Sports Medicine Programs

[vietst]

The Sports Medicine Programs of the Olympic Training Center, a complex where final try outs are held for athletes representing the US in the Olympics, is geared toward enhancing athletes' performance and toward their preparation for international competition.
A.) is geared toward enhancing athletes' performance and toward their preparation
B.) is geared to enhance the performance of athletes and to prepare them
C.) are geared to enhance athletes performance and their preparation
D.) are geared toward the enhancement of athletes' performance and toward preparing them
E.) are geared toward enhancing the performance of athletes and preparing them
OA is E.
"gear to" or "gear toward"
Thanks

[StaceyKoprince]

Please remember to use the first 5-8 words of the problem EXACTLY as your title: "The Sports Medicine Programs of..."

If the meaning you want is "aimed at" (or the equivalent), use "gear toward" - so that's what we want, in this case. (You could also have a sentence that said, say, "I shipped my gear to her." That's a different meaning.)

So, subj-verb eliminates A/B (is). Geared toward eliminates C. Parallelism eliminates D. (Geared toward X and Y.)

[vietst]

Thank you very much
I will do so next time. Could you help me the remaining questions.

[tarek99]

I have a small question. How come the word "them" in option E is not ambiguous? I thought it could refer to either "programs" or "athletes." Would you please explain? Thanks!

[RonPurewal]

I have a small question. How come the word "them" in option E is not ambiguous? I thought it could refer to either "programs" or "athletes." Would you please explain? Thanks!

not ambiguous. first, consider the following:
you should stop looking at you in the mirror.
that's wrong, right? right. the reason? if you have a verb whose subject and object are the same entity (called a 'reflexive verb'), then the object has to have the ending -self/-selves.
hence, the correct version:
you should stop looking at yourself in the mirror.

--

first, completely ignore the appositive modifier ('a complex where ... olympics'), which is just noise that doesn't affect the surrounding grammar at all. if you do so, you'll notice that 'programs' is the subject. were it also the object, it would have to manifest as themselves.

therefore, 'them' is not ambiguous (only possible referent remaining = athletes)

[cesar.rodriguez.blanco]

Ron, from your last post, can we conclude that in in one clause with a subject and an object, both singular or plural, if we see a pronoun such as them, his, her...., and it is not referring to the subject itself, then this pronoun is not ambiguous?
(The only way to refer to the subject might be myself, yourself......)

[RonPurewal]

Ron, from your last post, can we conclude that in in one clause with a subject and an object, both singular or plural, if we see a pronoun such as them, his, her...., and it is not referring to the subject itself, then this pronoun is not ambiguous?
(The only way to refer to the subject might be myself, yourself......)

them, yes.
you can't use an OBJECT pronoun - i.e., me, you, him, them, her, us, to refer to the subject of the same clause.
if you mean "her" in the object sense, then, yes, that's also accurate.
but "her" in the possessive sense could totally refer back to the subject; there's nothing wrong, for instance, with Stephanie finished her homework.

same for his. that's a possessive; possessives can refer to the subject.
Joe finished his homework is also fine.

[zarak_khan]

Hi Ron,

I am having a problem understanding why it is "toward" and not "towards. Although none of the choices has "towards", isnt the gearing up of the programs singular?

Thanks!

[RonPurewal]

Hi Ron,

I am having a problem understanding why it is "toward" and not "towards. Although none of the choices has "towards", isnt the gearing up of the programs singular?

Thanks!

"toward" vs. "towards" is one of those usage issues on which it's generally accepted either way (much like "compare to" vs. "compare with"). this is not a grammar issue.

note that this word is a preposition, so it's irrelevant to subject-verb agreement issues.

i think that the "s" on the end of the word is generally considered unnecessary, but i doubt that this will ever be tested.

[Viswanathan.harsha]

Here is a similar problem from the MGMAT CAT Exams (DAR Memberships):

The Daughters of the American Revolution, a volunteer service organization, admits as members only women who can prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution.

A. admits as members only women who can prove lineal descent
B. admit as members only women who can prove lineal descent
C. admits as members women who can prove lineal descent
D. only admit as members women who can prove lineal descent
E. admits as members women who can prove lineal descent only


OA (A) . In this case, the subject is a volunteer service organization, so admits would be the correct tense. How come in the gmat prep question, Sports Medicine Program is the subject, instead of complex?

[agha79]

Here is a similar problem from the MGMAT CAT Exams (DAR Memberships):

The Daughters of the American Revolution, a volunteer service organization, admits as members only women who can prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution.

A. admits as members only women who can prove lineal descent
B. admit as members only women who can prove lineal descent
C. admits as members women who can prove lineal descent
D. only admit as members women who can prove lineal descent
E. admits as members women who can prove lineal descent only


OA (A) . In this case, the subject is a volunteer service organization, so admits would be the correct tense. How come in the gmat prep question, Sports Medicine Program is the subject, instead of complex?

The Daughters of the American Revolution is the subject of the above mentioned MGMAT question. Volunteer service organization is its modifier. Daughters of the American Revolution is a single entity thus we used admits as the verb.

In the GMAT prep question Sports Medicine Programs are geared toward enhancing the performance of athletes and preparing them for international competition. It not the complex that is geared toward enhancing the performance and so on.....complex is the modifier of Olympic Training Center same case as above.
Hope it helps!

[RonPurewal]

Here is a similar problem from the MGMAT CAT Exams (DAR Memberships):

The Daughters of the American Revolution, a volunteer service organization, admits as members only women who can prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution.

A. admits as members only women who can prove lineal descent
B. admit as members only women who can prove lineal descent
C. admits as members women who can prove lineal descent
D. only admit as members women who can prove lineal descent
E. admits as members women who can prove lineal descent only


OA (A) . In this case, the subject is a volunteer service organization, so admits would be the correct tense. How come in the gmat prep question, Sports Medicine Program is the subject, instead of complex?

The Daughters of the American Revolution is the subject of the above mentioned MGMAT question. Volunteer service organization is its modifier. Daughters of the American Revolution is a single entity thus we used admits as the verb.

In the GMAT prep question Sports Medicine Programs are geared toward enhancing the performance of athletes and preparing them for international competition. It not the complex that is geared toward enhancing the performance and so on.....complex is the modifier of Olympic Training Center same case as above.
Hope it helps!

that's a very nice explanation.

short version:
* the claim that "a volunteer service organization" is a subject is incorrect (that's a modifier).
* DAR should be considered a single noun, not a noun + modifier. it's singular (since it's the name of an organization).
* "sports medicine programs of the olympic training center" is a noun + modifier. "sports medicine programs" is plural.

[Willy]

Thanks Ron. Explanation was helpful.

[RonPurewal]

Thanks Ron. Explanation was helpful.

sure thing

[sumgb]

What I fail to understand is why "The Sports Medicine Programs" is considered plural? It could be one of the divisions of the complex. Note that "P" is in upper case in programs, why does it not mean that it is part of complex (such as a Unit or Division)?
I would have chosen E as correct ans if the P had been in lower case. Can someone throw some light on subject issue here?