Sentence Correction

I have a doubt in the meaning difference between "only surpassed by..." and "surpassed only by..." in the following question:

Diabetes, together with its serious complications,
ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death,
surpassed only by heart disease and cancer.
(A) ranks as the nation's third leading cause of
death, surpassed only
(B) rank as the nation's third leading cause of death,
only surpassed
(C) has the rank of the nation's third leading cause
of death, only surpassed
(D) are the nation's third leading causes of death,
surpassed only
(E) have been ranked as the nation's third leading
causes of death, only surpassed

any clues???? Thanks in advance

"Diabetes" is the subject. Since it is singular, it will agree with the verb "ranks."

(B), (D), and (E) are eliminated because of the plural/singular issue.

Let's compare (A) and (C):

(A) Diabetes...ranks AS _____, VERB only by _____.

(C) Diabetes...has the rank OF _____, only VERB by _____.

Not only is (A) more concise (less wordy) and more clear (with the verb coming directly after the comma), but also the meaning is more clear in (A).

Let's look at a simpler version of these choices:

Diabetes IS surpassed only by heart disease and cancer.

Diabetes IS only surpassed by heart disease and cancer.

Only is a limiting modifier.

Surpassed only by - surpassed only by A & B ..... this shows how dangerous diabetes is that only 2 disease were able to surpass it

Only surpassed by - this does not show that mightness of diabetes, in fact it kind of shows pity on diabetes that diabetes only surpasses 2 diseases.

E.g. I almost ran 10 miles
I ran almost 10 miles.

vikram4689 wrote:Only is a limiting modifier.

Surpassed only by - surpassed only by A & B ..... this shows how dangerous diabetes is that only 2 disease were able to surpass it

Only surpassed by - this does not show that mightness of diabetes, in fact it kind of shows pity on diabetes that diabetes only surpasses 2 diseases.

E.g. I almost ran 10 miles
I ran almost 10 miles.

Yep it was a meaning diference between them far easier to detect by native speakers but i think i got the idea. Many Thanks to both of you!!

Fernando.

Wow, I am getting a good dose of meaning difference. :)Good one.

deep.amangmat wrote:Wow, I am getting a good dose of meaning difference. :)Good one.

So perhaps you could thank me also xDDD

Sure I can.

See I already did

In fact when I had done this question from OG, I did not think this deeply. But reading this explanation was an eye opener for me.

In this particular question i think is not that relevant but it could be in another one . By the way thanks for the thanks given.

Fernando diaz wrote:I have a doubt in the meaning difference between "only surpassed by..." and "surpassed only by..." in the following question:

Diabetes, together with its serious complications,
ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death,
surpassed only by heart disease and cancer.
(A) ranks as the nation's third leading cause of
death, surpassed only
(B) rank as the nation's third leading cause of death,
only surpassed
(C) has the rank of the nation's third leading cause
of death, only surpassed
(D) are the nation's third leading causes of death,
surpassed only
(E) have been ranked as the nation's third leading
causes of death, only surpassed

any clues???? Thanks in advance

Only John eats cookies.
Meaning: NO ONE ELSE eats cookies; only JOHN eats cookies.

John only eats cookies.
Meaning: John doesn't BAKE cookies; he only EATS them.

John eats only cookies.
Meaning: John doesn't eat OTHER FOODS; he eats only COOKIES.

Where a modifier is placed changes the meaning.

Diabetes is only surpassed by heart disease and cancer.
Meaning: Diabetes is not ERADICATED by heart disease and cancer; it is only SURPASSED by them.

Diabetes is surpassed only by heart disease and cancer.
Meaning: Diabetes is not surpassed BY OTHER DISEASES; it is surpassed only BY HEART DISEASE AND CANCER.

The latter version conveys the intended meaning: that heart disease and cancer are THE ONLY DISEASES that surpass diabetes.
Thus, only should be placed next to the diseases:

Diabetes is surpassed only by heart disease and cancer.

A modifier should be placed as close as possible to what it's modifying.

Hi Mitch,

I agree with the answer analysis you have done. But I wanted to know doesn't surpass modify death here because verb-ed modifier always modifies closest noun.Please explain.

sid090188 wrote:Hi Mitch,

I agree with the answer analysis you have done. But I wanted to know doesn't surpass modify death here because verb-ed modifier always modifies closest noun.Please explain.

