BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

It is now believed

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 418
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 12:48 pm
Thanked: 6 times
Followed by:3 members

It is now believed

by gmatdriller » Wed Oct 10, 2012 2:41 pm
It is now believed that there are as many as 100 million microscopic plants on the deep-sea floor, a figure hundreds of times larger than the old projection of 200,000 species for all types of marine life.

A. a figure hundreds of times larger than
B. a figure hundreds as many times larger than
C. which is a figure hundreds as many times larger than
D. hundreds of times as large as the figure of
E. hundreds of times larger as the figure of

What does "a figure" or "hundred of times" modify in all the options?

OAA
Top
Source: — Sentence Correction |
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 434
Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 10:42 pm
Location: Bangalore, India
Thanked: 91 times
Followed by:46 members

by EducationAisle » Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:33 pm
It modifies the "figure" 100 million: )

Actually students should be very comfortable with this kind of a construction (noun+noun modifier), since this seems to be a GMAT favorite (perhaps because it is not very intuitive).

An example from OG:

The yield of natural gas from Norway's Troll gas field is expected to increase annually until the year 2005 and then to stabilize at six billion cubic feet a day, an extraction rate that will allow at least 50 years' production.
Ashish
MBA - ISB, GMAT - 99th Percentile
GMAT Faculty @ EducationAisle
www.EducationAisle.com

Sentence Correction Nirvana available at:

a) Amazon: Sentence Correction Nirvana

b) Flipkart: Sentence Correction Nirvana

Now! Preview the entire Grammar Section of Sentence Correction Nirvana at pothi
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 418
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 12:48 pm
Thanked: 6 times
Followed by:3 members

by gmatdriller » Thu Oct 11, 2012 1:56 am
EducationAisle wrote:It modifies the "figure" 100 million: )


An example from OG:

The yield of natural gas from Norway's Troll gas field is expected to increase annually until the year 2005 and then to stabilize at six billion cubic feet a day, an extraction rate that will allow at least 50 years' production.
YIELD is expected to INCREASE..and to STABILIZE AT 6B ft^3 per day, AN EXTRACTION RATE....
I think "an extraction rate" actually modifies "six billion cubic feet a day"

But in the example I gave, "a figure hundreds of times" and "a hundred of times as large" actually touch "the deep-sea floor"; This is my concern.

Its like: NOUN1 ON NOUN2, MODIFYING PHRASE [ what should the phrase modify?]

Appreciate your feedback and a closer example from OG.

Thanks.
Top
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 434
Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 10:42 pm
Location: Bangalore, India
Thanked: 91 times
Followed by:46 members

by EducationAisle » Thu Oct 11, 2012 2:48 am
gmatdriller wrote: Appreciate your feedback and a closer example from OG.
Here goes..

In 2000, a mere two dozen products accounted for half the increase in spending on prescription drugs, a phenomenon that is explained not just by the fact that drugs are becoming more expensive but also by the fact that doctors are writing many more prescriptions for higher-cost drugs.

See if this is also not good enough and I can find many more...there are lot like these all over;)
Ashish
MBA - ISB, GMAT - 99th Percentile
GMAT Faculty @ EducationAisle
www.EducationAisle.com

Sentence Correction Nirvana available at:

a) Amazon: Sentence Correction Nirvana

b) Flipkart: Sentence Correction Nirvana

Now! Preview the entire Grammar Section of Sentence Correction Nirvana at pothi
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 418
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 12:48 pm
Thanked: 6 times
Followed by:3 members

by gmatdriller » Thu Oct 11, 2012 4:22 am
Am very pleased with your prompt response;
however, in 1st example, i think "an extraction rate" actually modifies something unique-the 6B ft^3 per day closest to the term. Clear.

2nd example, i think "a phenomenon" is an abstract term which modifies the entire preceding clause. Also clear.

Meanwhile, the example I posted has "a figure..." which should modify something unique- a noun.
The closest noun to it is "sea floor" Consider the sentence below:

"There are 1 million plants on the deep-sea floor, a figure hundred times..."

There seems to be some missing gap in my analysis, but I would appreciate further explanations.

Regards.
Top
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 434
Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 10:42 pm
Location: Bangalore, India
Thanked: 91 times
Followed by:46 members

by EducationAisle » Thu Oct 11, 2012 5:19 am
2nd example, i think "a phenomenon" is an abstract term which modifies the entire preceding clause.
Correct, but phenomenon did not modify prescription drugs, the closest noun, because logically it didn't make sense to.
"There are 1 million plants on the deep-sea floor, a figure hundred times..."
Similarly, a figure will not modify deep-sea floor, because logically it doesn't make sense (since deep-sea floor is not a figure).

Such constructions are flexible in that sense. Another example:

In 1713, Alexander Pope began his translation of the Iliad, a work that took him seven years to complete and that literary critic Samuel Johnson, Pope's contemporary, pronounced the greatest translation in any language.

a work modifies translation and not Illiad (again since logically the translation and not Illiad itself took him seven years).
Ashish
MBA - ISB, GMAT - 99th Percentile
GMAT Faculty @ EducationAisle
www.EducationAisle.com

Sentence Correction Nirvana available at:

a) Amazon: Sentence Correction Nirvana

b) Flipkart: Sentence Correction Nirvana

Now! Preview the entire Grammar Section of Sentence Correction Nirvana at pothi
Top
Post new topic Locked
• Page 1 of 1