On account of a law passed in 1993, making it a crime punish

[justprashant]

saptadeep's post (2 posts up from this one) is quite good; if you had trouble with my explanations, you may want to take a look at his.

Thanks Ron!!!

[RonPurewal]

saptadeep's post (2 posts up from this one) is quite good; if you had trouble with my explanations, you may want to take a look at his.

Thanks Ron!!!

sure. hey, i didn't even do the work this time.

[lucas.gao1103]

* estelle was afraid to move because of a spider sitting on the wall --> correct, because estelle is afraid because of the spider itself, not because of the spider's sitting on the wall.

Is usage of because correct? Don't we need to use DUE TO in this case?
Estelle was afraid to move DUE TO a spider [NOUN] sitting on the wall [VERB PHRASE]

no; that use of "due to", while common in spoken language, is wrong.

see here
post29817.html#p29817

Hi Ron,

I find another post that contains a perhaps different use of 'due to', could the 'due to' in the non-underline part be replaced by 'caused by'?

data-gathered-by-weather-satellites-has-been-analyzed-by-t2476.html

Thanks

[RonPurewal]

I find another post that contains a perhaps different use of 'due to', could the 'due to' in the non-underline part be replaced by 'caused by'?

data-gathered-by-weather-satellites-has-been-analyzed-by-t2476.html

Thanks

nice catch.
that use is technically incorrect, leading me to the conclusion that one of the following is true: (1) that problem isn't really an official gmac problem, and/or (2) the authors didn't put as much thought into the usage in the non-underlined part.

[tushaw]

Can we also eliminate "C" because the first part of the sentence is a fragment that has a subject ("law") followed by two modifiers?

[RonPurewal]

Can we also eliminate "C" because the first part of the sentence is a fragment that has a subject ("law") followed by two modifiers?

not a grammar issue, but it's a modifier that doesn't make sense.

if you have that kind of modifier ("A law..."), then it should provide a description of the noun that follows it.
e.g.,
A famous and influential boxer, Manny Pacquiao has plans for a career in Philippine politics after he retires from boxing.
here, the modifier "a famous and influential boxer" modifies "manny pacquiao", so it's fine.

here, though, that usage would suggest that immigrants themselves (= the subject following the comma) are "a law". that is nonsense and thus incorrect.

--

one other thing:
you referred to part of a sentence as a "fragment".
this description doesn't make sense -- "fragment" is only used for something that's supposed to be a whole sentence but is, in fact, only part of one.

[sujit2k7]

Gurus I have few doubts ...so reopening this old thread..
For option A

On account of a law passed in 1993, making it.....,

1. I believe we can disregard this option as essential modifier is separated by commas. please confirm.

2. Can I keep Verb-ing modifier(making it.....) pointing to a noun+modifier (law passed..)separated by comma. Please confirm.

3. Is there a difference between on account of / because of

[tim]

1. What makes you think we have an essential modifier?

2. Keep anything unless you have a clear grammatical reason to eliminate it.

3. Both are highly suspect on the GMAT. In most cases the word "because" will be followed by a clause rather than "of".

[270699172]

HI Ron,
In A, is "on account of"can only be followed by a noun but not gerund phrase? the same use as "because of".

[tim]

Correct. If either construction is used, then there must be a noun as the object of the preposition.

[270699172]

Correct. If either construction is used, then there must be a noun as the object of the preposition.

Thanks tim!

[tim]

My pleasure!

[reotokate]

Dear Instructor,

Two questions:

1). Choice D: isn't it the noun phrase too lengthy for a "because of" construction? I thought we can add only short noun after "because of".

On account of a law passed in 1993, making it a crime punishable by imprisonment that a United States citizen hold gold in the form of bullion or coins, immigrants found that on arrival in the United States they had to surrender all of the gold they had brought with them.

A. On account of a law passed in 1993, making it a crime punishable by imprisonment that a United States citizen hold
B. With a law passed in 1933 that makes it a crime punishable by imprisonment that a United States citizen hold
C. A law passed in 1933 that made it a crime punishable by imprisonment for a United States citizen holding
D. Because of a law passed in 1933 making it a crime punishable by imprisonment for a United States citizen to hold
E. Due to a law being passed in 1933 that makes it a crime punishable by imprisonment for a United States citizen to hold

2). Choice B:

another problem in Prep Verbal: post26678.html

considers "with + noun + modifier" construction correct as it modifies the whole sentence rather than the subject "the honeybee’s stinger"; so isn't it legit here as well as it modifies the entire sentence starting with "emigrants"?

Thank you!

[RonPurewal]

Officially correct answers are correct!
Do not question them!

Don't fight the official answers. Complete waste of time.

"is this correct?" is never a productive question to ask about one of GMAC's correct answers. The answer is always yes.

"is this wrong?" / "is this X type of error?" is never a productive question to ask about one of GMAC's correct answers. The answer is always no.

Instead, the questions you should be asking about correct official answers, if you don't understand them, are:
"Why is this correct?"
"How does this work?"
"What understanding am I lacking that I need to understand this choice?"

This is a small, but hugely significant, change to your way of thinking. You will find it much easier to understand the format, style, and conventions of the official problems if you retire the idea that they might be wrong.

1). Choice D: isn't it the noun phrase too lengthy for a "because of" construction? I thought we can add only short noun after "because of".

If it happens in one of GMAC's correct answers, it's ok. Don't waste your time fighting the correct answers.

[RonPurewal]

2). Choice B:

another problem in Prep Verbal: post26678.html

considers "with + noun + modifier" construction correct as it modifies the whole sentence rather than the subject "the honeybee’s stinger"; so isn't it legit here as well as it modifies the entire sentence starting with "emigrants"?

Thank you!

In that problem, the modifier actually describes the sentence it's attached to. I.e., the honeybee's stinger, by staying where it is inserted, has the described effect. So "with the effect that..." (or whatever it says) is an accurate descriptor of that sentence.

In this sentence, "with a law..." doesn't describe the immigrants, nor does it describe anything that the immigrants did. So it can't describe either the subject or the sentence.