When a passenger aircraft crashed...

Expert replies

giovanni.gastone: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 51; Joined: Fri Feb 18, 2011 5:35 pm; Location: Florence, Italy

by giovanni.gastone » Tue May 24, 2011 1:08 pm

Source: Veritas

When a passenger aircraft crashed in the jungles near the village of Triskiti, local tribesmen collected pieces of the broken plane before they could be carefully examined where they had fallen, unintentionally thwarting the efforts of investigators that already were made difficult by the remoteness of the crash site.

A. unintentionally thwarting the efforts of investigators that already were made difficult by the remoteness of
B. unintentionally thwarting the efforts of investigators, which already were made difficult by the remoteness of
C. unintentionally thwarting the efforts of investigators, that had already been made difficult by the remoteness of
D. unintentionally thwarting the efforts of investigators, and already made difficult by the remoteness of
E. unintentionally thwarting the efforts of investigators, and already made difficult by the remote location of

This came from a Veritas CAT. I'm curious what people think is the right answer.

Like this post

Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Tue May 24, 2011 1:08 pm

vineeshp: Legendary Member; Posts: 965; Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2010 12:52 amFollowed by: 34 members; Thanked: 156 times; GMAT Score:720

by vineeshp » Wed May 25, 2011 3:11 am

It is between A and C. I am totally confused.

in A, that already were made difficult sounds awkward to me.
in C, investigators, that had already been made difficult seems to be using that as a non essential modifier but still sounds better than A.

What is the OA? Wat a question!

Vineesh,
Just telling you what I know and think. I am not the expert.

Like this post

HSPA: Legendary Member; Posts: 1101; Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 7:26 amFollowed by: 13 members; Thanked: 47 times; GMAT Score:640

by HSPA » Wed May 25, 2011 3:16 am

I am with B because I beleive
which = efforts of investigators and not just investigators

A, B are the only contenders

First take: 640 (50M, 27V) - RC needs 300% improvement
Second take: coming soon..
Regards,
HSPA.

Like this post

only800: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 3; Joined: Sun May 01, 2011 9:24 pm

by only800 » Wed May 25, 2011 4:13 am

Only contender are A & C

1. C is grammatically wrong as "that" can not follow a comma.

2. unintentionally thwarting the efforts of investigators -> present continuous
therefore there is no reason that to use past perfect tense "that had already been made difficult by the remoteness of" as used in C

so A should be correct

Like this post

sameerballani: Legendary Member; Posts: 544; Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2010 8:10 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 45 times

by sameerballani » Wed May 25, 2011 4:58 am

I feel the answer is option A. Could you please tell the correct answer?

Like this post

bubbliiiiiiii: Legendary Member; Posts: 979; Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:38 amFollowed by: 12 members; Location: Hyderabad, India; Thanked: 49 times; GMAT Score:700

by bubbliiiiiiii » Wed May 25, 2011 5:06 am

When a passenger aircraft crashed in the jungles near the village of Triskiti, local tribesmen collected pieces of the broken plane before they could be carefully examined where they had fallen, unintentionally thwarting the efforts of investigators that already were made difficult by the remoteness of the crash site.

A. unintentionally thwarting the efforts of investigators that already were made difficult by the remoteness of B. unintentionally thwarting the efforts of investigators, which already were made difficult by the remoteness of
C. unintentionally thwarting the efforts of investigators, that had already been made difficult by the remoteness of
D. unintentionally thwarting the efforts of investigators, and already made difficult by the remoteness of
E. unintentionally thwarting the efforts of investigators, and already made difficult by the remote location of

Please correct if wrong.

Regards,

Pranay

Like this post

Frankenstein: Legendary Member; Posts: 1448; Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 9:55 amFollowed by: 53 members; Location: India; Thanked: 375 times

by Frankenstein » Wed May 25, 2011 8:03 am

Hi,
IMO, A
D,E are out because of 'and'
C is out because of comma before 'that'. Comma can be used before that if that comma belongs to a modifier
B - I think it is out because which should be closest to the thing it refers to.

Expert opinions would be appreciated.

Cheers!

Like this post

giovanni.gastone: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 51; Joined: Fri Feb 18, 2011 5:35 pm; Location: Florence, Italy

by giovanni.gastone » Wed May 25, 2011 8:27 am

The answer is B, folks. I had selected A as well because I didn't think "which" in B clearly referred to the efforts of investigators but the test maker of Veritas apparently believes it does.

Does anyone know a good source on how "which" is used?

