Doubt about the Q985/1000Sc

[vikram_eda]

I did not understand the following SC question's answer ... D

985. Those who have visited the Grand Canyon have typically seen
layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, with different colors that mark
the passage of time like the rings in a tree trunk.

(A) seen layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, with different colors that mark

(B) see layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, whose different colors mark

(C) been seeing layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, whose different colors are markers of

(D) been able to see layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, with different colors marking

(E) seen layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, marking by different colors

I answered A but it seems the right answer is D.

I do not see the need to introduce the "been able to see" as opposed to "seen".

Can someone help?

-Vix

[800guy]

I did not understand the following SC question's answer ... D

985. Those who have visited the Grand Canyon have typically seen
layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, with different colors that mark
the passage of time like the rings in a tree trunk.

(A) seen layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, with different colors that mark

(B) see layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, whose different colors mark

(C) been seeing layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, whose different colors are markers of

(D) been able to see layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, with different colors marking

(E) seen layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, marking by different colors

I answered A but it seems the right answer is D.

I do not see the need to introduce the "been able to see" as opposed to "seen".

Can someone help?

-Vix

wow...i have no clue why it's D either. i would have picked A

[aim-wsc]

At first, when i saw the problem i thought this problem need explanation.. so thought would wait for Prachi Pareekh

But then i realised(remembered) that its the same problem that created a havoc around. ( around some other mature GMAT forums)

Well I am entirely agree with the thread starter and understand his worries.

But let me tell you the answers given in 1000 SC document is not always correct.
yes some (very few though) are wrong.

Sorry if i am the first one to tell you this.

[aim-wsc]

Before we create confusion and make this a multi-page thread
let me present you the ultimate explanation.

Guys,
right now I have Kaplan 800 book in my hand:
I am posting it verbatim:

Explanation:All the canyon's colour
the key to getting the right answer for this question is recognising that the underlined portion of the sentence should not contain a pronoun. The answer choices give you the option of replacing with different colours with whose different colours but the second option is wrong because, if you added whose, it could refer to the layers or the Canon, and whenever a pronoun has more than one possible antecedent ( the thing it refers to), it's used incorrectly. Eliminate (B) & (C).
(A) is correct.

Eliminate (E) as well because the subject of "marking" is similarly unclear; is it the layers or the Canon that is marking the passage of time? And (A) is better than (D) because, once again, seen is better than the wordier alternative been able to see. (A) is correct.

[PS: not exactly verbatim I have British English spellings while Kaplan guys use American ones ]

[iamproxied]

I dont know why D is right.
But A can be wrong. "with different colors that mark"
that is singular which is referring to different colors.

[iamproxied]

In gmat 800 kaplan, the answer is given as A.

[Cybermusings]

B; eliminate right away since the verb "see" (present tense) does not fit in with the sentence
C; Faulty
E; seen layers....gaping canyon and marking.....colors, these 2 parts of the sentence appear disjoint
Amongst A and D I would go with A

[nikigaurav79]

how you are so sure that those who visited......been able to see layers???.........have you checked their eyesight !!!!!!!..dude.....


common we are here to see grammatical errors n not the realty of the event

[Stuart@KaplanGMAT]

(A) is definitely better than (d).

Both (a) and (d) are gramatically correct.

When faced with 2 gramatically correct choices, we turn to #2 on our list of SC criteria: Meaning.

The correct answer to a SC correction will NOT change the meaning of the original sentence, unless the original was nonsensical.

(D) does exactly what we're not supposed to do - "have been able to see" does not mean the same thing as "have seen". Therefore, we should eliminate (d).

Remember, our criteria for a correct answer in SC, in order of priority, are:

(1) gramatically correct;

(2) keeps the meaning of original sentence; and

(3) stylistically superior.

[pre-gmat]

Between the two choices:

(A) seen layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, with different colors that mark

(D) been able to see layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, with different colors marking


I am still on with D, let me know if the reasoning is correct:

(A) the second half of the sentence: with different colors that mark sounds like the COLORS mark the passage of time.

whereas if you read D closely, it is the layers of sedimnets with different colors that reflect the passage of time.

[ashish1354]

Kaplan explanation says that whose can refer to either layers of sediments or canyons. Besides this i need to know whether we can use Whose to refer to unanimate objects like layers.

Can we reject whose on this basis here???

[pre-gmat]

I think Stuart's explanation above makes more sense and is correct. I had initially assumed D but after reading 2 -3 times I guess the correct answer is A.

[aj5105]

thanks Stuart !

[aim-wsc]

This is scarry,stuart.

[Jatinder]

(A) is definitely better than (d).

Both (a) and (d) are gramatically correct.

When faced with 2 gramatically correct choices, we turn to #2 on our list of SC criteria: Meaning.

The correct answer to a SC correction will NOT change the meaning of the original sentence, unless the original was nonsensical.

(D) does exactly what we're not supposed to do - "have been able to see" does not mean the same thing as "have seen". Therefore, we should eliminate (d).

Remember, our criteria for a correct answer in SC, in order of priority, are:

(1) gramatically correct;

(2) keeps the meaning of original sentence; and

(3) stylistically superior.

stuart,
Why "comma" is required in a and d.
I could not justify the comma with any of the comma rules...
the one that comes close is: Use comma if it helps avoid confusion.
Am i missing something?