Sentence Correction

A certain school's admissions policy requires of both undergraduate and graduate schools that academic prerequisites be the same for programs historically entered by male students as for programs requiring equivalent academic rigor that are usually entered by female students.

A)that academic prerequisites be the same for programs historically entered by male students as for programs requiring equivalent academic rigor that are
B)that academic prerequisites for programs historically entered by male students should be the same as for a program requiring equivalent academic rigor
C)to demand academic prerequisites the same in programs historically entered by male students as in programs of equivalent academic rigor that are
D)to demand academic prerequisites the same apart from whether a program was historically entered by male students or is one demanding equivalent academic rigor
E)to demand academic prerequisites as much for programs historically entered by men as for a program demanding equivalent academic rigor

The explanation to this question uses too many grammar related terms like "subjunctives", "infinitives" etc. This confuses me no end.I am already scoring above 680 in practise tests without preparation. I do not want to complicate things for myself by trying to learn grammar !

So, is there an easy way understand the nuances of the correct Answer without getting into grammar and what not. (I will post the answer and the convoluted explanation for it tommorrow)

@ChessWriter, in SC u need to know the logic and grammar. so, u have to learn some grammar rules to beat the SC section. and btw, GMAT tests not many grammar rules. so if u want to get 700+, u better know these rules.

as for the sentence above, it is a pure test of subjunctive mood (the word "require" indicates it)

Read the Original Sentence Carefully, Looking for Errors:

The moment you see a word like "require" (or "suggest," "insist," "recommend," "mandate," etc.) you should think: "Subjunctive! I need to use 'that' and then the infinitive form of the verb." Here, the first word of the underlined portion is "that," which is exactly what we what. Further, the word "be" (in the phrase" prerequisites be the same") is, as it should be, in the infinitive tense. This is a long sentence, with many clauses and pauses, but there isn't anything grammatically wrong with it. Our goal will be to determine if any of the other choices are better stylistically.

Scan and Group the Answer Choices:

A quick scan of the choices reveals that choices (A) and (B) both begin with the word "that," while the other three choices begin "to demand." This makes a clear 3-2 split.

Eliminate Wrong Answer Choices:

Let's look at the use of the phrase "to demand" in choices (C), (D), and (E) to see if we can keep those choices or if we should eliminate them.

The word "demand," just like the word "insist," creates a subjunctive mood. We'd have to say, "demand that academic prerequisites be the same," and none of these three choices does that. Further, it's really not idiomatically correct to say "requires of schools... to demand." It's ok to say "requires schools to demand," but the word "of" ruins the whole thing.

There are other problems with these choices. Choice (C) uses the phrase "prerequisites ... in" which is incorrect; the proper idiom is "prerequisites for." Choice (D) changes the simple "same for this as for that" construction of the original sentence to a wordy and confusing phrase: "the same apart from whether it was ___ or is ____." This confuses the issue and, what's more, isn't even parallel. Choice (E) changes the meaning of the sentence. The sentence is about the fact that the prerequisites should be the same for both types of programs, while choice (E) changes it to say that prerequisites should be requires just as much for both types of programs. Each is clearly wrong.

Evaluating choice (B), we see that it inserts the would "should," so that it reads "should be the same" rather than simply "be the same." Remember, the subjunctive requires the use of the infinitive tense, which means that the word should is wrong here.

Since each choice introduces more errors, Answer Choice (A) is correct. The sentence was correct as written, as happens around one-fifth of the time.

Read the Original Sentence Carefully, Looking for Errors:

The moment you see a word like "require" (or "suggest," "insist," "recommend," "mandate," etc.) you should think: "Subjunctive! I need to use 'that' and then the infinitive form of the verb." Here, the first word of the underlined portion is "that," which is exactly what we what. Further, the word "be" (in the phrase" prerequisites be the same") is, as it should be, in the infinitive tense. This is a long sentence, with many clauses and pauses, but there isn't anything grammatically wrong with it. Our goal will be to determine if any of the other choices are better stylistically.

Scan and Group the Answer Choices:

A quick scan of the choices reveals that choices (A) and (B) both begin with the word "that," while the other three choices begin "to demand." This makes a clear 3-2 split.

Eliminate Wrong Answer Choices:

Let's look at the use of the phrase "to demand" in choices (C), (D), and (E) to see if we can keep those choices or if we should eliminate them.

The word "demand," just like the word "insist," creates a subjunctive mood. We'd have to say, "demand that academic prerequisites be the same," and none of these three choices does that. Further, it's really not idiomatically correct to say "requires of schools... to demand." It's ok to say "requires schools to demand," but the word "of" ruins the whole thing.

There are other problems with these choices. Choice (C) uses the phrase "prerequisites ... in" which is incorrect; the proper idiom is "prerequisites for." Choice (D) changes the simple "same for this as for that" construction of the original sentence to a wordy and confusing phrase: "the same apart from whether it was ___ or is ____." This confuses the issue and, what's more, isn't even parallel. Choice (E) changes the meaning of the sentence. The sentence is about the fact that the prerequisites should be the same for both types of programs, while choice (E) changes it to say that prerequisites should be requires just as much for both types of programs. Each is clearly wrong.

Evaluating choice (B), we see that it inserts the would "should," so that it reads "should be the same" rather than simply "be the same." Remember, the subjunctive requires the use of the infinitive tense, which means that the word should is wrong here.

Since each choice introduces more errors, Answer Choice (A) is correct. The sentence was correct as written, as happens around one-fifth of the time. Read the Original Sentence Carefully, Looking for Errors:

The moment you see a word like "require" (or "suggest," "insist," "recommend," "mandate," etc.) you should think: "Subjunctive! I need to use 'that' and then the infinitive form of the verb." Here, the first word of the underlined portion is "that," which is exactly what we what. Further, the word "be" (in the phrase" prerequisites be the same") is, as it should be, in the infinitive tense. This is a long sentence, with many clauses and pauses, but there isn't anything grammatically wrong with it. Our goal will be to determine if any of the other choices are better stylistically.

Scan and Group the Answer Choices:

A quick scan of the choices reveals that choices (A) and (B) both begin with the word "that," while the other three choices begin "to demand." This makes a clear 3-2 split.

Eliminate Wrong Answer Choices:

Let's look at the use of the phrase "to demand" in choices (C), (D), and (E) to see if we can keep those choices or if we should eliminate them.

The word "demand," just like the word "insist," creates a subjunctive mood. We'd have to say, "demand that academic prerequisites be the same," and none of these three choices does that. Further, it's really not idiomatically correct to say "requires of schools... to demand." It's ok to say "requires schools to demand," but the word "of" ruins the whole thing.

There are other problems with these choices. Choice (C) uses the phrase "prerequisites ... in" which is incorrect; the proper idiom is "prerequisites for." Choice (D) changes the simple "same for this as for that" construction of the original sentence to a wordy and confusing phrase: "the same apart from whether it was ___ or is ____." This confuses the issue and, what's more, isn't even parallel. Choice (E) changes the meaning of the sentence. The sentence is about the fact that the prerequisites should be the same for both types of programs, while choice (E) changes it to say that prerequisites should be requires just as much for both types of programs. Each is clearly wrong.

Evaluating choice (B), we see that it inserts the would "should," so that it reads "should be the same" rather than simply "be the same." Remember, the subjunctive requires the use of the infinitive tense, which means that the word should is wrong here.

Since each choice introduces more errors, Answer Choice (A) is correct. The sentence was correct as written, as happens around one-fifth of the time.