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VR SC :By devising an instrument made from a rod

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VR SC :By devising an instrument made from a rod

by NandishSS » Thu Jan 26, 2017 4:19 am
By devising an instrument made from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employing uncommonly precise measurements, in 1797-1798 Henry Cavendish's apparatus enabled him to arrive at an astonishingly accurate figure for the weight of the earth.


A.By devising an instrument made from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employing uncommonly precise measurements, in 1797-1798 Henry Cavendish's apparatus enabled him
B.In 1797-1798, by devising an instrument made from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employing uncommonly precise measurements, Henry Cavendish's apparatus enabled him
C.Henry Cavendish devised an instrument made from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employed uncommonly precise measurements, and in 1797-1798 was able
D.Having devised an instrument from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employment of uncommonly precise measurements, Henry Cavendish in 1797-1798 was able
E.By devising an instrument made from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employing uncommonly precise measurements, Henry Cavendish was able in 1797-1798

OA:E
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by fiza gupta » Fri Jan 27, 2017 3:01 am
A.By devising an instrument made from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employing uncommonly precise measurements, in 1797-1798 Henry Cavendish's apparatus enabled him
Modifier error

B.In 1797-1798, by devising an instrument made from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employing uncommonly precise measurements, Henry Cavendish's apparatus enabled him
modifier error

C.Henry Cavendish devised an instrument made from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employed uncommonly precise measurements, and in 1797-1798 was able
not the intended meaning and a proper construction
Henry devised, employed, and was able to

D.Having devised an instrument from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employment of uncommonly precise measurements, Henry Cavendish in 1797-1798 was able
parallelism issue

E.By devising an instrument made from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employing uncommonly precise measurements, Henry Cavendish was able in 1797-1798
Fiza Gupta
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by crackverbal » Fri Jan 27, 2017 8:57 pm
let me give it a shot.

Option A -
has a modifier error as fiza gupta has pointed out.
Additionally, the intervening phrase "in 1797-1798" also makes it incorrect. The initial modifier must always be immediately followed by the noun that it refers to.

look at this question from GMATPrep -
"Introduced by Italian merchants resident in London during the sixteenth century, in England life insurance ..." (Incorrect)
"Introduced by Italian merchants resident in London during the sixteenth century, life insurance in England ..." (Correct)

Option C -
this is incorrect because the conjunction "and" is used to indicate a list. There is no causal relationship between the items in a list.

for example -
I missed the bus and was late for the interview.
this sentence tells us two things happened - "missed the bus" and "late for the interview". But, it does not establish that missing the bus made me late for the interview. There is no relationship between the two things.

the intended meaning is that Cavendish's devising of the instrument enabled him to arrive at an accurate figure for the weight of the earth.
In option C, there is no such relationship between "devised an instrument" and "was able to arrive at an accurate figure".

Option D -
As already pointed out, the phrases in D are not parallel.
"in 1797-1798" seems to refer to Henry Cavendish instead of the verb phrase "was able to arrive".

Hope this helps
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by GMATGuruNY » Mon Jan 30, 2017 3:56 am
NandishSS wrote:By devising an instrument made from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employing uncommonly precise measurements, in 1797-1798 Henry Cavendish's apparatus enabled him to arrive at an astonishingly accurate figure for the weight of the earth.

A.By devising an instrument made from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employing uncommonly precise measurements, in 1797-1798 Henry Cavendish's apparatus enabled him
B.In 1797-1798, by devising an instrument made from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employing uncommonly precise measurements, Henry Cavendish's apparatus enabled him
C.Henry Cavendish devised an instrument made from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employed uncommonly precise measurements, and in 1797-1798 was able
D.Having devised an instrument from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employment of uncommonly precise measurements, Henry Cavendish in 1797-1798 was able
E.By devising an instrument made from a rod, wire, and lead balls, and employing uncommonly precise measurements, Henry Cavendish was able in 1797-1798
An introductory VERBing modifier must serve to refer to the FIRST NOUN OR NOUN PHRASE of the main clause.

