Gmat Flash cards problems,Instructors please help.Thank you

[pavnipuri]

Sentence 1 - Us attending the conference is dependent on our pilot receiving clearance to take off.
Question1 - the answer to this question is "Our attending the conference is dependent on our pilot’s receiving clearance to take off."And a gerund object rule is stated I don`t understand it at all. Could you please explain it.

Sentence 2 - Mastering Sanskrit is an often-frustrating journey during which a student who is too impatient is likely to become discouraged.

Question 2 - Instead of "during which " is it not better to use a semi colon ie : making 2 independent clauses.


Sentence 3 - Superintendent Jackson’s administration is beginning to reform the school system, hiring new administrators, increasing security, and overhauling the curriculum.
Question 3 - Should one not use a "dash " here since hiring, increasing and overhauling are 3 reforms out of many reforms

Sentence 4 - My child has better hygiene than my sister’s children;neither of her boys ever seems to wash his hands.
Question 4 - Can`t we use a colon here because the 2nd part of the sentence " neither.......hands" is describing the 1st part of the sentence which is also a clause.

Sentence 5 - After the president of the college publicly lamented the sharp drop in the value of its endowment, the head of faculty suggested that they initiate a fundraising campaign immediately.

Question 5 - its is a possesve pronoun and hence requires a possessive noun. Aren`t possessive nouns of the form building`s , Car`s .
How can it`s stand for college here?

Sentence 6 - The term "red panda" is misleading; it is not a true panda, but rather an unrelated rodent.
Question 6 - Here does it stand for The term or red panda . How do I figure it out or is it ambiguous. And is this a noun adjective construction like " the stone wall"

[pavnipuri]

instructors can someone please reply !!!!!

[dmitryknowsbest]

Sentence 1: The trick here is to determine what it is that is dependent on the receipt of clearance. Is it "us" or is it our ability to attend the conference? We don't depend on clearance, so it must be our attendance. In that case, we use the possessive to modify "attending." Here's a more common usage:

I object to your borrowing my car without asking.

In casual speech, we might say "you" instead of "your." However, it's not you I object to, but the borrowing without asking. Whose borrowing? Yours.

Sentence 2: Your solution is an elegant one, but the use of "during which" is not wrong.

Sentence 3: The dash is a fairly informal device. It is generally used to mark a break in speech, an afterthough, or a parenthetical idea. It is not generally needed to correct a GMAT sentence. In this case, the comma works fine. A colon might also fulfill the function you seem to be describing. There is no indication that the reforms mentioned are 3 out of many (perhaps these are the only reforms undertaken so far), but in any case, a dash would not convey that meaning.

Sentence 4: Yes, you could use a colon.

Sentence 5: It is normal to use a non-possessive noun as the antecedent of a possessive pronoun. (A few simple examples: "Today is my birthday." "The most dangerous thing about a snake is its venom.") In fact, that is probably the most common use of a possessive pronoun. What you can't do is use a possessive noun as the antecedent for a regular pronoun. ("The snake's venom protects it from harm.") However, this issue (possessive poison) is rarely tested.

Sentence 6: The subject of the sentence is "term," not "panda." The easiest way to tell is to ask which noun goes with the rest of the clause ("is misleading"). The panda is not misleading; the term "red panda" is. Since "panda" is only serving as a modifier, it cannot be the antecedent of the pronoun "it."

I see how you could interpret this as a noun-adjective construction, in that the word "panda" is modifying "term." However, "panda" is not really serving as an adjective here (note that adjectives, even nouns used as adjectives, typically precede the noun they describe). The main idea is that "the term . . . is misleading." "Red panda" is just a middleman.

[pavnipuri]

Thank you so very much . really needed to clarify these nitty gritties!!!! :-)

[ChrisB]

Hi,

You're welcome and best of luck!

-Chris