........ to curb the rising inflation, it is strongly believed, proved ineffective.

Question

........ to curb the rising inflation, it is strongly believed, proved ineffective.
A. The government took measures
B. That the government took measures
C. The measures taken by the government (Answer Key)
D. The measures were taken by the government

Source: Iran University Entrance Examination for Master of Arts students.

Hello,
Would you please be kind enough to tell me why option B does not work here?
I also say to myself that option C can not be the answer. If we want option C to be correct, then we should change [it is strongly believed] to [as strongly believed]. I say to myself that [it is] makes option C not work here.

I will appreciate your guidance about B and C.

Thank you.
(I have also asked this question in WR forum but the one who has answered my question, hasn't answered it completely. I will be glad if you give me some more guidance on this question. Especially about [it is strongly believed]. Thank you.)
This is the link to which I asked this question: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2967165

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

sb70012guidance about B and C.

B has a 'that'-clause for a subject. In that case, you can add "The fact" at the beginning without changing the meaning; thus, B means:

The fact that the government took measures to curb the rising inflation, it is strongly believed, proved ineffective.

Concentrate on the underlined portions. It says that a certain fact was not effective. But facts can't be effective or ineffective. Being effective has nothing to do with facts.

Here is a fact: The moon goes around the earth. Is that fact effective? (Does it accomplish the job it set out to do?) No. Ineffective? (Did it fail to accomplish the job it set out to do?) No. It doesn't make sense to ask such questions.
________

C: The measures taken by the government to curb the rising inflation, it is strongly believed, proved ineffective.

"it is strongly believed" is parenthetical, and it represents an inversion of normal word order. Therefore it can easily be paraphrased by putting it at the beginning of the sentence with "that". Here's the sentence with the exact same meaning:

It is strongly believed that the measures taken by the government to curb the rising inflation proved ineffective.

So C is fine.

sb70012I say to myself that [it is] makes option C not work here.

But "it is" is a part of the sentence that can't be changed. When you choose between the different answers, they are all going to have "it is", so it seems that if it's wrong in C, then it's wrong in all the others, too, and there is no correct answer. If I were doing the test, I would not focus on the part that's given. I would assume that the given part is correct and focus on the words in the choices.

CJ

Sb70012 · Answer

CalifJim sb70012guidance about B and C.B has a 'that'-clause for a subject. In that case, you can add "The fact" at the beginning without changing the meaning; thus, B means:The fact that the government took measures to curb the rising inflation, it is strongly believed, proved ineffective.

Thanks for answering but why in this example [that] works but in my question it can't?
Look at this example:
That anyone should want to kill her was unthinkable.

Anonymous · Answer

Hi CJ,
I read this sentence several times and there is something odd resonating in my ear based on the OP's answer Key. I wonder if you 'd comment on my questions. First of all, your analytical approach and explanations are always my guiding light in English, and I like your revision with " the fact...". No tongue and cheek, from the way they look and sound, the question doesn't seem to be well written.

For my own knowledge would these options be considered natural English, and have the same meaning?

Despite strong belief in the government's measures to curb the rising inflation, it has (been) proven ineffective.
The government's measure was strongly believed to curb the rising inflation, but it is proven ineffective.

Thank you always,

CalifJim · Answer

sb70012Look at this example: That anyone should want to kill her was unthinkable.

If I understand your concern correctly, the difference is that the 'that'-clause does not express a fact, but an idea. The word "should" triggers this interpretation. So you can paraphrase with

The idea that anyone should want to kill her was unthinkable.

CJ

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymouswould these options be considered natural English, and have the same meaning?

Despite strong belief in the government's measures to curb the rising inflation, it has (been) proven ineffective.

The English is fine, but the meaning is different because the idea of 'strong belief' occurs differently here than in the original sentence.

The government's measure was strongly believed to curb the rising inflation, but it is proven ineffective.

Again, the English is OK, but the meaning has changed.
___________________

The original has it that the measures were ineffective, and many people were convinced that the measures were ineffective. Your two sentences change that so that many people were convinced that the measures were effective even though they weren't.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you CJ for your explanations, which trigger more questions.

CalifJimYour two sentences change that so that many people were convinced that the measures were effective even though they weren't.

I am really surprised by your explanations that my sentences projected the opposite view. They were exactly intended to paint a picture that people had believed the measure would work but were disappointed as the measures were proven a failure.
The red bold face below is the end result. The blue was the sentiment of general public. Should the red outweight the belief people had on the government action in the OP sentence.

OP -The measures taken by the government........ to curb the rising inflation, it is strongly believed, proved ineffective.

My interpret: Despite strong belief in the government's measures to curb the rising inflation, it has (been) proven ineffective. (My thought process: the belief has been dissolved as the measure proved to be a failure)

To draw the same parallel: Despite my strong belief in your ability to succeed, it was proven an over-expectation.
Intended meaning: I saw something in you to believe you ahve the experience, skill and insight to succeed, but my expectation was proven otherwise.

Thank you again,

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymousmy sentences ... were exactly intended to paint a picture that people had believed the measure would work but were disappointed as the measures were proven a failure.

Yes. I got that.

Anonymous surprised by your explanations that my sentences projected the opposite view.

They don't project an opposite view. I think your sentences have the same meaning (or very close) as you think they have.

It just turns out that the meaning you projected in your sentences is not the meaning of the original sentence, which is easily seen in the paraphrase "It is strongly believed that ...".

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

CalifJimIt just turns out that the meaning you projected in your sentences is not the meaning of the original sentence, which is easily seen in the paraphrase "It is strongly believed that ...".

Thanks CJ. Perhaps my mental logic process is trapped by this phrase as used in the OP, " It is strongly believed, proved ineffective.." To me "it is.." hinted present belief, " proved ineffective". The question to myself was, if proven ineffective, how it is that people still keep (feeling confident about) believing the measures? With that reasoning, I came to the conclusion that the strong sentiment to believe must have existed in the past. AM I making sense to you?

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousAM I making sense to you?

Not in the slightest. We'd do better to drop it and move on to other threads, I think.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Yes, we shall! And thank you.

........ to curb the rising inflation, it is strongly believed, proved ineffective.

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