By applying optimization techniques commonly used

[tim]

this is just the reality of the English language - "her" can be an object pronoun or a possessive pronoun, depending on the context. as a related example, consider that the word "cost" can be a noun or a verb, depending on how it fits into the sentence. practice learning to identify what part of speech each word in a sentence is, and you should find it easier to make these distinctions..

[SanchitB93]

Hi Ron,

First and foremost, huge fan of your way of explaining things.

Now my doubt is...

Use of word "Should" here ?? is it correct ?

a company’s managers can determine how much effort should be dedicated to each of the company’s products in order to meet its short and long term goals

There is no moral obligation on part of company's manager then how come should is part of correct answer

Thanks
Sanchit

[jnelson0612]

Hi Ron,

First and foremost, huge fan of your way of explaining things.

Now my doubt is...

Use of word "Should" here ?? is it correct ?

a company’s managers can determine how much effort should be dedicated to each of the company’s products in order to meet its short and long term goals

There is no moral obligation on part of company's manager then how come should is part of correct answer

Thanks
Sanchit

Hi Sanchit,
The word "should" doesn't necessarily imply a moral obligation. It can simply be a means to an end:

You should exercise every day if you want to lose weight.

There's no moral obligation to exercise; however, doing so will help you lose weight.

Definitely look up "should" in the dictionary; you'll see that there a wide variety of definitions and that this usage is perfectly fine. :-)

[sw001]

Dear Instructors,

Could you please explain "what is wrong with option C"?

1. The first phase "By applying optimization techniques commonly used to plan operations" - is describing the action of a noun. Thus, do not need to touch the noun. So, I think even if the clause "By applying.." is not followed by compary's manager, it should still be correct. Please help explain C.

Plus, C is using the same phrase as used in the original sentence "ought to be" - anything wrong with that??

2. "its" in option C, can refer to anything "company" or "company's", thus no question of not havign an antecedent.

3. a company's managers - isn't it confusing, whether "a" is referring to company or manager and could be the basis of elimination, thinking "a" is referring to "managers".

B. a company’s managers can determine how much effort should be dedicated to each of the company’s products in order to meet its short and long term goals
C. it can be determined by company managers how much effort ought to be devoted to each of the company’s products in order to meet its goals, both short and long term

Thanks!

[RonPurewal]

1. The first phase "By applying optimization techniques commonly used to plan operations" - is describing the action of a noun. Thus, do not need to touch the noun. So, I think even if the clause "By applying.." is not followed by compary's manager, it should still be correct. Please help explain C.

if an __ing modifier precedes a sentence, the following subject (immediately after the comma) should be the agent of the __ing action.
this sort of thing is tested quite often, and is pretty much black-and-white; it's not a matter of debate.

Coming home from school, the wind blew me off my bike.
nonsense; the wind doesn't commute to and from school.

Coming home from school, I was blown off my bike by the wind.
makes sense (i was coming home from school).

[RonPurewal]

"ought to be" - anything wrong with that??

"ought to" is rather informal; you're unlikely to see it in a well-written formal sentence.

2. "its" in option C, can refer to anything "company" or "company's", thus no question of not havign an antecedent.

right; this is a non-issue.

[RonPurewal]

3. a company's managers - isn't it confusing, whether "a" is referring to company or manager and could be the basis of elimination, thinking "a" is referring to "managers".

hm? i don't understand.

in any case, there are at least four things wrong with this query.

• first, "a"/"an"/"the" is NEVER tested on this exam. so, this whole line of questioning is rather pointless in the first place, at least for any purpose related to this exam.

• second, "a" is singular while "managers" is plural, so there is no way they could be associated.

• third, the meaning of the sentence is clear in context; there is no ambiguity.

• fourth, if you have "a/an x's y", the "a/an" is necessarily associated with "x" anyway.
it can't be associated with "y" (regardless of singular/plural issues), because "y" is already preceded by a possessive. (we can't say "his a/an xxxx".)
the only exception occurs if the possessive has evolved into the name of something. (e.g., a "tailor's ham" is the name of something that weighs down fabric during sewing. that's the name of the object. so, if i say "i want a tailor's ham", i am not asking for meat that belongs to a tailor.) however, you will obviously not be expected to know any such conventions here.

[prepp]

Can anyone explain if this is a rule?
Whenever Since is mentioned in the sentence along with a time frame, Present Perfect is used?

I'm unable to understand how "has been" is better in this sentence compared to "was"? (Option D and E)

who have had to acclimate to an entirely different political system states that the group had to adjust to a new political system.. Are they still adjusting?

please correct my understanding

[RonPurewal]

prepp, it seems you're posting in the wrong thread. (the word "since" appears nowhere in this problem. nor does the sentence mention political systems.)

[JbhB682]

Hi - regarding E, why do you need an antencedent for "these products" ?

"These" can be an adjective

For example, these are accurate per my understanding.

Correct : These shoes should be washed
Correct : Chemicals that give strength to these products are called Sumo Chemicals

These are accurate statements per my understanding even if "these shoes" or "these products" dont have any antecendents.

[esledge]

Hi - regarding E, why do you need an antencedent for "these products" ?

"These" can be an adjective

For example, these are accurate per my understanding.

Correct : These shoes should be washed
Correct : Chemicals that give strength to these products are called Sumo Chemicals

These are accurate statements per my understanding even if "these shoes" or "these products" dont have any antecendents.

You are right about these correct examples in other contexts, and I think the answer is that it's context-dependent. The shoe example is fine in real life when you are handing someone the shoes or physically indicating the shoes. In text, both of these examples might be referring to "antecedents" elsewhere in a whole paragraph or longer text.

Since the GMAT SC only gives one text sentence at a time, there's less context, so the need for an antecedent for "these" or "those" is potentially greater. In both of the examples above, while it is clear that "these" modifies the nouns right after them, the "shoes" and "products" would need to be also mentioned elsewhere in the sentence, but not necessarily with the exact same words.

Correct : The company sells a number of industrial cleansers; chemicals that give strength to these products are called Sumo Chemicals.
These products = industrial cleansers