In the following article, we’re going to demonstrate the importance of reading the sentence up front rather than examining the answer choices first using an Official Guide to the GMAT diagnostic exam practice problem. You can either read this article or watch this GMAT sentence correction video on YouTube.
New data from United States Forest Service ecologists show that for every dollar spent on controlled small-scale burning, forest thinning, and the training of fire-management personnel, it saves seven dollars that would not be spent on having to extinguish big fires.
(A) that for every dollar spent on controlled small-scale burning, forest thinning, and the training of fire-management personnel, it saves seven dollars that would not be spent on having to extinguish
(B) that for every dollar spent on controlled small-scale burning, forest thinning, and the training of fire-management personnel, seven dollars are saved that would have been spent on extinguishing
(C) that for every dollar spent on controlled small-scale burning, forest thinning, and the training of fire-management personnel saves seven dollars on not having to extinguish
(D) for every dollar spent on controlled small-scale burning, forest thinning, and the training of fire-management personnel, that it saves seven dollars on not having to extinguish
(E) for every dollar spent on controlled small-scale burning, forest thinning, and the training of fire-management personnel, that seven dollars are saved that would not have been spent on extinguishing
To avoid confusion down the line, write down the question number first. Next, write the corresponding letters for each answer choice in a vertical line so you can easily mark them as you work through the process of elimination. Finally, draw a line to designate the space in which you will articulate the particular issue you will later identify within the sentence so that you don't lose sight of it as you work through the problem.
As we look at the choices, what initially jumps is a relatively obvious two, three, split. In other words, we've got “that for” as an option in choices A, B, and C, and a just simple “for” in choices D and E.
Because idiom errors can be difficult and time-consuming to evaluate, you ought to initially leave them aside while you look for other elements that will be easier to evaluate. In this case, the questionable use of the word “it” before the word “saves” suggests an ambiguous pronoun issue, which is much easier to evaluate.
With this in mind, we can label this problem as a pronoun issue and immediately eliminate choice A. Moving forward, all we have to do is
identify other pronouns that may be ambiguous throughout the answer choices.
Because choice B presents no glaring issues, we’ll hold on to it and move forward for now.
Between choices B and C, we change the verb. We've got “are saved” versus “saves.” With this in mind, we want to know whether we should be in the present tense or the past tense. In both cases, the rest of the sentence involves the past tense use of the word “spent,” so choice C is disqualified due to a tense issue.
Because D repeats the same ambiguous “it” in option A, we can immediately eliminate it as well.
In choice E, the use of the word “that” before “seven” contextually makes no sense and creates another incorrect pronoun. Before moving forward, remember you want to eliminate options based on the category of error rather than just the individual word that we’ve identified as incorrect.
Upon rereading Choice B, it becomes evident that it is the right choice, as it captures the intended meaning and makes logical sense. Evidently, it will save you a lot of wasted time and effort to evaluate the easiest errors rather than the most obvious ones.
We hope this example empowers you to spend your time and energy wisely on the GMAT. To see all of our GMAT sentence correction videos, please check out our YouTube playlist. For further information about MyGuru's proven GMAT tutoring approach, visit the GMAT prep page on our website. To learn more about the GMAT and grad school admissions in general, visit our GMAT admissions blog.