BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

Ex2: Hearless human beings

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 645
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2010 12:42 pm
Location: US
Thanked: 527 times
Followed by:227 members

Ex2: Hearless human beings

by e-GMAT » Mon Jul 16, 2012 10:13 am
This question is the second practice problem of meaning based questions and tests proper placement of modifiers. Correct and best explanation will get a thanks from us and a free subscription for 1 month to our OG Verbal 2 solutions for Sentence Correction. OG Verbal 2 solutions contains solutions to all SC questions using e-GMAT 3 step process- amounting to 14 hrs of audio visual content.

For more details on the strategies that GMAT uses to distort meaning, refer to this article.

Heartless human beings are like wild animals, which will rip its own kin at the slightest of need and that too without a sign of remorse.
  • A. Heartless human beings are like wild animals, which will rip its own kin at the slightest of need
    B. Heartless human beings were like wild animals, which have ripped their own kin at the slightest of need
    C. Human beings are like heartless wild animals, which rip their own kin in the slightest of need
    D. Human beings are like heartless wild animals, which rip at its own kin in the slightest of need
    E. Heartless human beings are like wild animals, which rip their own kin in the slightest of need
We will provide the official answer soon.
Top
Source: — Sentence Correction |
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 156
Joined: Sun Jul 15, 2012 12:03 pm
Location: New York, USA
Thanked: 34 times
Followed by:1 members

by kartikshah » Mon Jul 16, 2012 10:50 am
The correct answer should be option E

A vertical scan of answer choices reveals that there are two options to choose from to start our sentence:
a. Heartless human beings are like wild animals...
OR
b. Human beings are like heartless wild animals..

Here, ALL human beings are NOT compared to wild animals. Only heartless human beings who rip their own kin in the slightest of need and feel no remorse in doing so, are compared to wild animals. Furthermore, we are talking about WILD animals. So, it's obvious they are heartless! (Never heard of a kind and caring, wild lion!!)

This understanding should help us eliminate options C and D. We need to now look closely at Options A, B and E.

The modifier 'which' is used to give more information about wild animals. So the pronoun 'its' in the subordinate clause should make option A invalid. Furthermore we are talking about a heartless human beings in general. So present tense is more appropriate here than the past or future tense. Heartless human beings did, do and will continue to exist among us. This should help us cross out option B.

Answer choice E is the only one which correctly attributes the adjective 'heartless' to human beings, uses the present tense in the main as well as the subordinate clause to communicate the universality of this trait and uses the correct pronoun 'their'.
Last edited by kartikshah on Mon Jul 16, 2012 10:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
Top
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 502
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:36 pm
Thanked: 99 times
Followed by:21 members

by vk_vinayak » Mon Jul 16, 2012 10:50 am
e-GMAT wrote:
Heartless human beings are like wild animals, which will rip its own kin at the slightest of need and that too without a sign of remorse.
  • A. Heartless human beings are like wild animals, which will rip its own kin at the slightest of need
    B. Heartless human beings were like wild animals, which have ripped their own kin at the slightest of need
    C. Human beings are like heartless wild animals, which rip their own kin in the slightest of need
    D. Human beings are like heartless wild animals, which rip at its own kin in the slightest of need
    E. Heartless human beings are like wild animals, which rip their own kin in the slightest of need
We will provide the official answer soon.
A, B, and D contain obvious errors that I have marked red.

I believe the intended the comparison is between 'heartless human beings' and 'wild animals'. Hence we can eliminate C also.

Hence E is correct.

Also, I have a question: Which one of the following is correct?
... which rip their own kin in the slightest of need ...
... which rip their own kin at the slightest of need ...
- VK

I will (Learn. Recognize. Apply)
Top
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2012 1:49 am

by chinmey » Mon Jul 16, 2012 10:59 am
Not all human beings are compared to the wild animals, hence eliminating option C,D

Option A uses the pronoun its that is incorrect, since the correct pronoun should be plural in this case
Option B compares the human beings to wild animals in the past tense by using word were. this deviates from the meaning intended. Also, the use of 'have ripped' is incorrect with respect to were.

