Annual stock holders meeting...

[RonPurewal]

Hi Ron,

What's wrong with E?
Before the OG2016 came out, we could use "these" to eliminate E since "these" cannot fulfill the duty of they. But now we can not rely on this rule to eliminate E.

'this'/'that'/'these'/'those' should be used as stand-alone pronouns ONLY where normal pronouns CANNOT be used.

i think i know the OG problem you're talking about (it uses 'that', not 'these'). in that problem, you'll notice that it is very clearly impossible to use 'it' where 'that' is used.

since 'them' is perfectly functional here, don't use 'these'.

[RonPurewal]

also, if we're selling object X then that's 'sales of X', not 'sales for X'.

'sales for X' could be used in other contexts—e.g., if 'X' were some company or department—but not if 'X' is the actual item being sold.

[douyang]

Hi Ron,

What's wrong with E?
Before the OG2016 came out, we could use "these" to eliminate E since "these" cannot fulfill the duty of they. But now we can not rely on this rule to eliminate E.

'this'/'that'/'these'/'those' should be used as stand-alone pronouns ONLY where normal pronouns CANNOT be used.

i think i know the OG problem you're talking about (it uses 'that', not 'these'). in that problem, you'll notice that it is very clearly impossible to use 'it' where 'that' is used.

since 'them' is perfectly functional here, don't use 'these'.

So for example, what is the function of “that” in the following sentence I made?

Jack often writes from right to left because that is the direction he has learned since he was six.

So “that” refers to “ right to left”?

[douyang]

also, if we're selling object X then that's 'sales of X', not 'sales for X'.

'sales for X' could be used in other contexts—e.g., if 'X' were some company or department—but not if 'X' is the actual item being sold.

Got it. Thank you Ron.

I guess same principal can also apply to "threat of" vs. "threat from" in this problem.

threat of X just means X is the actual threat.

threat from X means threat is coming from X.

[RonPurewal]

yes, those are valid observations.

that distinction is rather subtle, though... the line betwen "X is a threat" and "X poses a threat" is rather blurry. you will definitely never need to make such a fine-grained distinction.

if you see this kind of subtle distinction, it's there to distract you.
ignore!
go find more fundamental / easier things!

[SonT457]

Hi Ron,

I have never seen this structure: ..., among them X and Y (as used in option D). Is there any new lesson to learn, or should I just accept the structure as a rule?

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

Think of the structure as 'including among them X and Y'. Here, the 'among them' is simply inserted for emphasis (and distraction!).

Learning from correct answer choices ("Hey, that is a correct phrase!") is a vital skill for making progress on GMAT.

[JbhB682]

Hi,

Can you kindly confirm why A is wrong? Is it because of wrong usage of including or unidiomatic threat from?

the parallelism in that option doesn't make sense.
in that wording, the two parallel elements are "threat" and "(declining) sales". this is incorrect: the sales themselves are not a challenge facing the company.
to be sufficiently accurate, the sentence should state that the decline in sales, not the sales themselves, poses a threat.

Hi Experts -The above post in pink from Ron confused me.

Ron seems to suggest that the parallelism in A is between a threat and sales

He drops the adjective : declining completely

I agree sales themselves are not a challenge facing the company. However declining sales is certainly a challenge for the company, is it not ?

[JbhB682]

I think option A is NOT parallel for another reason

In A :
Threat is an action noun
whereas
sales of Y is a concrete noun

Given action nouns CANNOT be parallel to concrete nouns -- hence A is not gramatically parallel

Thoughts ?

[TiffanyB]

Hello JBHB682,

You are correct that action nouns and concrete nouns are not technically parallel. Clear meaning and correct structure often go hand in hand, so this is good to recognize.

However, structurally Ron's point is the clearer of the two to use. Declining is an adjective, but we must look at the nouns as being parallel. To Ron's point, sales are not a challenge. The decline in sales is the challenge.

[JbhB682]

Hi TiffanyB - Thank you so much for responding. Regarding what Ron mentioned ..just wanted to clarify

You don't see the two sentences as the same ?

(a) Declining Food Quality is an issue for my restaurant
vs
(b) The decline in food quality is an issue for my restaurant

I thought these two sentences were the same (even with the adjective Declining in blue in option A)

I thought in the first case -- while I agree declining is an adjective -- one can't just drop the adjective and re-write the sentence as

(Option A re-written) Food Quality is an issue for my restaurant

Do you always drop participle adjectives (Verb-ing or verb-ed) when trying to figure out what the essential clause of a sentence ?

[TiffanyB]

Hello JbhB682,

I have two things to say about this.

First, and most importantly, this is not a clear issue that will help you to make good decisions. If you ever find yourself trying to choose between two answer choices like the ones that you list, try to find something else.

Second, there is a slight difference in meaning between the options that you identify. You can strip a sentence down to subject + verb to find just the core of the sentence.

The core of your sentences are:

Food quality is (an issue). --> The meaning here is that food quality at your restaurant is a problem.

The decline is (an issue). --> In this version, the decline (of food quality) is the issue.

Which of these is the true problem? Based on what we were discussing previously, I believe that your intent is to say that the restaurant originally had higher quality but the quality declined, which caused issues for your restaurant. This corresponds with the second meaning.

As I said above, this is a minor difference and NOT one of the first things that you should be analyzing in a sentence.

[ScottD643]

Beautifully stated!

Hello JbhB682,

I have two things to say about this.

First, and most importantly, this is not a clear issue that will help you to make good decisions. If you ever find yourself trying to choose between two answer choices like the ones that you list, try to find something else.

Second, there is a slight difference in meaning between the options that you identify. You can strip a sentence down to subject + verb to find just the core of the sentence.

The core of your sentences are:

Food quality is (an issue). --> The meaning here is that food quality at your restaurant is a problem.

The decline is (an issue). --> In this version, the decline (of food quality) is the issue.

Which of these is the true problem? Based on what we were discussing previously, I believe that your intent is to say that the restaurant originally had higher quality but the quality declined, which caused issues for your restaurant. This corresponds with the second meaning.

As I said above, this is a minor difference and NOT one of the first things that you should be analyzing in a sentence.