having the right ~

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having the right ~

by allfta » Tue Feb 15, 2011 11:08 pm
Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War, Horace Pippin, a Black American painter, worked by holding the brush in his right hand and guiding its movements with his left.
(A) Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War
(B) In spite of his right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War
(C) Because there had been a sniper's bullet during the First World War that crippled his right hand and arm
(D) The right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War
(E) His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War

I know this one has a lot of previous postings and it is easy to find an answer wid "elimination method" using 'being' expression, yet I am still confusing in the following issues. plz help.

1) In my point of view the answer E still looks like sentence fragment. Can "possesive phrase, Subject" be treated as a flawless experession in GMAT? Plz note some examples.

2) Apart from being error, is the expression of "in spite of" wrong in meaning side? In my opinion the meaning referring that "although he got hurt in World war, HP worked by ~" seems still ok. Any difference between in spite of and although?

3) Ms. Koprince said "(A) "Having" is the wrong tense - the sentence should be in past tense." in this posting( https://www.beatthegmat.com/question-fro ... t1386.html ). But, isn't a subordinate phrase with participial construction of simple ~ing form meant same tense with the main clause and that, having clause of this question is also in the past tense as the main clause is?

Thank you ahead
Source: — Sentence Correction |

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by VivianKerr » Wed Feb 16, 2011 11:39 am
Hi allfta,

You are correct to be very suspicious of choices with the word "being" in them!

Correct: "His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War, Horace Pippin, a Black American painter, worked by holding the brush in his right hand and guiding its movements with his left."

A sentence fragment lacks a subject, a predicate verb, and/or a complete thought. Here we have all three.

"In spite of..." could be okay since we are showing how Pippin was able to overcome a disability. "Although" could also potentially be correct.

"Having..." is incorrect because it does not include a past tense verb (the injuring happened in the PAST, and is not continuously happening). Here would be a correct way to use "having":

Correct: "Having injured his right hand and arm during the First World War, Horace Pippin, a Black American painter, worked by holding the brush in his right hand and guiding its movements with his left."

Hope this helps!
Vivian Kerr
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