Choice C is eliminated for the wordiness of "that had already been made."
Choice B is selected over Choice A because the last clause is a nonrestrictive clause that should be introduced with "which".

Like this post

aspirant2011: Legendary Member; Posts: 1574; Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:52 amFollowed by: 13 members; Thanked: 88 times

by aspirant2011 » Wed May 25, 2011 9:08 am

yup I also chose B on reading the question because of the same reason of "which" representing non restrictive clause...........C is wrong because of comma + that construction and A is wrong because of the use of "that were".........in A this part is not necessary as we have already completed the sentence by introduction of "unintentionally thwarting"

Like this post

wayofjungle: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 77; Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2011 8:55 am; Thanked: 12 times

by wayofjungle » Wed May 25, 2011 8:39 pm

yes the answer is B because 'which' is used as a non-essential clause in which a comma is always required. Choice A is not correct because the pronoun 'they' is unambiguous and may refer to investigators.

Like this post

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

by atulmangal » Wed May 25, 2011 9:05 pm

My pick was Op B, and its good to see its correct.

Only A and B are contenders, but why B and Not A.

From, one of the Ron's post, almost always WHICH refers to preceding NOUN PHRASE if its there otherwise to the preceding NOUN...here the NOUN PHRASE is " efforts of investigators" which has to be the subject of the next clause...

Why THAT is wrong...here IMO THAT is introducing the RELATIVE CLAUSE and modifying the whole preceding clause so it feels like:

"unintentionally thwarting the efforts of investigators " is the subject of the VERB "were"...and thats wrong.

Like this post

nafiul9090: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 226; Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2010 12:19 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 3 times

by nafiul9090 » Thu May 26, 2011 8:45 pm

atulmangal wrote:My pick was Op B, and its good to see its correct.

Only A and B are contenders, but why B and Not A.

From, one of the Ron's post, almost always WHICH refers to preceding NOUN PHRASE if its there otherwise to the preceding NOUN...here the NOUN PHRASE is " efforts of investigators" which has to be the subject of the next clause...

Why THAT is wrong...here IMO THAT is introducing the RELATIVE CLAUSE and modifying the whole preceding clause so it feels like:

"unintentionally thwarting the efforts of investigators " is the subject of the VERB "were"...and thats wrong.

hi atul,

nice nice explanation. could you please elaborate the comparison a bit further between Whichand that

regards

nafi

Like this post

GMAT/MBA Expert

lunarpower: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3380; Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 amFollowed by: 1535 members; Thanked: 2256 times; GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Fri May 27, 2011 12:33 am

(b) is the best of the choices here, although it's still sort of weird.
(for instance, the sentence is saying that "the efforts of investigators were difficult" -- this doesn't make any literal sense. the sentence should say that the task of investigation was difficult; an effort can't be difficult.)

--

the simplest way to understand WHICH after NOUN1 + PREP + NOUN2 is to understand that WHICH can stand for either of the following:
* NOUN2
* the whole NOUN1 + PREP + NOUN2
if either one of these is a common-sense referent for the modifier, creating a clear meaning, then the sentence is ok.

in this case, NOUN1 + PREP + NOUN2 is the referent, so we're good.

Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

--

Pueden hacerle preguntas a Ron en castellano
Potete chiedere domande a Ron in italiano
On peut poser des questions Ã Ron en franÃ§ais
Voit esittÃ¤Ã¤ kysymyksiÃ¤ Ron:lle myÃ¶s suomeksi

--

Quand on se sent bien dans un vÃªtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vÃªtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.

Yves Saint-Laurent

--

Learn more about ron

Like this post

Post new topic Locked

• Page 1 of 1

GMAT Course Reviews

560 reviews

1168 reviews

431 reviews

359 reviews

147 reviews

5/5

5 Star (560 Reviews)

"Target Test Prep is the closest to the official version of the GMAT exam, about 99% accuracy in terms of the quality and quantity of information. The course has excellently created singular sets of focused lessons and tests for every possible topic that one could come across in the official GMAT exam."

"The TTP course maximizes the efficiency of the time you spend studying. It will take time and effort but I could almost guarantee that if you complete the course exactly as it is laid out you will get an amazing score. They also have a very responsive team willing to help with any questions you might have."

"TTP has two things that I think no other test prep company offers: A teaching approach that reinforces understanding and an attitude that will give you the mental preparedness needed to succeed on the test. TTP gives you a deep understanding of the concept you need to know while teaching you how to think."

Write a Review