Sentence Correction

We submit these problems to you today courtesy the Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ ... tid=pm_pop). Here's the original paragraph:

On Oct. 12, 1948, the campaign train of Tom Dewey, the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman, pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, he would speak to about 1,000 people. Before he began, the engineer mistakenly caused the train to lurch a few feet backward, frightening some but injuring none.

(Note that these are not "official" GMAT problems -- EssaySnark just made 'em up -- but they test the same stuff!)

Sentence 1:
On Oct. 12, 1948, the campaign train of Tom Dewey, the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman, pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, he would speak to about 1,000 people.

A) the campaign train of Tom Dewey, the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman, pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, he

B) the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman Tom Dewey's campaign train pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, he

C) the campaign train of Tom Dewey, the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman, pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, Truman

D) the campaign train of the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman, Tom Dewey, pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, he

E) Tom Dewey's campaign train pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman


Sentence 2:
Before he began, the engineer mistakenly caused the train to lurch a few feet backward, frightening some but injuring none.

A) Before he began, the engineer mistakenly caused the train to lurch a few feet backward

B) Before Truman began, the engineer mistakenly caused the train to lurch several feet backwards

C) Before Dewey began, the engineer mistakenly caused the train to lurch a few feet backward

D) Before he began, the train engineer mistakenly caused it to lurch backwards by a few feet

E) The train engineer mistakenly caused the train to lurch a few feet backward before he began


We'll happily provide our UA (unofficial answer! for some unofficial problems) if anyone cares to try their hand at these.

1. A -- looks good with modifiers appropriately placed;

A) the campaign train of Tom Dewey, the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman, pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, he
-- correct
B) the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman Tom Dewey's campaign train pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, he
-- comma missing before Tom Dewey's and also Truman is modifying campaign;
C) the campaign train of Tom Dewey, the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman, pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, Truman
-- Truman is not the one speaking;

D) the campaign train of the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman, Tom Dewey, pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, he
-- Tom Dewey is not the compaign train;
E) Tom Dewey's campaign train pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman
-- meaning is not clear Tom Dewey is the one would speak;


2. C -- In the original 'he' meant "Tom Dewey;

Hi essaysnark,

Assuming the second question is just by itself.

The second and third option just differs in the usage of backward/backwards.
I am perfectly fine with using "backwards" there. I think even option B along with C is right.

Thanks
user123321

Sentence 1:
On Oct. 12, 1948, the campaign train of Tom Dewey, the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman, pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, he would speak to about 1,000 people.

A) the campaign train of Tom Dewey, the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman, pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, he

What does HE stands for!!

B) the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman Tom Dewey's campaign train pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, he

Non-possessive HE refers to Dewey's

C) the campaign train of Tom Dewey, the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman, pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, Truman

Distorts orginal meaning: Truman would speak!!!

D) the campaign train of the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman, Tom Dewey, pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, he

Perfect: He refers to Dewey

E) Tom Dewey's campaign train pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman

Distorts orginal meaning: Truman would speak!!!

IMO D

Sentence 2:
Before he began, the engineer mistakenly caused the train to lurch a few feet backward, frightening some but injuring none.

A) Before he began, the engineer mistakenly caused the train to lurch a few feet backward

B) Before Truman began, the engineer mistakenly caused the train to lurch several feet backwards

C) Before Dewey began, the engineer mistakenly caused the train to lurch a few feet backward

D) Before he began, the train engineer mistakenly caused it to lurch backwards by a few feet

E) The train engineer mistakenly caused the train to lurch a few feet backward before he began

A/D/E - HE refrs to Engineer distorting the intended meaning. In the original sentence, He is someone other than engineer
B vs C - both Ok; but B use of 'SEVERAL FEET' is different from original sentence

IMO C

I think the big problem in (D) is the modifier --"the campaign train of the Republican nominee" modifies Tom Dewey

as if Tom Dewey himself is the compaign train; also who pulled into rear platform? Tom Dewey or compaign train?

in choice(A): he refers to Tom Dewey clearly, is because - (1) modifier in bold text below can be ignored (2) Tom Dewey is in the subject( of interest). (3) he and truman are separated from by a very long text (4) where starts a subordinate clause and so the pronoun has more affinity to subject of interest than just preceeding noun;

the campaign train of Tom Dewey, the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman, pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, he

The modifier "the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman" can be safely discarded and

the sentence the campaign train of Tom Dewey pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, he would speak to about 1,000 people.

patanjali.purpose wrote:

Sentence 1:
On Oct. 12, 1948, the campaign train of Tom Dewey, the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman, pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, he would speak to about 1,000 people.

A) the campaign train of Tom Dewey, the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman, pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, he

What does HE stands for!!

B) the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman Tom Dewey's campaign train pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, he

Non-possessive HE refers to Dewey's

C) the campaign train of Tom Dewey, the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman, pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, Truman

Distorts orginal meaning: Truman would speak!!!

D) the campaign train of the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman, Tom Dewey, pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, he

Perfect: He refers to Dewey

E) Tom Dewey's campaign train pulled into Beaucoup, Ill., where, from the rear platform, the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman

Distorts orginal meaning: Truman would speak!!!

IMO D

Sentence 2:
Before he began, the engineer mistakenly caused the train to lurch a few feet backward, frightening some but injuring none.

