The health benefits of tea have been the subject of much res

[RonPurewal]

I do not understand why

the possible verbing is inferiou to possibly verbing

pls, explain, Manhantan experts, members.

this explanation should suffice:
post60923.html#p60923

[thanghnvn]

I do not understand why

the possible verbing is inferiou to possibly verbing

pls, explain, Manhantan experts, members.

this explanation should suffice:
post60923.html#p60923

Ron, I access the thread but do not see the explanation.
pls, explain why

the possible verb ing is inferior to possibly verb ing

Thank you.

[karanrob]

Hi, this is my 2 cents "toward" ;) the answer.

A medicine, treatment, solution can prevent( again means stop the progress of) or inhibit(means stop the progress of). The use of "and" is incorrect as a solution cannot do both (infact in my opinion this usage is redundant). Again read the sentence as you would read a story. There are characters like you and me attempting some action. Try to get the Subject (singular + plural) to agree with the actions performed in a sensible manner wherein redundancy in meaning is avoided.

Another lesson learnt by me ---- Make sure never to change the original meaning of the sentence.

[thanghnvn]

I do not understand why

the possible verbing is inferiou to possibly verbing

pls, explain, Manhantan experts, members.

this explanation should suffice:
post60923.html#p60923

Thank you Ron
I read the thread and see that
" noun of/doing of something" dose not emphasize that the subject cause the action while "doing something" emphasizes that the subject cause the action. This point relate to the problem here and that is why E is better than D

Is my thinking correct? pls confirm. Thank you.

[RonPurewal]

I do not understand why

the possible verbing is inferiou to possibly verbing

pls, explain, Manhantan experts, members.

this explanation should suffice:
post60923.html#p60923

Thank you Ron
I read the thread and see that
" noun of/doing of something" dose not emphasize that the subject cause the action while "doing something" emphasizes that the subject cause the action. This point relate to the problem here and that is why E is better than D

Is my thinking correct? pls confirm. Thank you.

yep, it basically works the same way as in the link.

[zhongshanlh]

Can any instructor explain why A, B, C and D are wrong?

(a) and (b) use "possibility" unidiomatically.
there are two possible idioms:
the possibility that NOUN VERB
the possibility of NOUN

(a), (b), (c) contain an incorrect "it".

(d) "the possible VERBing" is inferior to "possibly VERBing".
"and" doesn't make sense in context (it makes it seem as though the two effects must occur together); "or" makes more sense.

Can "it" refer to the subject in the next clause, that is "the brewed leaves"?

no.
"it" is singular; "leaves" is plural.

Ron,experts,i have 2 questions about this prep problem.
1. in the post quoted above, u said that there are 2 idioms of possibility---->possibility that and possibility of.
however , i consulted the Longman English Dictionary and found that it gives us 3 idioms, including possibility that/possibility of/possibility FOR
so, i wonder if you have missed one idiom of possibility in you previous post?

2.i am confused about the use of "in addition to" and "besides" here,i know that bot of them should be regarded as prepositions.
however , are they both correct here?and what is the difference between them?

thank you in advance.

[tim]

1. This is a perfect example of why you should not use non-GMAT sources to study for sentence correction. Unless you have actually seen that third idiom used correctly in a GMAT question, you should go with what Ron said. Remember the GMAT often uses different rules from what you'll see in other sources..

2. I wouldn't worry about the distinction between "besides" and "in addition to". For all practical purposes they mean the same thing..

[wrasul]

i chose E but please see whether i chose it for the right reason.

construction: in addition to/besides X, the leaves may also PLAY
we should be able to logically compare X with PLAY i.e. X should be a verb.

E is the only choice that has such a construction.
E: besides PREVENTING, the leaves also PLAY.

[dxgamez]

Hi Ron,

Appreciate if you could let me know if my understanding is correct.

We have the subject of tea leaves in the 2nd clause. is VERB-ing in the first clause preferred so that the subject is referred to?

besides the possibility that they prevent and inhibit
as compared to:
besides possibly preventing or inhibiting

[jlucero]

i chose E but please see whether i chose it for the right reason.

construction: in addition to/besides X, the leaves may also PLAY
we should be able to logically compare X with PLAY i.e. X should be a verb.

E is the only choice that has such a construction.
E: besides PREVENTING, the leaves also PLAY.

Bingo. There are other more convoluted ways to express the same idea, but (E) clearly demonstrates that the tea leaves may play x and may also prevent/inhibit y. This eliminates C & D as answer choices and makes A & B possibilities, but a bit more suspect (i.e. you can say: besides its powerful motor that helps it drive fast, a Ferrari is a pretty car; but this isn't as neat as saying: besides having a power motor that helps it drive fast, a Ferrari is a pretty car.)

dxgamez, I think you are hitting on the same issue.

[xyq121573]

i chose E but please see whether i chose it for the right reason.

construction: in addition to/besides X, the leaves may also PLAY
we should be able to logically compare X with PLAY i.e. X should be a verb.

E is the only choice that has such a construction.
E: besides PREVENTING, the leaves also PLAY.