General definitions/Facts use simple tense, Therefore E is correct.
Top
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 641
Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2011 1:15 am
Thanked: 149 times
Followed by:32 members
GMAT Score:760

by avik.ch » Mon Jul 16, 2012 7:59 pm
e-GMAT wrote: Heartless human beings are like wild animals, which will rip its own kin at the slightest of need and that too without a sign of remorse.
  • A. Heartless human beings are like wild animals, which will rip its own kin at the slightest of need
    B. Heartless human beings were like wild animals, which have ripped their own kin at the slightest of need
    C. Human beings are like heartless wild animals, which rip their own kin in the slightest of need
    D. Human beings are like heartless wild animals, which rip at its own kin in the slightest of need
    E. Heartless human beings are like wild animals, which rip their own kin in the slightest of need
We will provide the official answer soon.
heartless human beings are similar to wild animals - that's the essence of the original sentence.

C and D distort the meaning. Eliminate.

"Were" in B is incorrect, present tense is required for a general phenomenon or a general truth - We dont write - she was a women. --- eliminate.

A - has two problem :

1. "Will" is a modal - so here the guaranteed action is not perfect.
2. "Which" referring to "wild animals", which is plural, - so "its" is not perfect. Eliminate.

Left with E - proper pronoun usage and Subject - verb agreement ( rip). "will" is not used - perfect.
Top
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 308
Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2012 12:51 am
Thanked: 16 times
Followed by:3 members

by Lifetron » Tue Jul 17, 2012 12:03 am
STEP 1: Wild animals -> Plural. So, 'its' is wrong. Eliminate A and D

STEP 2: The subject is 'Heartless human beings' not 'Human beings'. So, eliminate C

STEP 3: Heartless human beings are existing and will exist. So, past tense is wrong. Eliminate B

Answer is E
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 268
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 12:10 am
Thanked: 13 times

by shekhar.kataria » Tue Jul 17, 2012 8:06 am
e-GMAT wrote:This question is the second practice problem of meaning based questions and tests proper placement of modifiers. Correct and best explanation will get a thanks from us and a free subscription for 1 month to our OG Verbal 2 solutions for Sentence Correction. OG Verbal 2 solutions contains solutions to all SC questions using e-GMAT 3 step process- amounting to 14 hrs of audio visual content.

For more details on the strategies that GMAT uses to distort meaning, refer to this article.

Heartless human beings are like wild animals, which will rip its own kin at the slightest of need and that too without a sign of remorse.
  • A. Heartless human beings are like wild animals, which will rip its own kin at the slightest of need
    B. Heartless human beings were like wild animals, which have ripped their own kin at the slightest of need
    C. Human beings are like heartless wild animals, which rip their own kin in the slightest of need
    D. Human beings are like heartless wild animals, which rip at its own kin in the slightest of need
    E. Heartless human beings are like wild animals, which rip their own kin in the slightest of need
We will provide the official answer soon.


Meaning based Eliminations :- C and D change the meaning by attaching HEARTLESS to WILD ANIMALS. Human beings are said to Heartless in the original context.

B :- There is NO Subjunctive required in the sentence, neither is its use correct.

A - Sub-verb Agreement Issue. ITS should be THEIR to refer to plural noun ANIMALS.

E stands correct on both the issue of MEANING and S-V aggrement.
Restlessness and discontent are the first necessities of progress.--Thomas A. Edison

If you find this post helpful, let me know by clicking thanks above :-)
Top

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 645
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2010 12:42 pm
Location: US
Thanked: 527 times
Followed by:227 members

Ex2: Hearless human beings

by e-GMAT » Tue Jul 17, 2012 8:28 am
Heartless human beings are like wild animals, which will rip its own kin at the slightest of need and that too without a sign of remorse.

