GMAT Prep SC

[RonPurewal]

Thanks you so much! Ron. You make me so clear about it.

Considering with your previous thread, now I totally understand that it is not because "active is preferred", but because using passive here is not reasonable!

Yep. There's no "preference".

Most random sentences, of course, are written in the active voice.
That's not what's relevant here, though. What's relevant is what is actually tested on the exam. If you look only at problems where active vs. passive is actually tested (= appears in a "split"), it's pretty much even.

[momo32]

Dear Ron，

After reading previous posts， i also cannot understand why Choice A and B is wrong.

You mean that “enable to be done” is wrong？

THX

[RonPurewal]

Dear Ron，

After reading previous posts， i also cannot understand why Choice A and B is wrong.

You mean that “enable to be done” is wrong？

THX

The usage of "enable", like "able" and "unable", is simply a matter of being very literal.
I.e., just think about what person's or thing's "abilities" are under discussion. That person or thing is "(un)able to ___", or "enabled to ___".

Here, we're not talking about the "abilities" of secrets. That would be nonsense. So, "has enabled the secrets to ..." is, accordingly, nonsense as well.

The scientists are the people with a newfound ability. So, "has enabled scientists to ..." makes sense.

[RonPurewal]

Regarding your question, no, "able to be ____" isn't always wrong.

There are going to be very few situations in which it makes sense, because the ideas of "(un)able" and "to be ___ed" largely clash with each other. I.e., the former suggests some active capability of the subject to do something (or lack thereof), while the latter suggests that something is done to the subject.

Still, such situations do exist.
E.g., I'm currently unable to be hired by the XX Corporation, because my visa application is still pending.
––> This makes sense, because MY lack of ability (not the corporation's) is discussed.

[RonPurewal]

^^ On the other hand, even if these kinds of constructions are possible, most good writers won't write them. Instead, you'll see "cannot". Better style.

(The GMAT doesn't test style, so this won't ever be a decision point.)

[momo32]

[quote=
I.e., just think about what person's or thing's "abilities" are under discussion. That person or thing is "(un)able to ___", or "enabled to ___".
.

[cherryj222]

Studying the fruit fly, a household nuisance but a time-honored experimental subject, has enabled the secrets of how embryos develop to begin to be unraveled by scientists.

A. Studying the fruit fly, a household nuisance but a time-honored experimental subject, has enabled the secrets of how embryos develop to begin to be unraveled by scientists.

B. By the study of the fruit fly, a household nuisance and also a time honored experimental subject, it was possible for the secrets of how embryos develo0p to begin to be unraveled by scientists.

C. By studying a household nuisance but a time-honored experimental subject, the fruit fly enabled scientists to begin to unravel the secrets of how embryos develop.

D. By studying the fruit fly, a household nuisance and also a time-honored experimental subject, the secrets of how embryos develop are beginning to be unraveled by scientists.

E. The study of the fruit fly, a household nuisance but a time-honored experimental subject, has enabled scientists to begin to unravel the secrets of how embryos develop.

OA - E
My question is, The study of the fruit fly, a household nuisance but a time-honored experimental subject - Here the subject is The study. Is a household nuisance but a time-honored experimental subject referring to the fruitfly? Is it an appositive? I am a little confused, if a household nuisance refers to the fruit fly or is incorrectly referring to the "study"?

Please advise, what a household nuisance but a time-honored experimental subject stands for?

Hi ron, could you please clarify what is wrong with choice B?

[RonPurewal]

B has lots of issues:

• "By the study..." (vs. "by studying...")

• "and" (vs. the more logical "but")

• Placement of "scientists", vis-a-vis the modifier at the beginning

• "It was possible for the secrets to ___" (vs. "It was possible for scientists to ___") -- meaning issue, essentially identical to the issue with "capability"/"ability"

Which of these do/don't you understand?

[Paris,Texas]

B has lots of issues:

• "By the study..." (vs. "by studying...")

• "and" (vs. the more logical "but")

• Placement of "scientists", vis-a-vis the modifier at the beginning

• "It was possible for the secrets to ___" (vs. "It was possible for scientists to ___") -- meaning issue, essentially identical to the issue with "capability"/"ability"

Which of these do/don't you understand?

Hi, Ron,
I don't understand the meaning of " Placement of "scientists", vis-a-vis the modifier at the beginning"

And can we view that in choice C "by studying...." is an initial modifier, thus it should modifier the "scientists"? and then wrong?
in choice A "studying the fruit fly, a household nuisance...," can the "a house hold nuisance but..." refer to "the fruit fly" or it can't and can only refer to " studying the fruit fly"?

ps. A stupid question.
er, in" the secrets of how embryos develop" is "of" a preposition?
and why it can be followed by "how embryos develop"? can "how..." be viewed as a noun phrase?

Thanks in advance.

[RonPurewal]

Hi, Ron,
I don't understand the meaning of " Placement of "scientists", vis-a-vis the modifier at the beginning"

same issue that you appear to understand in C.

the scientists did the studying., so, the modifier about studying should be as close as possible to "scientists".
("by the study of..." is problematic idiomatically as well.)

[RonPurewal]

And can we view that in choice C "by studying...." is an initial modifier, thus it should modifier the "scientists"? and then wrong?

yes.

[RonPurewal]

in choice A "studying the fruit fly, a household nuisance...," can the "a house hold nuisance but..." refer to "the fruit fly" or it can't and can only refer to " studying the fruit fly"?

that modifier is fine; it clearly describes the fly.

the problem with A is that it's complete nonsense.
studying the fly hasn't "enabled the secrets..." to do anything. rather, it has enabled the scientists to figure out certain things.
(secrets don't have "abilities", so it's basically impossible for "enabled the secrets to do xxxx" to make sense.)

[RonPurewal]

ps. A stupid question.
er, in" the secrets of how embryos develop" is "of" a preposition?
and why it can be followed by "how embryos develop"? can "how..." be viewed as a noun phrase?

Thanks in advance.

i don't know/remember these terms, so i can't address the question directly.

however, if the question is "Can this play the role of a noun?", then the answer is yes.
You'll be fascinated by the mechanism of this machine.
You'll be fascinated by how this machine works.

[gmatkiller_24]

Hi, Ron:

just a little doubt about the studying in choice A and the study in choice E

it seems to me that VING refers to an oning process, where an noun refer to something that is more concrete and that has already been done.

is the "the study of...." in choice E much preferable in this question, or is it just a red-herring between " ving " and "noun" in this case ?

[RonPurewal]

that's not really the difference.
the difference is this:

• "___ing" / "___ing something" (NOT "the ___ing" or "the ___ing of something" implies that an active role is played by the subject. it's an indicator of direct involvement by the subject.

• "the (noun form)" suggests that the subject is not directly involved.

here are my go-to examples (which are probably on this forum in multiple other places, too):

Brad is passionate about rescuing animals.
--> brad actually rescues animals (and feels strongly about doing so).

Brad is passionate about the rescue of animals / Brad is passionate about the rescuing of animals.
--> brad doesn't actually rescue animals himself, but he is passionate about the idea.
("the rescue" and "the rescuing" are not exactly the same, but the difference is so small that only a professional writer or editor would really care.)

--

on the gmat exam, will you ever NEED to know anything as nuanced as this?
no way. not in a thousand years.