In the OA, surpassed modifies cause of death, the preceding noun phrase.
The third leading cause of death -- in other words, diabetes -- is surpassed only by heart disease and cancer.
Context makes the meaning clear.

Please note the following:
It is not possible for surpassed to modify only the preceding noun (death) and not the entire preceding noun phrase (cause of death).
In the phrase cause of death, the prepositional modifier of death is so essential to the meaning that it cannot be modified separately from the entire phrase.
In essence, cause of death functions as a single noun: any modifier that refers to this phrase must modify the entire phrase.

GMATGuruNY wrote: Context makes the meaning clear.

Hello Mitch, I also had the same question as sid090188. This is from OG:

Many of the earliest known images of Hindu deities in India date from the time of the Kushan Empire, fashioned either from the spotted sandstone of Mathura or Gandharan grey schist.

OE says that:

Placement of the modifier fashioned...suggests that the Empire (the closest noun),not the images of the deities, was fashioned out of these materials

By context, it should have been clear that Empire cannot be fashioned from sandstone.

iongmat wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote: Context makes the meaning clear.

Hello Mitch, I also had the same question as sid090188. This is from OG:

Many of the earliest known images of Hindu deities in India date from the time of the Kushan Empire, fashioned either from the spotted sandstone of Mathura or Gandharan grey schist.

OE says that:

Placement of the modifier fashioned...suggests that the Empire (the closest noun),not the images of the deities, was fashioned out of these materials

By context, it should have been clear that Empire cannot be fashioned from sandstone.

Please revisit my post above, in which I've clarified the reasoning.
The grammatical structure here is not analogous.
Here, the intent is for fashioned to modify many of the earliest known images, the subject of the preceding clause.
A COMMA + VERBed modifier must refer to the immediately preceding noun or noun phrase; it cannot serve to modify the preceding subject.

Thanks Mitch. It is very clear now.

GMATGuruNY wrote:

Fernando diaz wrote:I have a doubt in the meaning difference between "only surpassed by..." and "surpassed only by..." in the following question:

Diabetes, together with its serious complications,
ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death,
surpassed only by heart disease and cancer.
(A) ranks as the nation's third leading cause of
death, surpassed only
(B) rank as the nation's third leading cause of death,
only surpassed
(C) has the rank of the nation's third leading cause
of death, only surpassed
(D) are the nation's third leading causes of death,
surpassed only
(E) have been ranked as the nation's third leading
causes of death, only surpassed

any clues???? Thanks in advance

Only John eats cookies.
Meaning: NO ONE ELSE eats cookies; only JOHN eats cookies.

John only eats cookies.
Meaning: John doesn't BAKE cookies; he only EATS them.

John eats only cookies.
Meaning: John doesn't eat OTHER FOODS; he eats only COOKIES.

Where a modifier is placed changes the meaning.

Diabetes is only surpassed by heart disease and cancer.
Meaning: Diabetes is not ERADICATED by heart disease and cancer; it is only SURPASSED by them.

Diabetes is surpassed only by heart disease and cancer.
Meaning: Diabetes is not surpassed BY OTHER DISEASES; it is surpassed only BY HEART DISEASE AND CANCER.

The latter version conveys the intended meaning: that heart disease and cancer are THE ONLY DISEASES that surpass diabetes.
Thus, only should be placed next to the diseases:

Diabetes is surpassed only by heart disease and cancer.

A modifier should be placed as close as possible to what it's modifying.

Mitch i understand your examples. However, in context of the meaning you can't pick an answer based on placement of only in this sentence.

Diabetes is only surpassed by heart disease and cancer.
Meaning: Diabetes is not ERADICATED by heart disease and cancer; it is only SURPASSED by them.
In this sentence , i understand what you are implying but in terms of meaning, it will be clear what the author intents to say irrespective of the placement of the modifier 'only'. Heart disease and cancer can't eradicate diabetes. So , in this context may be somebody can interpret the way you are describing , but for an average Joe like me, i will look for other error types in this question(tenses are one)to corner down the answer choice. Thanks Mitch you are helpful as always!