nasty fruit fly

Question

Studying the fruit fly, a household nuisance but a time-honored experimental subject, has enabled the secrets of how embryos develop to begin to be unraveled by scientists.

A. Studying the fruit fly, a household nuisance but a time-honored experimental subject, has enabled the secrets of how embryos develop to begin to be unraveled by scientists.

B. By the study of the fruit fly, a household nuisance and also a time honored experimental subject, it was possible for the secrets of how embryos develo0p to begin to be unraveled by scientists.

C. By studying a household nuisance but a time-honored experimental subject, the fruit fly enabled scientists to begin to unravel the secrets of how embryos develop.

D. By studying the fruit fly, a household nuisance and also a time-honored experimental subject, the secrets of how embryos develop are beginning to be unraveled by scientists.

E. The study of the fruit fly, a household nuisance but a time-honored experimental subject, has enabled scientists to begin to unravel the secrets of how embryos develop.

OA is [spoiler]E. It just escapes me how the appositive can modify the fly in E. To me 'the study' seems to be the subject and the fly the object of preposition. Can appositive modify object of preposition?[/spoiler]

hjafferi · Answer

IMO E

A) in this case household NuiSance is studying the fruit fly
B) same as A
C) here the fruit fly is studying the household.....
D) same as A
E) Corect answer

Don't remember the exact rule. But what i recall is that

If an action is performined with ing in the first clause ( i.e before the comma) that the word that folows imediatly after the comma is the one who is perfoming the action
For example: studying the fruit fly, the scientist revealed thebsecrets
However if the sentence is complete in its right then the word following the comma is an attribute to the word immediatly preceding it....

Thats all that i recall. If you know the rule would appreciate it you can remind me.

Sartaj · Answer

Okay! Let's see.

"a household nuisance but a time honored subject" is a modifier. It is a misconception that modifiers modify only subjects. Modifiers modify "nouns." This modifier clearly modifies the noun "fruit fly" in options A, B, D and E.

Next, "nuisance" and "experimental subject" are sort of opposite qualities. So, I'll prefer using "but" between them rather than "and." This brings us to wither A or E. Now, eliminate the modifier:

A) Studying the fruit fly has enabled the secrets of how embryos develop to begin to be unraveled by scientists.
E) The study of the fruit fly has enabled scientists to begin to unravel the secrets of how embryos develop.

Option A states that the study has by itself revealed the secrets. Moreover its awkward - "embryos develop to begin" is weird. That's wrong. Option E clearly states that study by scientists has revealed the secrets.

Option C is incorrect because the modifier gives a sense that the fruit fly is studying a household nuisance.

My answer: E

shekhar.kataria · Answer

The Answer to your Question lies in the definition of Appositives.

Apposives are noun phrases that can be used to modify immediate preceding NOUN ( the fly ), NOUN PHRASES ( The study of the fly ) or to the PREVIOUS CLAUSE.

Here in E, I think it is wrong to say THE STUDY IS A HOUSEHOLD NUISANCE , it is clear that it cant be the subject of the modifier.

nailGmat2012 wrote:Studying the fruit fly, a household nuisance but a time-honored experimental subject, has enabled the secrets of how embryos develop to begin to be unraveled by scientists.

A. Studying the fruit fly, a household nuisance but a time-honored experimental subject, has enabled the secrets of how embryos develop to begin to be unraveled by scientists.

B. By the study of the fruit fly, a household nuisance and also a time honored experimental subject, it was possible for the secrets of how embryos develo0p to begin to be unraveled by scientists.

C. By studying a household nuisance but a time-honored experimental subject, the fruit fly enabled scientists to begin to unravel the secrets of how embryos develop.

D. By studying the fruit fly, a household nuisance and also a time-honored experimental subject, the secrets of how embryos develop are beginning to be unraveled by scientists.

E. The study of the fruit fly, a household nuisance but a time-honored experimental subject, has enabled scientists to begin to unravel the secrets of how embryos develop.

OA is [spoiler]E. It just escapes me how the appositive can modify the fly in E. To me 'the study' seems to be the subject and the fly the object of preposition. Can appositive modify object of preposition?[/spoiler]

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anuprajan5 · Answer

Just a very flimsy point, but I remember from the BTG flashcards which state that if a whole sentence is underlined, some test prep resources assume the answer to be D or E.

Nowadays when I see such sentences, my attention directly goes to these choices. And most of the time, it proves me right.

Regards
Anup

nailGmat2012 · Answer

The Answer to your Question lies in the definition of Appositives.

Apposives are noun phrases that can be used to modify immediate preceding NOUN ( the fly ), NOUN PHRASES ( The study of the fly ) or to the PREVIOUS CLAUSE.

Agreed. The problem here is that the noun is in a prepositional phrase, which can be usually taken out.
By far D seems to have avoided the confusion in what's being modified. But the problem with D is that the actioner is in passive. The actioner (scientists) should immediately follow the modifier. Even then 'D' sounds better to me.

anyways, thanks.

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