Based on accounts of various ancient writers, scholars have painted a sketchy picture of the activities of an all-female cult that, perhaps as early as the sixth century B.C., worshipped a goddess known in Latin as Bona Dea, “the good goddess.”
(A) Based on accounts of various ancient writers
(B) Basing it on various ancient writers’ accounts
(C) With accounts of various ancient writers used for a basis
(D) By the accounts of various ancient writers they used
(E) Using accounts of various ancient writers
The answer is "E", when I chose "A". The explanation for "A" is that "Based on accounts of various ancient writers" incorrectly modifies scholars. How so?
thanks for the help
tarak
Based on accounts of various ancient writers...
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I would like the answer to this, too. I don't see how it modifies "scholars" at all.tparekh wrote:Based on accounts of various ancient writers, scholars have painted a sketchy picture of the activities of an all-female cult that, perhaps as early as the sixth century B.C., worshipped a goddess known in Latin as Bona Dea, “the good goddess.”
(A) Based on accounts of various ancient writers
(B) Basing it on various ancient writers’ accounts
(C) With accounts of various ancient writers used for a basis
(D) By the accounts of various ancient writers they used
(E) Using accounts of various ancient writers
The answer is "E", when I chose "A". The explanation for "A" is that "Based on accounts of various ancient writers" incorrectly modifies scholars. How so?
thanks for the help
tarak
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Yes "A" is wrong here.
In fact there is a very thin yet robust difference here !
Look at below sentences..
"Based on the accounts of.." something can be done
"Using the accounts of... " They did something
So according to q the sentence could have been written as " Based on accounts of various ancient writers, a sketchy piccture was painted....
But " Using the accounts of varoius ancient writers, scholars have painted... is the correct form.
Amit
In fact there is a very thin yet robust difference here !
Look at below sentences..
"Based on the accounts of.." something can be done
"Using the accounts of... " They did something
So according to q the sentence could have been written as " Based on accounts of various ancient writers, a sketchy piccture was painted....
But " Using the accounts of varoius ancient writers, scholars have painted... is the correct form.
Amit
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Hello Friends,
I am gonna open this topic again.
I need to find a rule for my question.
While solving SC questions, I found that whenever Based on accounts
clause is used at the beginning of the sentence, the sentence is always wrong.
Can anybody provide any grammatical rules for this?
thanks
I am gonna open this topic again.
I need to find a rule for my question.
While solving SC questions, I found that whenever Based on accounts
clause is used at the beginning of the sentence, the sentence is always wrong.
Can anybody provide any grammatical rules for this?
thanks
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@Amit - thanks for the wonderful rule for "based on.." Qsamitansu wrote:Yes "A" is wrong here.
In fact there is a very thin yet robust difference here !
Look at below sentences..
"Based on the accounts of.." something can be done
"Using the accounts of... " They did something
So according to q the sentence could have been written as " Based on accounts of various ancient writers, a sketchy piccture was painted....
But " Using the accounts of varoius ancient writers, scholars have painted... is the correct form.
Amit
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i think we can derive this thin line after we know the answer is E just for logic...amitansu wrote:Yes "A" is wrong here.
In fact there is a very thin yet robust difference here !
Look at below sentences..
"Based on the accounts of.." something can be done
"Using the accounts of... " They did something
So according to q the sentence could have been written as " Based on accounts of various ancient writers, a sketchy piccture was painted....
But " Using the accounts of varoius ancient writers, scholars have painted... is the correct form.
Amit
just i still dont think it addresses the explanation provided...how it has modifier problem
and at first glance,A sounds better than E....(a trap)
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I remember this is an OG question...singalong wrote:Just dont understand why OA is E here.As pointed earlier, "Using the accounts of.." would mean that the task is already underway.Then how is it the right answer?
My technique..
Whenever there is a modifier in the beginning place WHO/WHAT before it and the answer u get will be followed by after comma...
Op A
Based on accounts of various ancient writers...WHAT BASED ON??...scholars??? seems nonsensical
Op E
Using accounts of various ancient writers ...WHO using accounts??...scholars...meaningful correct
Generally when u see -ING form as WHO and when an -ed form is there ask WHAT...this is not a general rule (or if it is i haven't studied) but i work on this technique and so far find this good
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Hey guys,
Really good thread here, and this is an example of how, when you know the GMAT and its tendencies, you can be pretty quick at these questions. Similar to what gmat740 mentioned (but not quite exactly), when I saw the title of this thread I knew exactly where it was going.
