The French general

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paes: Legendary Member; Posts: 995; Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:56 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 31 times

by paes » Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:15 pm

The French general Henri Petain, a highly-decorated World War I military leader, had his reputation ruined because of his collaboration with Nazis during the German Occupation in World War II

(A) The French general Henri Petain, a highly-decorated World War I military leader

(B) Henri Petain, a French general who was also a highly-decorated World War I military leader

(C) Highly-decorated World War I military leader, the French general Henri Petain

(D) The French general Henri Petain, who was a highly-decorated military leader for World War I

(E) The highly-decorated French general Henri Petain, a military leader for World War I

[spoiler]Source : Kaplan Test
OA after discussion. No one-liner please. Please explain why wrong choices are wrong. Thank[/spoiler]

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:15 pm

ankurmit: Legendary Member; Posts: 516; Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2009 6:42 amFollowed by: 1 member; Location: Mumbai; Thanked: 14 times; GMAT Score:710

by ankurmit » Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:29 pm

IMO C

--------
Ankur mittal

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uwhusky: Legendary Member; Posts: 1172; Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 6:20 pmFollowed by: 4 members; Thanked: 74 times

by uwhusky » Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:42 pm

I like A. This question is testing usage of appositive, and I believe only A used such construction correctly.

B is lacking the necessary information in the main clause and making the reader ask who Henri Petain is.

C uses Henri Petain as appositive, but he should be in the main clause.

D changes the meaning slightly by implying that World War I is a team or a side: "...military leader for WWI..."

E suffers similar error that D does.

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niksworth: Legendary Member; Posts: 520; Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:44 amFollowed by: 6 members; Thanked: 70 times

by niksworth » Wed Sep 01, 2010 10:14 pm

Excellent explanations by uwhusky. I agree with his reasons for C,D and E.

A and B only differ in that French general has been taken inside the appositive in B while, it is in the main clause in A.

My reasoning for why B is incorrect -
That Henry Petain was a highly decorated WW1 military leader is a critical piece of information in this sentence, as it was this reputation which was ruined when his collaboration with the Germans came to light.

B gives a slightly altered sense that it provides this information in a cursory manner- Henry Petain was a French General who has his reputation ruined by the revelations that he collaborated with the Germans. And oh, by the way, he was also a highly decorated world war 1 military leader.

As an aside, as a general rule, when choosing between A and any other option, which are very close and with no grammatical errors, it always advisable to go with A.

Excellent question though.

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paes: Legendary Member; Posts: 995; Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:56 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 31 times

by paes » Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:43 pm

OA is A.

uwhusky is given the right explanation.

I missed the comma on the exam and selected C

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kg: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 15; Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:49 amFollowed by: 1 member

by kg » Mon Oct 25, 2010 12:11 am

On C, I read somewhere that Appositives can come before noun as well, then how C is still wrong?

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sumit.sinha: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 82; Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2010 8:18 am; Location: India; Thanked: 5 times

by sumit.sinha » Mon Oct 25, 2010 2:22 am

Underlining the part of the sentence rather than writing with bold letters would have been better. The second "Comma" placement has become unclear, whether it is in the bolder portion or not, and thus many wrong answers from people.

Cheers,
Sumit

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gmat_perfect: Legendary Member; Posts: 1083; Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 9:38 pmFollowed by: 14 members; Thanked: 127 times

by gmat_perfect » Mon Oct 25, 2010 3:50 am

paes wrote:The French general Henri Petain, a highly-decorated World War I military leader, had his reputation ruined because of his collaboration with Nazis during the German Occupation in World War II

(A) The French general Henri Petain, a highly-decorated World War I military leader

(B) Henri Petain, a French general who was also a highly-decorated World War I military leader

(C) Highly-decorated World War I military leader, the French general Henri Petain

(D) The French general Henri Petain, who was a highly-decorated military leader for World War I

(E) The highly-decorated French general Henri Petain, a military leader for World War I

[spoiler]Source : Kaplan Test
OA after discussion. No one-liner please. Please explain why wrong choices are wrong. Thank[/spoiler]

Here is the deal:

See the skeleton of the sentence:

Subject, Appositive, Verb+Extension.

Look at the appositive part of the sentence. The appositive has been set of by comma; therefore, it has no bearing with the grammatical accuracy of the sentence.

Two rules about appositive:

1. Appositive CANNOT be subject of a verb.

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GMATMadeEasy: Legendary Member; Posts: 768; Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2009 3:46 amFollowed by: 7 members; Thanked: 21 times

by GMATMadeEasy » Mon Oct 25, 2010 5:31 am

Guys, i concur with you C is INCORRECT . Though, a few thoughts :

From uwhusky :

C uses Henri Petain as appositive, but he should be in the main clause.

Why do you see it this way ? In answer choice C , the first part can also be seen as appositive modifier describing this traiote general ? Though it is missing an article before "highly-decorated". Am i missing something ?

Answer choice C

(C) Highly-decorated World War I military leader, the French general Henri Petain

"Highly-decorated World War I military leader" can modify "the French general Henri Petain " and in that case "Henri" is still subject ? Is it wrong to see this way ?

If I rewrite answer choice C to "A Highly-decorated World War I military leader, the French general Henri Petain " , is n't it correct ?

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niksworth: Legendary Member; Posts: 520; Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:44 amFollowed by: 6 members; Thanked: 70 times

by niksworth » Mon Oct 25, 2010 5:57 am

GMATMadeEasy wrote:Guys, i concur with you C is INCORRECT . Though, a few thoughts :

Why do you see it this way ? In answer choice C , the first part can also be seen as appositive modifier describing this traiote general ? Though it is missing an article before "highly-decorated". Am i missing something ?

If the first were an appositive, we would not need a comma before had in the main clause.

scio me nihil scire

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shubhamkumar: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 72; Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 6:45 pm; Thanked: 2 times

by shubhamkumar » Thu Apr 05, 2012 12:34 pm

:arrow: This mgmat article on appositives can help further.
https://www.manhattangmat.com/articles/g ... itives.cfm

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