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For Many Travelers, Charter Vacations Often Turn Out to Cost GMAT Sentence Correction

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Question: For many travelers, charter vacations often turn out to cost considerably more than they originally seemed.

(A) they originally seemed
(B) they originally seem to
(C) they seemingly would cost originally
(D) it seemed originally
(E) it originally seemed they would

Correct Answer: E
Explanation:
The following arguments could be used to defend the suggested language change:

  • Parallelism
  • Considering two separate truths
  • Modifiers

There are two plural nouns in the sentence. When looking for pronoun antecedents, we need to consider two things: structure and logic. Logically, "they" refers to "charter vacations." "charter vacations" is the subject of the first verb and it is also the first half of a comparison. "they" is the subject of the second verb and it is also the second half of the previously mentioned comparison. So, we've got a structural match as well. It's okay to say that "they" matches with "charter vacations" and not with "travellers."

It's best to understand the context of the sentence to determine whether it is used as a pronoun, or as a placeholder. it originally seemed they would- Correct. "it" is a placeholder. It is used to hold the place of a subject phrase "they would". "it" is used to take "they would" to the end of the sentence. “it” is not used as a classical pronoun, but just as a placeholder. "they" can refer to either travellers or charter vacations & so is ambiguous.

Let’s see the other available options.

Option A
they originally seemed- Incorrect. This option choice is wrong as it is a wrong modifier. they originally seemed is a wrong modifier. It also wrongly uses the word “they” where usage of it (cost) was required. Seemed refers to vacation instead of vacation's cost

Option B
they originally seem to- Incorrect. This option choice is a wrong modifier. "originally" does dictate a change to past tense. They refer to vacations...to correctly refer to the verb "cost". We are talking about how much the vacations seemed to cost before the vacation was planned and taken. Hence, B can be eliminated for the use of past tense.

Option C
they seemingly would cost originally- Incorrect. This option choice is a wrong modifier and 'seemingly' changes meaning. "seemingly would" is a repetition. Awkward and wordy in “seemingly would cost originally”. Awkward and wordy in “seemingly would cost originally”.

Option D
it seemed originally- Incorrect. It compares cost with charter vacations. When we say x costs more than y . Then we compare y and cost. so it should be x costs more than y does. The pronoun "it" does not always have to have an antecedent. "it" can be used sometimes to refer to an abstract idea, for which there isn't an actual referent in the sentence. Eliminated as ‘they’ is the correct pronoun for ‘charter vacations’.

“For many travelers, charter vacations often turn out to cost”- 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.

Suggested GMAT Sentence Correction Samples

*The article might have information for the previous academic years, please refer the official website of the exam.

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