Sentence Correction

More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

(A)More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
B. With 20 percent of the world's fresh water, that is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal has more than 300 rivers that drain into it.
C. Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, it holds more of the world's fresh water than all that of the North American Great Lakes combined, 20 percent.
D. While more than 300 rivers drain into it, Siberia's Lake Baikal holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, which is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
E. More than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water.

I have chose E.....let me know if you differ

I'd say there's a problem with E. Notice how it starts: "More than all the North American Great Lakes combined,..." and then follows immediately with "Siberia's Lake Baikal..." To test whether a setup like that is legitimate, ask yourself whether that initial lead-in ("more than all ... combined") directly modifies that first subject that shows up right after the comma ("Siberia's Lake Baikal"). Could you say "Siberia's Lake Baikal IS more than all the North American Great Lakes combined"? If no, that answer choice won't work.

[If that's not clear, imagine that the sentence started with "The biggest lake ever, Siberia's Lake Baikal..." In that case, I could run the same check: Could I say "Siberia's Lake Baikal is the biggest lake ever"? Yes, I could, so that would be a legitimate setup.]

Is the answer 'A'..then could you plz explain .............

Yep, [spoiler](A)[/spoiler] seems like the best option to me. All of the parts of that version of the sentence are i their proper places. The "which" refers directly to Siberia's Lake Baikal (we can test this by forming a short sentence that omits that "which" -- Siberia's Lake Baikal holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water. Works just fine). And then the final phrase -- "more than all ... combined" -- is an appositive for "20 percent of the world's freshwater"; in other words, that last phrase tells us that "the fresh water content of Lake Baikal IS greater than the fresh water content of all of the N.A. Great Lakes combined."

sorry to say but i am not ok with option A i am thinking that ans C is far better than any other options , Would you please tell what is wrong in option C

jkati wrote:sorry to say but i am not ok with option A i am thinking that ans C is far better than any other options , Would you please tell what is wrong in option C

Hi,
C has errors.
Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, it holds more of the world's fresh water than all that of the North American Great Lakes combined, 20 percent.
Can you post why you think A is not OK so that we can discuss.

actually i was thinking that there was a problem of misplaced modifier,

jkati wrote:actually i was thinking that there was a problem of misplaced modifier,

Always a good idea indeed to check for those misplaced modifiers, but (A) passes that test just fine.

We've got
"More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined."

So "which holds..." is modifying Lake Baikal, and "more than all..." is modifying "20 percent of the world's fresh water."

Everything's in its proper place

Ashley@VeritasPrep wrote:

jkati wrote:actually i was thinking that there was a problem of misplaced modifier,

Always a good idea indeed to check for those misplaced modifiers, but (A) passes that test just fine.

We've got
"More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined."

So "which holds..." is modifying Lake Baikal, and "more than all..." is modifying "20 percent of the world's fresh water."

Everything's in its proper place

I think that "more than" modifies because it is separated by a comma. If there would have been a verb, the situation would be different. Correct ?

X, more than Y, knows how to do the math.

X is more pricey than Y.

Please correct me if i am wrong!

Thanks

I have a confusion with D

sivaelectric wrote:I have a confusion with D

2 things -
While is used for two simulataneous events...

e.g. While I was watching the TV, my girlfriend arrived....
In this sense, D is nonsensical.

Second use is to indicate Contrast. While I planned to eat Pork, Sara, my friend, rejected it.
D) Doesnt make sense in either of the two situations....


Makes sense ?