In the mid-1920s the Hawthorne Works

[syxphoebe]

In the mid-1920s the Hawthorne Works of the Western Electric Company was the scene of anintensive series of experiments that would investigate changes in working conditions as to theireffects on workers' performance.
(A) that would investigate changes in working conditions as to their effects on workers' performance
(B) investigating the effects that changes in working conditions would have on workers'performance
(C) for investigating what the effects on workers' performance are that changes in workingconditions would cause
(D) that investigated changes in working conditions' effects on workers' performance
(E) to investigate what the effects changes in working conditions would have on workers'performance

Answer：B
i don't know why C and D are wrong.
my opinion：
A：their --->not clear
E：what the effects changes--->what the effects that changes

thx in advance

[kramacha1979]

This is a GPrep Q

Why B over D ?

I eliminated D B/C
working condition's effects on worker's performance ..sounds terrible and is wrong in meaning...
But I like the usage of that in D ..and that has a good referent : experiments ...


Any light on this ?

[kramacha1979]

Also I liked the use of past tense in D ..investigated..since we are talking about 1920's and have a verb was...

[RonPurewal]

(b) is the best choice here.

(a) is vague because it's overly indirect: the meaning of "investigate changes ... as to their effects" is unclear. what's more, it's probably considered unidiomatic as well, at least in this sort of context.

(b) = correct
the participle "investigating" follows "experiments" immediately. no filler words are necessary; this is good concision.
the wording is clear; there are no awkward double possessives, etc., as in some of the other choices.
"would" is used properly here, as a past-tense form of "will". (i.e., if this sentence were translated into the present tense, it would read "...that changes ... will have")

(c) is ridiculously wordy; there's no way you should give this choice any serious consideration. if you don't realize pretty quickly that this choice is wrong, you should go back and read through a bunch of correct OG answers, trying to internalize the sights and sounds (the "vibe") of the correct answers.

(d) "changes in working conditions' effects" is at best awkward and vague, and at worst ambiguous: the intended meaning is the effects of the changes, but this sentence seems to indicated the effects of the conditions themselves. in other words, a literal reading of this sentence seems to indicate that the conditions themselves haven't changed - only their effects have. that's not the intended meaning of the original.

(e) "what the effects" is ungrammatical.
also, in constructions of this sort, "what" is generally redundant / unnecessary; it's better merely to say "to investigate X" rather than to say "to investigate what X is" (or other such wordy construction).

[pmal04]

Hi Ron,
I am just double checking my concept here.
I think one can not introduce a subordinate clause with an Infinitive as it is done in choice E.
Am I correct?
Thanks.

[RonPurewal]

Hi Ron,
I am just double checking my concept here.
I think one can not introduce a subordinate clause with an Infinitive as it is done in choice E.
Am I correct?
Thanks.

no, that's not an absolute rule.

for instance, here's a legitimate use of such a construction:

i was unable to see what was wrong.

infinitive
same type of subordinate clause that appears in the problem

[pmal04]

Thanks Ron.

[RonPurewal]

sure thing

[vineet3183]

(b) is the best choice here.

(a) is vague because it's overly indirect: the meaning of "investigate changes ... as to their effects" is unclear. what's more, it's probably considered unidiomatic as well, at least in this sort of context.

(b) = correct
the participle "investigating" follows "experiments" immediately. no filler words are necessary; this is good concision.
the wording is clear; there are no awkward double possessives, etc., as in some of the other choices.
"would" is used properly here, as a past-tense form of "will". (i.e., if this sentence were translated into the present tense, it would read "...that changes ... will have")

(c) is ridiculously wordy; there's no way you should give this choice any serious consideration. if you don't realize pretty quickly that this choice is wrong, you should go back and read through a bunch of correct OG answers, trying to internalize the sights and sounds (the "vibe") of the correct answers.

(d) "changes in working conditions' effects" is at best awkward and vague, and at worst ambiguous: the intended meaning is the effects of the changes, but this sentence seems to indicated the effects of the conditions themselves. in other words, a literal reading of this sentence seems to indicate that the conditions themselves haven't changed - only their effects have. that's not the intended meaning of the original.

(e) "what the effects" is ungrammatical.
also, in constructions of this sort, "what" is generally redundant / unnecessary; it's better merely to say "to investigate X" rather than to say "to investigate what X is" (or other such wordy construction).

