GMAT Verbal & Essays

MODIFIER
1. Although covered in about 11 inches of snow, aviation officials said that conditions on the runway at the time of the emergency landing was acceptable.
"¢ aviation officials said that conditions on the runway at the time of the emergency landing was acceptable
"¢ the runway conditions during the emergency landing were acceptable according to aviation officials
"¢ according to aviation officials, the runway was in acceptable condition during the time of the emergency
landing
"¢ the runway was in acceptable condition during the emergency landing, according to aviation officials
"¢ aviation officials said that conditions on the runway at the time of the emergency landing were acceptable

2. Discouraged by new data that show increases in toxic emissions from domestic factories, searches for alternative investment opportunities are being conducted by shareholders of the nation's leading manufacturing companies.
"¢ searches for alternative investment opportunities are being conducted by shareholders of the nation's
leading manufacturing companies
"¢ searches are being conducted by shareholders of the nation's leading manufacturing companies who are
looking for alternative investment opportunities
"¢ shareholders of the nation's leading manufacturing companies had begun searching for investment
opportunities outside of the manufacturing industry
"¢ the nation's leading manufacturing companies are searching for alternative investment opportunities for its shareholders
"¢ shareholders of the nation's leading manufacturing companies are searching for alternative investment opportunities

3. Found in the wild only in Australia and New Guinea, powerful back legs with long feet distinguish kangaroos from other large mammals.
"¢ powerful back legs with long feet distinguish kangaroos from other large mammals
"¢ powerful back legs with long feet distinguish kangaroos from other mammals that are large
"¢ powerful back legs with long feet distinguish kangaroos from those of other mammals that are large
"¢ kangaroos are distinguished from other large mammals by powerful legs with long feet
"¢ kangaroos are being distinguished from other mammals that are large by powerful legs with long feet

4. Responding to growing demand for high-end vehicles, the interiors of the newest models are so luxurious that they sell for nearly twice the price of last year's models.
"¢ the interiors of the newest models are so luxurious that they sell
"¢ the interiors of the newest models are so luxurious that the cars are sold
"¢ auto makers have installed interiors in the newest models that are so luxurious that they sell
"¢ the interior of the newest models are so luxurious that they are sold
"¢ auto makers have installed such luxurious interiors in the newest models that these cars sell

5. By applying optimization techniques commonly used to plan operations, it is possible to determine how much effort ought to be devoted to each of a company's products in order to meet its goals in both the short and long terms.
"¢ it is possible to determine how much effort ought to be devoted to each of a company's products in order
to meet its goals in both the short and long terms
"¢ a company's managers can determine how much effort should be dedicated to each of the company's
products in order to meet its short and long term goals
"¢ it can be determined by company managers how much effort ought to be devoted to each of the
company's products in order to meet its goals, both short and long term
"¢ it may be possible for company managers to determine how much effort should be dedicated to each of
these products in order to meet the company's short and long term goals
"¢ managers at a company can determine how much effort ought to be dedicated to each of these products
in order to meet the company's goals in both the short and long term


MODIFIER ANSWERS


1. The modifying phrase "although covered in about 11 inches of snow" at the beginning of this sentence should be followed by the noun the modifier refers to, "the runway." The original sentence illogically suggests that "aviation officials" were covered in about 11 inches of snow. Additionally, the plural subject "conditions" does not agree with the singular verb "was acceptable."
(A) This choice is incorrect as it repeats the original sentence.
(B) The modifying phrase "although covered in about 11 inches of snow" at the beginning
of this sentence should be followed by the noun the modifier refers to, "the runway." Note
that in the noun phrase "the runway conditions," the word "runway" acts as an adjective
modifying the noun "conditions."
(C) This choice incorrectly uses the redundant phrase "during the time of" instead of "during."
Further, the placement of "according to aviation officials" makes it unclear whether the
officials stated that the runway was "covered in about 11 inches of snow" or that "the runway
was in acceptable condition."
(D) CORRECT. The modifying phrase "although covered in about 11 inches of snow" is
correctly followed by the noun the modifier refers to, "the runway." Additionally, the phrase
"according to aviation officials" is placed at the end of the sentence, unambiguously referring
to the main clause ("the runway was in acceptable condition").
(E) The modifying phrase "although covered in about 11 inches of snow" at the beginning
of this sentence should be followed by the noun the modifier refers to, "the runway."

