Sunspot Cycles

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komal: Legendary Member; Posts: 777; Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2010 4:02 amFollowed by: 47 members; Location: Mumbai, India; Thanked: 117 times

by komal » Mon Jan 25, 2010 3:14 am

Last edited by komal on Sat Jan 30, 2010 11:51 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Mon Jan 25, 2010 3:14 am

fibbonnaci: MBA Student; Posts: 403; Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2009 7:32 pmFollowed by: 22 members; Thanked: 98 times

by fibbonnaci » Mon Jan 25, 2010 3:28 am

A. On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are believed to be the rate that trees grow [ rate that trees grow is wrong usage. rate of something is the correct form]

B. On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are, it is believed, the rate of tree growth [ my answer]

C. On Earth, the rate at which trees grow is believed to be among the surest indications of sunspot cycles[ the phrase as seen in the rings modifies sunspot cycles]

D. Among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles, believed to be the tree growth rate [ wrong usage. On earth of sunspot cycles doesnt make sense.]

E. Among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles is believed to be the rate at which trees grow[ same error as in D]

Hope this helps!

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money9111: Legendary Member; Posts: 2109; Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:25 pmFollowed by: 79 members; Location: New Jersey; Thanked: 109 times; GMAT Score:640

by money9111 » Tue Jan 26, 2010 8:46 pm

I initially had it down to B & C. I'm beginning to see a common theme with my answers. 80% of the time I narrow the choices down to 2 answers, even if they're dissimilar, but then I don't reread the question stem. I forgot to look at the information AFTER the comma. If I had done so I would have realized that the same reason I was able to narrow it down... is the same reason that C is the correct answer.

At least I've pointed it out to myself now right? haha

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mmon: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 105; Joined: Wed Oct 14, 2009 6:07 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 3 times

by mmon » Wed Jan 27, 2010 6:47 am

IMO E. I chose C initially too but on closer look saw only in E "their" correctly refers to tree .

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Osirus@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1578; Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 8:02 amFollowed by: 34 members; Thanked: 128 times; GMAT Score:760

by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Wed Jan 27, 2010 7:02 am

I would choose C. In choice B the "it is believed" seems too awkward. I think the Prepositional modifier "On Earth" needs to be at the beginning of the sentence since it is modifying the entire sentence really. I think its between B and C, I would go with C.

OA?

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Osirus@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1578; Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 8:02 amFollowed by: 34 members; Thanked: 128 times; GMAT Score:760

by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Wed Jan 27, 2010 7:27 am

Analyzing this more closely, D and E have to be incorrect. "of sunspot cycles" as its written is modifying "on earth" when its meant to modify indications.

B is wrong because with the "it is believed" phrase, only indications can be the antecedent of "it", and that is incorrect.

We are left with A and C. With choice A, I believe that it is wrong because I think the proper usage is "rate of". Choose C.

Wow, that was a tough one. Thanks for posting, that really made me think.

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becnil: MBA Student; Posts: 170; Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2009 11:01 amFollowed by: 8 members; Location: Durham, NC; Thanked: 20 times; GMAT Score:740

by becnil » Wed Jan 27, 2010 3:16 pm

I will also go with choice C as it is the most direct and precise answer choice. However, with this choice, the location of "..their trunks. " is too far from the antecedent noun "..trees grow,".

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sammmu: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 11:33 pm

by sammmu » Tue Mar 16, 2010 11:29 pm

34. On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are believed to be the rate that trees grow, as seen in the rings visible in the cross sections of their trunks.

A. On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are believed to be the rate that trees grow
B. On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are, it is believed, the rate of tree growth
C. On Earth, the rate at which trees grow is believed to be among the surest indications of sunspot cycles
D. Among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles, believed to be the tree growth rate
E. Among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles is believed to be the rate at which trees grow

I narrowed it down to A/D/E, because their in the last phrase points to trees not tree. However A option is awkward with the rate that tree grow. So A is also out. I would prefer C out of C/E, because C emphasize on the subject: the rate at which trees. E seems a bit odd with the construction of ::Among the Surest indications on EARth of sunspot cycles""" can be written like: On earth,Among the surest indications of sunspot cycles.
Also E will still remian to be more passive after this new construction compare to C.

But i have a doubt on choice C construction, Shallnt we keep the last phrase ""as seen in the rings visible in the cross sections of their trunks"" close to the rate at which Trees gow. or it compare with the phrase Surest indication of the Sunspot cycles.

