SC Misconception #9 – The correct option needs to communicate the same meaning as the original sentence

This article is a part of a series of articles on SC Misconceptions. In this series, I’m going to address many misconceptions prevalent among GMAT aspirants.

The misconception addressed in this post is:

The correct option needs to communicate the same meaning as the original sentence

There are exactly ZERO official questions in which an option is wrong just because the option communicates a meaning that is different from the one communicated in the original sentence. 

Here are the instructions given by GMAC for SC questions:

Each of the sentence correction questions presents a sentence, part or all of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. Follow the requirements of standard written English to choose an answer, paying attention to grammar, word choice, and sentence construction. Select the answer that produces the most effective sentence; your answer should make the sentence clear, exact, and free of grammatical error. It should also minimize awkwardness, ambiguity, and redundancy.

Nowhere in the instructions are we asked to comply with the meaning presented in the original sentence. Rather, in its latest update to the introductory chapter to Sentence Correction (OG 2019 Page #689), GMAC says:

Given that all Sentence Correction questions are presented out of context, there may be no basis for certainty about which of several possible interpretations the writer intended to convey. You will not be given multiple equally good versions of a sentence and asked to guess which one accurately represents the writer’s true intention. 

Thus, our job while evaluating SC options is to find an option that conveys a logical meaning in a grammatically correct manner, not an option that conveys the same meaning as the original sentence. An option that conveys a logical meaning, albeit different from the one in the original sentence, can be correct. 

For example, some people reject the correct option in this question since the correct option doesn’t even talk about provisions while the original sentence does. If you have come across such a question in which the correct option conveys a meaning different from the one conveyed in the original sentence, let me know. I can include it here.