet highway reportedly caused by a spurt in traffic by heavy trucks carrying coal and heading to Beijing as part of the illegal trade in coal that has flourished due to lack of government control enroute as well as by the delayed response of the maintenance agencies to undertake timely repairs to the roads damaged in the recent incessant rains 

(B) The recent spate of traffic jams on Beijing- Tibet highway reportedly was caused by a spurt in traffic by heavy trucks carrying coal and heading to Beijing as part of the illegal trade in coal that has flourished due to lack of government control enroute along with the delayed response of the maintenance agencies to undertake timely repairs to the roads damaged in the recent incessant rains

C) The recent spate of traffic jams on Beijing-Tibet highway reportedly was caused by a spurt in traffic by heavy trucks carrying coal and heading to Beijing as part of the illegal trade in coal that has flourished due to lack of government control enroute as well as by the delayed response of the maintenance agencies to undertake timely repairs to the roads damaged in the recent incessant rains  correct

(D) A spurt in traffic by heavy trucks carrying coal and heading to Beijing as part of the illegal trade in coal that has flourished due to lack of government control enroute as well as by the delayed response of the maintenance agencies to undertake timely repairs to the roads damaged in the recent incessant rains reportedly have caused the recent spate of traffic jams on Beijing-Tibet highway

(E) Heavy truck movement carrying coal and heading to Beijing as part of the illegal trade in coal that has flourished due to lack of government control enroute as well as the delayed response by the maintenance agencies to undertake timely repairs to the roads damaged in the recent incessant rains reportedly were the cause of the recent spate of traffic jams on Beijing-Tibet highway

The challenge is not to spot the right choice but to assess why the other choices are wrong

Some theory about a style error- the run-ons.

Run-on Sentences

1. A run-on sentence is one in which two or more sentences are not conjugated properly either with a period, a semicolon, or  a conjunction.

e.g:

 I took my first job with ABB Corporation last month, I resigned it today. 

Here two independent thoughts such joining ABB last month and resigning today are just joined by a comma.

2. A run on can occur when the second part of the sentence gives some advice or suggestion or command based on the first part.

 GMAT self- preparation is beyond the reach of most,   you should take guidance from someone who knows the test well.

 3. A run-on can also exist when two ICs (independent clauses) are joined by an adverbial conjunction such as however, moreover, therefore nonetheless, notwithstanding etc.

The starlet reached stardom much more quickly than many others could, however, she had to work through it with great sacrifices in the process.

4. A sentence may become a run-on if the second IC contains a pronoun that connects it to the first independent clause.

The GMAT OA is controversial, it doesn’t have the OE
Four Ways of Correcting Run-on Sentences
1. To correct a run-on sentence, make it into two simple sentences Put a period at the end of the first subject and verb group. Capitalize the first word of the second sentence.

I took my first job with ABB Corporation last month, I resigned it today.  – Run-on
I took my first job with ABB Corporation last month.  I resigned it today.  – corrected version


2. We can also use a semicolon to divide the sentence.

GMAT self- preparation is beyond the reach of most,   you should take guidance from someone who knows the test well. ---- Run-on
GMAT self- preparation is beyond the reach of most;   you should take guidance from someone who knows the test well. --- Corrected

3. We can also prevent a run-on by using a comma and a co-coordinating conjunction (a relevant fanboys

The starlet reached stardom much more quickly than many others could, however, she had to work through it with great sacrifices in the process. --- run-on
The starlet reached stardom much more quickly than many others could, but she had to work through it with great sacrifices in the process. Corrected 

4. Yet another method is to convert the sentence into complex sentence by using a subordinate conjunction at a suitable place.

