kevincanspain wrote:The first thing to do is to read the orginal sentence for meaning: what is 'harder to detect' referring to? What is the main idea of the sentence?

Soft plaque is now emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks, harder to detect and more vulnerable to sudden, unexpected rupture than hard plaque

A) Soft plaque is now emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks, harder to detect and more vulnerable to sudden, unexpected rupture than hard plaque

B) Soft plaque is now emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks, as opposed to hard plaque, harder to detect and more vulnerable to sudden,unexpected rupture

C) Soft plaque is harder to detect and more vulnerable to rupture than hard plaque, now emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks

D) Soft plaque, harder to detect and more vulnerable to sudden, unexpected rupture than hard plaque, is now emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks

E) Soft plaque, because it is harder to detect and more vulnerable to sudden, unexpected rupture, is emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks, as opposed to hard plaque

I shall post the answer after a few comments

Thanks

Generally, a present participle (such as emerging) preceded by a comma refers to the subject of the preceding clause. C is confusing because the comparison in the preceding clause-- soft plaque [is] harder to detect...than [is] hard plaque -- implies two potential subjects:

gmat25 wrote:Hi Mitch,

Thanks a lot for your post. But i have one more doubt.

Generally, a present participle (such as emerging) preceded by a comma refers to the subject of the preceding clause. C is confusing because the comparison in the preceding clause-- soft plaque [is] harder to detect...than [is] hard plaque -- implies two potential subjects:

First time i have seen such thing here that when in a clause we compare two items then we have two potential subjects and that's why as u said its unclear what that -ing participle is referring to. Thanks, i learned a new concept here.

Doubt:---->

In Op D, can u please suggest if it correct to place a COMMA between Sudden and unexpected....this COMMA is unnecessarily creating confusion. I think AND should be placed between these two words rather than a COMMA.

chaitanya.mehrotra wrote:I have a query: In option C, if we remove now -> emerging will act as modifier and modify Subject + Verb ( Soft plaque is). Then the meaning is alright.

WIll option C be correct if remove "Now"
-> Soft plaque is harder to detect and more vulnerable to rupture than hard plaque, emerging as the cause of up to 80% of heart attacks.

gmatjeet wrote:

chaitanya.mehrotra wrote:I have a query: In option C, if we remove now -> emerging will act as modifier and modify Subject + Verb ( Soft plaque is). Then the meaning is alright.

WIll option C be correct if remove "Now"
-> Soft plaque is harder to detect and more vulnerable to rupture than hard plaque, emerging as the cause of up to 80% of heart attacks.

Can someone answer this question please. I understand why C is wrong in the original sentence. But the quoted sentence seems to be right as per me.