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force5: Legendary Member; Posts: 582; Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 12:48 amFollowed by: 6 members; Thanked: 61 times; GMAT Score:740

by force5 » Wed Aug 17, 2011 2:07 am

Hailed as a key discovery in the science of evolution, the fossils of a large scaly creature resembling both a fish and a land-animal provide evidence of a possible link in the evolutionary chain from water-based to land-based organisms.
(A)the fossils of a large scaly creature resembling both a fish and a land-animal provide evidence of

(E)the fossils of a large scaly creature resemble both a fish and a land-animal and provide evidence of

i want to discuss this question with these two choices. Please give your inputs.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Wed Aug 17, 2011 2:07 am

venmic: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 222; Joined: Mon Oct 13, 2008 4:04 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 3 times

by venmic » Wed Aug 17, 2011 6:16 am

my take on this would be

(A)the fossils of a large scaly creature resembling both a fish and a land-animal provide evidence of

the fossils [of a large scaly creature resembling both a fish and a land-animal] provide evidence of

--> The fossils PROVIDE evidence of whatever

(E)the fossils [of a large scaly creature resemble both a fish and a land-animal ] and provide evidence of

--> akward construction

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aspirant2011: Legendary Member; Posts: 1574; Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:52 amFollowed by: 13 members; Thanked: 88 times

by aspirant2011 » Wed Aug 17, 2011 11:44 am

force5 wrote:Hailed as a key discovery in the science of evolution, the fossils of a large scaly creature resembling both a fish and a land-animal provide evidence of a possible link in the evolutionary chain from water-based to land-based organisms.
(A)the fossils of a large scaly creature resembling both a fish and a land-animal provide evidence of ------- resembling is the wrong usage over here

(E)the fossils of a large scaly creature resemble both a fish and a land-animal and provide evidence of ------ this is right because it states two things (qualities of fossils) i.e fossils resemble X and Y and provide evidence of blah blah blah

i want to discuss this question with these two choices. Please give your inputs.

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crick: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 125; Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 6:11 pm; Thanked: 8 times

by crick » Wed Aug 17, 2011 6:33 pm

I will go with A here.

The key discovery in the sentence are the fossils of a creature which resembles both fish and land-animal. Hence resembling is correct usage.

Hailed as a key discovery in the science of evolution, the fossils of a large scaly creature resembling both a fish and a land-animal provide evidence .......

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HSPA: Legendary Member; Posts: 1101; Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 7:26 amFollowed by: 13 members; Thanked: 47 times; GMAT Score:640

by HSPA » Wed Aug 17, 2011 7:03 pm

fossils - provide .. both are plural.. so good

Creature = singlular = resembles

IMO: "A creature 'that' resembles both a fish and a dog"

Some connectivity in the original sentense and in options is missing.

First take: 640 (50M, 27V) - RC needs 300% improvement
Second take: coming soon..
Regards,
HSPA.

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force5: Legendary Member; Posts: 582; Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 12:48 amFollowed by: 6 members; Thanked: 61 times; GMAT Score:740

by force5 » Thu Aug 18, 2011 5:12 am

hi everyone...

I'm really on a fix on this one. Its again question that is not clear expression.

choice 1

the fossils of a large scaly creature resembling both a fish and a land-animal provide evidence of

I think its a good sentence and it doesn't have any grammatical error. The fossils ....provide evidence. Just one question i have here- what is resembling modifying? Is it modifying "creature" or is it modifying "fossils" What is the way of identifying it? If someone can please share....

(E)the fossils of a large scaly creature resemble both a fish and a land-animal and provide evidence of
this choice on the other hand makes "resemble" and "provide" parallel to "fossils". Again i can't rule this choice out because it isn't incorrect. Even if you see what do they mean -- fossils can Resemble something.... and provide evidence of something....

so which one to choose?

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aspirant2011: Legendary Member; Posts: 1574; Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:52 amFollowed by: 13 members; Thanked: 88 times

by aspirant2011 » Thu Aug 18, 2011 5:40 am

force5 wrote:hi everyone...

choice 1

the fossils of a large scaly creature resembling both a fish and a land-animal provide evidence of

I think its a good sentence and it doesn't have any grammatical error. The fossils ....provide evidence. Just one question i have here- what is resembling modifying? Is it modifying "creature" or is it modifying "fossils" What is the way of identifying it? If someone can please share....

