The opening of the Erie Canal

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The opening of the Erie Canal

by Dean Jones » Wed Nov 30, 2011 6:17 am
Dear Friends,

I was having problems in answering the following question.


When a ton of wheat was being moved from Buffalo to New York City before the
opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, it took three weeks and cost $100, but when the
canal was used, it
took less than eight days and cost less than $6.

A. When a ton of wheat was being moved from Buffalo to New York City before the
opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, it took three weeks and cost $100, but when the
canal was used, it
B. Moving a ton of wheat from Buffalo to New York City before the opening of the Erie
Canal in 1825, it took three weeks and cost $100; using the canal, it
C. Before the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, moving a ton of wheat from Buffalo to
New York City took three weeks and cost $100; on the canal the move
D. In 1825, before opening the Erie Canal, to move a ton of wheat took three weeks from
Buffalo to New York City, which cost $100; moving it on the canal
E. To move a ton of wheat in 1825 from Buffalo to New York City took three weeks
before the opening of the Erie Canal, costing $100, but in using the canal, the move


Please help.

OA after some discussions.

My choice was option B

Regards
Deano.
Source: — Sentence Correction |

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by ranjeet75 » Wed Nov 30, 2011 6:43 am
A and B are contender but confusing

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by GmatVerbal » Wed Nov 30, 2011 7:37 am
My take is C.
It choice (A) 'it' is dangling;
In choice (B) "it" is refering to the phrase "Moving the wheat ..."; GMAT guys don't like 'it' refering to phrases. Avoid 'it' if possible.
Also, If the choices (A) and (B) were to be right, choice (C) would be right. As choice (C) saying the same thing concisely, i.e Moving the wheat took..and cost.. ;

Also it makes much more sense to keep the phrase "Before the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825" at the beginning.

If you analyze the choices,
choices A, B are testing the understanding of the modifiers ( Ing and when clause) -> refering to 'it';

choices C,D,E are testing the use of Gerend vs Infinitive ; Gerend form is better than using Infinitive(to); And the logical prediction -> "Before opening the Erie canal" -> this is the "contrast" point moving it to the front emphasizes the point;

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by Dean Jones » Sat Dec 03, 2011 6:31 am
OA is option C. But I picked option B because of the parallelism. Can somebody further explain why option B is incorrect.

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by ranjeet75 » Mon Dec 05, 2011 7:19 am
What is the source of the question?

Option c : If C is right the second part of the sentence would be like "on the canal the move took three weeks"

Is the sentence correct?

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by patanjali.purpose » Thu Dec 08, 2011 1:58 pm
B. Moving a ton of wheat from Buffalo to New York City before the opening of the Erie
Canal in 1825, it took three weeks and cost $100; using the canal, it
Remove prep ph and read..."Moving a tone of wheat...., it took 3 weeks" - what does the opeaning phrase (Moving a tone of wheat....) do?

Its a opening modifier (VERBING phrase) and therefore it need to modify immediately following subject, in this case, IT. What does IT stands for ? It stands for "Moving a ton of wheat..". Given this, can the opening VERNING MODIFY ITSELF? I think, you know the answer.
C. Before the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, moving a ton of wheat from Buffalo to
New York City took three weeks and cost $100; on the canal the move
Important to note here is IT is replaced by THE MOVE - this is done to avoid any ambiguity

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