A) Before he began, the engineer mistakenly caused the train to lurch a few feet backward

B) Before Truman began, the engineer mistakenly caused the train to lurch several feet backwards

C) Before Dewey began, the engineer mistakenly caused the train to lurch a few feet backward

D) Before he began, the train engineer mistakenly caused it to lurch backwards by a few feet

E) The train engineer mistakenly caused the train to lurch a few feet backward before he began

A/D/E - HE refrs to Engineer distorting the intended meaning. In the original sentence, He is someone other than engineer
B vs C - both Ok; but B use of 'SEVERAL FEET' is different from original sentence

IMO C

Hey everyone! Thanks so much for your responses!!!

First off, EssaySnark has to admit that after posting this, we got totally confused by the SC problem that we had created!! The Sentence 1, at least. Tied the brain in knots, it did. So, to repeat our disclaimers - this is NOT an official GMAT problem - and the problem itself is likely flawed.

But here's our reasoning - sentence 1:

In the original, we are pretty sure that the "he would speak" part is messed up. The subject of the main sentence is "the campaign train" - not "Tom Dewey" (which is the intended pronoun antecedent).

Our intention was for E to be the correct answer to sentence 1.

B has an even worse pronoun antecedent problem than the original. D has the same problem.

C changes the meaning; the speaker on the rear platform is Dewey, not Truman.

E may have a slight issue, in that perhaps it's not 100% clear that "the Republican nominee against President Harry Truman" refers to "Tom Dewey" (as the same person), but we feel pretty confident that this meaning is evident from this construction. And, the E version has no grammar errors.

So that's intended as the UA (unofficial answer)!

But in a very confused state, in looking at this over and over again, we started to wonder... is A actually correct? It just looks so wrong!! How can "he" refer to the object of the prepositional phrase??? Ack! EssaySnark is embarrassed to have posted a problem that we don't actually know the answer to! Anyone have a definitive source they can give us to set us straight on this? GmatVerbal, you seem to be thinking about this in a a similar way as we did - what do you think?

OK, Sentence 2 is not so problematic.

We meant for these to be solved together - sentence 1 + 2 - in which case, we have the same problem with a pronoun antecedent. As written, "he" refers to the engineer - but the true meaning is that "he" is meant to refer to Dewey.

In which case, we can state with confidence that C is the UA.

(Sorry for the confusion, user123321 - these two sentences were in fact meant to be solved together.)

EssaySnark

The problem with choice E is that it doesn't say TomDewey would speak.
who is the republican nominee? The meaning of the sentence doesn't indicate Tom Dewey would speak.

Choice (A) - I have seen some OG problems in which subject pronoun can safely refered to object of preposition.

GmatVerbal wrote:The problem with choice E is that it doesn't say TomDewey would speak.
who is the republican nominee? The meaning of the sentence doesn't indicate Tom Dewey would speak.

Well... we think it does, based on context. The term "campaign train" indicates that the person riding the train is campaigning. Republican nominees campaign. Therefore, Tom Dewey == Republican nominee. But OK, we agree, meaning could be debatable. (If you came upon this sentence standalone, not as a possible choice among five, we're guessing you would've instantly understood it.)

GmatVerbal wrote:Choice (A) - I have seen some OG problems in which subject pronoun can safely refered to object of preposition.

Can you recall any that we can look at?

EssaySnark

I am searching for them. But here is one that is pretty close the point under discussion ( object of a preposition)

OA - C: ( link to some discussion on the problem:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/mar ... t7377.html)

Marconi's conception of the radio was as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation; instead, it is precisely the opposite, a tool for communicating with a large, public audience.
A. Marconi's conception of the radio was as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation; instead, it is
B. Marconi conceived of the radio as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation, but which is
C. Marconi conceived of the radio as a tool for private conversation that could substitute for the telephone; instead, it has become
D. Marconi conceived of the radio to be a tool for private conversation, a substitute for the telephone, which has become
E. Marconi conceived of the radio to be a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation, other than what it is

Here is one more gmat prep question:

OA - A; it referring to Washington post.

It was only after Katharine Graham became publisher of The Washington Post in 1963 that it moved into the first rank of American newspapers, and it was under her command that the paper won high praise for its unrelenting reporting of the Watergate scandal.

A It was only after Katharine Graham became publisher of The Washington Post in 1963 that it moved into the first rank of American newspapers, and it was under her command that the paper won high praise

B It was only after Katharine Graham's becoming publisher of The Washington Post in 1963 that it moved into the first rank of American newspapers, and under her command it had one high praise

C Katharine Graham became publisher of The Washington Post in 1963 and only after that did it move into the first rank of American newspapers, having won high praise under her command

D Moving into the first rank of American newspapers only after Katharine Graham became its publisher in 1963, The Washington Post, winning high praise under her command

E Moving into the first rank of American newspapers only after Katharine Grahame's becoming its publisher in 1963, The Washington Post won high praise under her command

GmatVerbal - thanks! The issue in this case isn't so much that the pronoun refers to the object of the prepositional phrase - it's the complicated sentence structure with the subordinate clause that is the complication. Those examples aren't quite parallel to the sentence at hand. But thanks for digging them up!!!

EssaySnark