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Student’s GMAT Prep Question for Sentence Correction
Here’s a question that was directed to me from a student:
Quote:
As envisioned by researchers, commercial farming of lobsters will enable fisheries to sell the shellfish year-round, taking advantage of off-season demand, standardize its sizes and colors, and to predict sales volume in advance.(A) taking advantage of off-season demand, standardize
(B) taking advantage of off-season demand, to standardize
(C) taking advantage of off-season demand, standardizing
(D) take advantage of off-season demand, standardizing
(E) take advantage of off-season demand, to standardizeStep 1) Notice keyword “and” in the format: a, b, and c.
Since the last term c is not underlined, this will dictate what the other guys have to be.
“to predict sales” is what we have to follow.Step 2) Identify a and b.
a: “to sell”
b: “to standardize”Step 3) Only choices (B) and (E) have “to standardize”
Step 4) Note that the -ING phrase “taking advantage of off-season demand” is just a descriptive phrase describing the first part of the sentence. Also, the phrase in (E) “take advantage of” does not fit the “to take advantage of” pattern so it cannot be correct.
Step 5) Mark (B) and move on.
You should be able to arrive at the correct answer pretty quickly if you have the correct and efficient thought process.
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Sentence Correction GMAT Prep Question
So I answered another question from a student who is getting confused with -ING verbs and sentence structures. Here it goes:
OK, let’s take a look:
Quote:
The Achaemenid empire of Persia reached the Indus Valley in the fifth century B.C., bringing the Aramaic script with it, from which was derived both northern and southern Indian alphabets.
A) the Aramaic script with it, from which was derived both northern and
B) the Aramaic script with it, and from which deriving both the northern and the
C) with it the Aramaic script, from which derive both the northern and the
D) with it the Aramaic script, from which derives both northern and
E) with it the Aramaic script, and deriving from it both the northernStep 1) Identify that there are 2 commas separating the 3 segments of the sentence. 1 segment starts with an -ING verb and another starts with “from which”
Step 2) Look closely at “from which was derived both northern and southern Indian alphabets.”
Flip this around:
“Both northern and southern Indian alphabets derive from [it]”Step 3) What is [it] referring to? It’s referring to the empire. Is that what we want? NO! It makes more sense that an alphabet derives from a script.
So we have to flip the underlined portion so the word “script” is at the end.Step 4) Identify that choices C, D, and E have the word “script” at the end of the phrase. With C/D being more relevant to what we are going for.
Step 5) Note that the phrase “both northern and southern” is plural–and must be followed with “derive” instead of “derives”. Choice (C) has “derive” so (C) is the answer.
Mark (C) and move on.
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GMAT Prep: My Answer to Student’s Question on “Superficial Vs. Actual Parallelism”
So someone sent me this question to answer. He/she was getting confused with some of the concepts that he/she was reading from the Manhattan book for SC.
First, let me say that there is no such thing as “superficial” or “actual” parallelism! It’s amazing what fancy terms people throw around when the underlying concept is actually really simple!
Here’s what this person said:
GMAT Student: I have been refering to the Manhattan book for SC. It gives an eg. of superficial parallelism where there is a main clause and subordinate clause. It is illustrated in the eg. below:‘Ken travelled around the world, visiting historic sites, eating native foods, and learning about new culture.’
At first it might not sound right but according to Manhattan ppl the main clause is that ‘Ken travelled around the world’ and that ‘visiting historic sites, eating native foods, and learning about new culture’ is part of the subordinate clause, and it only provides additional information about the travel….According to this, ”Ken travelled around the world, visited historic sites, ate native foods, and learnt about new cultures’… would be incorrect because equal importance is given to all the clauses…
I totally understood this concept but now when i do sentences sometimes I cannot differentiate between sentences that require different parallelism in the main clause and subordinate clause and one’s that do not…
So please give me clarity on this concept, and also help me with the following sentence:
The galloping boulder bumped against the hillside, kicking up cloud of dust, and slightly changed direction.
A. kicking up cloud of dust
B. a cloud of dust is kicked up
C. a cloud of dust is kicking up
D. kicks up a cloud of dust
E. kicked up a cloud of dustNormally I would select E as the answer, but after knowing the rule of superficial vs actual parallelism I chose A, because according to me kicking up a cloud of dust is just a result of the boulder bumping against the hillside….
So now I’m waiting for help to know the right ans..and the logic behind it too…
Now, here’s my response. Hopefully you can answer this quickly as well.
GMATPill: I actually arrived at the answer E within 10 seconds without even considering the other answer choices.
How? Let me explain–it’s actually pretty simple.
You are confusing parallelism with “-ING” verbs in the context of “phrase, main sentence” structures.Quote:
The galloping boulder bumped against the hillside, kicking up cloud of dust, and slightly changed direction.A. kicking up cloud of dust
B. a cloud of dust is kicked up
C. a cloud of dust is kicking up
D. kicks up a cloud of dust
E. kicked up a cloud of dustStep 1) Examine the sentence structure: I noticed there were a bunch of commas and then the key word “and”–indicating this is a list of stuff……a, b, and c.
Step 2) Know that with lists (a, b, and c) all three items MUST be consistent. If one is in past tense, then they all must be in past tense. If one is an -ING verb, then they all must be -ING verbs.
