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

Redeem

dangling modifer

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu May 15, 2008 4:20 pm

dangling modifer

by gmat_ttt » Thu May 15, 2008 5:15 pm
Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize lower-paid workers.

(A) Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize
(B) Unlike those in the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to
organize
(C) In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant to organize
(D) Japanese unions, unlike the United States, appear reluctant to organize
E) Japanese unions, unlike those in the United States, appear reluctant about
organizing

OA is b. This is definitely the best answer as far as comparison goes. But isn't those in OA referring to Japanese unions rather than just unions and thus making Japanese unions sort of a dangling modifier.

thanks.
Top
Source: — Sentence Correction |
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 111
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 2:50 am
Thanked: 11 times

by thang » Thu May 15, 2008 8:24 pm
no, 'those' can refer to both 'union'or 'Japanese union" , depending on meaning required
Top

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 3380
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 am
Thanked: 2256 times
Followed by:1535 members
GMAT Score:800

Re: dangling modifer

by lunarpower » Fri May 16, 2008 11:43 pm
gmat_ttt wrote:Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize lower-paid workers.

(A) Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize
(B) Unlike those in the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to
organize
(C) In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant to organize
(D) Japanese unions, unlike the United States, appear reluctant to organize
E) Japanese unions, unlike those in the United States, appear reluctant about
organizing

OA is b. This is definitely the best answer as far as comparison goes. But isn't those in OA referring to Japanese unions rather than just unions and thus making Japanese unions sort of a dangling modifier.

thanks.
i agree with the original poster here: the official answer to this problem is defective. although the source of the problem is not noted, i would conjecture that it is not an official problem, because the 'correct' answer features an unacceptable lack of parallelism.
here's why:
the construction 'those of...' requires strict parallelism - i.e., it must be parallel to some other structure in the sentence that uses the preposition OF.
same thing goes for 'those in...', as used in these examples; if you write 'those in...', then there MUST be another construction containing the preposition IN elsewhere in the sentence for the parallelism to be valid.

one could fix choice b, then, by replacing 'japanese unions' with 'unions in japan' (a construction that doesn't appear anywhere in the answer choices).

incidentally, 'dangling modifier' is the incorrect terminology here; a dangling modifier is something completely different. here's a link if you're interested, although linguistic terminology should be the least of your concerns as you're studying for this test.
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 à Ron en français
Voit esittää kysymyksiä Ron:lle myös suomeksi

--

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

Yves Saint-Laurent

--

Learn more about ron
Top
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 57
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2013 3:13 am

by sukkhi » Wed Jun 25, 2014 9:37 am
whats the problem with option-C??

if it shuld be in japan || in united states [parallelism]

can somebody provide a little insight to similar parallel structures...
Top

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Elite Legendary Member
Posts: 10392
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pm
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Thanked: 2867 times
Followed by:511 members
GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Wed Jun 25, 2014 5:49 pm
Hi sukkhi,

Parallelism and Comparison rules require that you compare "like" things AND do so in "Parallel Format" (which means that the order of the words must match).

In this SC, you could compare:
-A country to another country
-A union to another union
-What happens in one country to what happens in another country
Etc.

Answer C begins with "In Japan...."; to be parallel, the sentence would have to state "....in the United States....", which is does NOT do. Thus, answer C is incorrect.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
Contact Rich at [email protected]
Image
Top
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 15539
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pm
Location: New York, NY
Thanked: 13060 times
Followed by:1906 members
GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Wed Jun 25, 2014 7:08 pm
For the record, the SC above is an official problem (OG11, p. 639, SC10).
Private tutor exclusively for the GMAT and GRE, with over 20 years of experience.
Followed here and elsewhere by over 1900 test-takers.
I have worked with students based in the US, Australia, Taiwan, China, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia -- a long list of countries.
My students have been admitted to HBS, CBS, Tuck, Yale, Stern, Fuqua -- a long list of top programs.

As a tutor, I don't simply teach you how I would approach problems.
I unlock the best way for YOU to solve problems.

For more information, please email me (Mitch Hunt) at [email protected].
Student Review #1
Student Review #2
Student Review #3
Top
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 57
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2013 3:13 am

by sukkhi » Wed Jun 25, 2014 9:47 pm
GMATGuruNY wrote:For the record, the SC above is an official problem (OG11, p. 639, SC10).
if thats the case then what about "those" in (C) trying to refer to just "unions" of noun-japanese unions..

hw is that ok??
Top
Post new topic Locked
• Page 1 of 1