In the mid-1920s the Hawthorne Works of the Western Electric Company was the scene of anintensive series of experiments that would investigate changes in working conditions as to theireffects on workers' performance.
(A) that would investigate changes in working conditions as to their effects on workers' performance
(B) investigating the effects that changes in working conditions would have on workers'performance
(C) for investigating what the effects on workers' performance are that changes in workingconditions would cause
(D) that investigated changes in working conditions' effects on workers' performance
(E) to investigate what the effects changes in working conditions would have on workers'performance
Answer：B


Hi Ron could you tell me the role of the present participle "investigating" , it is modifying experiments but whether that investigation continues in the present as in the question below of gmat prep .
Please do clear my doubt.
Scientists have recently discovered what could be the largest and oldest living organism on Earth, a giant fungus that is an interwoven filigree of mushrooms and rootlike tentacles spawned by a single fertilized spore some 10,000 years ago and extending for more than 30 acres in the soil of a Michigan forest.

(A) extending

(B) extends

(C) extended

(D) it extended

(E) is extending

A is the correct answer. This question tests the use of present vs past participle.

Subject in the given sentence is filigree

The filigree spawned by X not mentioned in the sentence some 10,000 years ago. Thus the use of past participle. Further, spawned by denotes passive voice which justifies the use of past participle.
As for the extending, it is still prevailing today in the Michigan forest

[tankobe]

(b) is the best choice here.
(e) "what the effects" is ungrammatical.
also, in constructions of this sort, "what" is generally redundant / unnecessary; it's better merely to say "to investigate X" rather than to say "to investigate what X is" (or other such wordy construction).

hi, Ron:
Although option C is not the key, i wander to know wethter the sentance is better,or more acceptable, when i change the option C into
investigating what effects changes in working conditions would have on workers' performance, since i have seen an example in GMATPREP:

Those skeptical of the extent of global warming argue that short-term temperature data are an inadequate means of predicting long-term trends and point out that the scientific community remains divided over whether significant warming will occur and what impact it would have.

I think "to investigate what the X is that S V" is different from "to investigate what X S V" . the former is redundant, but the latter is not.

what is your opinion?

[mikrodj]

(b) is the best choice here.
(b) = correct
the participle "investigating" follows "experiments" immediately. no filler words are necessary; this is good concision.
the wording is clear; there are no awkward double possessives, etc., as in some of the other choices.
"would" is used properly here, as a past-tense form of "will". (i.e., if this sentence were translated into the present tense, it would read "...that changes ... will have")

is option B saying that the experiments investigated something? since investigating refers to experiments, my interpretation was that. Am I wrong?

[RonPurewal]

I think "to investigate what the X is that S V" is different from "to investigate what X S V" . the former is redundant, but the latter is not.

you're right, but "the X that S V" (the structure of the correct answer to this problem) is even better.

in the problem you've cited, "what impact..." is the best choice largely because it's parallel to another question-word ("whether...").
i.e.,
you couldn't place "the impact that..." in parallel to "whether...".
"what impact...", on the other hand, is perfectly parallel to "whether...".

[RonPurewal]

(b) is the best choice here.
(b) = correct
the participle "investigating" follows "experiments" immediately. no filler words are necessary; this is good concision.
the wording is clear; there are no awkward double possessives, etc., as in some of the other choices.
"would" is used properly here, as a past-tense form of "will". (i.e., if this sentence were translated into the present tense, it would read "...that changes ... will have")

is option B saying that the experiments investigated something? since investigating refers to experiments, my interpretation was that. Am I wrong?

nope. correct.

it's ok to say that a study/experiment "investigated" something. if you don't know this, you've just learned a new takeaway.

[roshan_aslam_engg]

the effects that changes in working conditions. is this not a S-V problem? are is 'changes' used as a noun here. if yes, do you have any tip on how to determine wether a word is a noun or a verb. ( i mean for these kind of verbs that are used both as both nouns and verbs)

[RonPurewal]

the effects that changes in working conditions. is this not a S-V problem? are is 'changes' used as a noun here. if yes, do you have any tip on how to determine wether a word is a noun or a verb. ( i mean for these kind of verbs that are used both as both nouns and verbs)

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