Sentence Correction

The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff, hissing and rearing back, broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but, having no dangerous fangs and no venom, eventually, if its pursuer is not cowed by the performance, will fall over and play dead.

(A) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but, having no dangerous fangs and no venom,
(B) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom,
(C) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes, but it has no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
(D) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
(E) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and

I need explanation from an expert about "but with no....".

What role does this part play in the sentence?

Thanks.

see Ron's reply

https://www.beatthegmat.com/the-hognose- ... 18975.html

IMO- C

i can just feel that "but with no"... is just showing a transition. Its not contributing a lot to the answer. The question is more about parallelism.

However an expert's opinion is always the best.

gmat_perfect wrote:The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff, hissing and rearing back, broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but, having no dangerous fangs and no venom, eventually, if its pursuer is not cowed by the performance, will fall over and play dead.

(A) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but, having no dangerous fangs and no venom,
(B) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom,
(C) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes, but it has no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
(D) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
(E) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and

I need explanation from an expert about "but with no....".

What role does this part play in the sentence?

Thanks.

In B, D and E, it is unclear what is being modified by the phrase with no dangerous fangs and no venom. If it's unclear what a modifier is modifying, eliminate the answer choice. Eliminate B, D and E.

In A, the verbs puts on and broadens need to be connected with a conjunction: The hognose snake puts on...and broadens. Eliminate A.

The correct answer is C.

GMATGuruNY wrote:

gmat_perfect wrote:The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff, hissing and rearing back, broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but, having no dangerous fangs and no venom, eventually, if its pursuer is not cowed by the performance, will fall over and play dead.

(A) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but, having no dangerous fangs and no venom,
(B) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom,
(C) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes, but it has no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
(D) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
(E) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and

I need explanation from an expert about "but with no....".

What role does this part play in the sentence?

Thanks.

In B, D and E, it is unclear what is being modified by the phrase with no dangerous fangs and no venom. If it's unclear what a modifier is modifying, eliminate the answer choice. Eliminate B, D and E.

In A, the verbs puts on and broadens need to be connected with a conjunction: The hognose snake puts on...and broadens. Eliminate A.

The correct answer is C.

Thanks for the reply.

Would you please explain the general rule of COMMA + With with the help of some examples.

Thanks in advance.

@GMATGURU,

Would you please explain the concept of "COMMA+ WITH"?

Thanks.