A: By devising an instrument, in 1797
Here, by devising does not serve to refer to in 1797.
Eliminate A.

B: By devising an instrument, Henry Cavendish's apparatus
Here, by devising seems to refer to Henry Cavendish's apparatus,i implying that the APPARATUS was DEVISING -- a nonsensical meaning.
Eliminate B.

C: Henry Cavendish devised...and employed...and was able
Here, the and in red is unwarranted.
Eliminate C.

PARALLEL FORMS should serve the SAME FUNCTION.
D: Having devised an instrument...and employment
Here, employment is parallel with an instrument, with the result that both nouns seem to be direct objects of devised.
Conveyed meaning:
Having devised an instrument...and [having devised] employment.
The portion in red conveys a nonsensical meaning.
Eliminate D.

The correct answer is E.
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by Mo2men » Mon Jan 30, 2017 6:20 am
GMATGuruNY wrote: PARALLEL FORMS should serve the SAME FUNCTION.
D: Having devised an instrument...and employment
Here, employment is parallel with an instrument, with the result that both nouns seem to be direct objects of devised.
Conveyed meaning:
Having devised an instrument...and [having devised] employment.
The portion in red conveys a nonsensical meaning.
Eliminate D.

The correct answer is E.
In choice D, 'having devising' implies that the action started in past and still in process in present ot is effect still in present. This is incorrect.

Can i eliminate for that reason?

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by GMATGuruNY » Mon Jan 30, 2017 1:48 pm
Mo2men wrote:In choice D, 'having devising' implies that the action started in past and still in process in present ot is effect still in present. This is incorrect.

Can i eliminate for that reason?

Thanks
An introductory having + VERBed modifier serves to express an action that PRECEDES the main action.
D: Having devised an instrument, Henry Cavendish was able to arrive at an astonishingly accurate figure.
Conveyed sequence:
Henry Cavendish DEVISED an instrument BEFORE he WAS ABLE to arrive at an astonishingly accurate figure.
This sequence is logical.
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by Mo2men » Mon Jan 30, 2017 2:51 pm
GMATGuruNY wrote:
Mo2men wrote:In choice D, 'having devising' implies that the action started in past and still in process in present ot is effect still in present. This is incorrect.

Can i eliminate for that reason?

Thanks
An introductory having + VERBed modifier serves to express an action that PRECEDES the main action.
D: Having devised an instrument, Henry Cavendish was able to arrive at an astonishingly accurate figure.
Conveyed sequence:
Henry Cavendish DEVISED an instrument BEFORE he WAS ABLE to arrive at an astonishingly accurate figure.
This sequence is logical.

Thanks Mitch

But present perfect from its name gives the meaning of something have root in present which contradicts the main action which is in the past. Is it illogical??
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by GMATGuruNY » Mon Jan 30, 2017 3:41 pm
Mo2men wrote:
GMATGuruNY wrote:
Mo2men wrote:In choice D, 'having devising' implies that the action started in past and still in process in present ot is effect still in present. This is incorrect.

Can i eliminate for that reason?

Thanks
An introductory having + VERBed modifier serves to express an action that PRECEDES the main action.
D: Having devised an instrument, Henry Cavendish was able to arrive at an astonishingly accurate figure.
Conveyed sequence:
Henry Cavendish DEVISED an instrument BEFORE he WAS ABLE to arrive at an astonishingly accurate figure.
This sequence is logical.

Thanks Mitch

But present perfect from its name gives the meaning of something have root in present which contradicts the main action which is in the past. Is it illogical??
As stated in my post above:
A having + VERBed modifier expresses an action that happens BEFORE the main action.
If the main action happens in the past, then the having + VERBed action happens in the past BEFORE the main action.
A having + VERBed modifier does NOT express an action happening in the present.
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