Bingo. There are other more convoluted ways to express the same idea, but (E) clearly demonstrates that the tea leaves may play x and may also prevent/inhibit y. This eliminates C & D as answer choices and makes A & B possibilities, but a bit more suspect (i.e. you can say: besides its powerful motor that helps it drive fast, a Ferrari is a pretty car; but this isn't as neat as saying: besides having a power motor that helps it drive fast, a Ferrari is a pretty car.)

dxgamez, I think you are hitting on the same issue.

sorry~ i have a little confusion about it and want to make things more clear~ is it correct to eliminate choices ABC for the reason that these clauses wrongly compare possibilities/possbility with PLAY?
in addition to its possibilities( for preventing and inhibiting some forms of cancer), the brewed leaves of Camellia sinensis may also play a role in reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke.

[jlucero]

i chose E but please see whether i chose it for the right reason.

construction: in addition to/besides X, the leaves may also PLAY
we should be able to logically compare X with PLAY i.e. X should be a verb.

E is the only choice that has such a construction.
E: besides PREVENTING, the leaves also PLAY.

Bingo. There are other more convoluted ways to express the same idea, but (E) clearly demonstrates that the tea leaves may play x and may also prevent/inhibit y. This eliminates C & D as answer choices and makes A & B possibilities, but a bit more suspect (i.e. you can say: besides its powerful motor that helps it drive fast, a Ferrari is a pretty car; but this isn't as neat as saying: besides having a power motor that helps it drive fast, a Ferrari is a pretty car.)

dxgamez, I think you are hitting on the same issue.

sorry~ i have a little confusion about it and want to make things more clear~ is it correct to eliminate choices ABC for the reason that these clauses wrongly compare possibilities/possbility with PLAY?
in addition to its possibilities( for preventing and inhibiting some forms of cancer), the brewed leaves of Camellia sinensis may also play a role in reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke.

It's ok to be highly suspect on ABCD because those four answer choices all open with a noun comparison rather than a verb comparison. As many other posters have discussed, there are much cleaner ways to eliminate these answer choices, but the main idea is that:

Besides DOING X, leaves also DO Y.

A. in addition to its possibilities for preventing and inhibiting
B. in addition to its possibilities to prevent or inhibit
C. besides the possibility that it prevents and inhibits
D. besides the (possible) preventing and inhibiting of
E. besides possibly preventing or inhibiting.

A-D all compare a noun to the leaves. Notice that the "the" in D, makes preventing a gerund, or noun. Only in E do we have a correct verb to properly compare to the latter part of the sentence.

[mukesh.mulchandani]

Instructors,
I see reasons why A-D are incorrect but I am still not convinced E is the correct answer primarily because I see E replacing "preventing and inhibiting" with "preventing or inhibiting". Doesn't that change the meaning?

[RonPurewal]

Instructors,
I see reasons why A-D are incorrect but I am still not convinced E is the correct answer primarily because I see E replacing "preventing and inhibiting" with "preventing or inhibiting". Doesn't that change the meaning?

first --
OFFICIALLY CORRECT ANSWERS ARE CORRECT!
do not question officially correct answers!
far too many students on this forum make the mistake of questioning the correct answers; please note that doing so is a complete waste of your time and effort. i.e., exactly 0% of the time that you spend posting "isn't this official answer wrong?" is productive, and exactly 100% of that time is wasted.

"is this correct?" is NEVER a productive question to ask about one of GMAC's correct answers -- the answer is always yes.
"is this wrong?" / "is this X type of error?" is NEVER a productive question to ask about one of GMAC's correct answers -- the answer is always no.

instead, the questions you should be asking about correct official answers, if you don't understand them, are:
"why is this correct?"
"how does this work?"
"what understanding am i lacking that i need to understand this choice?"

this is a small, but hugely significant, change to your way of thinking -- you will suddenly find it much easier to understand the format, style, and conventions of the official problems if you dispose of the idea that they might be wrong.

--

ok. now that we've gotten that out of the way"”

"preventing AND inhibiting" is nonsense here, because it's impossible to do both of those together. They are mutually exclusive: If you inhibit something, then, by definition, you have not completely prevented it.
So, this only makes sense with OR.

There's another sentence, somewhere in one of the OG books, in which you face a choice between "damaged and destroyed" and "damaged or destroyed". Again, those two are mutually exclusive"”if you've only damaged something, then you haven't destroyed it"”so, again, the former is incorrect and the latter is the only option that makes sense.

[kiranck007]

The health benefits of tea have been the subject of much research; in addition to its possibilities for preventing and inhibiting some forms of cancer, the brewed leaves of Camellia sinensis may also play a role in reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke.
A. in addition to its possibilities for preventing and inhibiting
B. in addition to its possibilities to prevent or inhibit
C. besides the possibility that it prevents and inhibits
D. besides the possible preventing and inhibiting of
E. besides possibly preventing or inhibiting.

OA is E.

My question is: In choices A, B and C, what it refers to "tea" or "Research". I know it can't refer to health benefits as it is plural.

Please explain.

Aren't we altering the intended meaning by choosing "or" over "and" in answer "E" ?