OG (10th ed) - SC - #181

[Saurabh Malpani]

Hi Andrew,

In the explaination give by OG I was able to understand that to survive lacks it's Subject but you please expalin me "grammatically" how does "Require lacks Subject" here. Please throw some light ......

181. Because of the enormous research and development expenditures required to survive in
the electronics industry, an industry marked by rapid innovation and volatile demand, such firms
tend to be very large.

A) to survive
B )of firms to survive
C )for surviving
D )for survival
E) for firms' survival

OG's explaination:

The subject of the main clause (such firms) presumes a prior reference to the firms in question. Furthermore, the logical subject of to survive and the logical complement of required should be made explicit. .

[StaceyKoprince]

Tough question. And, FYI, OG explanations often leave a lot to be desired.

The explanation is not claiming that required lacks a subject - rather, it claims that required lacks a complement. This is required of someone or something... but the initial option doesn't tell us what or who.

To do this problem, though, I would focus more on the "such firms" clue. "Such" indicates that we've already mentioned the firms once. Choices A, C, and D don't mention the firms, though, so they can't be right. Only B and E mention the firms, and only B clearly tells us both that this is "required of firms" and matches "firms" with "to survive."