Question: Hotcakes

Comment on Hotcakes

Hey, you just did a great british accent when you said the word "order" at 1:08 ! Just pointing out an additional talent you have (along with teaching well)
gmat-admin's picture

Ha - you're right!!
I'm Canadian, so perhaps that explains this phenomenon :-)

...and your pronunciation of "about" in the next video at 0:07 (https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat-sentence-correction/video/1227) made it all the more obvious.

Thanks for the incredible content Brent!!
gmat-admin's picture

Too funny!
We Canadians always hear about our pronunciation of "about" (A BOOT), but I don't hear it when I say it :-)

Glad you like the videos!

Cheers,
Brent

HEY,
Could you explain more why B answer is right by omit "was" in front of "made"

Thanks!
gmat-admin's picture

For answer choice B, it isn't necessary to have "was" in front of the second verb (made), since the word "was" at the beginning of the sentence can be applied to the second verb.

A similar example: "On Friday, Joe was fired and asked to leave the office." Here "was" can be applied to "fired" AND to "leave". We can, however, write "On Friday, Joe was fired and was asked to leave the office."

Crystal clear! Thanks!

Hi Brent,

Just to confirm, so when there is a clear sign (in this case ONCE) something happened before a past time, usage of past perfect tense is optional? or must?

Thanks!!
gmat-admin's picture

If the order of events is obvious, then we can forgo the past perfect tense if we wish.

For more on this, watch https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat-sentence-correction/video/1178 (starting at 7:53 in the video)

Even their most ardent champions concede that no less than a technical or scientific breakthrough is necessary before solar cells can meet the goal of providing one percent of the nation’s energy needs.

(A) that no less than a technical or scientific breakthrough is necessary
(B) that nothing other than a technical or scientific breakthrough is needed
(C) that a technical or scientific breakthrough is necessary
(D) the necessity for an occurrence of a technical or scientific breakthrough
(E) the necessity for a technical or scientific breakthrough occurring

Don'T you think that C DISTORT THE MEANING OF SENTENCE ..???
Why not B is a Right on e.?
gmat-admin's picture

A and B are fine, BUT they use more words than are necessary.

Answer choice A says that anything LESS THAN a technical or scientific breakthrough will be insufficient to achieve a certain goal. This is the same as saying that a technical or scientific breakthrough WILL be sufficient to achieve that goal. This is what C says.

Answer choice B suffers from the same problem.

For this reason, C (the shortest way to convey the same idea) is preferred.

Does that help?

Cheers,
Brent

Hmm, yes so in GMAT if the sentence gives us the intended meaning in clear form means not of any confusion related substance but is giving a correct intended meaning which sentence trying to convey us will be given a priority ..

So basically we have to attack on a thing that what sentence want to convey us nothing anything more than this ..

Thanks :)
gmat-admin's picture

Yes, the intended meaning must always be considered first.

Hi Brent, thanks for the amazing videos

A question - do parallel elements need to be in the same tense? (as the example you gave in this video) - I remember seeing a few sentences where this wasn't true & yet the answer was accepted as right
gmat-admin's picture

I'm glad you like the videos!

I don't believe such a sentence would be parallel.
I'm trying to think of an example of a sentence that is parallel yet uses different tenses and can't come up with one.
The next time you see an official question doing so, please let me know.

for future progressive tense, e.g. "On December 20, 2023, Brent will stop offering office hours. " should one use "From Dec 20 onward" (meaning from that point on), or directly "On", which specifies a specific point in time? Assuming the meaning is no office hour will happen from Dec 20 going forward. Thanks! (had to ask, since this seem to demonstrate a grammar point)
gmat-admin's picture

Interesting question; it's the type of thing grammarians likely discuss four hours!

I've never heard of any official GMAT question testing the use of ONWARD/ONWARDS, but after a quick search I learned ONWARD must be followed by a noun. So, there's that!

I think your version with "From Dec 20 onward" works perfectly!

Office Hours

On December 20, 2023, Brent will stop offering office hours. 

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