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Flies

by GmatKiss » Sun Oct 02, 2011 11:16 am
Hydrocarbons, with which flies perfume themselves in species specific blends, are known to be important in courtship,and apparently this assists flies that taste the hydrocarbons on prospective mates to distinguish their own species from that of others.

A) and apparently this assists flies that taste the hydrocarbons on prospective mates to distinguish their own species from that of
B) and apparently this assists flies when they taste the hydrocarbons on prospective mates in distinguishing their own species from those of
C) which apparently assists flies that taste the hydrocarbons on prospective mates in being able to distinguish their own species from
D) apparently assisting flies to taste the hydrocarbons on prospective mates to distinguish their own species from those of
E) apparently assisting flies that taste the hydrocarbons on prospective mates in distinguishing their own species from

OA after discussion
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by 786 » Mon Oct 03, 2011 2:27 am
A) and apparently this assists flies that taste the hydrocarbons on prospective mates to distinguish their own species from that of
B) and apparently this assists flies when they taste the hydrocarbons on prospective mates in distinguishing their own species from those of
C) which apparently assists flies that taste the hydrocarbons on prospective mates in being able to distinguish their own species from which refers to courtship
D) apparently assisting flies to taste the hydrocarbons on prospective mates to distinguish their own species from those of
E) apparently assisting flies that taste the hydrocarbons on prospective mates in distinguishing their own species from

Those is incorrect in D .
I think from that of others would have been okay . Or just from others is fine as in E.

'assisting flies to taste hydrocarbons' changes meaning in D.

IMO E
Last edited by 786 on Mon Oct 03, 2011 2:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by Ilana@EconomistGMAT » Mon Oct 03, 2011 2:28 am
B is incorrect because 'species' is singular, and so the pronoun "those of" does not agree with the antecedent.

C is incorrect, because the relative clause "which apparently assists..." is incorrectly placed after "courtship", creating an illogical sentence. The courtship does not assist - what assists is the tasting of hydrocarbons.

D is chiefly incorrect for the same reason as B - "those". Also, it is similar to C in its use of a misplaced modifier (apparently assisting - is adjacent to "courtship). In addition, D changes the intended meaning of the original sentence, by changing "assists flies that taste" to "assisting flied to taste".

E is incorrect, again because of the placement of the modifier "assisting".
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by sl750 » Mon Oct 03, 2011 2:47 am
In A, how is this comparison correct

"distinguish their own species from that of others". Isn't that a singular pronoun. Shouldn't it be those?
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by DevitaN » Mon Oct 03, 2011 12:12 pm
I would go with E.
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by phoenix111 » Mon Oct 03, 2011 12:50 pm
sl750 wrote:In A, how is this comparison correct

"distinguish their own species from that of others". Isn't that a singular pronoun. Shouldn't it be those?
species is a sigular noun, I guess thats why.
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by cyrwr1 » Mon Oct 03, 2011 1:38 pm
You cannot have that of Species(like people). there isn't a subset of species.

You wouldn't want to say: distinguish their own people from that of other people?!?!?
just distinguish their own people from others.

WIth that, you have just C and E and C doesn't work with the sentence leaving, E.
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by vishal.pathak » Mon Dec 05, 2011 1:12 pm
Ilana@MasterGMAT wrote:B is incorrect because 'species' is singular, and so the pronoun "those of" does not agree with the antecedent.

C is incorrect, because the relative clause "which apparently assists..." is incorrectly placed after "courtship", creating an illogical sentence. The courtship does not assist - what assists is the tasting of hydrocarbons.

D is chiefly incorrect for the same reason as B - "those". Also, it is similar to C in its use of a misplaced modifier (apparently assisting - is adjacent to "courtship). In addition, D changes the intended meaning of the original sentence, by changing "assists flies that taste" to "assisting flied to taste".

E is incorrect, again because of the placement of the modifier "assisting".
What does "this" refer to, in option A?

Regards,
Vishal
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by EducationAisle » Mon Dec 05, 2011 10:32 pm
vishal.pathak wrote: What does "this" refer to, in option A?
Yes, the usage of this is an issue with A, since it is not clear what this refers to. How can the fact that Hydrocarbons are known to be important in courtship assist flies in any way? Also, that does not have any antecedent.

Basically the comparison is between a species ("flies") with others (other species). So, "that of others" or "those of others" is not a correct construct, because "flies" are just one species. We cannot have species of flies Vs species of other flies.
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by tuanquang269 » Tue Dec 06, 2011 6:57 am
In choice A, "apparently" modifies imprecisely. "Species" in this case is plural form, not singular.

IMO choice E is correct.
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by tuanquang269 » Tue Dec 06, 2011 7:02 am
tuanquang269 wrote:In choice A, "apparently" modifies imprecisely. "Species" in this case is plural form, not singular.

IMO choice E is correct.

In choice D, "from those of" is incorrect because the intention of "others" in non-underlined part. So, "others" = "other species". Furthermore, the meaning of choice D, Hydrocarbon ...assisting flies to taste the hydrocarbons. This is very very stupid thing I have ever faced in the world :P.
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