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harshavardhanc: Legendary Member; Posts: 526; Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 11:47 pm; Location: India; Thanked: 68 times; GMAT Score:680

by harshavardhanc » Wed Mar 17, 2010 1:53 am

komal wrote:34. On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are believed to be the rate that trees grow, as seen in the rings visible in the cross sections of their trunks.

A. On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are believed to be the rate that trees grow
B. On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are, it is believed, the rate of tree growth
C. On Earth, the rate at which trees grow is believed to be among the surest indications of sunspot cycles
D. Among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles, believed to be the tree growth rate
E. Among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles is believed to be the rate at which trees grow

OA : B

I'm still amazed that stalwarts like Osirus, money and our mods think that B is the correct answer.

B says :

On Earth,________ indications___________ are,_________, the rate of tree growth

it would have made sense had it been rates over there. But, rate .....tut-tut!

the rate clearly says that we have to chose any option which has is in it.

IMO E conveys the meaning correctly. It is an example where the subject (the rate) comes after the verb (believed to be).

Regards,
Harsha

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sammmu: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 11:33 pm

by sammmu » Wed Mar 17, 2010 2:42 am

i need the expert advice for C/E

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mj41: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 56; Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2010 3:26 am

by mj41 » Wed Mar 17, 2010 2:49 am

Thank you harshavardhanc I was getting really confused with the previous replies because of "are" vs "is"

Can some expert please elaborate. Shouldnt "among the clearest indications....." be follwed by "is believed to be the rate at which" as apposed to "are teh rate of tree growth"

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kevincanspain: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 613; Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2007 6:17 amFollowed by: 64 members; Location: madrid; Thanked: 171 times; GMAT Score:790

by kevincanspain » Wed Mar 17, 2010 3:38 am

34. On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are believed to be the rate that trees grow, as seen in the rings visible in the cross sections of their trunks.

A. On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are believed to be the rate that trees grow
B. On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are, it is believed, the rate of tree growth
C. On Earth, the rate at which trees grow is believed to be among the surest indications of sunspot cycles
D. Among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles, believed to be the tree growth rate
E. Among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles is believed to be the rate at which trees grow

Watch out for inversions and modification!

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on earth should be immediately after indications; placed at the beginning of the sentence, it seems to modify believed

A : on earth misplaced, should be is instead of are, rate at which
B: on earth misplaced, should be is instead of are, unnecessarily choppy
C: on earth is misplaced, does not modify is believed
D: not a complete sentence
E: CORRECT

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lunarpower: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3380; Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 amFollowed by: 1535 members; Thanked: 2256 times; GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Wed Mar 17, 2010 5:47 am

like kevin says.

more detail on the inverted construction (verb before subj):

you can spot the inversion because there is nothing before 'are' that could possibly be a subject. the entire preceding portion of the sentence is a giant prepositional phrase.

the placement of 'on earth' is also much better in e than in a.
- e says what it's supposed to say: we're looking at indications that are on earth. (this answer choice implies that better indicators are available elsewhere - presumably closer to the sun.)
- a says that tree growth is believed to be a good indicator by people on earth (--> martians beg to differ).

and finally, yes, 'the rate that' is simply... wrong. things don't 'happen a rate'; they happen at a rate, so that preposition has to stay. same reason you can say 'the grocery store at which i bought that food', and not 'the grocery store that i bought that food'.

--

some things wrong with c:
* the placement of 'on earth' is just as problematic as in choice a (again, the sentence seems to be saying that residents of other planets disagree with us).
* 'as seen in the rings...' is a modifier that must be placed next to the thing that it modifies, which is 'the rate at which trees grow'. the way choice c is currently written, it says that indications of sunspot cycles can be seen directly in the rings - and it also implies that sunspot cycles (instead of trees) have rings!

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lunarpower: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3380; Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 amFollowed by: 1535 members; Thanked: 2256 times; GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Wed Mar 17, 2010 5:48 am

...so in case it's not clear, the answer to this problem is (e).

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harshavardhanc: Legendary Member; Posts: 526; Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 11:47 pm; Location: India; Thanked: 68 times; GMAT Score:680

by harshavardhanc » Wed Mar 17, 2010 6:23 am

lunarpower wrote:...so in case it's not clear, the answer to this problem is (e).

Thanks Ron!! you're the best!

Regards,
Harsha

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