a question on verbal review SC 109

This topic has expert replies
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Oct 14, 2014 9:41 pm

a question on verbal review SC 109

by frankhongyi » Tue Oct 14, 2014 9:47 pm
The nephew of Pliny the Elder wrote the only eyewitness account of the great eruption of Vesuvius in two letters to the historian Tacitus.

(A) The nephew of Pliny the Elder wrote the only eyewitness account of the great eruption of Vesuvius in two letters to the historian Tacitus.
(B) To the historian Tacitus, the nephew of Pliny the Elder wrote two letters, being the only eyewitness accounts of the great eruption of Vesuvius.
(C) The only eyewitness account is in two letters by the nephew of Pliny the Elder writing to the historian Tacitus an account of the great eruption of Vesuvius.
(D) Writing the only eyewitness account, Pliny the Elder's nephew accounted for the great eruption of Vesuvius in two letters to the historian Tacitus.
(E) In two letters to the historian Tacitus, the nephew of Pliny the Elder wrote the only eyewitness account of the great eruption of Vesuvius

this is a pretty old question, but I found previews explanations could not solve me confusion
In these types of question, it's very hard to "split"
And I was really nervous while timing myself, because each choice looks almost nothing in common.
And OG explains that in (A), "in two letters " mean the eruption took place in the letter!
I mean, nobody would assume that, right?
I could say: Mother told me she bought some fish in the letter to me.
We wouldn't believe mom was shopping in the letter, would we?
So, could anyone help me with questions that are hard to split and wrong answer is wrong only because the
prepositional phrase is misplaced?
This is so hard to detect. Thank you!!

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 15539
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pm
Location: New York, NY
Thanked: 13060 times
Followed by:1906 members
GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Wed Oct 15, 2014 2:23 am
frankhongyi wrote:The nephew of Pliny the Elder wrote the only eyewitness account of the great eruption of Vesuvius in two letters to the historian Tacitus.

(A) The nephew of Pliny the Elder wrote the only eyewitness account of the great eruption of Vesuvius in two letters to the historian Tacitus.
(B) To the historian Tacitus, the nephew of Pliny the Elder wrote two letters, being the only eyewitness accounts of the great eruption of Vesuvius.
(C) The only eyewitness account is in two letters by the nephew of Pliny the Elder writing to the historian Tacitus an account of the great eruption of Vesuvius.
(D) Writing the only eyewitness account, Pliny the Elder's nephew accounted for the great eruption of Vesuvius in two letters to the historian Tacitus.
(E) In two letters to the historian Tacitus, the nephew of Pliny the Elder wrote the only eyewitness account of the great eruption of Vesuvius
Generally, COMMA + VERBing refers to the SUBJECT of the preceding clause.
In B, being seems to refers to the nephew, implying that THE NEPHEW was BEING the only eyewitness accounts.
Not the intended meaning.
Eliminate B.

In C, the only eyewitness account and an account of the great eruption are redundant.
Eliminate C.

In D, the only eyewitness account and Pliny the Elder's nephew accounted are redundant.
Eliminate D.

In the SC above, in two letters is intended to modify wrote.
Two guiding principles regarding modifiers:
A modifier should be AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE to what it is modifying.
An introductory prepositional modifier serves to modify the VERB in the following clause.

A: The nephew of Pliny the Elder wrote the only eyewitness account of the great ERUPTION of Vesuvius IN TWO LETTERS TO THE HISTORIAN TACITUS.
Here, there is quite a bit of distance between in two letters to the historian Tacitus and wrote.
As a result, in two letters seems to be modifying eruption, implying a nonsensical meaning: that the ERUPTION took place IN TWO LETTERS.

E: IN TWO LETTERS TO THE HISTORIAN TACITUS, the nephew of Pliny the Elder WROTE the only eyewitness account of the great eruption of Vesuvius.
Here, there is less distance between in two letters to the historian Tacitus and wrote.
Also, the placement of in two letters at the beginning of the sentence makes it crystal clear that in two letters serves to modify wrote, since an introductory prepositional modifier serves to modify the VERB in the following clause.
The result is the intended meaning: that the nephew WROTE the only eyewitness account IN TWO LETTERS.

Since E places in two letters in a much more logical position than does A, eliminate A.

The correct answer is E.
Private tutor exclusively for the GMAT and GRE, with over 20 years of experience.
Followed here and elsewhere by over 1900 test-takers.
I have worked with students based in the US, Australia, Taiwan, China, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia -- a long list of countries.
My students have been admitted to HBS, CBS, Tuck, Yale, Stern, Fuqua -- a long list of top programs.

As a tutor, I don't simply teach you how I would approach problems.
I unlock the best way for YOU to solve problems.

For more information, please email me (Mitch Hunt) at [email protected].
Student Review #1
Student Review #2
Student Review #3

User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 434
Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 10:42 pm
Location: Bangalore, India
Thanked: 91 times
Followed by:46 members

by EducationAisle » Wed Oct 15, 2014 10:19 am
frankhongyi wrote: And OG explains that in (A), "in two letters " mean the eruption took place in the letter!
I mean, nobody would assume that, right?
I could say: Mother told me she bought some fish in the letter to me.
We wouldn't believe mom was shopping in the letter, would we?
So, could anyone help me with questions that are hard to split and wrong answer is wrong only because the
prepositional phrase is misplaced?
This is so hard to detect. Thank you!!
Problems related to modifiers are frequently about the modifier (in this case prepositional phrase) not being in the ideal position, thereby creating ambiguous/nonsensical meaning. Sentence correction is about choosing which option best and most unambiguously conveys the intended meaning and hence, an option that takes away the ambiguity, should be preferred.

Reminds me of another OG question (OG-13, #122), where an incorrect option is:

A firm that specializes in the analysis of handwriting claims from a one-page writing sample that it can assess more than 300 personality traits, including enthusiasm, imagination, and ambition.

The above version of the sentence seems to nonsensically suggest that the firm claims something from a one-page writing sample! Clearly, the claim of the firm is actually intended to about the ability to do something (to be able to assess more than 300 personality traits). Hence, following is more appropriate.

A firm that specializes in the analysis of handwriting claims to be able, from a one-page writing sample, to assess more than 300 personality traits, including enthusiasm, imagination, and ambition.

As is evident, the placement of prepositional phrase from a one-page writing sample distorted the meaning in the original sentence.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses Prepositional phrases as modifiers, their application and examples. If you can PM you email-id, I can send you the corresponding section.
Ashish
MBA - ISB, GMAT - 99th Percentile
GMAT Faculty @ EducationAisle
www.EducationAisle.com

Sentence Correction Nirvana available at:

a) Amazon: Sentence Correction Nirvana

b) Flipkart: Sentence Correction Nirvana

Now! Preview the entire Grammar Section of Sentence Correction Nirvana at pothi