gmat prep sc 1

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hemant_rajput: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 447; Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2012 7:13 amFollowed by: 13 members; Thanked: 46 times; GMAT Score:700

by hemant_rajput » Sun Jun 09, 2013 5:31 am

Since the start of space age, more and more littering has occurred in orbits near Earth, often because the intentional discarding of lens caps, packing material , fuel tanks and payload covers.

a) more and more littering has occurred in orbits near Earth, often because
b) orbits near Earth have become more and more littered , often from
c) orbits near Earth became littered more and more, often resulting from
d) there have been more and more littering of orbits near Earth, often because of
e) there had been littering more and more of orbits near Earth, often with

[spoiler]OA:B[/spoiler]

I'm no expert, just trying to work on my skills. If I've made any mistakes please bear with me.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sun Jun 09, 2013 5:31 am

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Brent@GMATPrepNow: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 16207; Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pmFollowed by: 1268 members; Location: Vancouver, BC; Thanked: 5254 times; GMAT Score:770

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sun Jun 09, 2013 6:48 am

hemant_rajput wrote:Since the start of space age, more and more littering has occurred in orbits near Earth, often because the intentional discarding of lens caps, packing material , fuel tanks and payload covers.

a) more and more littering has occurred in orbits near Earth, often because
b) orbits near Earth have become more and more littered , often from
c) orbits near Earth became littered more and more, often resulting from
d) there have been more and more littering of orbits near Earth, often because of
e) there had been littering more and more of orbits near Earth, often with

[spoiler]OA:B[/spoiler]

The sentence begins with "Since the start of space age." This tells us that the problem has occurred at an indefinite time in the past, and may continue into the present and future. This requires us to use the present perfect tense (i.e., has occurred, have occurred, have become, etc. ).

Aside: we have a free video on perfect tenses: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat- ... on?id=1178

Since we need the past perfect tense here, we can ELIMINATE C and E
c) orbits near Earth became littered more and more, often resulting from
e) there had been littering more and more of orbits near Earth, often with

Now we'll examine the remaining options.
a) more and more littering has occurred in orbits near Earth, often because
In this context, the part following because should be a clause that explains why more littering has occurred.
However, the part after because reads, " the intentional discarding of lens caps, packing material , fuel tanks and payload covers."
There's no verb here, so it's not a clause.
ELIMINATE A

b) orbits near Earth have become more and more littered , often from
Looks good - keep it for now.

d) there have been more and more littering of orbits near Earth, often because of
Littering is singular but have been is plural.
ELIMINATE D

Answer: B

Cheers,
Brent

Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com

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Lifetron: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 308; Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2012 12:51 amFollowed by: 3 members; Thanked: 16 times

by Lifetron » Sun Jun 09, 2013 7:56 pm

Can we eliminate D and E for meaning change ?

"littering of orbits" sounds very odd to me... I think, It should have been "littering in orbits" or "littered" as in B and C

Can someone comment on this ?

Thank you !

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Java_85: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 234; Joined: Tue Jul 16, 2013 9:00 am; Location: West Virginia; Thanked: 9 times

by Java_85 » Sun Oct 06, 2013 8:34 am

I was between B and D, and eliminated D because the meaning is changed.

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Mission2012: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 184; Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2012 10:04 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 10 times

by Mission2012 » Sun Oct 06, 2013 9:20 am

Brent@GMATPrepNow wrote:
hemant_rajput wrote:Since the start of space age, more and more littering has occurred in orbits near Earth, often because the intentional discarding of lens caps, packing material , fuel tanks and payload covers.

a) more and more littering has occurred in orbits near Earth, often because
b) orbits near Earth have become more and more littered , often from
c) orbits near Earth became littered more and more, often resulting from
d) there have been more and more littering of orbits near Earth, often because of
e) there had been littering more and more of orbits near Earth, often with

[spoiler]OA:B[/spoiler]
The sentence begins with "Since the start of space age." This tells us that the problem has occurred at an indefinite time in the past, and may continue into the present and future. This requires us to use the present perfect tense (i.e., has occurred, have occurred, have become, etc. ).

Aside: we have a free video on perfect tenses: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat- ... on?id=1178

Since we need the past perfect tense here, we can ELIMINATE C and E
c) orbits near Earth became littered more and more, often resulting from
e) there had been littering more and more of orbits near Earth, often with

Now we'll examine the remaining options.
a) more and more littering has occurred in orbits near Earth, often because
In this context, the part following because should be a clause that explains why more littering has occurred.
However, the part after because reads, " the intentional discarding of lens caps, packing material , fuel tanks and payload covers."
There's no verb here, so it's not a clause.
ELIMINATE A

b) orbits near Earth have become more and more littered , often from
Looks good - keep it for now.

d) there have been more and more littering of orbits near Earth, often because of
Littering is singular but have been is plural.
ELIMINATE D

Answer: B

Cheers,
Brent

Is it a rule that because is always followed by a clause?

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[email protected]: Elite Legendary Member; Posts: 10392; Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pmFollowed by: 511 members; Location: Palo Alto, CA; Thanked: 2867 times; GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Sun Oct 06, 2013 3:22 pm

Hi Mission2012,

By definition, the word "because" must be followed by some type of evidence, explanation or reasoning - so the short answer is "yes" - the word "because" needs to be followed by a clause.

This issue can actually be avoided in this SC though; by noting the opening "modification phrase" of this sentence, what follows the comma MUST be the subject (which is "orbits near Earth"). With that grammar rule, you can eliminate A, D and E. Then you can finish off with the verb rule and have the correct answer.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Contact Rich at [email protected]

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