The BEST Sentence Correction question.

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The BEST Sentence Correction question.

by magnus opus » Thu Sep 16, 2010 11:41 am
the correct choice can have two interpretations, so why is not an ambiguous answer, and consequently the wrong one?

There is no consensus on what role. if any, is played by acid rain in slowing the growth or damaging forests
in the eastern United States.
(A) slowing the growth or damaging
(B) the damage or the slowing of the growth of
(C) the damage to or the slowness of the growth of
(D) damaged or slowed growth of
(E) damaging or slowing the growth of

OA is E.

However, it can have two interpretations when the compund subject is broken down

1.There is no consensus on what role, if any, is played by acid rain in damaging forests in the eastern United States.

the other,if the break point is put before "the growth of...."
2.There is no consensus on what role,if any, is played by acid rain in damaging the growth of forests in the eastern United States.

which is clearly illogical as growth is not tangible so it cant be damaged-though it can be hampered but thats not relevant here.

Nevertheless the sentence can have two interpretations, so why is not an ambiguous answer, and consequently the wrong one?
Last edited by magnus opus on Fri Oct 08, 2010 10:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
Source: — Sentence Correction |

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by GMAT Hacker » Thu Sep 23, 2010 5:16 am
magnus opus wrote:the correct choice can have two interpretations, so why is not an ambiguous answer, and consequently the wrong one?
[/b]

There is no consensus on what role. if any, is played by acid rain in slowing the growth or damaging forests
in the eastern United States.
(A) slowing the growth or damaging
(B) the damage or the slowing of the growth of
(C) the damage to or the slowness of the growth of
(D) damaged or slowed growth of
(E) damaging or slowing the growth of

OA is E.

However, it can have two interpretations when the compund subject is broken down

1.There is no consensus on what role, if any, is played by acid rain in damaging forests in the eastern United States.

the other,if the break point is put before "the growth of...."
2.There is no consensus on what role,if any, is played by acid rain in damaging the growth of forests in the eastern United States.

which is clearly illogical as growth is not tangible so it cant be damaged-though it can be hampered but thats not relevant here.

Nevertheless the sentence can have two interpretations, so why is not an ambiguous answer, and consequently the wrong one?




I think you have habit of underlining everything. Please underline parts actually underlined in question. Also use spoiler while posting QA.

Hope you understood.

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by reply2spg » Thu Sep 23, 2010 6:08 am
Underline only the part which is necessary.
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by gmatrix » Thu Sep 23, 2010 6:19 am
hmmm.........The BEST Sentence Correction question.....how about underlining it correctly though

here is the correct version.........
There is no consensus on what role, if any, is played by acid rain in slowing the growth or damaging forests in the eastern United States.


(A) slowing the growth or damaging
(B) the damage or the slowing of the growth of
(C) the damage to or the slowness of the growth of
(D) damaged or slowed growth of
(E) damaging or slowing the growth of
Life is all about ass; you're either covering it, laughing it off, kicking it, kissing it, busting it, trying to get a piece of it, or behaving like one.

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