Whereas the use of synthetic fertilizers has greatly

[go760orgohome]

Hi Ron,

I think this was probably mentioned earlier but I just want to clarify: when we use "whereas" to express contrast effect, we don't have to match the subjects of the two connecting sentences, right? In the OA, for example, the subject in the preceding sentence is "the use"; however, the subject of the later sentence is "an increase".

please advise.

[RonPurewal]

Hi Ron,

I think this was probably mentioned earlier but I just want to clarify: when we use "whereas" to express contrast effect, we don't have to match the subjects of the two connecting sentences, right?

no. moreover, since "whereas" is normally used to contrast two fundamentally different observations, such matches will be relatively rare. (i.e., since the observations are different, the subjects will usually be different accordingly.)

[go760orgohome]

Hi Ron,

I think this was probably mentioned earlier but I just want to clarify: when we use "whereas" to express contrast effect, we don't have to match the subjects of the two connecting sentences, right? In the OA, for example, the subject in the preceding sentence is "the use"; however, the subject of the later sentence is "an increase".

please advise.

As always, thanks for the clarification, Ron!

[RonPurewal]

you'e welcome.

[thanghnvn]

A bit of a red herring - you could technically construct the sentence correctly either way. I'd prefer the "an increase in their use" however because that emphasizes the distinction I'm trying to make - the key point is the increase, and this is emphasized by making "the increase" the subject. But I'd go look for other, more definitive grammar errors first before deciding on this.

Luci correctly points out a distinction between "such as" and "like" in the answers. Such as means "for example" - like means "similar to." (In everyday spoken language, people use "like" as the default now - but that's grammatically incorrect.) Eliminate B and E. (B also has a pronoun error - "it" refers to a plural noun.)

C messes up the contrast I want to make by starting with "if these fertilizers." Also generally kind of awkward / wordy, but only use that as a tiebreak.

The problem with D lies at the end of the choice: "while if substituted for more traditional fertilizers, this substitution..." Notice the first part of that, before the comma - it never actually mentions what is being substituted, either via a noun or pronoun. This is a modifying clause. The modifier is meant to modify "synthetic fertilizers" which is a noun, so this is a noun modifier - and noun modifiers must touch the noun they modify. But "this substitution" follows the comma, not "synthetic fertilizers" (or some other noun or pronoun that refers to synthetic fertilizers). No good. Eliminate D.

Which leaves us with A. Notice that A doesn't sound particularly good. But there's nothing grammatically wrong with it... It's not uncommon for A to sound not-so-good when it is the right answer - otherwise, how would they get someone to cross off A when it's right, especially on a hard question?

why C is wrong?. Stacey explaine well. I want to extend this explanation

while clause should be followed immediately by main clause to show a contrast. so, the following pattern is better than C

while clause+main clause+if clause

do you agree with me?

[gmatkiller_24]

Hi, Ron. Can I just eliminate choice C for incorrect contrast convey?

in choice C.
non--underlined part: Whereas the use of synthetic fertilizers has greatly expanded agricultural productivity in many parts of the world ( positive side)

if these fertilizers are used increasingly, they can create serious environmental problems such as water pollution (negative side)

but what the sentence tried to convey should have been " the increased usage of them create problems" , not themselves creating serious problems (as indicated in choice C)

Please correct me if I am wrong. Thank you~

[RonPurewal]

you have the right idea.

[ShriramC110]

Hi Ron,

Can't the answer choice D be wrong because of redundant usage of whereas.....while.??

Thanks,

[RonPurewal]

Hi Ron,

Can't the answer choice D be wrong because of redundant usage of whereas.....while.??

Thanks,

no. these words are not connecting the same pair of ideas.

[RonPurewal]

in context, the word 'while' is illogical (since there is no contrast between the two ideas it connects). but that issue has nothing to do with 'whereas'.