In this article, weāll look at the solution to this GMAT Official Guide sentence correction question – The odds are about 4 to 1 against surviving a takeover offer, and many business consultants therefore advise that a companyās first line of defense in eluding offers like these be to even refuse to take calls from likely corporate raiders.
We have analyzed the 5 answer choices and arrived at the correct choice through 3 steps:
- Meaning analysis
- Error analysis
- Answer choice analysis
General information on GMAT OG SC question
- Difficulty level ā Medium
- 65% of people got this question correct.
- The average time taken to correctly answer this question ā 1:49
- Sessions ā 2458
- Source – GMAT Official Guide [Pre-2000]
- General information on GMAT OG SC question
- 1.1 Question – The odds are about 4 to 1 against surviving a takeover offer…
- 1.2 Meaning Analysis
- 1.3 Error Analysis
- 1.4 Answer Choice Analysis
- A. that a companyās first line of defense in eluding offers like these be to even refuse
- B: that a companyās first line of defense in eluding such offers be to refuse even
- C. a company defending itself against offers of this kind that, as a first line of defense, they should even refuse
- D. companies which are defending themselves against such an offer that, as a first line of defense, they should even refuse
- E. that the first line of defense for a company who is eluding offers like these is the refusal even
- 1.5 Takeaways
1.1 Question – The odds are about 4 to 1 against surviving a takeover offer…
The odds are about 4 to 1 against surviving a takeover offer, and many business consultants therefore advise that a companyās first line of defense in eluding offers like these be to even refuse to take calls from likely corporate raiders.
[Refer to the GMAT Official Guide for options]
1.2 Meaning Analysis
1.2.1 Sentence Structure

1.2.2 Meaning
The sentence starts by saying that the chances of getting past a takeover offer are very slim. As a result, many business consultants suggest that a company should not even accept calls from those companies that may present such offers. Not accepting such calls has been identified as the first line of defense in avoiding the takeover offers.
1.3 Error Analysis
- Modifier Error: The adverb āevenā has been used to modify the action āto take callsā as the sentence intends to say that a company should not āeven accept callsā from ālikely corporate raidersā. So, āevenā must be placed right before āto take callsā. The placement of this modifier in this choice is incorrect.
Note:
- This sentence uses the trigger word āadviseā that calls for the usage of either the subjunctive verb or a āto verbā phrase. This sentence correctly uses the subjunctive verb ābeā for the subject āa companyās first line of defenseā.
- GMAT does not consider the use of ālikeā to present examples anymore. There are a few newer official questions in which ālikeā has been used to present examples in the correct sentence. This is a very old question, and some may say that the use of ālikeā is incorrect in this sentence.
1.4 Answer Choice Analysis
A. that a companyās first line of defense in eluding offers like these be to even refuse
Incorrect: This choice is incorrect for the Modifier Error identified in the original sentence.
B: that a companyās first line of defense in eluding such offers be to refuse even
Correct: This choice corrects the modifier error of the original sentence. It also uses the precise expression āsuch offersā to convey the intended meaning clearly.
C. a company defending itself against offers of this kind that, as a first line of defense, they should even refuse
Incorrect:
- Structure Error: The structure of this sentence is ungrammatical. If the verb āadviseā is to be followed by the subjunctive verb, then the correct structure is ā¶ advise + that + a companyās first line of defense (subject) + be (subjunctive verb). This choice certainly violates this structure.
- Verb Error: The subjunctive verb does not include the verb āshouldā.
- Modifier Error: This choice repeats the modifier error identified in Choice A.
- Pronoun Error: This choice uses the plural pronoun ātheyā to refer to the singular noun āa companyā.
D. companies which are defending themselves against such an offer that, as a first line of defense, they should even refuse
Incorrect: This choice repeats the first three errors of Choice C.
E. that the first line of defense for a company who is eluding offers like these is the refusal even
Incorrect:
- Modifier Error: The noun modifier āwhoā is used to modify humans. This choice should use the noun modifier āthatā to modify ācompanyā.
- Verb Error: The use of the trigger word āadviseā calls for the use of the subjunctive verb. But this choice uses the simple present tense singular verb āisā. This usage is incorrect.
1.5 Takeaways
- Trigger words require the use of subjunctive verbs that must be used in a proper grammatical structure.
- The placement of a modifier must be correct to logically modify the entity that it is meant to modify.
- A pronoun must agree in number with its logical antecedent.
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