More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia

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manhhiep2509: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 32; Joined: Mon Mar 04, 2013 1:18 am; Thanked: 1 times; GMAT Score:700

by manhhiep2509 » Wed Jan 29, 2014 8:45 pm

More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

A. More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
B. With 20 percent of the world's fresh water, that is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal has more than 300 rivers that drain into it.
C. Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, it holds more of the world's fresh water than all that of the North American Great Lakes combined, 20 percent.
D. While more than 300 rivers drain into it, Siberia's Lake Baikal holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, which is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
E. More than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water.

Hi.

choice B says "Siberia's Lake Baikal has more than 300 rivers that drain into it"

does "the lake has 300 rivers" make sense?
it seems to say that the lake possesses 300 rivers.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Wed Jan 29, 2014 8:45 pm

Bill@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1248; Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:57 pmFollowed by: 192 members; Location: Everywhere; Thanked: 503 times; GMAT Score:780

by Bill@VeritasPrep » Fri Jan 31, 2014 3:27 pm

I think that would be reason enough to eliminate it. Also, the opening "With 20 percent of the world's fresh water, that is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined" is exceedingly awkward.

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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 » Sat Feb 01, 2014 4:19 am

manhhiep2509 wrote:More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

A. More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
B. With 20 percent of the world's fresh water, that is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined, More than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal
C. Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, it holds more of the world's fresh water than all that of the North American Great Lakes combined, 20 percent.
D. While more than 300 rivers drain into it, Siberia's Lake Baikal holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, which is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
E. More than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water.

In B, that lacks a clear antecedent.
If that is standing in for 20% of the world's fresh water, we get:
With 20% of the world's fresh water, 20% of the world's fresh water is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
This meaning is nonsensical.
Eliminate B.

In C, holds serves as the verb for it.
Thus, Siberia's Lake Baikal (subject) lacks a verb.
Eliminate C.

On the GMAT, which + singular verb must refer to the nearest preceding singular noun.
In D, which seems to refer to the world's fresh water, implying that the WORLD'S FRESH WATER
is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
Not the intended meaning.
Eliminate D.

E implies that Siberia's Lake Baikal is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
This meaning is nonsensical: a lake cannot be MORE than another lake.
Eliminate E.

The correct answer is A.

B: Siberia's Lake Baikal has more than 300 rivers.
A lake is a body of water.
A body of water does not HAVE rivers.
Another reason to eliminate B.

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by [email protected] » Mon Oct 03, 2016 6:45 am

In B, that lacks a clear antecedent.
If that is standing in for 20% of the world's fresh water, we get:
With 20% of the world's fresh water, 20% of the world's fresh water is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
This meaning is nonsensical.
Eliminate B.

In C, holds serves as the verb for it.
Thus, Siberia's Lake Baikal (subject) lacks a verb.
Eliminate C.

On the GMAT, which + singular verb must refer to the nearest preceding singular noun.
In D, which seems to refer to the world's fresh water, implying that the WORLD'S FRESH WATER
is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
Not the intended meaning.
Eliminate D.

E implies that Siberia's Lake Baikal is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
This meaning is nonsensical: a lake cannot be MORE than another lake.
Eliminate E.

The correct answer is A.

B: Siberia's Lake Baikal has more than 300 rivers.
A lake is a body of water.
A body of water does not HAVE rivers.
Another reason to eliminate B.

Hi Mitch,

I have a doubt here. I wanted to know in both D and E because of the usage of relative clause you are comparing lakes with water however in A due to the usage of an appositive in A why are we comparing water with water of lakes in A.

Can you please highlight the difference due to different usages of structures and therefore why A is correct?

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