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OG - SC - #12

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sres
 Post subject: OG - SC - #12
 Post Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 1:28 am 
After gradual declension down to about 39 hours in 1970, the workweek in the United States has steadily increased to the point that the average worker now puts in an estimated 164 extra hours of paid labour a year

(A) After gradual declension down

(B) Following a gradual declension down

(C) After gradual declining down

(D) After gradually declining

(E) Following gradually declining

By POE i agree with the OA as D. But pls explain the rule of preposition+noun in this context. The OG explanation says that 'after' is a preposition and 'declining' is a participle.

If "declining..." is considered a gerund phrase, how could an adverb 'gradually' modify it.

Or If "declining..." is considered a participle phrase, how could it follow a preposition.

Pls clear my confusion in the application of grammar.Thanks in advance
Top 
mrohekar
 Post subject:
 Post Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 4:26 am 
Ans D)

I will try my best to explain ... though I am not the best at grammar.

Warning : There is a big debate about gerunds and participles,traditionally gerunds appeared in some sense like a noun (subject of the sentence) and participles behaved like an adjective)

The general rule is that ' A preposition should be followed by a noun, it cannot be followed by a verb'
(Noun means ' noun, proper noun, pronoun, noun group, gerund)

Hence the preposition 'After' should be followed by the gerund ( verb + ing) 'declining'.

Gradually modifies 'declining' and shows the rate of declension, the next clause also says 'steadily increased' so the rates are noted in both clauses.

Ans E is wrong as following is used which usually means immediately following in time or order . 'the following morning'

I find this a bit confusing but just by the process of elimination D is correct.
Top 
sres
 Post subject: Still doubtful
 Post Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 5:10 am 
How can the adverb 'gradually' modify the gerund 'declining'
Top 
Guest
 Post subject:
 Post Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 9:33 am 
I think some expert advice is required here from one of the MGMAT tutors:

All I can think of is

Prepositional Phrase = Preposition + modifier (if required) + noun.
= After + gradually + declining ( the question you can ask here is 'What is declining' the work week)

Personally I would have eliminated all the other 4 choices and picked D. But it would be good to understand the structure of this construction
Top 
Guest
 Post subject:
 Post Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 1:22 am 
In the sentence " After it gradually declined", After is used as a subordinating conjunction.

But in "After gradually declining", After is used as a preposition, and declining is a participle, (as per OG 11 exp).

So i guess we need more explantion on the usage of a participle after a Preposition. Pls help with further explanation.

this exercise is mainly to understand grammar better, because otherwise this question is relatively an easy one.
Top 
JadranLee
 Post subject: Re: OG 11 SC 12 doubt - explanation req
 Post Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 6:26 pm 
Offline
ManhattanGMAT Staff


Posts: 108
Location: Chicago, IL
"After gradually declining", like "after dinner", is a prepositional phrase because "after" is a preposition.

The word "declining" is being used here as part of the participial phrase "gradually declining to about 39 hours in 1970". This participial phrase functions as a noun phrase in the broader context of the sentence, just as "dinner" functions as a noun in the prepositional phrase "after dinner". However, within the participial phrase, the -ing form acts as a verb. It can therefore be modified by an adverb, or take a direct object, as in the following two examples:

Eating greedily is sinful.

Smoking cigarettes is bad for you.

-Jad

sres wrote:
After gradual declension down to about 39 hours in 1970, the workweek in the United States has steadily increased to the point that the average worker now puts in an estimated 164 extra hours of paid labour a year

(A) After gradual declension down

(B) Following a gradual declension down

(C) After gradual declining down

(D) After gradually declining

(E) Following gradually declining

By POE i agree with the OA as D. But pls explain the rule of preposition+noun in this context. The OG explanation says that 'after' is a preposition and 'declining' is a participle.

If "declining..." is considered a gerund phrase, how could an adverb 'gradually' modify it.

Or If "declining..." is considered a participle phrase, how could it follow a preposition.

Pls clear my confusion in the application of grammar.Thanks in advance
Top 
sres
 Post subject:
 Post Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 8:39 am 
Very well explained. Thanks Jad
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