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Emily Dickinson's letters

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Emily Dickinson's letters

by alex.gellatly » Wed Sep 12, 2012 12:43 am
Emily Dickinson's letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumbering her letters to anyone else.

A. Dickinson were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumbering
B. Dickinson were written over a period that begins a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ended shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumber
C. Dickinson, written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and that ends shortly before Emily's death in 1886and outnumbering
D. Dickinson, which were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother, ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, and outnumbering
E. Dickinson, which were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumber

OG12 26
OA is E
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by GMATGuruNY » Wed Sep 12, 2012 12:49 am
alex.gellatly wrote:Emily Dickinson's letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumbering her letters to anyone else.

A. Dickinson were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumbering
B. Dickinson were written over a period that begins a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ended shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumber
C. Dickinson, written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and that ends shortly before Emily's death in 1886and outnumbering
D. Dickinson, which were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother, ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, and outnumbering
E. Dickinson, which were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumber

OG12 26
OA is E
A: Emily Dickinson's letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson WERE WRITTEN over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, OUTNUMBERING her letters to anyone else.

COMMA + VERBing implies CONTEMPORANEOUS action: an action taking place AT THE SAME TIME as the action of the preceding clause.
Here, the letters WERE WRITTEN over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886.
Thus, quite a few years must have passed before these letters were OUTNUMBERING Emily Dickinson's letters to anyone else.
Since the two actions are NOT contemporaneous, OUTNUMBERING does not convey the intended meaning.
Eliminate A.

In B, begins should not be in the present tense, since the period BEGAN a few years before Susan's marriage.
Eliminate B.

In C, beginning and that ends are not parallel.
Eliminate C.

In D, letters (subject) lacks a verb.
Eliminate D.

The correct answer is E.
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by B166418 » Wed Sep 12, 2012 8:49 pm
Hi,

Why we are not using famous "which" concept in this question
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by GMATGuruNY » Thu Sep 13, 2012 3:10 am
B166418 wrote:Hi,

Why we are not using famous "which" concept in this question
Emily Dickinson's LETTERS to Susan Huntington Dickinson, WHICH WERE WRITTEN over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumber her letters to anyone else.

Which + PLURAL verb should refer to the nearest preceding PLURAL noun.
Here, the nearest preceding PLURAL noun is letters.
Since letters is the intended antecedent, there is no error.
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by ceilidh.erickson » Tue Jan 29, 2013 1:04 pm
B166418 wrote:Hi,

Why we are not using famous "which" concept in this question
This is a great question, because this concept can be a bit tricky. We're taught that a ", which..." clause will ALWAYS refer to the noun directly before it. That's true... sort of. Consider the following sentences:

The board of directors, who are all old men, will make some important decisions.

The board of directors, which is meeting tomorrow, will make some important decisions.

As Mitch says, we can use the verb that comes after "which" (or in this case, "who") to determine exactly what is being modified. In the first sentence, only DIRECTORS was being modified. This is clear from the verb, and from the meaning. In the second sentence, though, BOARD OF DIRECTORS is an entire noun idea, and thus we're modifying the whole thing. (Technically, "of directors" is modifying "board," and then the "which" clause is also modifying "board," but I find it more helpful to just think of it as a noun idea). In effect, we're still modifying the noun that comes before the "which" clause, if you think of "board of directors" as all one noun.

In this case, you can use the verbs to decide. You could also use the meaning to decide: In your example sentence, it doesn't make any sense to say that Sue Huntington Dickinson was written! Clearly the letters were written. But the letter were also "to SHD," so we have to use both modifiers: Emily Dickinson's LETTERS (to Susan Huntington Dickinson), WHICH WERE WRITTEN...

Think of LETTERS (to SHD) as a single "noun idea."
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by tanviet » Tue Feb 12, 2013 8:55 pm
thank you experts.

this question is typical one in which meaning relation between two verbs is distorted. it is hard one.

do you have any tip/strategy for solving the problem that meaning realation between 2 verbs is distorted.
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by vietnam47 » Fri Aug 09, 2019 12:41 am
GMATGuruNY wrote:
alex.gellatly wrote:Emily Dickinson's letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumbering her letters to anyone else.

A. Dickinson were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumbering
B. Dickinson were written over a period that begins a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ended shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumber
C. Dickinson, written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and that ends shortly before Emily's death in 1886and outnumbering
D. Dickinson, which were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother, ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, and outnumbering
E. Dickinson, which were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, outnumber

OG12 26
OA is E
A: Emily Dickinson's letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson WERE WRITTEN over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886, OUTNUMBERING her letters to anyone else.

COMMA + VERBing implies CONTEMPORANEOUS action: an action taking place AT THE SAME TIME as the action of the preceding clause.
Here, the letters WERE WRITTEN over a period beginning a few years before Susan's marriage to Emily's brother and ending shortly before Emily's death in 1886.
Thus, quite a few years must have passed before these letters were OUTNUMBERING Emily Dickinson's letters to anyone else.
Since the two actions are NOT contemporaneous, OUTNUMBERING does not convey the intended meaning.
Eliminate A.

In B, begins should not be in the present tense, since the period BEGAN a few years before Susan's marriage.
Eliminate B.

In C, beginning and that ends are not parallel.
Eliminate C.

In D, letters (subject) lacks a verb.
Eliminate D.

The correct answer is E.
thank you Hunt, your explanation is great.I want to add something
"outnumbering can not happen OVER a period as letter were writen". so, modification of outnumbering is wrong.
am i correct?
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by vietnam47 » Fri Aug 09, 2019 6:55 pm
permit me to post one time more.
comma doing is not a separate action from the main clause but an aspect of the main action. in short , action in the main clause and action presented by doing are the same action.
this point nesseccitate that the adverb of the main action must apply to the doing.

"over many years" must apply to "outnumbering".
outnumbering is terminate action, which finish and not happen over a period. outnumbering can not go with "over a period". choice e is wrong.

this is the new idea I figure out. and I have to post second time.
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