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Extremophiles

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by vk_vinayak » Mon Sep 24, 2012 8:17 am
Inhospitable places on our planet, from steaming Hot Springs to the thick ice of the polar regions, tend to be populated by the specially adapted microbes flourishing, it seems, in these extreme conditions and are therefore called "extremophiles."

A. flourishing, it seems, in these extreme conditions and are

B. that seem to flourish with these extreme conditions and

C. that seem to flourish in these extreme conditions and that are

D. seeming to flourish in these extreme conditions and are

E. seeming to flourish with these extreme conditions and that are

Source: PrepPack1

OA: C

Doubt: [spoiler]Can somebody explain why the repetition of the subject (that) is required ?[/spoiler]
Last edited by vk_vinayak on Tue Sep 25, 2012 7:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by shekhar.kataria » Mon Sep 24, 2012 9:12 pm
IMO C.

Without THAT , the clause now has subject as the subject of the first clause i.e INHOSPITABLE PLACES ON OUR PLANET is now the subject of this clause too and it is illogical to say that the places are called extremophiles.

Microbes are called extremophiles because because of their flourishing in the extreme conditions.

Hope that helps.
vk_vinayak wrote:Inhospitable places on our planet, from steaming Hot Springs to the thick ice of the polar regions, tend to be populated by the specially adapted microbes flourishing, it seems, in these extreme conditions and are therefore called "extremophiles."

A. flourishing, it seems, in these extreme conditions and are

B. that seem to flourish with these extreme conditions and

C. that seem to flourish in these extreme conditions and that are

D. seeming to flourish in these extreme conditions and are

E. seeming to flourish with these extreme conditions and that are

Source: PrepPack1

Doubt: [spoiler]Can somebody explain why the repetition of the subject (that) is required ?[/spoiler]
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by whats_in_the_store » Tue Sep 25, 2012 5:28 am
Though in C
that seem to flourish in these extreme conditions and that are
has parallel structure as required by and, I'd prefer to eliminate "that" altogether as in D(Again seeming to flourish is not very nice).
Don't we use "those" when referring to plural nouns?
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by GMATGuruNY » Tue Sep 25, 2012 7:14 am
vk_vinayak wrote:Inhospitable places on our planet, from steaming Hot Springs to the thick ice of the polar regions, tend to be populated by the specially adapted microbes flourishing, it seems, in these extreme conditions and are therefore called "extremophiles."

A. flourishing, it seems, in these extreme conditions and are

B. that seem to flourish with these extreme conditions and

C. that seem to flourish in these extreme conditions and that are

D. seeming to flourish in these extreme conditions and are

E. seeming to flourish with these extreme conditions and that are

Source: PrepPack1

Doubt: [spoiler]Can somebody explain why the repetition of the subject (that) is required ?[/spoiler]
A conjunction such as and must connect PARALLEL FORMS.
In A and D, flourishing and seeming serve as ADJECTIVES modifying MICROBES.
Thus, the VERB that follows and (ARE CALLED) must be parallel with TEND, implying the following:
Inhospitable places TEND to be populated...and ARE therefore CALLED "extremophiles".
Not the intended meaning: the MICROBES are called "extremophiles."
Eliminate A and D.

In B, and therefore called "extremophiles" makes no sense.
The intended meaning is that the microbes ARE called "extremophiles".

In E, seeming to flourish and that are therefore called are not parallel.
As noted above, and must connect PARALLEL FORMS.
Eliminate E.

The correct answer is C.

The parallel modifiers in the OA make the meaning clear:
Inhospitable places tend to be populated by microbes THAT SEEM TO FLOURISH in these extreme conditions and THAT ARE THEREFORE CALLED
"extremophiles".
Here, that seem and that are clearly refer to MICROBES.
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by gmatdriller » Tue Sep 25, 2012 8:07 pm
B. that seem to flourish with these extreme conditions and

B seems to be incorrect because
(i)it uses "flourishes WITH" rather than "flourishing IN"

(ii) MICROBES THAT seem to...AND therefore called...
should have been: MICROBES THAT seem to...AND THAT...
What is wrong with the first expression "microbes that seem to...and therefore called"?
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by whats_in_the_store » Tue Sep 25, 2012 9:17 pm
What is wrong with the first expression "microbes that seem to...and therefore called"?
therefore can not suffice for helping verb are, just read it out loud and you'll figure out something's wrong!
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by bonbossamazing » Wed Nov 26, 2014 9:09 am
GMATGuruNY wrote:
vk_vinayak wrote:Inhospitable places on our planet, from steaming Hot Springs to the thick ice of the polar regions, tend to be populated by the specially adapted microbes flourishing, it seems, in these extreme conditions and are therefore called "extremophiles."

A. flourishing, it seems, in these extreme conditions and are

B. that seem to flourish with these extreme conditions and

C. that seem to flourish in these extreme conditions and that are

D. seeming to flourish in these extreme conditions and are

E. seeming to flourish with these extreme conditions and that are

Source: PrepPack1

Doubt: [spoiler]Can somebody explain why the repetition of the subject (that) is required ?[/spoiler]
A conjunction such as and must connect PARALLEL FORMS.
In A and D, flourishing and seeming serve as ADJECTIVES modifying MICROBES.
Thus, the VERB that follows and (ARE CALLED) must be parallel with TEND, implying the following:
Inhospitable places TEND to be populated...and ARE therefore CALLED "extremophiles".
Not the intended meaning: the MICROBES are called "extremophiles."
Eliminate A and D.

In B, and therefore called "extremophiles" makes no sense.
The intended meaning is that the microbes ARE called "extremophiles".

In E, seeming to flourish and that are therefore called are not parallel.
As noted above, and must connect PARALLEL FORMS.
Eliminate E.

The correct answer is C.

The parallel modifiers in the OA make the meaning clear:
Inhospitable places tend to be populated by microbes THAT SEEM TO FLOURISH in these extreme conditions and THAT ARE THEREFORE CALLED
"extremophiles".
Here, that seem and that are clearly refer to MICROBES.
I am still confused between the Options B and C. Can some one help.
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by [email protected] » Wed Nov 26, 2014 11:09 pm
Hi bonbossamazing,

There are a couple of differences worth noting between B and C (and both can help to eliminate answer B):

1) Parallelism - we're told 2 things about "specially adapted microbes", so we have to present those 2 ideas in parallel format...

"specially adapted microbes....

...that seem to flourish....
...that are therefore called extremophiles."

Answer C uses parallel language, answer B does not.

2) Style/Meaning -

In Answer C, the phrase "flourish in these extreme conditions" means that the microbes thrive in those conditions.
In Answer B, the phrase "flourish with these extreme conditions" means that both the microbes and the conditions are flourishing.

The intent is to tell us that the microbes flourish even though the conditions are extreme.

Either reason can be used to eliminate Answer B.

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