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1000 SC #6

by mundasingh123 » Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:37 am
6. A fire in an enclosed space burns with the aid of reflected radiation that preheats the fuel, making ignition much easier and flames spreading more quickly.
(A) flames spreading
(B) flame spreads
(C) flames are caused to spread
(D) causing flames to spread
(E) causing spreading of the flames

I chose E because because it is parallel to "making ignition much easier"

-ing word + noun =making ignition=causing spreading spreading of the flames .
But the OA is D
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by outreach » Thu Aug 19, 2010 12:35 pm
D and E are the closest
'more quickly' modifies 'spread' ..hence D is correct
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by beatthegmatinsept » Thu Aug 19, 2010 12:38 pm
D too. Causing || to making, and correctly placed modifer. E looks too wordy when its not reqd to be.
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by gmat_perfect » Thu Aug 19, 2010 1:16 pm
mundasingh123 wrote:6. A fire in an enclosed space burns with the aid of reflected radiation that preheats the fuel, making ignition much easier and flames spreading more quickly.
(A) flames spreading
(B) flame spreads
(C) flames are caused to spread
(D) causing flames to spread
(E) causing spreading of the flames

I chose E because because it is parallel to "making ignition much easier"

-ing word + noun =making ignition=causing spreading spreading of the flames .
But the OA is D
Outreach has got the point.

I am just going to explain in detail.

See some examples:

He plays with good football.

He plays football well.

--> these two sentences are not same. In the first sentence good is an adjective, and it modifies football. Well is an adverb, and it modifies play.

Again:

We wanted him to play quickly.

"to play" has been modified by "quickly".

Now, come to E.

Causing spreading of the flames quickly.

Spreading of the flames---NOUN phrase.

Noun can not be modified by an adverb.

Again:

Causing spreading--is NOT good to me.

So, E has at least three errors:

1. Dangling modifier.
2. Wordy.
3. Causing spreading--is JUST choppy.

Thanks.
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by GMATGuruNY » Thu Aug 19, 2010 3:38 pm
mundasingh123 wrote:6. A fire in an enclosed space burns with the aid of reflected radiation that preheats the fuel, making ignition much easier and flames spreading more quickly.
(A) flames spreading
(B) flame spreads
(C) flames are caused to spread
(D) causing flames to spread
(E) causing spreading of the flames

I chose E because because it is parallel to "making ignition much easier"

-ing word + noun =making ignition=causing spreading spreading of the flames .
But the OA is D
Quickest approach:

In A, B and C, making is not parallel with flames. Eliminate A, B and C.

In E, it is unclear what quickly (adverb) is modifying: quickly seems to be modifying causing, but the intended meaning of the sentence is that the flames spread quickly. Eliminate E.

The correct answer is D.

Other reasons to pick D over E:

1) cause X to Y is more idiomatic than cause X of Y

Good: The sun causes flowers to grow.
Not as good: The sun causes the growing of flowers.

2) D is more concise. If two answer choices each seem ok, but one is shorter, choose the shorter answer choice. It's more likely to be correct.
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by paes » Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:20 pm
Dear Guru,

Somehow I am finding difficulty to eliminate A.

I am taking A as :

A fire......fuel, making X and Y.

X = ignition <much easier>
Y = flames <spreading more quickly>

both X and Y are looking parallel.

Please explain what's wrong here.
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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Aug 20, 2010 4:01 am
paes wrote:Dear Guru,

Somehow I am finding difficulty to eliminate A.

I am taking A as :

A fire......fuel, making X and Y.

X = ignition <much easier>
Y = flames <spreading more quickly>

both X and Y are looking parallel.

Please explain what's wrong here.
When make is used to indicate the causing of another action, the correct construction is:

make X Y (X=noun, Y=infinitive form of the verb without the word to).

Mary makes John eat vegetables every day. (X=John, Y=to eat without the word to)

In A, the sentence would have to read:

...making flames spread more quickly. (X=flames, Y=to spread without the word to).

Two other verbs that employ this same construction are let and have.

Mary lets John eat vegetables every day. (X=John, Y=to eat without the word to)
Mary has John eat vegetables every day. (X=John, Y=to eat without the word to)

Hope this helps!
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by paes » Fri Aug 20, 2010 4:25 am
Fantastic explanation Sir.

So, following would have been a correct choice :

A fire in an enclosed space burns with the aid of reflected radiation that preheats the fuel, making ignition much easier and flames spread more quickly.

[ making ignition much easier -> looking susceptible ]

Please correct, if I am wrong.
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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Aug 20, 2010 7:49 am
paes wrote:Fantastic explanation Sir.

So, following would have been a correct choice :

A fire in an enclosed space burns with the aid of reflected radiation that preheats the fuel, making ignition much easier and flames spread more quickly.

[ making ignition much easier -> looking susceptible ]

Please correct, if I am wrong.
The phrase making flames spread more quickly is idiomatically correct, but flames spread more quickly (noun - verb - adverb) is not sufficiently parallel with ignition much easier (noun - adverb - adjective), so the sentence above would not be correct.

The following construction would be sufficiently parallel:

...making the fire start more easily (noun - verb - adverb) and the flames spread more quickly (noun - verb - adverb).
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