Sentence Correction

Prospecting for gold during the California gold rush was a relatively easy task, because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for anybody with a pan or shovel.
A. because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for
B. because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, and putting gold literally within reach of
C. owing to erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that had thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, and putting gold literally within reach of
D. since erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, putting gold literally within reach for
E. since erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach of

Reasoning for the correct ans and also it will be a great help if someone can elaborate on the USE of SINCE

Any reason

arorag wrote:Prospecting for gold during the California gold rush was a relatively easy task, because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for anybody with a pan or shovel.
A. because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for
B. because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, and putting gold literally within reach of
C. owing to erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that had thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, and putting gold literally within reach of
D. since erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, putting gold literally within reach for
E. since erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach of

Reasoning for the correct ans and also it will be a great help if someone can elaborate on the USE of SINCE

Any reason

Very quick question if you know what to look for:

"because of erosion..." needs to be followed with ".. that put gold...".

"since erosion..." needs to be followed with "put gold...".

Only (e) uses the right combo.

In general, we say:

"because of X that did Y"

and

"since X did Y".

We could also just say "because X did Y".

Thanks, Stuart

Very quick question if you know what to look for:

"because of erosion..." needs to be followed with ".. that put gold...".

"since erosion..." needs to be followed with "put gold...".

Only (e) uses the right combo.

In general, we say:

"because of X that did Y"

and

"since X did Y".

We could also just say "because X did Y".

hi Stuart

i understand this logic .. but is'nt the question implying that erosion,volcanic activity,nd prehistoric glaciers are all contributing to the reason that ancient river beds were thrust onto the surface.

If tats the case how can e be right..

Thanks in advance
preetha

arorag wrote:Prospecting for gold during the California gold rush was a relatively easy task, because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for anybody with a pan or shovel.
A. because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for
B. because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, and putting gold literally within reach of
C. owing to erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that had thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, and putting gold literally within reach of
D. since erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, putting gold literally within reach for
E. since erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach of

Reasoning for the correct ans and also it will be a great help if someone can elaborate on the USE of SINCE

Any reason

Should we check

BETWEEN / SINCE and OWING to here, while choosing the answer

Should we check

REACH OF / REACH FOR , while choosing the answer

I believe there is a flaw with structure and that other issue follow later

BECAUSE OF X,Y and Z verb - awkward -- we cannnot have a CLAUSE after BECAUSE OF
OWING to X,Y and Z and putting - awkward
SINCE X y and Z putting - awkward
BECAUSE X,Y and Z putting - awkward
SINCE X,Y and Z put gold --- winner

---------------------------------
By the way
When should we use
BECAUSE
OWING TO
SINCE
DUE TO

Does GMAT Test this ??

Stuart Kovinsky wrote:

arorag wrote:Prospecting for gold during the California gold rush was a relatively easy task, because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for anybody with a pan or shovel.
A. because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for
B. because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, and putting gold literally within reach of
C. owing to erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that had thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, and putting gold literally within reach of
D. since erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, putting gold literally within reach for
E. since erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach of

Reasoning for the correct ans and also it will be a great help if someone can elaborate on the USE of SINCE

Any reason

Very quick question if you know what to look for:

"because of erosion..." needs to be followed with ".. that put gold...".

"since erosion..." needs to be followed with "put gold...".

Only (e) uses the right combo.

In general, we say:

"because of X that did Y"

and

"since X did Y".

We could also just say "because X did Y".

No doubt E seems to be grammatically correct. But don't you think it changes the meaning of the sentence.

The following line : "erosion,prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity"

indicates that all the above 3 things are thrust to the surface by Volcanic activity and that had put gold literally within reach of anybody. This is not true.

Don't you think, "erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds that thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for anybody" would have been more accurate.

PLz let me know.

hrishi19884 wrote:
No doubt E seems to be grammatically correct. But don't you think it changes the meaning of the sentence.

The following line : "erosion,prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity"

indicates that all the above 3 things are thrust to the surface by Volcanic activity and that had put gold literally within reach of anybody. This is not true.

Don't you think, "erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds that thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for anybody" would have been more accurate.

PLz let me know.

Your wording has the exact same issue that you note from choice E; adding a "that" doesn't stop the phrase from modifying the entire list (and introduces a whole bunch of new grammatical issues).