A. Heartless human beings are like wild animals, which will rip its own kin at the slightest of need
B. Heartless human beings were like wild animals, which have ripped their own kin at the slightest of need
C. Human beings are like heartless wild animals, which rip their own kin in the slightest of need
D. Human beings are like heartless wild animals, which rip at its own kin in the slightest of need
E. Heartless human beings are like wild animals, which rip their own kin in the slightest of need.
Here is the official explanation for this question:
Image
Understand the Meaning of the Original Sentence
The sentence presents a similarity (use of word like) between heartless human beings and wild animals. Heartless human beings are like wild animals. These wild animals rip their own kin when the need arises and they do not even feel any sign of remorse.

Find the Errors in the Original Sentence
1. Heartless human beings are like wild animals,
2. which will rip its own kin at the slightest of need and that too without a sign of remorse.
The sentence structure of the sentence is as shown above. The two SV pairs agree in number and logically make sense. The simple present tense "are" is appropriate as this sentence states a fact that is true in the present context. However, use of future tense "will rip" appears incorrect. This is a general fact about the wild animals and hence should be stated in simple present tense. Furthermore, "its" pronoun refers to wild animals but it does not agree in number. It should be "their".

Review Answer choices to do POE
Choice B - use of past tense "were" implies that heartless humans beings are no longer like wild animals. This distorts the intended meaning. Furthermore, "have ripped" is incorrect since it now no longer communicates a general fact about wild animals. It states as if the action of "have ripped" is a one-time action that has been completed.

Choice C - This choice changes the intended meaning of the sentence. It now implies that "human beings" in general are like "heartless wild animals". Note that the original sentence implied that "heartless human beings" are like "wild animals". Thus, by changing the placement of the modifier "heartless", the meaning of the sentence has changed. Note that this sentence is otherwise grammatically sound.

Choice D - This choice changes the intended meaning of the sentence as choice C does. It also has pronoun error as choice A does. Also, the expression "rip at its own kin" distorts the meaning of the expression "rip its own kin".

Choice E - Correct Choice.

TAKE AWAYS
1. Understand the intended meaning of the sentence and then select the choice that correctly communicates that meaning. Understand the role of each modifier in the sentence and note for any changes in the placement of these modifiers.

2. Use appropriate verb tense to communicate the intended logical meaning. This implies that you should understand two things
a. The function of each verb tense - grammatical knowledge
b. The intent of the sentence - What does the sentence want to communicate? - meaning
Top

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 645
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2010 12:42 pm
Location: US
Thanked: 527 times
Followed by:227 members

by e-GMAT » Wed Jul 18, 2012 10:35 am
Thanks kartikshah, vk_vinayak, chinmey, avik.ch, gughanbose, shekhar.kataria for your detailed analysis. I am really glad to see that you could see the change in the meaning in this question. Placing modifier at a different location can change the meaning as we saw here.

Now comes the announcement of the winner. All of you did a great job at writing the solution. But I have to select ONE person, so the winner is kartikshah. Karthik was the first one to write the solution and he did a very good job at it! :) As promised you will get a "thanks" from us and free subscription for 1 month to our OG SC VR2 solutions course. Please register at e-gmat and send me an email at [email protected] so that we can enable your account with the subscription.

Also, continuing along the lines of meaning in SC, we have a free 2-hr live session this Saturday on "Importance of Meaning in SC". We will be sending reminders to all our registered users. So if you are not as registered, please create an account today at e-gmat so that we can send you reminder for this session.

Keep up the Learning - the essence of life!!!

Regards,
Payal
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 156
Joined: Sun Jul 15, 2012 12:03 pm
Location: New York, USA
Thanked: 34 times
Followed by:1 members

by kartikshah » Wed Jul 18, 2012 10:45 am
@ e-GMAT
Thank You! It was good to participate. I just sent you an email as required.
Kartik Shah
Top
Post new topic Locked
• Page 1 of 1