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BOB 4

by clammiestqasar » Fri Jun 18, 2010 2:38 pm
80. Sixty-five milion years ago, according to some scientists, an asteroid bigger than Mount Everest slammed into North America, which, causing plant and animal extinctions, marks the end of the geologic era known as the Cretaceous period.

A: ...
B: which caused the plant and animal extinctions marking
C: and causing plant and animal extinctions that mark
D: an event that caused plant and animal extinctions, and it marks
E: an event that caused the plant and animal extinctions that mark
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by missionGMAT007 » Fri Jun 18, 2010 7:56 pm
Can you please mark the underlined portion in the question?
Neither you have underlined the question nor you have provided the option A!!
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by andrey_tsi » Fri Jun 18, 2010 11:19 pm
clammiestqasar wrote:80. Sixty-five milion years ago, according to some scientists, an asteroid bigger than Mount Everest slammed into North America, which, causing plant and animal extinctions, marks the end of the geologic era known as the Cretaceous period.

A: ...
B: which caused the plant and animal extinctions marking
C: and causing plant and animal extinctions that mark
D: an event that caused plant and animal extinctions, and it marks
E: an event that caused the plant and animal extinctions that mark
My choise E
A and B - problem with "Which". it doesn't have clear antecedent
C - "and causing" is awkward and gramatically wrong
D - it is not clear what is the antecedent of "it". Is it asteroid or event or smth else?
E - correct
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by kvcpk » Fri Jun 18, 2010 11:25 pm
IMO B
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by hardik.jadeja » Fri Jun 18, 2010 11:46 pm
The answer is E. Agree with andrey_tsi.
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by kvcpk » Fri Jun 18, 2010 11:54 pm
hardik.jadeja wrote:The answer is E. Agree with andrey_tsi.
If we go with Option E, sentence looks like:

Sixty-five milion years ago, according to some scientists, an asteroid bigger than Mount Everest slammed into North America, an event that caused the plant and animal extinctions that mark the end of the geologic era known as the Cretaceous period.

Isnt "that" in the above sentence ambiguous? is it referring to "plant and animal extinctions" or "event"?
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by hardik.jadeja » Sat Jun 19, 2010 12:01 am
kvcpk wrote:
hardik.jadeja wrote:The answer is E. Agree with andrey_tsi.
If we go with Option E, sentence looks like:

Sixty-five milion years ago, according to some scientists, an asteroid bigger than Mount Everest slammed into North America, an event that caused the plant and animal extinctions that mark the end of the geologic era known as the Cretaceous period.

Isnt "that" in the above sentence ambiguous? is it referring to "plant and animal extinctions" or "event"?
Nope "that" isn't ambiguous.

E correctly indicates that the event caused the extinctions and those extinctions mark the end of the era.

A very good explanation is already available. Read this thread:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/six ... t2140.html
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by kvcpk » Sat Jun 19, 2010 12:23 am
Thanks Hardik for the link..
I have a query in Ron's explanation there..

He says that "that" without a comma will function similar to "which" following a comma, and will modify te preceding noun - "animal extinctions"..

As per the sentence, "that" should modify "event". Am I right/ wrong?
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by hardik.jadeja » Sat Jun 19, 2010 12:41 am
kvcpk wrote:Thanks Hardik for the link..
I have a query in Ron's explanation there..

He says that "that" without a comma will function similar to "which" following a comma, and will modify te preceding noun - "animal extinctions"..

As per the sentence, "that" should modify "event". Am I right/ wrong?
Yes, you are correct. The first "that" modifies "event" and the second one modifies "extinctions". Usually "that" modifies immediately preceding noun, just as "which" does. But there is an exception. If there is a prepositional phrase present between a noun and the pronoun "that", then "that" could refer to a noun that is at some distance. In such cases, it all boils down to the meaning of the sentence.

Eg:
Out of America's fascination with all things antique has grown a market for bygone styles of furniture and fixtures that is bringing back the chaise lounge, the overstuffed sofa, and the claw-footed bathtub.

