Sentence Correction

Having the crack Phoenician fleet being decimated by the much smaller Greek fleet in the straits of Salamis, the Persian king Xerxes, whose initial arrogance quickly changed to horror, fled back to Asia and left his remaining troops under the generalship of his brother-in-law, Mardonius.

A.Having the crack Phoenician fleet being decimated by the much smaller Greek fleet in the straits of Salamis
B.In view of his crack Phoenician fleet had been decimated by the much smaller Greek fleet in the straits of Salamis
C.Because of there having been a much smaller Greek fleet in the straits of Salamis that decimated his crack Phoenician fleet
D.Seeing as the crack Phoenician fleet having been decimated by the much smaller Greek fleet in the straits of Salamis
E.His crack Phoenician fleet decimated by the much smaller Greek fleet in the straits of Salamis

Source :_ Other forums
OA :- Everywhere it is said to be E.

I think E is not correct because of the following reasons:-

a. Its an Appositive with a Noun His ....Fleet with a noun modeifier ( decimated by ....... salamis ). An appostive refers to the same thing after or before comma. Here Fleet can not be the Persion king.

b. It breaks the way other choices present reasonign in the Subordinate clause.

Though D is wordy and awkward but i think it is the most feasible answer.

Please provide detailed Explanations

shekhar.kataria wrote:Having the crack Phoenician fleet being decimated by the much smaller Greek fleet in the straits of Salamis, the Persian king Xerxes, whose initial arrogance quickly changed to horror, fled back to Asia and left his remaining troops under the generalship of his brother-in-law, Mardonius.

A.Having the crack Phoenician fleet being decimated by the much smaller Greek fleet in the straits of Salamis
B.In view of his crack Phoenician fleet had been decimated by the much smaller Greek fleet in the straits of Salamis
C.Because of there having been a much smaller Greek fleet in the straits of Salamis that decimated his crack Phoenician fleet
D.Seeing as the crack Phoenician fleet having been decimated by the much smaller Greek fleet in the straits of Salamis
E.His crack Phoenician fleet decimated by the much smaller Greek fleet in the straits of Salamis

Source :_ Other forums
OA :- Everywhere it is said to be E.

I think E is not correct because of the following reasons:-

a. Its an Appositive with a Noun His ....Fleet with a noun modeifier ( decimated by ....... salamis ). An appostive refers to the same thing after or before comma. Here Fleet can not be the Persion king.

b. It breaks the way other choices present reasonign in the Subordinate clause.

Though D is wordy and awkward but i think it is the most feasible answer.

Please provide detailed Explanations

The introductory modifier in the OA is an ABSOLUTE PHRASE. Check my post here:

https://www.beatthegmat.com/modifier-mis ... 37-15.html

Thanks Mitch.

SO a Noun phrase can act as either an appositive or an absolute phrase depending on the context of the sentence.

GMATGuruNY wrote:

shekhar.kataria wrote:Having the crack Phoenician fleet being decimated by the much smaller Greek fleet in the straits of Salamis, the Persian king Xerxes, whose initial arrogance quickly changed to horror, fled back to Asia and left his remaining troops under the generalship of his brother-in-law, Mardonius.

A.Having the crack Phoenician fleet being decimated by the much smaller Greek fleet in the straits of Salamis
B.In view of his crack Phoenician fleet had been decimated by the much smaller Greek fleet in the straits of Salamis
C.Because of there having been a much smaller Greek fleet in the straits of Salamis that decimated his crack Phoenician fleet
D.Seeing as the crack Phoenician fleet having been decimated by the much smaller Greek fleet in the straits of Salamis
E.His crack Phoenician fleet decimated by the much smaller Greek fleet in the straits of Salamis

Source :_ Other forums
OA :- Everywhere it is said to be E.

I think E is not correct because of the following reasons:-

a. Its an Appositive with a Noun His ....Fleet with a noun modeifier ( decimated by ....... salamis ). An appostive refers to the same thing after or before comma. Here Fleet can not be the Persion king.

b. It breaks the way other choices present reasonign in the Subordinate clause.

Though D is wordy and awkward but i think it is the most feasible answer.

Please provide detailed Explanations

The introductory modifier in the OA is an ABSOLUTE PHRASE. Check my post here:

https://www.beatthegmat.com/modifier-mis ... 37-15.html

shekhar.kataria wrote:Thanks Mitch.

SO a Noun phrase can act as either an appositive or an absolute phrase depending on the context of the sentence.

Correct. For an example of an absolute phrase in the OG12, check my post here:

https://www.beatthegmat.com/need-expert- ... 16255.html