Multiple modifiers

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Multiple modifiers

by kvcpk » Thu Jun 17, 2010 10:31 am
Multiple modifiers in the below question are confusing to me.
Can someone please explain me why the right answer is right?

Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have
been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered
in 1932.


(A) Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932.

(8) Although named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, Clovis points are spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces and have been found allover North America.

(C) Named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932, Clovis points, spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto the faces, have been found all over North America.

(D) Spear points with longitudinal grooves that are chipped onto the faces, Clovis points, even though named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, but were found all over North America.

(E) While Clovis points are spear points whose faces have longitudinal grooves chipped into them, they have been found all over North America, and named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932

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by real2008 » Thu Jun 17, 2010 10:49 am
kvcpk wrote:Multiple modifiers in the below question are confusing to me.
Can someone please explain me why the right answer is right?

Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have
been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered
in 1932.


(A) Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932. (I am not sure referent of THEY)

(8) Although named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, Clovis points are spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces and have been found allover North America. (Correct choice)

(C) Named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932, Clovis points, spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto the faces, have been found all over North America. (multiple modifiers of CLOVIS are confusing)

(D) Spear points with longitudinal grooves that are chipped onto the faces, Clovis points, even though named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, but were found all over North America. (sentence is not complete)

(E) While Clovis points are spear points whose faces have longitudinal grooves chipped into them, they have been found all over North America, and named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932(referent of THEY is not clear)

Comment please.....

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by FightWithGMAT » Thu Jun 17, 2010 11:33 am
kvcpk wrote:Multiple modifiers in the below question are confusing to me.
Can someone please explain me why the right answer is right?

Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have
been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered
in 1932.


(A) Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932.

(8) Although named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, Clovis points are spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces and have been found allover North America.

(C) Named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932, Clovis points, spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto the faces, have been found all over North America.

(D) Spear points with longitudinal grooves that are chipped onto the faces, Clovis points, even though named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, but were found all over North America.

(E) While Clovis points are spear points whose faces have longitudinal grooves chipped into them, they have been found all over North America, and named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932
IMO B

This can be tackled by POE.

A--Preposition (with) + noun + participle (past) .......is a big no no in GMAT....basically it shows redundancy.......moreover "they are named" does not make a good sense contextually.

C--"they have been first discovered in 1932".........eliminate this
D--Clovis points are not faces.....moreover.......construction is funny.......Clovis points, non restrictive modifier, but were........

E-- Completely changes the meaning........original sentence does not indicate that any two actions are going parallel.

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by gmatmachoman » Thu Jun 17, 2010 11:46 am
Pick A

Try removing the appositive {starting with spear points.......}, still the original sentence makes sense.

"They" seems to cause pronoun ambiguity error. But its NOT a thumb rule. "They " refers back to Clove points to arrive at the intended meaning.

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by pnk » Thu Jun 17, 2010 12:17 pm
kvcpk wrote:Multiple modifiers in the below question are confusing to me.
Can someone please explain me why the right answer is right?

Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have
been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered
in 1932.


(A) Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932.

(8) Although named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, Clovis points are spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces and have been found allover North America.

(C) Named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932, Clovis points, spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto the faces, have been found all over North America.

(D) Spear points with longitudinal grooves that are chipped onto the faces, Clovis points, even though named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, but were found all over North America.

(E) While Clovis points are spear points whose faces have longitudinal grooves chipped into them, they have been found all over North America, and named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932
Sentence requires contrast btwn 2 parts.
B - use 'and' - make definition of CP and found 2 different activities
C - do not use any 'contrast' indicators
D - use of 2 different contast indicators - 'even though/but
E - use 'and' - make 'found and named' different activities
IMO - A

No ambiguity with 'they' - pronoun refers to the noun that plays the same grammatical role in its own clause ie if t pronoun is subject it will refer to noun of the other clause. So 'they' and 'Clovis points'match

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by uwhusky » Thu Jun 17, 2010 12:19 pm
I can tell you why A is right =)

(A) Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932.

Ignore the modifier for Clovis points, and you have a pretty straight forward sentence.

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by GMATGuruNY » Thu Jun 17, 2010 12:20 pm
kvcpk wrote:Multiple modifiers in the below question are confusing to me.
Can someone please explain me why the right answer is right?

Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have
been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered
in 1932.


(A) Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932.

The correct answer.

(8) Although named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, Clovis points are spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces and have been found allover North America.