If you're worried about that last modifying phrase being ambiguous (i.e. we're not sure if it modifies the entire list or just the last item), the only way to fix it is to change the order of the list:

"ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity, erosion and prehistoric glacier movement put gold literally within reach of anybody... "

clears up that issue.

mmslf75 wrote:

arorag wrote:Prospecting for gold during the California gold rush was a relatively easy task, because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for anybody with a pan or shovel.
A. because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for
B. because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, and putting gold literally within reach of
C. owing to erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that had thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, and putting gold literally within reach of
D. since erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, putting gold literally within reach for
E. since erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach of

Reasoning for the correct ans and also it will be a great help if someone can elaborate on the USE of SINCE

Any reason

Should we check

BETWEEN / SINCE and OWING to here, while choosing the answer

Should we check

REACH OF / REACH FOR , while choosing the answer

I believe there is a flaw with structure and that other issue follow later

BECAUSE OF X,Y and Z verb - awkward -- we cannnot have a CLAUSE after BECAUSE OF
OWING to X,Y and Z and putting - awkward
SINCE X y and Z putting - awkward
BECAUSE X,Y and Z putting - awkward
SINCE X,Y and Z put gold --- winner

---------------------------------
By the way
When should we use
BECAUSE
OWING TO
SINCE
DUE TO

Does GMAT Test this ??

Please confirm on the above.

Stuart Kovinsky wrote:

hrishi19884 wrote:
No doubt E seems to be grammatically correct. But don't you think it changes the meaning of the sentence.

The following line : "erosion,prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity"

indicates that all the above 3 things are thrust to the surface by Volcanic activity and that had put gold literally within reach of anybody. This is not true.

Don't you think, "erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds that thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for anybody" would have been more accurate.

PLz let me know.

Your wording has the exact same issue that you note from choice E; adding a "that" doesn't stop the phrase from modifying the entire list (and introduces a whole bunch of new grammatical issues).

If you're worried about that last modifying phrase being ambiguous (i.e. we're not sure if it modifies the entire list or just the last item), the only way to fix it is to change the order of the list:

"ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity, erosion and prehistoric glacier movement put gold literally within reach of anybody... "

clears up that issue.

Stuart, you are the best! I got my fault. Thank you so much.

IMO E.

The sentence has two different clause that are connected with a conjunction. The only conjunction in the answer choice is Since. In several places, since is synonymous with because and so clearly only E is the best option. The verb in the second clause is put and the subject is the entire noun phrase and because is the conjunction.

Abhishek

mmslf75 wrote:

arorag wrote:Prospecting for gold during the California gold rush was a relatively easy task, because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for anybody with a pan or shovel.
A. because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for
B. because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, and putting gold literally within reach of
C. owing to erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that had thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, and putting gold literally within reach of
D. since erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and volcanic activity that thrust ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds to the surface, putting gold literally within reach for
E. since erosion, prehistoric glacier movement, and ancient, gold-bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach of

Reasoning for the correct ans and also it will be a great help if someone can elaborate on the USE of SINCE

Any reason

Should we check

BETWEEN / SINCE and OWING to here, while choosing the answer

Should we check

REACH OF / REACH FOR , while choosing the answer

I believe there is a flaw with structure and that other issue follow later

BECAUSE OF X,Y and Z verb - awkward -- we cannnot have a CLAUSE after BECAUSE OF
OWING to X,Y and Z and putting - awkward
SINCE X y and Z putting - awkward
BECAUSE X,Y and Z putting - awkward
SINCE X,Y and Z put gold --- winner

---------------------------------
By the way
When should we use
BECAUSE
OWING TO
SINCE
DUE TO

Does GMAT Test this ??

Any1 ANy help on the above..

Hi Stuart,

Can you explain whether 'reach of' is correct or 'reach for' please?

Thanks,
Vikas

Any reason
Should we check

BETWEEN / SINCE and OWING to here, while choosing the answer

Should we check

REACH OF / REACH FOR , while choosing the answer

I believe there is a flaw with structure and that other issue follow later

BECAUSE OF X,Y and Z verb - awkward -- we cannnot have a CLAUSE after BECAUSE OF
OWING to X,Y and Z and putting - awkward
SINCE X y and Z putting - awkward
BECAUSE X,Y and Z putting - awkward
SINCE X,Y and Z put gold --- winner

---------------------------------
By the way
When should we use
BECAUSE
OWING TO
SINCE
DUE TO

Does GMAT Test this ??