Surprise ..Till date no1 has discussed this..though this has been discussed on other forums..
Ron/Stacey... inviting ur comments on this please !!
A Phytoestrogen, a substance derived from the plant Cimicifuga racemosa, which has proved useful in treating some symptoms of menopause, is also sometimes used to treat other disorders like sore throats and kidney problems.
A. Phytoestrogen, a substance derived from the plant Cimicifuga racemosa, which has proved useful in treating some symptoms of menopause,
B. A Cimicifuga racemosa derivative, phytoestrogen, has proved useful in treating some symptoms of menopause,
C. The plant Cimicifuga racemosa has a derivative, phytoestrogen, which has proved useful in treating some symptoms of menopause
D. The plant Cimicifuga racemosa, a derivative of which has proved useful in treating some menopausal symptoms, occasionally
E. A substance derived from the plant Cimicifuga racemosa, also known as phytoestrogen, has proved useful in treating some symptoms of menopause,
Source 800 Score tests Verbal 1 test
OA : A
I chose B,
Query :
Why A ? Wont which refer to Cimicifuga racemosa
@ Manhattan site forum
Ron says that here's a big tip:
ALWAYS CUT OUT MODIFIERS TO DETECT THE UNDERLYING STRUCTURE OF A SENTENCE.
if you eliminate the same modifier in (a), you get
Phytoestrogen, a substance derived from the plant Cimicifuga racemosa, is also sometimes used...
this is ok.
BUT then how and when will one test "WHICH" effects in a sentence.. though A is right .. wont which refer to racemosa ??
I fail to understand this,,
5-Day Free Trial
5-day free, full-access trial TTP
Available with Beat the GMAT members only code
MORE DETAILS
A Phytoestrogen Ron/Stacey inviting ur comments
This topic has expert replies
-
capnx
- Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
- Posts: 268
- Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2009 9:22 am
- Thanked: 19 times
- Followed by:1 members
- GMAT Score:700
main sentence: Phytoestrogen... is also sometimes used to treat other disorders like sore throats and kidney problems.
with B: you have a run on sentence:
phytoestrogen, has proved useful... is also sometimes used...
A is the only one that is grammatically correct.
if I remember correctly, Stacey posted some where that "which" does not always modify the noun immediately precedes it when the sentence is non-restrictive (separated by a comma). (sorry, can't remember/find the post for this)
with B: you have a run on sentence:
phytoestrogen, has proved useful... is also sometimes used...
A is the only one that is grammatically correct.
if I remember correctly, Stacey posted some where that "which" does not always modify the noun immediately precedes it when the sentence is non-restrictive (separated by a comma). (sorry, can't remember/find the post for this)
-
pandeyvineet24
- Legendary Member
- Posts: 527
- Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2008 9:14 am
- Location: Atlanta
- Thanked: 17 times
I am not convinced with the OA.
A is not very clear, what is used to treat the symptoms Phytoestrogen or Cimicifuga Racemosa ?
mmslf75, please let us know the OE.
A is not very clear, what is used to treat the symptoms Phytoestrogen or Cimicifuga Racemosa ?
mmslf75, please let us know the OE.
-
mmslf75
- Legendary Member
- Posts: 503
- Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2009 9:53 pm
- Thanked: 31 times
- Followed by:2 members
pandeyvineet24 wrote:I am not convinced with the OA.
A is not very clear, what is used to treat the symptoms Phytoestrogen or Cimicifuga Racemosa ?
mmslf75, please let us know the OE.
OA is A vineet
GMAT/MBA Expert
-
Stacey Koprince
- GMAT Instructor
- Posts: 2228
- Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:28 pm
- Location: Montreal, Canada
- Thanked: 639 times
- Followed by:694 members
- GMAT Score:780
received a PM asking me to reply.
In my opinion, not GMAT-like and I wouldn't study it. If you had to pick an answer, yes, you'd pick A. But I don't think you'd see this on the real GMAT anyway.
Yes, A is technically saying that the plant has proved useful in treating some symptoms of menopause, not necessarily the specific substance derived from the plant.
It is okay, sometimes, for the ", which" to refer to a main noun that is not right before the comma, but then the stuff right before the comma has to be some necessary extension to the main noun. That can be a bit of a judgment call, but I don't think the real GMAT, in this case, would agree that the ", which" modifier is referring to the substance.
Eg:
The girl named Sue, who had red hair...
The box of nails, which was on the counter...
"named Sue" is naming the girl - that's one type of necessary extension.
"of nails" is telling us the "type" of box - that's another type of necessary extension. And how else could you include that info? The nail box? No.
The fact that the substance was derived from some plant? That's not a necessary extension. And I could easily reword the sentence in several different ways to avoid the set-up given in A while still conveying this info.
Oh - also, the non-underlined portion uses the word "like" instead of the phrase "such as" to introduce two examples. I don't need to tell you that's definitely not GMAT-like right?
In my opinion, not GMAT-like and I wouldn't study it. If you had to pick an answer, yes, you'd pick A. But I don't think you'd see this on the real GMAT anyway.
Yes, A is technically saying that the plant has proved useful in treating some symptoms of menopause, not necessarily the specific substance derived from the plant.
It is okay, sometimes, for the ", which" to refer to a main noun that is not right before the comma, but then the stuff right before the comma has to be some necessary extension to the main noun. That can be a bit of a judgment call, but I don't think the real GMAT, in this case, would agree that the ", which" modifier is referring to the substance.
Eg:
The girl named Sue, who had red hair...
The box of nails, which was on the counter...
"named Sue" is naming the girl - that's one type of necessary extension.
"of nails" is telling us the "type" of box - that's another type of necessary extension. And how else could you include that info? The nail box? No.
The fact that the substance was derived from some plant? That's not a necessary extension. And I could easily reword the sentence in several different ways to avoid the set-up given in A while still conveying this info.
Oh - also, the non-underlined portion uses the word "like" instead of the phrase "such as" to introduce two examples. I don't need to tell you that's definitely not GMAT-like right?
Please note: I do not use the Private Messaging system! I will not see any PMs that you send to me!!
Stacey Koprince
GMAT Instructor
Director of Online Community
Manhattan GMAT
Contributor to Beat The GMAT!
Learn more about me
Stacey Koprince
GMAT Instructor
Director of Online Community
Manhattan GMAT
Contributor to Beat The GMAT!
Learn more about me