GMAT self- preparation is beyond the reach of most,    a candidate should take guidance from someone who knows the test well. ---- run-on
As GMAT self- preparation is beyond the reach of most,   a candidate should take guidance from someone who knows the test well. ---- corrected

A comma splice is just a technical name given to a run-on sentence which generally uses a comma to join the two ICs and is in fact the most usual form the run-on that we see in GMAT



Sunday, December 28, 2014


Basic Grammar What Is A Noun? A noun is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, or an abstract idea. The highlighted words in the following sentences are all nouns: Tom went to his school at the Midtown Ronaldo is a famous foot-ball player. Information Technology is a modern Science Jealousy is bad while applauding is great. Oxygen is essential to life Noun Plurals You can change a singular noun into a plural noun by adding “s” or “es” as described below. Tom is a bathroom singer. Tom and Jerry are bathroom singers Tom eats a mango. Tom eats a dozen mangoes. I found a box containing some books in Tom’s room. I found two boxes containing books in Tom’s room Some other forms of plural forms Scarf - scarves City - cities Calf - calves Mouse - mice In some cases, the same word acts as a singular and plural noun; in most cases, however they are considered plurals; many of these are the names of animals Deer Moose Sheep Bison Salmon Trout Fish Swine Axis –Axes Crisis –Crises Datum- Data Phenomenon--Phenomena Types of Nouns: There are various types of nouns as follows. Proper Nouns Proper nouns are the specific names of persons or places and they are always written with a capitalized first letter. This list includes days of the weeks, months and also religions and their followers Examples Sunday January Tom India Bengalis Hinduism Hindus Bible Koran Baghvad Gita Common Nouns A common noun denotes a person, place, or thing in a general sense -- and is not capitalized According to the weather forecast, rains are expected next month. All the seats in the MCA stream have been filled up this year. Rotis are of several kinds: Suka rotis and an oiled rotis The boys are naughty Countable Nouns A countable noun or count noun is one that you can count. Examples The cupboard in my room can hold ten books The cupboards in the hostel room can hold one only one book The libraries in Chennai are not up to the mark. One rupee is too small a tip these days. The waiters expect al least two rupees. Non-Countable Nouns A non-countable noun or mass noun is something that can not be counted. It is usually used with a singular verb in a sentence. Deceit, information, cunning, honesty, wisdom, beauty, intelligence, stupidity, curiosity, goodness, freshness, laziness, volumetric things such as milk, air, gas, oxygen etc Collective Nouns A collective noun denotes a group of things, animals, or persons. Although the individual units of the group can be counted, still the collective noun representing the group as whole is stated as singular noun. Example of collective nouns: The flock of sheep is taken for grazing by the shepherd every morning. The staff at XYZ College is very earnest The Cabinet is debating the merits of issues dual passports to NRIs. What Is A Verb? A verb is part of the predicate referring to an action done by the subject of the sentence. Eg: Tom eats mangoes The dog bit his owner The hostess prepared hot coffee for the guests Jack and Jill went up the hill What Is A Pronoun? A pronoun replaces a noun in order to avoid repetition and to make the sentence crisp Example: I, we, you, he, she, it, they, my, our, your, his, her, its, their etc. Which, what, that, who, when where are called relative pronouns Tom and I are students of MCA. Shewag asked for his old bat When Jack and Jill were classmates, she always followed him wherever he went and they usually went up the hill. What Is An Adjective? An adjective is a descriptive word that modifies a noun or a pronoun . It usually goes before a noun or pronoun, which it modifies. The articles “the”, “an” and “a” also act as adjectives some times. Examples: The new batch of students is smart The old students have all been placed in the biggest IT Company of India. The tallest building in the world was opened in Dubai recently. An attractive, yellow color added to the grace of the IT Park building within the University campus. The student with the red shorts is terrific A song rendered by the famous vocalist Jesudoss marked the inaugural function of the music festival What is an Adverb? An adverb is a descriptive word that denotes the nature of an action such as manner, time or extent of the verb in a sentence. It modifies a verb or an adjective. They are identified by the normal suffix of the letters “ly” In addition, there are many other conjunctions which