A new way to pick up the correct answer

[slr257]

Hi,
I am a new GMAT taker and am preparing for it. Today, i exercised a question. When I google it, I found a new way to figure it out. But this new way is not discussed on OG, where this question comes from. So, I want to post it here and wish someone could have a look to confirm or discuss. Any reply will be welcome:-)

Here is the question:
[deleted because problem is from a banned source - see below]

It is #8 under SC of OG13. The new way I got is: "moisture" cannot make the chambers need cleaning and repair, but "moisture had raised the humidity within them...." can make the chambers need cleaning and repair. And thus, A, B, D are wrong.

Thanks a lot!

[tim]

OG is a banned source; it is illegal to post OG questions anywhere on the web. If you are in one of our classes, please ask OG questions during office hours or before/after class..

[slr257]

Hi Tim,

I am sorry that I forgot to tell that this is also a Prep question. And another post can be found here: in-late-1997-the-chambers-inside-the-pyramid-t14977.html

[tim]

fair enough. please note that your "new" approach is in fact one of the most common mistaken approaches to sentence correction. you have chosen to ignore any grammar issues and go straight to the meaning issue. while this strategy may give you a success rate slightly higher than random guessing (although even that is not a guarantee!), i think overall you will be disappointed with the results. remember to explore ALL relevant grammar issues before addressing the meaning of answer choices..

[slr257]

Thank you very much Tim! I also feel this method is too risky and this is why I post it here to ask for help. May I confirm your advice? Do you mean that even though sometimes to focus on meaning can help, but it is not that worthy and effective, so, in order to establish a good manner, we'd better not use it? At last, may I ask a further question? Do you think grammar is more important than meaning? Or vice verse?

Thanks again for your through and quick reply! Have a good night!

[tim]

grammar is the most important piece. you should never look at meaning unless you have two or more answer choices that you're SURE are 100% grammatically correct..

[slr257]

grammar is the most important piece. you should never look at meaning unless you have two or more answer choices that you're SURE are 100% grammatically correct..

Yes, but according to OG, we need to get the meaning first when we get a sentence. Do you mean that to understand the intended meaning of the author first (but not use it to eliminate for now), then use grammar to eliminate, and at last, use intended meaning to pick up?

[jlucero]

grammar is the most important piece. you should never look at meaning unless you have two or more answer choices that you're SURE are 100% grammatically correct..

Yes, but according to OG, we need to get the meaning first when we get a sentence. Do you mean that to understand the intended meaning of the author first (but not use it to eliminate for now), then use grammar to eliminate, and at last, use intended meaning to pick up?

I don't Tim is saying meaning is irrelevant. The correct answer choice will have one clearly-expressed meaning. But it will also have proper usage of commas and I would never look at commas to try to help me find the correct answer choice.

You should be able to understand what the sentence is trying to express because it will help you find out how the different words are functioning to express that idea. So feel free to read through the original sentence to try and understand what the sentence is about. However, as Tim suggests, grammar is the most important thing to analyze as it will be the reason 90-95% of incorrect answer choices are wrong.

You absolutely need to know the rules of grammar and be able to quickly analyze them in the different answer choices to efficiently work through SC questions. When meaning comes in as a DECIDING FACTOR between two answer choices, it's because the sentences express two subtly-different meanings based on the juxtaposition of key words. But if you're going through every SC problem looking for differences in meaning, you're going to be sorely disappointed.

[slr257]

I got it! Thanks a lot!

[tim]

:)