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by sanyalpritish » Thu Mar 25, 2010 7:15 am
Those who have visited the Grand Canyon have typically seen layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, with different colors that mark the passage of time like the rings in a tree trunk.

(A) seen layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, with different colors that mark

(B) see layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, whose different colors mark

(C) been seeing layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, whose different colors are markers of

(D) been able to see layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, with different colors marking(D)

(E) seen layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, marking by different colors
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Source: — Sentence Correction |

by thephoenix » Thu Mar 25, 2010 7:50 am
IMO D
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by josh@knewton » Thu Mar 25, 2010 7:55 am
Thanks for sending this over.

This is actually something of a flawed question.

Choices A and D could both be acceptable.

The GMAT would not make 2 answer choices this close to being "correct."

There is really no difference in the verbs, and the last phrases -- "marking the passage of..." and "that mark the passage of..." both describe the noun "colors."

GMAT questions follow a certain pattern, and sometimes sources do not mimic it perfectly.

We are actually looking at the original source of this specific question -- #78 in OG 11. Chances are your source did not properly capture the spirit of the answer choices. In the original, you can eliminate three choices due of verb tense issues, and the second most-attractive choice clearly contains a misplaced modifier.

Hopefully helpful,
Josh
Josh Anish
Senior Editor, Knewton
https://www.knewton.com
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