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Army cutworm!

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by gmat_perfect » Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:10 am
The army cutworm moth is a critical source of fat for as many as a third of Yellowstone National Park's grizzly bears; they overturn rocks to find them, as many as 40,000 per bear in a single day.

(A) bears; they overturn rocks to find them, as many as
(B) bears; overturning rocks to find the insects, up to
(C) bears, overturning rocks to find them, as many as
(D) bears, and they overturn rocks to find them, up to
(E) bears, which overturn rocks to find the insects, as many as


Some thoughts:
1. A pronoun MUST refer to the NOUN of the previous clause that is:
i) Grammatically parallel.
ii) Parallel in number

=> Look at the options A and D. The pronoun 'they' has no clear reference. Logically and grammatically 'they' should refer to 'army cutworm moth', which is the subject of the previous clause. But the 'army cutworm moth' is singular, and they is plural. So, A and D are out.

2. COMMA + VerbING' is the acceptable form in GMAT.

=> In the option B, semicolon + VerbING' has been used. So, B is out.

Now, I am between C and E. Could any one explain why the choice C is wrong?

Thanks.
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by Haaress » Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:59 am
Yellowstone National Park's grizzly bears; they overturn rocks to find them, as many as 40,000 per bear in a single day.

(A) bears; they overturn rocks to find them, as many as
(B) bears; overturning rocks to find the insects, up to
(C) bears, overturning rocks to find them, as many as
(D) bears, and they overturn rocks to find them, up to
(E) bears, which overturn rocks to find the insects, as many as

A, C, and D are out because "them" seems to incorrectly refer back to the Army of insects. "They", however, correctly refers to the Yellowstone Bears.

Between B and E.. B changes the meaning by using up to , so out too.

E is the winner.
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by uwhusky » Mon Jul 19, 2010 10:34 am
gmat_perfect wrote: Now, I am between C and E. Could any one explain why the choice C is wrong?

Thanks.
comma + verb in -ing form is always an adverbial modifier, thus it cannot be used to modify bears.
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by reply2spg » Mon Jul 19, 2010 10:49 am
Dear Perfect,

Thanks for posting good questions on the forum.

How I analyzed this question. A,C and D are out in first glance. About B, I don't understand why are you going into rules and making simple problem little complicated? See the semi colon. Part, that is before and after semicolon must stand alone. In B after semicolon part does not stand alone, so rule out B

Answer is E
gmat_perfect wrote:The army cutworm moth is a critical source of fat for as many as a third of Yellowstone National Park's grizzly bears; they overturn rocks to find them, as many as 40,000 per bear in a single day.

(A) bears; they overturn rocks to find them, as many as
(B) bears; overturning rocks to find the insects, up to
(C) bears, overturning rocks to find them, as many as
(D) bears, and they overturn rocks to find them, up to
(E) bears, which overturn rocks to find the insects, as many as


Some thoughts:
1. A pronoun MUST refer to the NOUN of the previous clause that is:
i) Grammatically parallel.
ii) Parallel in number

=> Look at the options A and D. The pronoun 'they' has no clear reference. Logically and grammatically 'they' should refer to 'army cutworm moth', which is the subject of the previous clause. But the 'army cutworm moth' is singular, and they is plural. So, A and D are out.

2. COMMA + VerbING' is the acceptable form in GMAT.

=> In the option B, semicolon + VerbING' has been used. So, B is out.

Now, I am between C and E. Could any one explain why the choice C is wrong?

Thanks.
Sudhanshu
(have lot of things to learn from all of you)
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by aloneontheedge » Mon Jul 19, 2010 10:56 am
gmat_perfect wrote:The army cutworm moth is a critical source of fat for as many as a third of Yellowstone National Park's grizzly bears; they overturn rocks to find them, as many as 40,000 per bear in a single day.

(A) bears; they overturn rocks to find them, as many as
(B) bears; overturning rocks to find the insects, up to
(C) bears, overturning rocks to find them, as many as
(D) bears, and they overturn rocks to find them, up to
(E) bears, which overturn rocks to find the insects, as many as


Some thoughts:
1. A pronoun MUST refer to the NOUN of the previous clause that is:
i) Grammatically parallel.
ii) Parallel in number

=> Look at the options A and D. The pronoun 'they' has no clear reference. Logically and grammatically 'they' should refer to 'army cutworm moth', which is the subject of the previous clause. But the 'army cutworm moth' is singular, and they is plural. So, A and D are out.

