Sentence Correction

cuhmoon wrote:Great explanation! Can you please explain the same w.r.t to this sentence:

The committee chose Mr. Smith of Left Block, who was the most experienced member, to lead all the management-related operations

Here, who refers to Mr. Smith and NOT Left Block.

Per the rule mentioned below: who should refer to block.. but that's not the intended meaning of this sentence?

Please help explain..

COMMA + who must serve to refer to the nearest preceding PERSON or PEOPLE.
In the sentence above, COMMA + who must serve to refer to Mr. Smith (the nearest preceding person).

Option C has covering, which is a participle. My question is whether a participle modifies an entire clause or just the subject or object of the sentence?

Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one issue at a time, and figure out the easiest way to get to the right answer! Before we dive in, here is the original question with any major differences between the options highlighted in orange:

It is called a sea, but the landlocked Caspian is actually the largest lake on Earth, which covers more than four times the surface area of its closest rival in size, North America's Lake Superior.

(A) It is called a sea, but the landlocked Caspian is actually the largest lake on Earth, which covers
(B) Although it is called a sea, actually the landlocked Caspian is the largest lake on Earth, which covers
(C) Though called a sea, the landlocked Caspian is actually the largest lake on Earth, covering
(D) Though called a sea but it actually is the largest lake on Earth, the landlocked Caspian covers
(E) Despite being called a sea, the largest lake on Earth is actually the landlocked Caspian, covering

After a quick glance over the options, we see that there are a few places where we can focus our attention:

1. The modifier in the beginning: It is / Although / Though / Despite
2. Placement of the word "actually"
3. The modifier at the end: which covers / covering / covers

Since we're dealing with modifiers, let's do a quick check to make sure all the modifiers are placed directly before or after the word(s) they're referring to. This is one of the most common modifier errors on the GMAT, so it's a good place to start:

(A) It is called a sea, but the landlocked Caspian is actually the largest lake on Earth, which covers
This is INCORRECT because the modifier "which covers more than four times..." is placed next to "Earth," which is NOT what it's supposed to modify! This means we have a misplaced modifier, which is a big no-no on the GMAT!

(B) Although it is called a sea, actually the landlocked Caspian is the largest lake on Earth, which covers
Again, this is INCORRECT because it suggests that the modifier should be tied to Earth, rather than the Caspian, which it should be referring to.

(C) Though called a sea, the landlocked Caspian is actually the largest lake on Earth, covering
This is OKAY because when you begin a modifier with an -ing word, it's now modifying the entire phrase, rather than just the subject closest to it.

(D) Though called a sea but it actually is the largest lake on Earth, the landlocked Caspian covers
This is INCORRECT because we have a misplaced modifier and some terribly awkward wording. The modifier "but it actually is the largest lake on Earth" seems to be in the wrong place - it would make more sense to put it directly after "the landlocked Caspian" to make it clear that's what it's referring to. By removing the comma before "but," it also sounds like a run-on sentence, rather than a modifier.

(E) Despite being called a sea, the largest lake on Earth is actually the landlocked Caspian, covering
This is OKAY because when you begin a modifier with an -ing word, it's now modifying the entire phrase, rather than just the subject closest to it.

We can eliminate options A, B, and D because they have problems with misplaced, confusing, and poorly written modifiers.

Now that we only have to focus on options C and E, let's focus on any overly wordy or confusing phrasing:

(C) Though called a sea, the landlocked Caspian is actually the largest lake on Earth, covering
This is CORRECT! Starting with "Though" is clear and concise, and it makes a bit more sense to place the Caspian first in the next clause because it creates a clearer contrast to " called a sea."

(E) Despite being called a sea, the largest lake on Earth is actually the landlocked Caspian, covering
This is INCORRECT for a couple reasons. First, the GMAT prefers writers avoid the "being + verb" combination whenever possible. It's overly wordy, and there is almost always a better way to phrase it. Second, it makes more sense to put the Caspian first in the next phrase. The modifier in the beginning is "Despite being called a sea," and whatever comes next should be what is called a sea - the Caspian.


There you have it - option C is our best choice!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.

GMATGuruNY wrote:

shekhar.kataria wrote:Mitch

Need Some clarification on the usage of which.

1. Why can't WHICH refer back to THE LARGEST LAKE ON THE EARTH ( the noun phrase )instead of the EARTH ( the noun ).??

On the GMAT, COMMA + WHICH + SINGULAR VERB should refer to the NEAREST preceding singular noun.
In A, the nearest preceding singular noun is Earth.

A guiding principle:
If the antecedent of a pronoun is not crystal clear, and another answer choice is free of errors and avoids the ambiguity, then the answer choice without the ambiguity is by default the better answer choice.
Here, answer choice C is free of errors and avoids the ambiguity in answer choice A.
Thus, we should eliminate A and choose C.

Another issue here is meaning.
In A, the COMMA + which modifier refers ONLY to the nearest eligible antecedent.
But the intention here is to tell us more about SUBJECT of the preceding clause: the landlocked Caspian.
Thus, a modifier that purposefully AVOIDS modifying the landlocked Caspian is not appropriate.
The COMMA + VERBing modifier in C is far better because it modifies the ENTIRE PRECEDING CLAUSE, telling us more about how the landlocked Caspian is actually the largest lake on Earth.

thank you Hunt. I want to add.
pronoun ambiguity is sometime in the correct answer and sometime is in incorrect answer. pronoun ambiguity can be tolerable and can be in the OA. what I want to say is that pronoun ambiguity is considered INFERIOR. inferior concept is a situation in which the inferior sometimes is correct and sometime is incorrect.
this situation is hard because sometime we see inferior is in OA and sometime is considered incorrect. in this problem, inferior pattern is eliminated because choice c is clearer.

I feel hard to accept the reason for which choice a and b are wrong.

i want to say about another reason for which choice a and b are eliminated.
in choice c, "covering..." show the cause, describing how Caspain is the largest lake. so, the idea of covering is integrated more closely inn the whole meaning of the sentence. in choice a, and b, idea of covering can be cut off because comma+which clause is non restictive whereas in choice c, the idea of covering can not be cut off. finally, choice c offer full meaning. choice a and be do not offer full meaning

am i right?