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With an awareness that there are connotations associated with the numbers 1 and 2 and the
letters A and B, companies conducting consumer taste tests of foods or beverages typically
choose numbers such as 697 or 483 to label the products.

(A) With an awareness that there are connotations associated with the numbers 1 and 2 and
the letters A and B
(B) Because the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B have connotations they are aware of
(C) Because of an awareness of the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B having
connotations
(D) Aware of the connotations of the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B
(E) Since the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B have connotations associated with them
and they are aware of it
Solution:
(A) With an awareness that there are connotations associated with the numbers 1 and 2
and the letters A and B, companies conducting consumer taste tests of foods or
beverages typically choose numbers such as 697 or 483 to label the products.
 connotations and associated are redundant
 the principal issue with choice (a) is unrelated to the "with" issue. Instead, the primary
problem with (a) lies in its meaning.

the problem with (a) is that it says only that companies are aware "that there are
connotations". in other words, literally, the companies just know that there are connotations
-- in other words, that connotations (of some sort) exist -- but the companies don't
necessarily know what those connotations are.
the correct answer, on the other hand, explicitly states that the companies are "aware of the
connotations" -- i.e., aware of the actual nature of those connotations.
analogy:
i am aware that discounts are available this weekend.
--> i know that there ARE discounts, but i don't necessarily know the specifics.
i am aware of the discounts available this weekend.
--> i actually know the specifics (percentages or whatever) of the discounts.
** Modifiers like "...(that) they are aware of" are not ok in formal English; you'd want "of which
they are aware" (or something totally different, e.g., "that they know") instead.
Similarly:
the person I spoke to --> no; the person to whom I spoke --> yes.
the stores (that) most people shop at --> no; the stores at which most people shop --> yes.
The "no"s here are worth noticing because they are cornerstones of SPOKEN English (i.e., an
altogether different language). If English isn't your first language, then avoiding these will,
ironically, be much easier than if it were.
 * "with an awareness that there are connotations..." doesn't convey a reasonable meaning --
it suggests that the company representatives know that there are connotations, but don't
necessarily know whatthose connotations are.
analogy:
Aware that there are sensitive meanings associated with the words, Bob spoke them carefully. --
> in this sentence, bob may not actually know the sensitive meanings ... but at least he knows
that they exist.
Aware of the sensitive meanings associated with the words, Bob spoke them carefully. --> bob
actually knows what the sensitive meanings are (i.e., he could explain them if you asked).

the correct answer more logically states that the companies are aware of the connotations
themselves, and so are acting accordingly. that makes a lot more sense than the meaning in
(a).
 The opening modifier could be construed to mean that companies are doing two somewhat
separate things in these tests: (a) choosing certain numbers such as 697 and (b) having an
awareness that there are connotations etc. Try reading the original sentence starting with
"Along with an awareness that..." and see if this helps you to spot the ambiguity in meaning.

(Along) With an awareness that there are connotations associated with her green hair, the
witch typically buys newt eyes, not human eyes, when she goes to the store. Is she buying
"awareness that there are connotations associated with her green hair" along with newt eyes?
Or is she aware that green hair makes her look evil, so she wants to make sure people see her
buying innocuous things rather than human eyes? :)

Also, "Aware of the" is a lot more concise than "With an awareness that there are"
**
#29 in OG11 opens with "Along with..." (not underlined)

#V13 in the OG Verbal 2nd edition includes an option that starts with "With..." and in fact
includes another "with..." before we get to the main clause. The GMAC's explanation of why
this is wrong simply describes it as "awkward and wordy." Tough to know whether they mean
that this is because the "with..." happens twice, or if its presence is a problem from the outset.

#V18 verbal review 2015 edition also includes an incorrect option starting with "With..."
However, this time the reasoning is that the word "with" does not provide the right meaning
for the sentence.

#V23 verbal review 2015 edition includes an incorrect "As with..." However, broken parallelism
is the cited issue.

#V28 verbal review 2015 edition also includes an incorrect option starting with "With..."
However, the explanation here does not cite this word as a problem.

#V68 verbal review 2015 edition includes and incorrect "Unlike with..." However, broken
parallelism is the cited issue.

I couldn't find (on quickly flipping through) any correct answers that start with "With...", "As
with...", etc. They might be out there, but I'd be somewhat surprised. There seems to be too
much ambiguity starting out a sentence that way.
**
Question:
So can i ALWAYS replace "with" with "along with" to check the correctness / meaning issues?
 no, because "with" can have lots of other meanings, too.

for instance, you can perform some task with some tool. e.g.,
i built the whole chair with nothing but a butterknife and a bunch of wood.
with nothing but a butterknife and a bunch of wood, i made a sculpture of the Last Supper.
both of these are correct, but they wouldn't work with "along with".
**
Question:
Can I also eliminate (A) based on the idiomatic usage of "aware"?
 "With an awareness of..." is not wrong in general.
If you are referring to a situation in which an individual/entity is specifically aware
of something, THEN "with an awareness xxxx" is inferior, because you can just write "aware
xxxx" instead.
More importantly, there's no reason to consider this issue in individual choices. A simple
comparison should convince you that "aware..." is clearly better than "with an awareness...",
and thus that you can eliminate the latter.