Step 3) Notice the non-underlined portion has PAST-tense verbs: “bumped” and “slightly changed”
Step 4) Know that the form of “kick” must be “kicked”—which only answer E has. So I’m pretty confident E is the answer. I mark it and move on.
All that happened within 10 seconds.
Now let’s look at the first sentence you brought up:
‘Ken travelled around the world, visiting historic sites, eating native foods, and learning about new culture.’Step 1) Notice the verb is “travelled”
Step 2) Notice there’s a bunch of other verbs “visiting” “eating” “learning”—but wait a minute! These are -ING verbs!What do we know about -ING verbs especially when they are located next to commas? They modify the SUBJECT of the main sentence—which is Ken.
Step 3) Flip the sentence so it’s easier to read:
“Visiting historic sites, Ken travelled around the world.”
“Eating native foods, Ken travelled around the world.”
“Learning about new culture, Ken travelled around the world.”Step 4) Recognize that the -ING verbs are just descriptive phrases that describe Ken as he “travelled around the world.”
This sentence structure is TOTALLY different from the other example where you have a list of A, B, and C!
Hope that helps! -
How To Write Your Resume For Business School
There are a lot of elements related to your resume submission during the business school application season.
Most business schools have an online system where you upload your essays, questionnaires, and yes—your resume.Before we get to the actual resume, let’s talk about what you should name your resume. Usually, you can upload your word (*.doc) document to the online system. Occasionally, you may need to convert your DOC file to a PDF and upload the PDF instead.
What should the filename of my resume be?
Good question. This is often overlooked, but it does make a difference!
Most candidates will give the following filenames to their resume:- “John Doe – 091009.doc”
- “Resume – bschool.doc”
- “resume for harvard Fall 2010.doc”
This is NOT what you should do. Sure, having the “091009″ system is good for your own personal tracking system to keep track of which dated version you saved on–091009 –September 10, 2009. However, business schools do NOT want to see this.
Let’s look at what is good from the above. The John Doe part is good. Why? Putting your name in the filename immediately brands you as a unique candidate. One thing you should know about the entire MBA application process is that branding is everything. If you do not brand yourself, you will be just like the thousands of other generic guys who give their resume the name: “resume091009.doc”
Brand yourself! Put your name there and attach the name of the company you worked at for 4 years. You can even put the name of the school you are applying to–it gives a slight impression that this particular resume was specially customized for the school–rather than just being your generic resume that you hand out everywhere.
For example, use the following formats:- “John Doe Resume – Goldman IB – Harvard R1 2010.doc”
or if the online system does not allow [spaces] in the title, then use underscores like this:
- “John_Doe_Resume_Goldman_IB_Harvard_R1_2010.pdf”
- Notice the name “John Doe” is in the beginning. You can also put the word resume in the beginning like this: “Resume – John Doe – Goldman IB – Harvard R1 2010.doc”
- Notice “Goldman IB” utilizes the recognized brand name in the title.
- Notice “Harvard R1 2010″ indicates this resume was customized for Harvard. And R1 signifies that the resume was submitted as part of Round 1 in the application process (as opposed to Round 2 or Round 3).
- Without even opening your document, the admissions director will already know who you are and what your general trajectory is. They know your name. They know the name of the firm that you probably spent a good portion of your career at and they also know which application round you belong to.
Should I use an Objective in my resume?
Objectives are useful only when you have a clear career path or field of interest. Since your intention is pretty clear for business school (to get into the school you are applying to), the objective is not necessary. So save yourself some room and leave out the objective for business school resumes.
How should I write the body of the resume?
This is the most important part. We can only cover a little bit here.
To start off, use effective verbs phrases, not generic ones like:
“responsible for”
“worked with”
“Handled”Rather, you should use action verb like:
“Managed, Oversaw”
“Analyzed”
“Contacted”Be specific as possible and quantify where possible.
So instead of saying
“Responsible for public relations activities of largest client account.”
you should say
“Developed and implemented a 6-month nation-wide public relations campaign for ABC Company, the agency’s largest client account, representing 65% of annual billings in the consumer products division.”Much better.
What verb tense should I use?
Verb tenses are very important. A rule of thumb: If you have already done it, the verb should end in “ed”. If you are currently working on something the verb should end in the present tense. Do not lead your sentences with verbs that end in “ing”.
The pronoun “I”
The pronoun “I” does not belong on your resume.How big should my margins be?
Your margins should be no smaller than .5 inch and no larger than 1 inch on all sides.
Do I list dates on my resume?
Yes, remember to list the dates of your employment, involvement in activities, as well as honors or special recognition.
How long should my resume be?
Your resume should be no longer than 1 page. If your resume is more than 1 page, it is very likely you are listing a lot of irrelevant or redundant information. Remember, business school admissions officers have thousands of resumes to go through. They won’t be spending all that much time analyzing your resume when they have piles of essays and apps to go through. They just want the quick scoop. They also want to know that you understand how to succinctly communicate what you did on one piece of paper.
WHAT size font do I use?
Size 11 is ideal, but anything smaller than size 10 is too small.
Help Me With My ResumeStep 1: Make your payment above.
Step 2: Send an email to zeke@gmatpill.com attaching your necessary materials (resume and cover letter).
Step 3: We will respond confirming receipt of your documents via email and then work together with you.
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