For the last five years the Dutch economy has grown faster

[jlucero]

2) "with the unemployment rate that has remained"
--> implies, without justification, that the dutch economy is the ONLY economy with an unemployment rate that has satisfied this criterion.

i don't really understand why ''with..." indicates "ONLY". is there anything special about "with"? thks in advance~

There's something special about "the" and "that" which makes it stand out.

With an employment rate that is under 10%...
With the employment rate that is under 10%... (implies that there is only one)

[gyb192483]

hi Ron :
I want to know why D is wrong?
Thanks

two big reasons

1) "the economy of Britain, France, and Germany"
--> illogically implies that these three countries share only one economy. (note that the correct answer correctly uses the plural "economies" to refer to the existence of three different economies.)

2) "with the unemployment rate that has remained"
--> implies, without justification, that the dutch economy is the ONLY economy with an unemployment rate that has satisfied this criterion.

Hello, Ron. I know it is an old thread. But I hava an question regarding the use of 'with the unemployment rate that has remained'. I think 'with+the unemployment rate that has remained' is a adverbal phrase and modifies the main verb 'grow'. Therefore, i would like to conside the following expression is correct "with the unemployment rate remaining". Am i right?

[RonPurewal]

Hi gyb192483,
I'm sorry, but I don't quite understand what you are asking. Perhaps you could provide clarification.

More importantly...
It appears that you're asking about a choice that's not actually given in the problem.

Do not create your own versions of GMAC's sentences.
Don't do it.
Ever.
It's a complete waste of your time.

In 99% of cases when students "tweak" GMAC's sentences, their versions are wrong -- for reasons that GMAC does not test. The range of things tested on SC is a very, very small fraction of all issues in English.

So, we end up with a situation that's like "No, that's wrong, but you don't have to know why."

Your hands should be full enough already with the choices that are actually there!

[gyb192483]

Hi gyb192483,
I'm sorry, but I don't quite understand what you are asking. Perhaps you could provide clarification.

More importantly...
It appears that you're asking about a choice that's not actually given in the problem.

Do not create your own versions of GMAC's sentences.
Don't do it.
Ever.
It's a complete waste of your time.

In 99% of cases when students "tweak" GMAC's sentences, their versions are wrong -- for reasons that GMAC does not test. The range of things tested on SC is a very, very small fraction of all issues in English.

So, we end up with a situation that's like "No, that's wrong, but you don't have to know why."

Your hands should be full enough already with the choices that are actually there!

Hello Ron,
Thanks for your quick and patient response! I'm sorry that I don't know how to see the reminder. That is why I just see your response.

I want to understand what the grammer role the phrase 'with the unemployment rate that has remained' plays in choice D?

Is it an adverbal phrase and modifies 'grow'?

Or is it a noun modifier and modifies "Dutch economy"?

If it is a noun modifier, it should modifer the nearest preceded noun "the economy of Britain, France, and Germany". But the logical meaning does not make sense

Thanks

[RonPurewal]

"With xxxxx" can describe a noun or an action, depending on context.

E.g.,

My friend bought a Honda CR-Z, with the manual transmission that he specifically wanted.
(Here, we're describing "Honda CR-Z")

My friend bought a Honda CR-Z, with the money from an insurance payout rather than with an auto loan.
(Here, we're describing "My friend bought...")

In any case, it's a bad idea to do such a precise analysis of a WRONG answer choice. Because it's ... a wrong answer choice.
Instead, you should do this kind of detailed analysis on the correct sentence.

[gyb192483]

"With xxxxx" can describe a noun or an action, depending on context.

E.g.,

My friend bought a Honda CR-Z, with the manual transmission that he specifically wanted.
(Here, we're describing "Honda CR-Z")

My friend bought a Honda CR-Z, with the money from an insurance payout rather than with an auto loan.
(Here, we're describing "My friend bought...")

In any case, it's a bad idea to do such a precise analysis of a WRONG answer choice. Because it's ... a wrong answer choice.
Instead, you should do this kind of detailed analysis on the correct sentence.

Hello Ron,
Got it ! Thanks for your explaination!

[RonPurewal]

You're welcome.

[cshen02]

E. the economies of Britain, France, and Germany, and the unemployment rate has remained

I got the part that each country has its own economy, so use "economies". but the sentence also says "that of the other three countries", with "that" referring to "THE unemployment rate". I wonder whether each country should have its own unemployment rate as well.

I see this as very subtle to a non-native speaker of English...struggling!

[RonPurewal]

E. the economies of Britain, France, and Germany, and the unemployment rate has remained

I got the part that each country has its own economy, so use "economies". but the sentence also says "that of the other three countries", with "that" referring to "THE unemployment rate". I wonder whether each country should have its own unemployment rate as well.

I see this as very subtle to a non-native speaker of English...struggling!

You're correct"”"that" implies that the three countries all have the same rate of unemployment. (If there were different rates, a pronoun couldn't be used, since the sentence originally contains singular "rate". In that case, the sentence would have to include the noun "rates".)

BUT
This isn't tested in the problem, so it's a non-issue. Why worry about it?

[eggpain24]

Offer some of my insights here in choice D，please clarify，Ron

Thank you！

in choice D vs. E

besides the splits of “economy” and “economies”

we also have “with” in choice D and "comma+and" in choice E

here → meaning is being tested

the former one is a modifier（it should somewhat extend the meaning of main clause）

the latter one is used to introduce two independent clauses with equal importances （joint by and）

since GMAC does not require us to have any professional background knowledge

I dont think the speed of economy has anything to do with unemployment rate （based on common sense）

[ZHUOC614]

Hi Ron,

I have read this thread and found your explanation really great!

But I still have one more confusion:

You said that "with the unemployment rate that has remained" in Choice D--> implies, without justification, that the dutch economy is the ONLY economy with an unemployment rate that has satisfied this criterion.

I really can't figure out how this implication comes from? And why this implication makes the choice C a nonsense.

Hoping for your kind reply!
Thanks in advance!

[RonPurewal]

"The ___" implies that there is only one "___". Therefore, "the ___ that does xxxx" implies that there is only one ____ that does xxxx.

Remember, though, you won't need to know the usage of a/an/the on this exam. Here, for instance, it's straightforward to eliminate that choice because "the economy" (singular) is erroneously used to refer to three different economies.

[ZHUOC614]

thanks Ron! I get it now!

[tim]

Glad to hear it!

[xiaolanjingheleaf]

Hi Ron, why it is "the economies of Britain, France, and Germany" not "the economy of Britain, France, or Germany"? Thanks!