If you are discussing the consequences of such an awareness more generally"”i.e., not referring
to a specific individual or entity that is "aware of" whatever situation"”then this construction
could well be perfectly acceptable.
E.g., A fast reaction time is only useful when paired with an awareness of one's environment.
**
Question:
I thought the usage of "there are" in choice (A) is to emphasize something. I am correct?
 "There is / there are..." is just another way of saying that things exist, or that they are in a
certain place.

It's certainly not a way of expressing emphasis. As far as the GMAT is concerned, there's no
difference between "there are Xs" and "Xs exist", and there's no difference between "there are
Xs in this place" and "Xs are in this place".

---- YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE FOR THE TEST ----

In terms of the GMAT, as I stated above the line, there's no difference.

In general usage, in fact, the construction without "there is/are" is generally more emphatic.
e.g.,
Mr. Wong, there are two people in your office. --> ok, we're just counting people, presumably
for some reason mentioned earlier in the conversation.
Mr. Wong, two people are in your office. --> I specifically want to draw your attention to the
people. "They want to see you", or "You should be aware that they're there; maybe you don't
want them there."
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
(B) Because the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B have connotations they are aware
of, companies conducting consumer taste tests of foods or beverages typically choose
numbers such as 697 or 483 to label the products.
 they lacks a clear antecedent.
meaning changed By Belal Bhai
** Because the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B have connotations (there is a implied
THAT here) they are aware of
Because the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B have connotations they are aware of
Here, they are aware of is the Modifier of connotations. Here is an implied THAT exists. CROSS
out this modifier.
NOW the sentence becomes: Because the numbers 1 and 2 HAVE CONNOTATION, the
companies are avoiding number 1 &2 (i.e. companies are using 789).
in other words, meaning of option B is HAVING OTHER (implied) MEANING is the REASON for
AVOIDING Number 1 & 2.
This is mostly nonsense. In real world, most of the companies accept WORDS which have other
POSITIVE meaning. For example, why iPhone uses APPLE ? because it have another meaning
(apple symbolizes knowledge). NORMALLY, when peoples are AWARE that XXXX word has
NEGATIVE implied meaning, they avoid that XXXX word.

So, HAVING OTHER MEANING may NOT be the reason of avoiding a number or word (So, cross
B)
BUT, KNOWING/AWARE OF the implied (perhaps negative) meaning may be the reason for
avoiding a number or word (as stated in option D)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
(C) Because of an awareness of the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B having
connotations, companies conducting consumer taste tests of foods or beverages
typically choose numbers such as 697 or 483 to label the products.
 first off, the construction (preposition) + NOUN + VERBing is WRONG, unless the
preposition refers directly to the NOUN. (that isn't usually the case, so, if you're in doubt, you
should strike choices with this sort of construction.)
for instance:
i've never heard of bees stinging dogs
WRONG. this is not an issue of whether you've heard of bees themselves; it's an issue of
whether you've heard of their stinging dogs.

...results in the act of stinging causing...

WRONG. this doesn't result in the act of stinging itself; it results in what is caused by the act of
stinging.
i have a picture of my cousin playing hockey.
CORRECT. this time, the picture is actually of my cousin, so we're good.
therefore, (c) is wrong because of …. awareness of the numbers having connotations…
** In other words, "an awareness of the letters A and B having connotations" has two different
meaning issues:
1/ it mistakenly refers to an awareness of the letters themselves, rather than to an awareness
of their connotations;
2/ it's a reference to "the letters A and B having connotations...", which weirdly implies that
there are other letters A and B that don't have such connotations.
 This choices don't actually say that the companies know what the connotations are. It just
says that the companies know "that there are connotations".
This is a HUGE difference. If the distinction is not immediately obvious to you, consider the
following sentences:
1/ I know that there are passwords for all of your bank accounts.
2/ I know the passwords for all of your bank accounts.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
(D) Aware of the connotations of the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B, companies
conducting consumer taste tests of foods or beverages typically choose numbers such as
697 or 483 to label the products.
Correct answer.
it's not a run-on. a run-on is when two COMPLETE sentences are just mashed together, or are
connected with a comma.
the initial modifier, "aware of...", has neither a subject nor a verb, so this is definitely not a run-
on.
**
Question:
In the past, you mentioned that we cannot change the meaning of the original sentence unless
we have to. So, how do we know whether the companies are aware of the actual nature of
those connotations?
 * There is nothing sacred about the original meaning. (Put another way, it doesn't matter
which choice is choice A.)
* According to the sentence, the companies are intentionally avoiding the use of "A", "B", "1",
"2", etc. So, common sense dictates that they're aware of the reason; they are certainly not
avoiding those labels at random!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
(E) Since the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters A and B have connotations associated with
them and they are aware of it, companies conducting consumer taste tests of foods or
beverages typically choose numbers such as 697 or 483 to label the products.
 connotations and associated are redundant.
 This choices don't actually say that the companies know what the connotations are. It just
says that the companies know "that there are connotations".
This is a HUGE difference. If the distinction is not immediately obvious to you, consider the
following sentences:
1/ I know that there are passwords for all of your bank accounts.
2/ I know the passwords for all of your bank accounts.
 The pronoun "it" has absolutely no antecedent whatsoever, since "connotations" is plural.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
HAPPY STUDYING!