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GMATPrep - Series of modifiers + others

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GMATMadeEasy: Legendary Member; Posts: 768; Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2009 3:46 amFollowed by: 7 members; Thanked: 21 times

by GMATMadeEasy » Thu Apr 28, 2011 11:31 am

More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

(A) More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
(B) With 20 percent of the world's fresh water, that is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal has more than 300 rivers that drain into it.
(C) Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, it holds more of the world's fresh water than all that of the North American Great Lakes combined, 20 percent.
(D) While more than 300 rivers drain into it, Siberia's Lake Baikal holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, which is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
(E) More than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water.

OA is A.

Why B D and E are wrong ?

In A , aren't we comparing water to lakes ?

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Thu Apr 28, 2011 11:31 am

atulmangal: Legendary Member; Posts: 1112; Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2011 11:16 amFollowed by: 49 members; Thanked: 77 times

by atulmangal » Thu Apr 28, 2011 1:01 pm

Hi,

This is one of the trickiest and confusing SC, i remember this question, a question for sure m gonna mark incorrect in exam...it was discussed really well on Manhattan forum...follow the link if u wish...

https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/mor ... t5054.html

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GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Thu Apr 28, 2011 1:50 pm

GMATMadeEasy wrote:More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

(A) More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
(B) With 20 percent of the world's fresh water, that is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal has more than 300 rivers that drain into it.
(C) Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, it holds more of the world's fresh water than all that of the North American Great Lakes combined, 20 percent.
(D) While more than 300 rivers drain into it, Siberia's Lake Baikal holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, which is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
(E) More than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water.

OA is A.

Why B D and E are wrong ?

In A , aren't we comparing water to lakes ?

In B, that has no clear antecedent. Eliminate B.

In C, Lake Baikal and the second it cannot both be the subject of holds. Eliminate C.

In D, it is unclear whether which refers to 20% or to water. Also, there is no contrast to justify the use of while: more than 300 rivers drain into it and holds 20% of the world's fresh water are not contrasting concepts. Eliminate D.

In E, more than all the Great Lakes combined is incorrectly modifying Lake Baikal. It makes no sense to say that Lake Baikal is more than all the Great Lakes combined. Eliminate E.

The correct answer is A.

In A, more than all the Great Lakes combined is in apposition to 20% of the world's fresh water. An appositive is a noun or a noun phrase that follows another noun; the purpose of the appositive is to explain or define the noun that it follows. The appositive structure in A indicates that 20% is more than all the Great Lakes combined.

Last edited by GMATGuruNY on Thu Apr 28, 2011 2:22 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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GMATMadeEasy: Legendary Member; Posts: 768; Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2009 3:46 amFollowed by: 7 members; Thanked: 21 times

by GMATMadeEasy » Thu Apr 28, 2011 2:00 pm

@GMATGuruNY : Thanks much.

In B, that has no clear antecedent. Eliminate B.

Why so ? I understand that after comma THAT could be considered an error but its antecedent (of that) is clearly '20 percent of world's fresh water'.

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GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Thu Apr 28, 2011 2:14 pm

GMATMadeEasy wrote:@GMATGuruNY : Thanks much.

In B, that has no clear antecedent. Eliminate B.
Why so ? I understand that after comma THAT could be considered an error but its antecedent (of that) is clearly '20 percent of world's fresh water'.

The comma separates that from its antecedent, leaving that to stand alone as the subject of its own clause. Standing alone, the pronoun that is ambiguous. When Paris Hilton says "That's hot!", she could be referring to anything.

A more important issue (but not as easy to understand): that is being misused. Since more than all the Great Lakes combined is a non-restrictive modifier, it should be preceded not by that but by which.

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atulmangal: Legendary Member; Posts: 1112; Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2011 11:16 amFollowed by: 49 members; Thanked: 77 times

by atulmangal » Thu Apr 28, 2011 2:57 pm

@GMATGuruNY

Thanks Mitch, one more question

In D, it is unclear whether which refers to 20% or to water.

As per my knowledge, which can refer to preceding noun or noun phrase....can't we say that in Op D, which is referring to " 20 percent of the world's fresh water"

20 percent of the world's fresh water ---> water only

i understood your point regarding the incorrect use of "while", but i just want to clear the above point.

Thanks

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GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Thu Apr 28, 2011 3:13 pm

atulmangal wrote:@GMATGuruNY

Thanks Mitch, one more question

In D, it is unclear whether which refers to 20% or to water.
As per my knowledge, which can refer to preceding noun or noun phrase....can't we say that in Op D, which is referring to " 20 percent of the world's fresh water"

20 percent of the world's fresh water ---> water only

i understood your point regarding the incorrect use of "while", but i just want to clear the above point.

Thanks

Although most readers would understand that which refers to 20%, there is quite a bit of distance between the two words. A less careful reader might at first construe that which refers to water, the noun that immediately precedes which. Since A avoids this ambiguity and is free of errors, A is a better answer choice.

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EducationAisle: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 434; Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 10:42 pmFollowed by: 46 members; Location: Bangalore, India; Thanked: 91 times

by EducationAisle » Thu Apr 28, 2011 10:31 pm

GMATMadeEasy wrote:@GMATGuruNY : Thanks much.

In B, that has no clear antecedent. Eliminate B.
Why so ? I understand that after comma THAT could be considered an error but its antecedent (of that) is clearly '20 percent of world's fresh water'.

Even if you consider that to be the case, the comparison would be illogical: Between water and North American Great Lakes. The comparison should have been between water and water in North American Great Lakes.

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EducationAisle: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 434; Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 10:42 pmFollowed by: 46 members; Location: Bangalore, India; Thanked: 91 times

by EducationAisle » Thu Apr 28, 2011 10:37 pm

atulmangal wrote: As per my knowledge, which can refer to preceding noun or noun phrase....can't we say that in Op D, which is referring to " 20 percent of the world's fresh water"

20 percent of the world's fresh water ---> water only

Thanks

Again same issue of illogical comparison between water/20% of water and lakes.

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EducationAisle: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 434; Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 10:42 pmFollowed by: 46 members; Location: Bangalore, India; Thanked: 91 times

by EducationAisle » Thu Apr 28, 2011 10:53 pm

Hmm...just realized that 'all' of the options have this inconsistency..so it's kind of a moot point here.

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