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absolute phrase or relative clause, pls help

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absolute phrase or relative clause, pls help

by tanviet » Fri Jan 02, 2009 8:38 pm
Pls, do this question( a,b,c are too easy to sort out)

(D). The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monesteries, many of which are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

(E). The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monesteries,many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

which is correct, pls, help
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by mowghli » Fri Jan 02, 2009 9:05 pm
many of them in E is correct
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Re: absolute phrase or relative clause, pls help

by logitech » Fri Jan 02, 2009 9:08 pm
duongthang wrote:Pls, do this question( a,b,c are too easy to sort out)

(D). The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monesteries, many of which are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

(E). The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monesteries,many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

which is correct, pls, help
I was reading the new Manhattan GMAT SC Guide and came across with this topic:

SUBGROUP MODIFIERS - Chapter 6, page: 106

Both constructions are correct actually and we can only have a working verb, in this case ARE, when we use which.

They both modify monesteries.

This is 1000SC question and OA is E but I don't see any differences between D and E.

Stacey , Karen, Ron HELP!!!!!!
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by mowghli » Fri Jan 02, 2009 9:37 pm
.....In any case shouldn't it be were chiseled in D to be right?
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by raunekk » Fri Jan 02, 2009 11:43 pm
exactly..


we need a past tense "were" instead of "are"..
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by logitech » Fri Jan 02, 2009 11:51 pm
TRUE TRUE!!

Now it makes sense!
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by Karen » Sat Jan 03, 2009 11:19 am
Yes, both kinds of modifying phrases are possible, but "are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago" is wrong because the modifier "centuries ago" makes clear that they're talking about when the process happened, so it would have to be a past tense verb.

If it had said simply"many of which are chiseled from solid rock" we'd have a problem, because then this could be the adjectival use of "chiseled" -- in other words, they might not be describing the *process* but describing their make-up now, like saying "They're made of concrete". But because it says "centuries ago" it's clear they're talking about the past, so the verb tense is wrong.
Karen van Hoek, PhD
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