One report concludes that many schools do not have,

[aps_asks]

Hi Instructors ,

I am thinking of this problem in the following way :

First of All , Or and Nor indicates parallelism.

But in the choices : A ) , B ) and C ) we do not even have a subject in the second part of the sentence.

Also Choices A) and B ) do not have a tensed verb.( As Ron Explained )

Choice E ) is ruled out because of double negation.

Also we can think that the first part of the sentence is having something negative. So Nor should preferable come in the second part of the sentence and not Or.

Please let me know your comments.

[RonPurewal]

looks accurate.

[aps_asks]

Sorry Ron for posting in this thread once again...

As we know Nor is a coordinating conjunction

Coordinating conjunction connects two independent clauses.

Can the part after Nor in correct answer choice d) i.e. are they....... stand on its own....Since there is an inverted word order ?

[RonPurewal]

Coordinating conjunction connects two independent clauses.

this is one possible use of "nor".
it can also be used simply to connect nouns, if it is paired with "neither": i eat neither bread nor pasta.

Can the part after Nor in correct answer choice d) i.e. are they....... stand on its own....Since there is an inverted word order ?

yep.

[lindaliu9273]

Hi Ron,

I choose C because I mess up with the use of "or".

I remember "or" can be used to parallel with "not". (so I choose C when I see the "not")

e.g. I do not have pens, paper or staplers.

Is it correct that we cannot use "and" instead of "or" here?

Would you be so kind to explain a little?

Thank you.

[RonPurewal]

You're not going to see "not ... and ..." because no one will know what it means.
Some people will read it as "I don't have any of these things". Others wil read it as "I don't have all of them (but might have some of them)".

If that doesn't make immediate sense, you can simply remember that "not ... and ..." isn't correct.

[lindaliu9273]

Thank you so much!

[RonPurewal]

Sure.

[AllenY389]

hi ron sorry to bump this old thread again
er, I remember that the same pronoun (such as they them their) in a sentence always points to the same antecedent.
therefore in choice D, it is unaccepable that them and they refer to different antecedent.
Am I wrong?
I'm not intend to doubt the correct answer. I just want to figure out the rule I remember is correct or not.
Please help me.

thanks in advance.

[AllenY389]

hi，ron
why is
"schools do not have many computers, nor do they need many" right
and
" schools do not have many computers, nor are likey to have" wrong
and
"schools neither have many computers, nor are likely to have" right?
I can't figure the distinctions and am confused.
Please help me. Thanks in advance.

[HarmeetS612]

I am so sorry to bombard you with many questions :-(
I have yet another SC question from GMATPrep test from this morning eeek

One report concludes that many schools do not have, or likely to have, enough computers to use them effectively.

a. same
b. nor
c. or are
d. nor are they
e. nor are not

OA: D

This problem appear very very benign, but I could not eliminate anything but E (double negative) :-( Oh gosh, I have no idea. Please guide me through why D is the correct answer.

Thanks so much,
Jamie

Always look for parallelism immediately after the coordinating conjuntions such as 'and', 'or' etc.

here 'or' is followed by likely(adverb), which is not parallel to anything in the sentence.
Options A, B ,and E are straight away out.
between C and D, D is more clear.
Hence D.
Please correct me if i am wrong.

[thanghnvn]

hi ron sorry to bump this old thread again
er, I remember that the same pronoun (such as they them their) in a sentence always points to the same antecedent.
therefore in choice D, it is unaccepable that them and they refer to different antecedent.
Am I wrong?
I'm not intend to doubt the correct answer. I just want to figure out the rule I remember is correct or not.
Please help me.
thanks in advance.

there is two pattern here
pattern 1
neither+verb/noun/clause...nor+verb/noun/clause
in this pattern the entities following neither..nor must be the same kind. (if the entity is a clause it is in inverted order). this is paralel pattern, neither...nor work as not only...but also

pattern 2.

negative clause+nor+ clause in inverted order

this is not parallel pattern ,so, elipsis dose not work here. we keep all the elements of the second clause. example of thie pattern is this question.

Ron, am I correct? pls, confirm, thank you

[thanghnvn]

hi，ron
why is
"schools do not have many computers, nor do they need many" right
and
" schools do not have many computers, nor are likey to have" wrong
and
"schools neither have many computers, nor are likely to have" right?
I can't figure the distinctions and am confused.
Please help me. Thanks in advance.

the matter is simple. there are 3 patterns.
pattern 1
neither+verb/noun/clause...nor+ verb/noun/clause
this is paralel pattern. neither...nor works as not only...but also. the entities following neither and nor must be paralel, and of the same kind.

pattern 2: not A or B
paralel pattern

pattern 1 and 2 above are paralel patterns. elipsis can happen


pattern 3
negative clause+nor+clause in inverted order.

this is not paralel pattern and no elipsis is allowed here. we can not omit subject or any part of the latter clause because there is no paralel structure permiting us to make elipsis.

"nor", if used alone, do not create paralel structure and can not permit elipsis. this is the use of "nor" . we can not question this usage.

this question is an example of the pattern 3.

Ron, am I correct?, pls confirm. thank you , Ron

[RonPurewal]

hi，ron
why is
"schools do not have many computers, nor do they need many" right
and
" schools do not have many computers, nor are likey to have" wrong
and
"schools neither have many computers, nor are likely to have" right?
I can't figure the distinctions and am confused.
Please help me. Thanks in advance.

the matter is simple. there are 3 patterns.
pattern 1
neither+verb/noun/clause...nor+ verb/noun/clause
this is paralel pattern. neither...nor works as not only...but also. the entities following neither and nor must be paralel, and of the same kind.

pattern 2: not A or B
paralel pattern

pattern 1 and 2 above are paralel patterns. elipsis can happen


pattern 3
negative clause+nor+clause in inverted order.

this is not paralel pattern and no elipsis is allowed here. we can not omit subject or any part of the latter clause because there is no paralel structure permiting us to make elipsis.

"nor", if used alone, do not create paralel structure and can not permit elipsis. this is the use of "nor" . we can not question this usage.

this question is an example of the pattern 3.

Ron, am I correct?, pls confirm. thank you , Ron

i don't know the terminology you're using, so i can't really say. can you make up some specific examples of these "patterns"?

[AllenY389]

(1)
hi ron sorry to bump this old thread again
er, I remember that the same pronoun (such as they them their) in a sentence always points to the same antecedent.
therefore in choice D, it is unaccepable that them and they refer to different antecedent.
Am I wrong?
I'm not intend to doubt the correct answer. I just want to figure out the rule I remember is correct or not.
Please help me.
thanks in advance.

(2)
hi，ron
why is
"schools do not have many computers, nor do they need many" right
and
" schools do not have many computers, nor are likely to have" wrong
and
"schools neither have many computers, nor are likely to have" right?
I can't figure the distinctions and am confused.
Please help me. Thanks in advance.