Sentence Correction

The peaks of a mountain range, acting like rocks in a streambed, produce ripples in the air flowing over them: the resulting flow pattern, with crests and toughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are known as "standing waves."

A) crests and toughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are
B) crests and toughs that remain stationary although they are formed by rapidly moving air, are
C)crests and toughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, is
D)stationary crests and toughs although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are
E)stationary crests and toughs although they are formed by rapidly moving air, is.

The correct answer is C . I have chosen E. Could anybody explain the reason for the right choice and why E is wrong?

The peaks of a mountain range, acting like rocks in a streambed, produce ripples in the air flowing over them: the resulting flow pattern, with crests and toughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are known as "standing waves."

A) crests and toughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are
B) crests and toughs that remain stationary although they are formed by rapidly moving air, are
C)crests and toughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, is (CORRECT)
D)stationary crests and toughs although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are
E)stationary crests and toughs although they are formed by rapidly moving air, is. (AKWARD,CHANGES MEANING)

'Although' to bring in contrast.

sulabh wrote:The peaks of a mountain range, acting like rocks in a streambed, produce ripples in the air flowing over them: the resulting flow pattern, with crests and toughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are known as "standing waves."

A) crests and toughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are
B) crests and toughs that remain stationary although they are formed by rapidly moving air, are
C)crests and toughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, is (CORRECT)
D)stationary crests and toughs although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are
E)stationary crests and toughs although they are formed by rapidly moving air, is. (AKWARD,CHANGES MEANING)

I feel the option e is in passive voice hence must be avoided.

IMO A

It is ridiculous to assert that passive voice is discouraged in GMAT. Below is just an example in which passive is correct.

The Olympic Games helped to keep peace among the pugnacious states of the Greek world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival’s month.

(A) world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival’s month
(B) world, proclaiming a sacred truce during the festival’s month
(C) world when they proclaimed a sacred truce for the festival month
(D) world, for a sacred truce was proclaimed during the month of the festival
(E) world by proclamation of a sacred truce that was for the month of the festival

Source: OG11, pg. 645, Q. 51

"passive voice should be avoided" is apparently too vague and misleading a statement to be a good rule. Therefore, I do not lend much credit to the idea of avoiding passive.

As to real2008's question, I didn't figure out the problem with (E) even after I had read official explanations. Breaking my mind thinking, I still didn't really understand why and how the clause after "although" is awkward and unclear. However, I then recognized a grammar error of (E). Because "although" is a conjunction, it is supposed to connect two clauses. In (E), it joins "stationary crests and troughs", which is a noun phrase, and "they are formed by rapidly moving air", which is a clause. For this reason, (E) is grammatically wrong.

(C) avoids the above mentioned error. In (C), "although" connects "that remain stationary" and "the air that form them is moving rapidly", both of which are a clause.

redsome wrote: (C) avoids the above mentioned error. In (C), "although" connects "that remain stationary" and "the air that form them is moving rapidly", both of which are a clause.

Can someone please help me understand how "XYZ that remain stationary".... is a complete clause...

Kindly tell which is a verb in the above sentence ?

As per my understanding

Although X, Y.

Here X, Y needs to be complete clauses.

Kindly tell if what I am missing here.

Same question here: how come crests and troughs that remain stationary is a complete clause?

goelmohit2002 wrote:

redsome wrote: (C) avoids the above mentioned error. In (C), "although" connects "that remain stationary" and "the air that form them is moving rapidly", both of which are a clause.

Can someone please help me understand how "XYZ that remain stationary".... is a complete clause...

Kindly tell which is a verb in the above sentence ?

As per my understanding

Although X, Y.

Here X, Y needs to be complete clauses.

Kindly tell if what I am missing here.

real2008 wrote:The peaks of a mountain range, acting like rocks in a streambed, produce ripples in the air flowing over them: the resulting flow pattern, with crests and toughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are known as "standing waves."

A) crests and toughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are
B) crests and toughs that remain stationary although they are formed by rapidly moving air, are
C)crests and toughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, is
D)stationary crests and toughs although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are
E)stationary crests and toughs although they are formed by rapidly moving air, is.

The correct answer is C . I have chosen E. Could anybody explain the reason for the right choice and why E is wrong?

There is nothing wrong grammatically in E. But E completely changes the meaning.
A careful reading can help find the difference

C says that....X and Y remain stationary although air is moving rapidly
E says that.....stationary X and Y although they are formed by moving air.

E does not present the idea of the sentence properly.

C. crests and toughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, is

But isn't that remain stationary the essential relative clause that modifies crests and toughs?

e-GMAT wrote:Can someone please help me understand how "XYZ that remain stationary".... is a complete clause...
Kindly tell which is a verb in the above sentence ?


Subject = that (where that refers to XYZ)
Verb = remain

Ron, Can you take a look at this problem?

the explanation OG gives about E is "Th e subordinate clause in the passive voice following although is awkward and unclear." I cannot understand it well.how this clause become askward and unclear?

Thank you!

Ron is right: only a lucky few can reliably use awkwardness to eliminate wrong answers. Nor should non-native speakers automatically eliminate a choice containing a construction that they find strange.

Clarity is a far better criterion, and to use it effectively, you must first read the orginal sentence for meaning. Don't think about grammar until you read it a second time!


A is perfectly clear: it conveys the fact that the crests and troughs remain stationary (motionless) even though the the air that forms them (i.e. the crests and throughs) is moving rapidly. C corrects the verb error.

E obscures the meaning: it suggests that one might not expect stationary crests and troughs to be formed by rapidly moving air. Nowhere is the original is it suggested that the crests and troughs are what one might not expect to be formed.

The following two sentences differ in meaning in much the same way:

It is suprising that the woman chosen to be the next head of the IMF is a European lawyer.
It is surprising that the next head of the IMF will be a female European lawyer.