Electronics company: Quesion on choice E

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vittalgmat: Legendary Member; Posts: 621; Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:13 pmFollowed by: 4 members; Thanked: 33 times

by vittalgmat » Sun Oct 25, 2009 11:37 am

The electronics company has unveiled what it claims to be the world's smallest network digital camcorder, the length of which is that of a handheld computer, and it weighs less than 11 ounces.

A. to be the world's smallest network digital camcorder, the length of which is that of a handheld computer, and it weighs
B. to be the smallest network digital camcorder in the world, which is as long as a handheld computer, weighing
C. is the smallest network digital camcorder in the world, which is as long as a handheld computer, and it weighs
D. is the world's smallest network digital camcorder, which is as long as a handheld computer and weighs
E. is the world's smallest network digital camcorder, the length of which is that of a handheld computer, weighing

In the sentence above, I have a question on choice E.
Which clause does weighing modify?
'That of a handheld computer" ie
'length of a handheld computer' ?

Ron, Stuart, Stewart?

thanks a lot

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sun Oct 25, 2009 11:37 am

NikolayZ: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 124; Joined: Thu Jun 18, 2009 5:33 am; Thanked: 35 times

by NikolayZ » Sun Oct 25, 2009 1:05 pm

Hey mate, I am not an expert but i'll try to answer your questions.
First of all, i believe that the right answer is D.
A,B - Claim to be - is incorrect
C - pronoun "it" has two possible antecedents.
E - weighing is the present participle and can not modify a noun. Moreover it is unclear what exactly "weighing" modifies - length, computer or camcorder.

D - has parallel and clear structure and meaning. Camcorder IS the longest ... and weighs....

2) That of a handheld computer really means length of the handheld computer.

Hope it helped.

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vittalgmat: Legendary Member; Posts: 621; Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:13 pmFollowed by: 4 members; Thanked: 33 times

by vittalgmat » Sun Oct 25, 2009 2:03 pm

NikolayZ wrote:Hey mate, I am not an expert but i'll try to answer your questions.
First of all, i believe that the right answer is D.
A,B - Claim to be - is incorrect
C - pronoun "it" has two possible antecedents.
E - weighing is the present participle and can not modify a noun. Moreover it is unclear what exactly "weighing" modifies - length, computer or camcorder.

D - has parallel and clear structure and meaning. Camcorder IS the longest ... and weighs....

2) That of a handheld computer really means length of the handheld computer.

Hope it helped.

Thanks.. I know D is the OA

Also "claim(s) to be" can be correct.. check this link.

https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/use ... 20unveiled

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lunarpower: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3380; Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 amFollowed by: 1535 members; Thanked: 2256 times; GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Mon Nov 16, 2009 2:33 am

vittalgmat wrote:In the sentence above, I have a question on choice E.
Which clause does weighing modify?
'That of a handheld computer" ie
'length of a handheld computer' ?

Ron, Stuart, Stewart?

thanks a lot

when you have a COMMA + -ING modifier, two things apply:
* the modifier itself MODIFIES THE PRECEDING CLAUSE (not just the noun that precedes the comma);
and
* the SUBJECT of the preceding clause is the IMPLIED SUBJECT of the -ING word.

the above 2 principles explain what is wrong with (e): the nearest clause has "the length of which" as its subject. therefore, "..., weighing" is making the ludicrous proposition that the length weighs about 11 ounces.

Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

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On peut poser des questions Ã Ron en franÃ§ais
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vittalgmat: Legendary Member; Posts: 621; Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:13 pmFollowed by: 4 members; Thanked: 33 times

by vittalgmat » Mon Nov 16, 2009 9:56 am

lunarpower wrote:
vittalgmat wrote:In the sentence above, I have a question on choice E.
Which clause does weighing modify?
'That of a handheld computer" ie
'length of a handheld computer' ?

Ron, Stuart, Stewart?

thanks a lot
when you have a COMMA + -ING modifier, two things apply:
* the modifier itself MODIFIES THE PRECEDING CLAUSE (not just the noun that precedes the comma);
and
* the SUBJECT of the preceding clause is the IMPLIED SUBJECT of the -ING word.

the above 2 principles explain what is wrong with (e): the nearest clause has "the length of which" as its subject. therefore, "..., weighing" is making the ludicrous proposition that the length weighs about 11 ounces.

Thanks Ron,
As always, U are the GOD!!!.

rgds
-V

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hk_4u: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 79; Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2007 11:16 pm

by hk_4u » Fri Jan 29, 2010 11:18 pm

Hi Ron

the modifier itself MODIFIES THE PRECEDING CLAUSE

I understand why option E is wrong as per your reasoning. But I thought

the length of which is that of a handheld computer

is a modifier and the preceding clause in this case is

what it claims is the world's smallest network digital camcorder

Even with this reasoning, option E is incorrect (as camcorder is NOT the subject)

My question :

when looking back for the preceding clause, can we ignore the modifiers and the appositives ?

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lunarpower: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3380; Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 amFollowed by: 1535 members; Thanked: 2256 times; GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Sat Jan 30, 2010 3:10 am

hk_4u wrote:My question :

when looking back for the preceding clause, can we ignore the modifiers and the appositives ?

hmm

from what i've seen, the COMMA -ING modifier usually modifies the closest clause.

so, if you have a clause inside a modifier (and that happens to be the nearest clause), then you're probably going to be modifying that clause.

viz.:
Joe laughed at his friend, who had knocked over the table, spilling things everywhere.
--> in this sentence, the COMMA -ING modifier (spilling) modifies the CLOSEST clause - i.e., "who had knocked over the table". this is a subordinate clause, but it's still a clause.
--> i think it's almost always going to be this way - it would be EXTREMELY awkward and unclear to use this sort of modifier to modify the main clause in this case. doing so wolud result in a sentence that would be, for all practical purposes, unreadable.

on the other hand, if the modifier is not a clause, then, yes, you can ignore it when you look for what is being modified by the COMMA -ING modifier.

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