Hope that helps...
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by kvcpk » Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:06 am
Got it now.. Didnt know about the exception earlier.
What is the prepositional phrase in this case?
"that caused the plant and animal extinctions " - right?
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by hardik.jadeja » Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:16 am
kvcpk wrote:Got it now.. Didnt know about the exception earlier.
What is the prepositional phrase in this case?
"that caused the plant and animal extinctions " - right?
I don't think you understood what i was trying to say. I wasn't talking about the prepositional phrase for this sentence.

Sixty-five milion years ago, according to some scientists, an asteroid bigger than Mount Everest slammed into North America, an event that caused the plant and animal extinctions that mark the end of the geologic era known as the Cretaceous period.

The exception rule doesn't apply here. The first "that" modifies "event" and the second one modifies "extinctions".

------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the following sentence. "that" refers to the noun "market", which isn't placed adjacent to "that". Observer the presence of prepositional phrase "for bygone styles of furniture and fixtures" between "that" and the noun "market".

Eg:
Out of America's fascination with all things antique has grown a market for bygone styles of furniture and fixtures that is bringing back the chaise lounge, the overstuffed sofa, and the claw-footed bathtub.

Hope your doubt is clear now..
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by kvcpk » Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:36 am
hardik.jadeja wrote: Sixty-five milion years ago, according to some scientists, an asteroid bigger than Mount Everest slammed into North America, an event that caused the plant and animal extinctions that mark the end of the geologic era known as the Cretaceous period.

The exception rule doesn't apply here. The first "that" modifies "event" and the second one modifies "extinctions".
OKie.. then coming back to my first question again..
The second "that" which is currently modifying "extinctions" should be actually modifying "event". isnt it so?

it is the "event" that marked the end of the era.. but not the "extinctions". Whay you think?
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by hardik.jadeja » Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:41 am
kvcpk wrote:
hardik.jadeja wrote: Sixty-five milion years ago, according to some scientists, an asteroid bigger than Mount Everest slammed into North America, an event that caused the plant and animal extinctions that mark the end of the geologic era known as the Cretaceous period.

The exception rule doesn't apply here. The first "that" modifies "event" and the second one modifies "extinctions".
OKie.. then coming back to my first question again..
The second "that" which is currently modifying "extinctions" should be actually modifying "event". isnt it so?

it is the "event" that marked the end of the era.. but not the "extinctions". Whay you think?
No. The sentence means that the event caused the extinctions and those extinctions mark the end of the era.
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by kvcpk » Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:53 am
hardik.jadeja wrote:
kvcpk wrote:
hardik.jadeja wrote: Sixty-five milion years ago, according to some scientists, an asteroid bigger than Mount Everest slammed into North America, an event that caused the plant and animal extinctions that mark the end of the geologic era known as the Cretaceous period.

The exception rule doesn't apply here. The first "that" modifies "event" and the second one modifies "extinctions".
OKie.. then coming back to my first question again..
The second "that" which is currently modifying "extinctions" should be actually modifying "event". isnt it so?

it is the "event" that marked the end of the era.. but not the "extinctions". Whay you think?
No. The sentence means that the event caused the extinctions and those extinctions mark the end of the era.
Yeah.. I see what you are saying.. But still there is a little ambiguty on "that". It could mean both ways..
In the original sentence we dont have "that".. so we do not exactly know if it is the extinctions or the event that caused the end of the era.

I am not fully convinced that "that" should refer to "extinctions". Anyways.. thanks for trying to help me out!!
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by hardik.jadeja » Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:59 am
kvcpk wrote: Yeah.. I see what you are saying.. But still there is a little ambiguty on "that". It could mean both ways..
In the original sentence we dont have "that".. so we do not exactly know if it is the extinctions or the event that caused the end of the era.

I am not fully convinced that "that" should refer to "extinctions". Anyways.. thanks for trying to help me out!!
No dude, It cannot mean both ways. Read the sentence carefully. Have you looked at the verb following the second "that"? Its a plural verb "mark", not a singular verb "marks". So the verb "mark" could be associated with only the plural noun "extinctions", and not with the singular noun "an event".
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