Question: Airplanes departing in a timely manner can some times be prevented by any one of a variety of factors, such as severe weather or a security threat.

(A) Airplanes departing in a timely manner can some times be prevented by any one of a variety of factors, such as severe weather or a security threat.
(B) Any one of a variety of factors, such as severe weather or a security threat, some times can prevent airplanes from their timely departing.
(C) Any one of a variety of factors, such as severe weather or a security threat, can sometimes prevent the timely departure of airplanes.
(D) The severity of the weather or a security threat, among a variety of other factors, can some of the time prevent airplanes departing on time.
(E) Timely departures of airplanes are sometimes prevented as a result of severe weather, a security threat, or various other factors.

Correct Answer: C
Explanation: In the original sentence, the two-word phrase “some times” is improper in context and should be replaced with a word such as occasionally or sometimes. Also, the original sentence employs the passive voice—the subject (airplanes departing) is acted upon by (prevented by) its object (severe weather). The result is awkward and confusing.

Any one of a variety of factors, such as severe weather or a security threat, can sometimes prevent the timely departure of airplanes.- Correct. Grammatically correct. It corrects the problems discussed above. Replacing “some times” with “sometimes” and using the active voice instead. Its further construction gives us the best of both worlds. The subject drives the action and the sentence ends with a significant outcome.

Let’s see the other choices.

Option A
Airplanes departing in a timely manner can some times be prevented by any one of a variety of factors, such as severe weather or a security threat.- Incorrect. Grammatically correct but passive form. Airplanes cannot be prevented, but the timely departure of airplanes can be prevented. Also, something should be prevented from something else, without that "from what" part meaning is not clear.

Option B
Any one of a variety of factors, such as severe weather or a security threat, some times can prevent airplanes from their timely departing.- Incorrect. Meaning change. "can" should come immediately after non-essential modifiers.

Option D
The severity of the weather or a security threat, among a variety of other factors, can some of the time prevent airplanes departing on time.- Incorrect. For the same reason as choice A. This choice is redundant. Severity of the weather is not parallel with a security threat.

Option E
Timely departures of airplanes are sometimes prevented as a result of severe weather, a security threat, or various other factors.- Incorrect. Tense error. Past form 'prevented' is wrong. The severe weather itself did not result in "Timely departures of airplanes are sometimes prevented".

“Airplanes departing in a timely manner can some times be prevented by”- is a GMAT sentence correction question. These sorts of questions come up with grammatical errors in the underlined part of the sentence. The candidates need to select the correct statement given in the options. The GMAT sentence correction section demands good skills in grammar since the candidate has to identify common grammatical errors. GMAT sentence correction is a part of GMAT verbal.

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