sondenso wrote:
Unlike most severance packages, which require workers to stay until the last day scheduled to collect, workers at the automobile company are eligible for its severance package even if they find a new job before they are terminated.
(A) the last day scheduled to collect, workers at the automobile company are eligible for its severance package
(B) the last day they are scheduled to collect, workers are eligible for the automobile company's severance package
(C) their last scheduled day to collect, the automobile company offers its severance package to workers
(D) their last scheduled day in order to collect, the automobile company's severance package is available to workers
(E) the last day that they are scheduled to collect, the automobile company's severance package is available to workers
Source : GMATPrep Default Exam Pack
Answer (E) is problematic as a result of the illogical meaning caused by the grammar and usage.
Issue: The meaning conveyed by the relative clause as a result of word placement
Concept: when a relative pronoun refers to the modified noun as an Object, the relative clause will have its own Subject noun.
Many times, it will come in one of the following constructions:
1. (Preposition) + WHICH + (subject noun of relative clause)
Examples:
“at which (noun)” ; “for which (noun)” ; “during which (noun)” ; etc.
2. It also may occur when the relative pronoun “that” is used to modify the noun
(Referent Noun) + THAT + (subject noun of relative clause)
ex1: Those are the people THAT we met the other day on the bus.
In both cases, a SUBJECT follows the “which” or “that”.
Further, the noun being modified serves as an OBJECT of the modifier/clause.
If we were to write ex1 in the normal subject-verb-object sentence structure, we would get:
ex1: We met (the people) the other day on the bus.
Quoting the relevant part of E:
“… (most severance packages) require workers to stay until the last day THAT they are required to collect….
Specifically:
….”the last day THAT the workers are required to collect…”
Similar examples:
(1) I must pick up the car THAT you graciously bought me.
(2) The rate AT WHICH your children continue to grow is astonishing.
In (1) and (2) the modified noun is being modified as an Object.
One should be able to change this type of “inverted” structure and have a logical clause, such as:
(1) You graciously bought me THE CAR.
(2) Your children continue to grow AT THE RATE.
If we change the order of the inversion in version (E) to make the noun being modified the Object in a “regular” subject-verb-object sentence structure, then:
(E)….the last day that the workers are required to collect…
Becomes the following:
(II) ….the workers are scheduled to collect THE LAST DAY….
——-> an illogical clause
workers can not collect a day.
For this reason, E is inappropriate.
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