Misplaced modifier: What exactly was first discovered in 1932?
Preposition error: of longitudinal grooves is incorrect; the correct preposition is with.

(C) Named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932, Clovis points, spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto the faces, have been found all over North America.

Tense error: they have been first discovered in 1932 should be in the past tense, not the present perfect.
Preposition error: of longitudinal grooves is incorrect; the correct preposition is with.

(D) Spear points with longitudinal grooves that are chipped onto the faces, Clovis points, even though named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, but were found all over North America.

A mess!
Tense error: with longitudinal grooves that are chipped onto the faces. Since the chipping happened in the past, are is the wrong tense.
Modifier error: What exactly was first discovered in 1932?
Conjunction error, Missing modifier: but were found all over North America. No need for the conjunction but. A modifier is needed to show the contrast in time. Sentence should read Clovis points...were later found all over North America.

(E) While Clovis points are spear points whose faces have longitudinal grooves chipped into them, they have been found all over North America, and named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932.

Also a mess.
Conjunction error: While is incorrect. The fact that Clovis points are spear points is being contrasted with the fact that they have been found all over North America.
Tense/Parallelism error: and named should be and are named in order to be parallel with they have been found
Tense error: they have been first discovered in 1932 should be in the past tense, not the present perfect.
Last edited by GMATGuruNY on Thu Jun 17, 2010 12:27 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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by uwhusky » Thu Jun 17, 2010 12:21 pm
One minor note to add to why B is wrong: "spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces"

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by r2kins » Fri Jul 16, 2010 7:02 am
(
8) Although named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, Clovis points are spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces and have been found allover North America.

Misplaced modifier: What exactly was first discovered in 1932?
Preposition error: of longitudinal grooves is incorrect; the correct preposition is with.
Why is this a case of misplaced modifier? Isn't it the Clovis points that are supposed to be modified and correctly so?

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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Jul 16, 2010 7:16 am
r2kins wrote:(
8) Although named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, Clovis points are spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces and have been found allover North America.

Misplaced modifier: What exactly was first discovered in 1932?
Preposition error: of longitudinal grooves is incorrect; the correct preposition is with.
Why is this a case of misplaced modifier? Isn't it the Clovis points that are supposed to be modified and correctly so?
A subject and a verb are needed in order to make clear what exactly was first discovered:

Although named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932, Clovis points are spear points...

The pronoun they makes it clear that the Clovis points were first discovered. Even the sentence above, however, is hardly ideal in that it offers the pronoun they before its referent, Clovis points.

Hope this helps!
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by Kushal Kumar » Fri Jul 16, 2010 10:51 am
A subject and a verb are needed in order to make clear what exactly was first discovered:

Although named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932, Clovis points are spear points...

The pronoun they makes it clear that the Clovis points were first discovered. Even the sentence above, however, is hardly ideal in that it offers the pronoun they before its referent, Clovis points.
Just completed studying "Modifiers"...a nice take-away from GMATGuruNY :)
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by mundasingh123 » Mon Dec 27, 2010 12:58 am
kvcpk wrote:Multiple modifiers in the below question are confusing to me.
Can someone please explain me why the right answer is right?

Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have
been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered
in 1932.


(A) Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932.

(8) Although named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, Clovis points are spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces and have been found allover North America.

(C) Named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932, Clovis points, spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto the faces, have been found all over North America.

(D) Spear points with longitudinal grooves that are chipped onto the faces, Clovis points, even though named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, but were found all over North America.

(E) While Clovis points are spear points whose faces have longitudinal grooves chipped into them, they have been found all over North America, and named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932
Guys please reveal the source

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by kvcpk » Mon Dec 27, 2010 4:16 am
mundasingh123 wrote:Guys please reveal the source
Here you go.
https://books.google.com/books?id=sQW_fK ... ts&f=false
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by tailoc » Wed Aug 17, 2011 1:13 am
First, eliminate B and D ,"New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932" is wrong because Clovis points were discovered in 1932.

finally, eliminate C and E because of wrong tense (have been discovered in 1932). Also E is not concision.

Answer is A

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by mundasingh123 » Wed Aug 17, 2011 1:24 am
GmatGuruNY
(C) Named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932, Clovis points, spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto the faces, have been found all over North America.
Tense error: they have been first discovered in 1932 should be in the past tense, not the present perfect.
GmatGuruNY , How did you know the past tense is required here . Is it because the year in which the discovery took place is mentioned ?

In A
(A) Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932.

Didnt the act of naming took place in the past ? so shount "are named " be "were named " ?
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