2. COMMA + VerbING' is the acceptable form in GMAT.

=> In the option B, semicolon + VerbING' has been used. So, B is out.

Now, I am between C and E. Could any one explain why the choice C is wrong?

Thanks.
C is connecting 2 clauses with a comma and is considered run on. You need a conjuction Hence E
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by uwhusky » Mon Jul 19, 2010 11:11 am
aloneontheedge wrote: C is connecting 2 clauses with a comma and is considered run on. You need a conjuction Hence E
That's not actually what is being demonstrated here. C incorrectly uses an adverbial modifier instead of a noun modifier, and thus C is incorrect.

The clause "overturning rocks to find them" cannot be a sentence on its own because it does not contain a subject nor a working verb.
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by ansh.kumar » Mon Jul 19, 2010 11:23 am
hei, E is correct
C says 'overturning rocks to find them= {who is overturning rocks}, ing modifier refers back to the subject of the previous clause= the moth======= hence wrong
ALSO := "them" is ambiguous .
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by gmat_perfect » Mon Jul 19, 2010 11:33 am
reply2spg wrote:Dear Perfect,

Thanks for posting good questions on the forum.

How I analyzed this question. A,C and D are out in first glance. About B, I don't understand why are you going into rules and making simple problem little complicated? See the semi colon. Part, that is before and after semicolon must stand alone. In B after semicolon part does not stand alone, so rule out B

Answer is E
gmat_perfect wrote:The army cutworm moth is a critical source of fat for as many as a third of Yellowstone National Park's grizzly bears; they overturn rocks to find them, as many as 40,000 per bear in a single day.

(A) bears; they overturn rocks to find them, as many as
(B) bears; overturning rocks to find the insects, up to
(C) bears, overturning rocks to find them, as many as
(D) bears, and they overturn rocks to find them, up to
(E) bears, which overturn rocks to find the insects, as many as


Some thoughts:
1. A pronoun MUST refer to the NOUN of the previous clause that is:
i) Grammatically parallel.
ii) Parallel in number

=> Look at the options A and D. The pronoun 'they' has no clear reference. Logically and grammatically 'they' should refer to 'army cutworm moth', which is the subject of the previous clause. But the 'army cutworm moth' is singular, and they is plural. So, A and D are out.

2. COMMA + VerbING' is the acceptable form in GMAT.

=> In the option B, semicolon + VerbING' has been used. So, B is out.

Now, I am between C and E. Could any one explain why the choice C is wrong?

Thanks.

In B after semicolon part does not stand alone, so rule out B

=> This is good point. I overlooked it.

There is a saying, "Two head is better than one".

Thanks. keep it up.
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by gmat_perfect » Mon Jul 19, 2010 11:43 am
aloneontheedge wrote:
gmat_perfect wrote:The army cutworm moth is a critical source of fat for as many as a third of Yellowstone National Park's grizzly bears; they overturn rocks to find them, as many as 40,000 per bear in a single day.

(A) bears; they overturn rocks to find them, as many as
(B) bears; overturning rocks to find the insects, up to
(C) bears, overturning rocks to find them, as many as
(D) bears, and they overturn rocks to find them, up to
(E) bears, which overturn rocks to find the insects, as many as


Some thoughts:
1. A pronoun MUST refer to the NOUN of the previous clause that is:
i) Grammatically parallel.
ii) Parallel in number

=> Look at the options A and D. The pronoun 'they' has no clear reference. Logically and grammatically 'they' should refer to 'army cutworm moth', which is the subject of the previous clause. But the 'army cutworm moth' is singular, and they is plural. So, A and D are out.

2. COMMA + VerbING' is the acceptable form in GMAT.

=> In the option B, semicolon + VerbING' has been used. So, B is out.

Now, I am between C and E. Could any one explain why the choice C is wrong?

Thanks.
C is connecting 2 clauses with a comma and is considered run on. You need a conjuction Hence E

The option C does not have clause in both parts before and after comma.

In the second part, after comma, there is no finite verb, which is the prime condition of a clause.

Thanks for response.
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by gmatmachoman » Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:16 pm
My 2 cents :

In C "them" is used whioch lacks a plural antecedent. Moth is singular. So "them" is wrong

E corrects the mistake by using "insects".
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