Sentence Correction

dinesh19aug wrote:

kvcpk wrote:whats wrong with A?

As an actress and, more importantly, as a teacher of acting, Stella Adler was one of the most influential artists in the American theater, who trained several generations of actors including Marlon Brando and Robert de Niro.

A. Same as above
B. Stella Adler, one of the most influential artists in the American theater, trained several generations of actors who include
C. Stella Adler was one of the most influential artists in the American theater, training several generations of actors whose ranks included
D. one of the most influential artists in the American theater was Stella Adler, who trained several generations of actors including
E. one of the most influential artists in the American theater, Stella Adler, trained several generations of actors whose ranks included

Explanation:

A) INCORRECT - It has modifier error - ".....artists in the American theater, who trained several...", it looks like Theater trained the actors.

B) INCORRECT - Though it fixes the modifier error, it created another error - "...actors who include....", Who is singular and actors are plural .....

C) CORRECT - Fixes the modifier error and also addresses actors ... whose .... correctly.

D) INCORRECT - has passive voice and is wordy. Another error is modifier, Stella should be placed in the beginging of the sentence.

E) INCORRECT - This has no verb. If you notice there is a COMMA after Stella, which makes this sentence a fragment - "Stella Adler, trained several generations of actors whose ranks included "

Brian@VeritasPrep wrote:Hey guys,

Good questions about A, which looks like a great answer, but:

The modifying phrase beginning with "who" must modify a person. "Who" is a reflexive pronoun, and the rule for using it is pretty simple...it has to modify the word that comes directly next to it. Because it comes next to "theater", it's incorrect.

Choice C changes it by using the participial modifier "training" - those present-tense verb modifiers ("participial phrases", but you don't really need to know the terminology) can modify the entire clause beforehand and not just the direct word, so that's why that one is different.

For C, "whose ranks" may sound a bit awkward, but it's not a direct violation of any hard-and-fast rule. The GMAT loves to do this - get you to eliminate based on "awkwardness" or "it changed the meaning a little bit", but your job is only grammatical/logical correctness.

Brian@VeritasPrep wrote:Hey guys,

Good questions about A, which looks like a great answer, but:

The modifying phrase beginning with "who" must modify a person. "Who" is a reflexive pronoun, and the rule for using it is pretty simple...it has to modify the word that comes directly next to it. Because it comes next to "theater", it's incorrect.

Choice C changes it by using the participial modifier "training" - those present-tense verb modifiers ("participial phrases", but you don't really need to know the terminology) can modify the entire clause beforehand and not just the direct word, so that's why that one is different.

For C, "whose ranks" may sound a bit awkward, but it's not a direct violation of any hard-and-fast rule. The GMAT loves to do this - get you to eliminate based on "awkwardness" or "it changed the meaning a little bit", but your job is only grammatical/logical correctness.