2. The original sentence contains a misplaced modifier. The modifying phrase "Discouraged by new data that show increases in toxic emissions from domestic factories" is meant to modify the noun "shareholders." Therefore, "shareholders" should be placed directly after "factories." Instead, it seems that the "searches" are "Discouraged by new data," which is not logical. Additionally, the passive construction "are being conducted by" is unnecessarily wordy.
(A) This choice is incorrect as it repeats the original sentence.
(B) The modifying phrase "Discouraged by new data that show increases in toxic emissions
from domestic factories" is meant to modify the noun "shareholders." Therefore,
"shareholders" should be placed directly after "factories." Instead, it seems that the "searches"
are "Discouraged by new data," which is not logical. Also, the passive construction "are being
conducted by" is unnecessarily wordy. Finally, the placement of "who are looking for
alternative investment opportunities" after "companies" makes it seem that the "companies"
are "searching for alternative investment opportunities." According to the original sentence,
the "shareholders" are looking for these "opportunities," not the "companies."
(C) While the misplaced modifier issue is corrected by placing "shareholders" adjacent to the
modifying phrase, the past perfect form of the verb, "had begun,'' is used unnecessarily. In
fact, the use of "had begun" implies that the "shareholders" had begun searching for new
investment opportunities before the discouraging data were released. This is not the intended
meaning of the sentence. Also, "investment opportunities outside of the manufacturing
industry" is wordy when compared with "alternative investment opportunities."
(D) The placement of "the nation's leading manufacturing companies" adjacent to the
modifying phrase makes it seem that these companies are "Discouraged by new data," which
changes the meaning of the sentence. The original meaning is further compromised by
"companies are searching." The "shareholders" are searching for new opportunities, not the
companies.
(E) CORRECT. The misplaced modifier issue is corrected by placing "shareholders" adjacent
to the modifying phrase. It is clear that the "shareholders" are "searching," and not the
companies. The active voice "are searching" replaces the wordy passive construction
"searches. . . are being conducted by." Finally, the phrase "alternative investment
opportunities" is clear and concise.
3. The original sentence incorrectly separates the modifier "Found in the wild only in Australia and New Guinea" from the noun described by this modifier, "kangaroos," thus illogically suggesting that "powerful legs" rather than "kangaroos" "are found in the wild."
Modifiers should always be placed immediately next to the nouns that they describe.
(A) This answer choice is incorrect as it repeats the original sentence.
(B) The answer choice incorrectly separates the modifier "Found in the wild only in Australia
and New Guinea" from the noun described by this modifier, "kangaroos," thus illogically
suggesting that "powerful legs" rather than "kangaroos" "are found in the wild." In addition,
the construction "mammals that are large" is unnecessarily wordy; a simpler and more concise
form, "large mammals" would be preferred.
(C) The answer choice incorrectly separates the modifier "Found in the wild only in Australia
and New Guinea" from the noun described by this modifier, "kangaroos," thus illogically
suggesting that "powerful legs" rather than "kangaroos" "are found in the wild." In addition,
by introducing the relative pronoun "those" that refers to "powerful legs," this answer choice
illogically attempts to draw a comparison between "kangaroos" and "legs" of other animals,
rather than the animals themselves.
(D) CORRECT. This answer choice correctly places the appropriate noun "kangaroos"
immediately after the modifier "Found in the wild only in Australia and New Guinea." In
addition, this answer choice is clear, concise, and free of the redundancies present in other
answers.
(E) While this answer choice remedies the original problem with the modifier, it uses the
awkward and wordy verb construction "being distinguished" rather than the more concise and
direct verb "distinguished." Furthermore, the construction "mammals that are large" is
unnecessarily wordy; a simpler and more concise form "large mammals" would be preferred.
4.
The original sentence begins with a modifier "Responding to growing demand for high-end vehicles,"
but this modifier has no logical subject within the main clause. The subject of the sentence should be
the people or organizations that respond to this growing demand.
Moreover, the pronoun "they" is ambiguous, as it could grammatically refer either to the interiors or to
the models. We know that the intended antecedent of "they" is the cars, so we need to find a choice
that makes this intention clear. Finally, the modifier "that are so luxurious" should be placed
immediately after "interiors," not "models"; otherwise, an alternative phrasing without this modifier
should be found.
(A) This choice is incorrect as it repeats the original sentence.
(B) The choice repeats the original modifier error: the subject of the modifier is not present in the
sentence.
(C) This choice repeats the original pronoun error: "they" is ambiguous and could refer to either
interiors or models. Also, the modifier "that are so luxurious" is placed incorrectly.
(D) This choice repeats both the original modifier error and the original pronoun error. Also, "interior"
should be plural.
(E) CORRECT. This choice correctly introduces "auto makers" as the subject of the sentence and
also corrects the pronoun error by replacing "they" with "these cars." Note that the use of the
synonym "cars" avoids both the awkward repetition of "models" and the ambiguity of the pronoun
"they."
5.
This sentence begins with a modifier, yet leaves absent who will be applying optimization techniques
(This is termed a "dangling" modifier.) Also, the sentence is unnecessarily wordy in its use of the
phrases "ought to" and "in both the short and long terms."
(A) This choice incorrectly repeats the original sentence.
(B) CORRECT. The sentence correctly places "a company's managers" adjacent to the modifier such
that the meaning is clear, and the sentence is otherwise concise.
(C) This answer does not correct the original modifier error. It also weakens the sentence by replacing
the active voice with the passive voice in its use of "can be determined by company managers." The
sentence's concluding use of "goals, both short and long term" is awkward.
(D) This answer does not correct the original modifier error. In this choice, the phrase "may be
possible" is unnecessary and weakens the sentence. This choice also incorrectly uses the word "these,"
as the products have not been referenced earlier in the sentence.
(E) This sentence resolves the modifier issue, but incorrectly uses the word "these," as the products
have not been referenced earlier in the sentence. This choice is also wordy in its use of "ought to" and
"in both the short and long term."