also perform as adverbs while connecting two sentences. They are “also”," "consequently," "finally," "furthermore," "hence," "however," "incidentally," "indeed," "instead," "likewise," "meanwhile," "nevertheless," "next," "nonetheless," "otherwise," "still," "then," "therefore," and "thus Examples The cook quickly prepared hot coffee for the guests. The marathon runners painstakingly ran the cross country race. The nurse patiently treated the afflicted children The government announced some freebie for the poor prior to the announcement of the elections; eventually they won with massive majority. Students are very weak in verbal aptitudes; consequently, they fail to get placed in campus interviews. What is a Preposition? A preposition is a part of speech that points out a position. It is usually found before an object. The computer is on the table. The IT Park is before the auditorium In each of the preceding sentences, a preposition locates the noun "computer and the IT Park” in space or in time. The most common prepositions are "about," "above," "across," "after," "against," "along," "among," "around," "at," "before," "behind," "below," "beneath," "beside," "between," "beyond," "but," "by," "despite," "down," "during," "except," "for," "from," "in," "inside," "into," "like," "near," "of," "off," "on," "onto," "out," "outside," "over," "past," "since," "through," "throughout," "till," "to," "toward," "under," "underneath," "until," "up," "upon," "with," "within," and "without." The preposition is relevant to the students of modern communication systems because in idiomatic usage, some verbs take certain specific prepositions. Examples His delay is attributed to the accident he met with while driving Shewag is regarded as a frontline batsman in India Priestly is credited with discovering Oxygen Students may note the verbs consider and comprise do not take any prepositions Example: Tendulkar is considered the greatest batsman of India This class comprises fifteen students. What is a Conjunction? A conjunction is a word that links to link words, phrases, and clauses. The hostess made coffee and tea. I wanted to go to Delhi but actually went to Mumbai. Staying awake late in the night and waking up late in the mornings are bad habits Coordinating Conjunctions Co-coordinating conjunction such as “and”, “but”, “or”, “so”, “yet” etc join two equal ideas. India and Pakistan are two neighboring nations Subordinating conjunction such as because, when, where, after, although, before since, than, that, though, although, even though join a main clause with a dependent clause. After he got placed in the campus, he felt relieved. When the bell rang at four p.m, the students vanished from the class. Correlative Conjunctions Correlative conjunctions are combination of a coordination conjunction with an adjective or adverb. Examples: Either he or I Neither Jack nor Jill Both x and Y Not only India but also the US Whether Infosis or Wipro He is not from the US but from the UK Batting is not a science but an art The sentence The sentence is a set of words that gives a completed meaning. It consists of essentially two things namely the subject and the predicate. While the subject is a noun or a pronoun, the predicate consists of the verb essentially; but it may also have other components such as an object or objects together with other parts of speech such as the adjective or adverb, conjunction or preposition. Example Tom ate Tom ate mangoes Tom ate sweet mangoes Tom ate sweet mangoes slowly Tom ate sweet mangoes kept on the table slowly. Tom ate the mangoes kept on the table slowly because he felt hungry Tom not only ate the mangoes kept on the table slowly but also drank two glasses of milk because he felt hungry Tom not only ate the mangoes kept on the table slowly but also drank two glasses of milk and he said that he wanted some more apples because he felt hungry

Saturday, December 20, 2014


Although the music band has received many more awards this year for their performances than they had in their past seasons, it has money only for handful performances. a) they had in their past seasons b) they had had in any past seasons c) any past season d) their past seasons have had e) in their past seasons The root-causes of the communicable diseases, of which there is dozens, will be illustrated by the Professor of Pathology in today’s special lecture A. The root-causes of the communicable diseases, of which there is dozens, B The root-cause of the communicable diseases, of which there is dozens, C. The root-causes of the communicable disease, of which there is dozens, D. The root-cause of the communicable diseases, of which there are dozens, E. The root-causes of the communicable diseases, of which there are dozens,

Friday, December 19, 2014


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