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by das.ashmita » Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:30 pm
Starfish, with anywhere from five to eight arms, have a strong regenerative ability, and if one arm is lost it quickly replaces it, sometimes by the animal overcompensating and growing an extra one or two.

A one arm is lost it quickly replaces it, sometimes by the animal overcompensating and
B one arm is lost it is quickly replaced, with the animal sometimes overcompensating and
C they lose one arm they quickly replace it, sometimes by the animal overcompensating,
D they lose one arm they are quickly replaced, with the animal sometimes overcompensating,
E they lose one arm it is quickly replaced, sometimes with the animal overcompensating,

OA: B
Source: — Sentence Correction |

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by ihatemaths » Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:57 pm
its a clash between E and B but B wins , since Overcompensating and Growing are shown as parallel structures .

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by GMATGuruNY » Thu Oct 11, 2012 3:15 am
das.ashmita wrote:Starfish, with anywhere from five to eight arms, have a strong regenerative ability, and if one arm is lost it quickly replaces it, sometimes by the animal overcompensating and growing an extra one or two.

A one arm is lost it quickly replaces it, sometimes by the animal overcompensating and
B one arm is lost it is quickly replaced, with the animal sometimes overcompensating and
C they lose one arm they quickly replace it, sometimes by the animal overcompensating,
D they lose one arm they are quickly replaced, with the animal sometimes overcompensating,
E they lose one arm it is quickly replaced, sometimes with the animal overcompensating,

OA: B
In A, the first it (singular) does not agree with its intended antecedent, starfish (plural). Eliminate A.

In D, the second they (plural) does not agree with its intended antecedent, arm (singular). Eliminate D.

In C and E, sometimes by the animal and sometimes with the animal imply a nonsensical meaning: that the lost arm is replaced sometimes NOT BY or sometimes WITHOUT the animal.
Eliminate C and E.

The correct answer is B.

Where a modifier is placed affects MEANING.
Always notice when a modifier such as SOMETIMES changes position in the answer choices.
In the OA, sometimes correctly modifies overcompensating and growing:
If one arm is lost it is quickly replaced, with the animal SOMETIMES OVERCOMPENSATING AND GROWING an extra one or two.
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