"hopefully" is not Standard Written English??

[qhoc0010]

Measuring the brain waves of human beings while they are engaged in different types of thought hopefully will enable neuropsychologists better to understand the relationship between the structures of the brain and thinking.
(A) hopefully will enable
(B) hopefully might enable
(C) will, it is hoped, enable
(D) would hopefully enable
(E) will, it is to be hoped by all, enable


Answer (C)
"Hopefully" is not acceptable in Standard Written English. The correct phrase is "it is hoped" as in (C). (E)'s phrase denies the fact of the hope expressed by the original sentence.

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It is the first time I heard "hopefully" is not in SWE. What other words are not in SWE and will be test?

[800Bob]

It was commonly taught by pedantic English teachers some forty years ago that "hopefully" should not be used to mean "it is hoped." This prohibition makes no sense. If one can begin a sentence with "frankly" or "unfortunately," whay not "hopefully"? I guarantee that this obsolete pseudo-rule will not be tested on the GMAT.

[shaq]

Sorry 800bob, ETS does test this rule and hopefully is almost always considered wrong.

Check out this link...
http://www.urch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14626 (Hopefully Vs it is hoped)

[800Bob]

ETS used to test "hopefully" vs. "it is hoped," but they have gotten over their delusion and do no longer.

[shaq]

I wasn't aware of that. Do you have this information on authority?

[qhoc0010]

so, okay, what else beside "hopefully"? That's what I want to know.

[800Bob]

One place I have read this is right here in this forum http://216.119.67.230/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=41

Another example of something that everyone says but the traditionalists consider wrong is "due to" meaning "because of". I follow the traditional rule myself, but I believe that the GMAT would avoid testing this directly.

Another traditional rule that is changing is that "data" is plural.

I doubt you will ever see in a correct answer "hopefully" meaning "it is hoped," "due to" meaning "because of," or "data" as a singular, just as I doubt you will ever see a "who" that should be "whom," or a spilt infinitive. But my experience tells me that none of these rules will ever be the sole deciding factor between a correct choice and an incorrect one.

[Erin]

Also speaking from experience, I can say that GMAT has shown a definite shift from the more standard laundry list of grammar problems to less common ones. I suspect two reasons--first, the rules GMAT tended to test in the past are covered in many grammar manuals and are therefore relatively easy to learn; second, some of these points are rather controversial.

That said, it will be interesting to see what the new content creators will do in 2007.

[shaq]

Erin, while we are still on the topic of controversial grammar rules, could you please take a look at this post about pronoun subjective/objective case.
http://www.urch.com/forums/showthrea...6&page=2&pp=15 (good one)


I have been losing sleep over it. Any and all help is appreciated...

[Erin]

Gave my two centavos. Check it out.