Starting the sentence with the modifier "Based on..." means that the noun that follows the comma must be something that can logically be "based on" the subject of the modifier. For example, you could say:
Based on a book by Michael Lewis, The Blind Side earned several Academy Award nominations.
Why? The movie The Blind Side was based on a book by Michael Lewis, so it's an appropriate modifier. So to gmat740's point, it's not true that "based on" to start a sentence is ALWAYS wrong...but there are only few subjects-of-sentences that can truly be "based on" something, so it's a tough standard to live up to.
Here, "Based on accounts..." cannot modify the noun "scholars". Scholars aren't based on anything...they just exist as human beings. Scholars' theories may be based on the principles first discovered by Newton or something like that, but the scholars themselves aren't based on anything.
As an even larger point of strategy, if you ever see a descriptive phrase to start a sentence, separated by a comma, there's an overwhelming likelihood that you're going to have to consider whether the modifier is logical. There are really three ways that they can do this:
________________________, fixed subject is... (you have to pick the modifier that can logically modify the fixed subject of the sentence)
Fixed modifier, _________________________ (you have to pick the subject of the sentence that can logically be modified by the fixed modifier)
___________________________,________________ (you have to select the right combination of modifier and subject)
this sentence above fits the first type - the modifier is underlined, but you're stuck with "scholars have painted...". Choice E uses a logical modifier - it's quite logical that students would use accounts of ancient writers - and it doesn't use unreferenced pronouns (like B), etc. So E is a perfect answer choice here.
Strategically, I'd get really used to looking for modifiers that begin a sentence, because often you can hit the correct answer without reading the whole sentence. I've seen this question multiple times, but I don't think I've ever gotten much pat the word "activities" or so...
Really good thread here, and this is an example of how, when you know the GMAT and its tendencies, you can be pretty quick at these questions. Similar to what gmat740 mentioned (but not quite exactly), when I saw the title of this thread I knew exactly where it was going.
Starting the sentence with the modifier "Based on..." means that the noun that follows the comma must be something that can logically be "based on" the subject of the modifier. For example, you could say:
Based on a book by Michael Lewis, The Blind Side earned several Academy Award nominations.
Why? The movie The Blind Side was based on a book by Michael Lewis, so it's an appropriate modifier. So to gmat740's point, it's not true that "based on" to start a sentence is ALWAYS wrong...but there are only few subjects-of-sentences that can truly be "based on" something, so it's a tough standard to live up to.
Here, "Based on accounts..." cannot modify the noun "scholars". Scholars aren't based on anything...they just exist as human beings. Scholars' theories may be based on the principles first discovered by Newton or something like that, but the scholars themselves aren't based on anything.
As an even larger point of strategy, if you ever see a descriptive phrase to start a sentence, separated by a comma, there's an overwhelming likelihood that you're going to have to consider whether the modifier is logical. There are really three ways that they can do this:
________________________, fixed subject is... (you have to pick the modifier that can logically modify the fixed subject of the sentence)
Fixed modifier, _________________________ (you have to pick the subject of the sentence that can logically be modified by the fixed modifier)
___________________________,________________ (you have to select the right combination of modifier and subject)
this sentence above fits the first type - the modifier is underlined, but you're stuck with "scholars have painted...". Choice E uses a logical modifier - it's quite logical that students would use accounts of ancient writers - and it doesn't use unreferenced pronouns (like B), etc. So E is a perfect answer choice here.
Strategically, I'd get really used to looking for modifiers that begin a sentence, because often you can hit the correct answer without reading the whole sentence. I've seen this question multiple times, but I don't think I've ever gotten much pat the word "activities" or so...
Brian Galvin
GMAT Instructor
Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep
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GMAT Instructor
Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep
Looking for GMAT practice questions? Try out the Veritas Prep Question Bank. Learn More.
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Brian,
Can you please let me know what's wrong with C) ?
With accounts of....., Subject...
"With ..." is a prepositional phrase and can modify subject....correct?
Can you please let me know what's wrong with C) ?
With accounts of....., Subject...
"With ..." is a prepositional phrase and can modify subject....correct?
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It is a pure modifier issue here.
When we come down to choices A and E we encounter the typical SC dilemma here- which answer is better than the other. E correctly modifies scholars. A is what we frequently use in spoken English (at least I do) and that is why it is hard to differentiate 'good' from 'bad'.
Enjoy GMAting...
When we come down to choices A and E we encounter the typical SC dilemma here- which answer is better than the other. E correctly modifies scholars. A is what we frequently use in spoken English (at least I do) and that is why it is hard to differentiate 'good' from 'bad'.
Enjoy GMAting...
"Commitment is more than just wishing for the right conditions. Commitment is working with what you have."