If I read sentence logically then resembling modifies fossils

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czarczar: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 106; Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:39 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 4 times

by czarczar » Thu Aug 18, 2011 10:43 am

force5 wrote:Hailed as a key discovery in the science of evolution, the fossils of a large scaly creature resembling both a fish and a land-animal provide evidence of a possible link in the evolutionary chain from water-based to land-based organisms.
(A)the fossils of a large scaly creature resembling both a fish and a land-animal provide evidence of

(E)the fossils of a large scaly creature resemble both a fish and a land-animal and provide evidence of

i want to discuss this question with these two choices. Please give your inputs.

I think option E is correct.

Option A means that creature but not the fossils resemble both a fish and a land-animal.

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bubbliiiiiiii: Legendary Member; Posts: 979; Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:38 amFollowed by: 12 members; Location: Hyderabad, India; Thanked: 49 times; GMAT Score:700

by bubbliiiiiiii » Fri Aug 19, 2011 2:03 am

force5 wrote:Hailed as a key discovery in the science of evolution, the fossils of a large scaly creature resembling both a fish and a land-animal provide evidence of a possible link in the evolutionary chain from water-based to land-based organisms.
(A)the fossils of a large scaly creature resembling both a fish and a land-animal provide evidence of

(E)the fossils of a large scaly creature resemble both a fish and a land-animal and provide evidence of

i want to discuss this question with these two choices. Please give your inputs.

My take is A is appropriate.

Hailed as a key discovery in the science of evolution, the fossils of a large scaly creature resembling both a fish and a land-animal provide evidence of a possible link in the evolutionary chain from water-based to land-based organisms.

The statement in blue modifies the creature.

Regards,

Pranay

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bubbliiiiiiii: Legendary Member; Posts: 979; Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:38 amFollowed by: 12 members; Location: Hyderabad, India; Thanked: 49 times; GMAT Score:700

by bubbliiiiiiii » Fri Aug 19, 2011 2:05 am

Moreover, option E has wrong comparison. It compares the fossils with fish and a land animal.

Thus, conveys wrong meaning.

Regards,

Pranay

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gmat1978: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 35; Joined: Thu Dec 23, 2010 7:38 pm

by gmat1978 » Sat Aug 20, 2011 7:30 pm

I have the same question about choice 1 mentioned below by force5. I am especially interested in the following - "how do we identify whether "resembling" is modifying the creature or fossils". Can anyone please help by providing couple of examples?

Thanks

force5 wrote:hi everyone...

I'm really on a fix on this one. Its again question that is not clear expression.

choice 1

the fossils of a large scaly creature resembling both a fish and a land-animal provide evidence of

I think its a good sentence and it doesn't have any grammatical error. The fossils ....provide evidence. Just one question i have here- what is resembling modifying? Is it modifying "creature" or is it modifying "fossils" What is the way of identifying it? If someone can please share....

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ntamhane: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 34; Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2011 4:15 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 1 times

by ntamhane » Sat Aug 20, 2011 10:31 pm

Would go for A.
As the subject the verb goes provide evidence goes correctly with the the subject fossils.

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force5: Legendary Member; Posts: 582; Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 12:48 amFollowed by: 6 members; Thanked: 61 times; GMAT Score:740

by force5 » Tue Aug 23, 2011 4:54 am

still waiting for an expert to answer..... i see some people still have some confusion.

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sungoal: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 93; Joined: Fri Jul 09, 2010 10:52 pm; Thanked: 6 times

by sungoal » Tue Aug 23, 2011 7:21 am

Hi force5,

"resembling both a fish and a land-animal" is a participial phrase because it is starting with the present participle "resembling". According to the Grammar rules Participial phrases always modify immediate noun preceding them if participial phrases are not separated from the nouns with a 'comma'.

So "resembling both a fish and a land-animal" is a modifier in this question

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GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Tue Aug 23, 2011 9:59 am

force5 wrote:Hailed as a key discovery in the science of evolution, the fossils of a large scaly creature resembling both a fish and a land-animal provide evidence of a possible link in the evolutionary chain from water-based to land-based organisms.
(A)the fossils of a large scaly creature resembling both a fish and a land-animal provide evidence of

(E)the fossils of a large scaly creature resemble both a fish and a land-animal and provide evidence of

i want to discuss this question with these two choices. Please give your inputs.

A comparison must compare APPLES TO APPLES: it must compare the right two things.
E states that the FOSSILS...resemble both a FISH and a LAND-ANIMAL.
The FOSSILS themselves do not resemble both a fish and a land-animal; the CREATURE resembles both a fish and a land-animal.
Eliminate A.

In A, resembling modifies creature, so the comparison is correct: a large scaly CREATURE resembling both a FISH and a LAND-ANIMAL.

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