Pharaoh at Giza

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Pharaoh at Giza

by komal » Mon Feb 08, 2010 5:42 am
In late 1997, the chambers inside the pyramid of the Pharaoh Menkaure at Giza were closed to visitors for cleaning and repair due to moisture exhaled by tourists, which raised its humidity to such levels so that salt from the stone was crystallizing and fungus was growing on the walls.

(A) due to moisture exhaled by tourists, which raised its humidity to such levels so that salt from the stone was crystallizing

(B) due to moisture that tourists had exhaled, thereby raising its humidity to such levels that salt from the stone would crystallize

(e) because tourists were exhaling moisture, which had raised the humidity within them to levels such that salt from the stone would crystallize

(D) because of moisture that was exhaled by tourists raising the humidity within them to levels so high as to make the salt from the stone crystallize

(E) because moisture exhaled by tourists had raised the humidity within them to such levels that salt from the stone was crystallizing

OA[spoiler] (E)[/spoiler]

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by gmatmachoman » Mon Feb 08, 2010 5:48 am
This SC test two things,

usage of Due To V Because 2. Parallelism

was crystallising is parallel with was growing...( i think its verb based(present participle) parallelism).

When try to give a reason for some event or action use because.

Bingo !! E

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by mgmt_gmat » Fri Feb 12, 2010 12:58 am
IMO (E)..

parallelism here....

Crystallizing..... fungus growing....

Choice (A) is rejected because.... "due to moisture exhaled by tourists, which raised its humidity" because humidity is raised by moisture exhalation, not by tourist.

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by sarthak » Wed Feb 17, 2010 4:36 am
The pronoun "them" in E refers to tourists suggesting humidity has increased inside tourists ... so how can E be right ? any explanation ?

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by harshavardhanc » Wed Feb 17, 2010 6:26 am
sarthak wrote:The pronoun "them" in E refers to tourists suggesting humidity has increased inside tourists ... so how can E be right ? any explanation ?
First of all, if you will not choose them here, you will have to go with its as the pronoun for chambers. Will it be correct? :)

Now as far as them is concerned, I think, it refers to the direct object of the verb in the previous clause( verb: closed object: chambers).

Remember, to visitors is a prepositional phrase and tourists is the object of preposition.
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by Vipulvp » Wed Jul 21, 2010 2:07 am
sarthak wrote:The pronoun "them" in E refers to tourists suggesting humidity has increased inside tourists ... so how can E be right ? any explanation ?
I too have the same question. The only explanation could be that the subject of the sentence is "The Chambers". But then, the pronoun "them" is not in the same case as the subject itself. Also, other options are worse than (E).

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by Onell » Fri Dec 10, 2010 10:49 pm
Vipulvp wrote:
sarthak wrote:The pronoun "them" in E refers to tourists suggesting humidity has increased inside tourists ... so how can E be right ? any explanation ?
I too have the same question. The only explanation could be that the subject of the sentence is "The Chambers". But then, the pronoun "them" is not in the same case as the subject itself. Also, other options are worse than (E).
Hi ,
I was just wondering why them refers to tourists in option C and D but not in E?

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by e-GMAT » Sun Dec 12, 2010 9:41 am
GMAT's stand on the issue of pronoun ambiguity is not as clear as it is for other grammatical errors. For this reason, unless the pronoun ambiguity is absolutely clear, it is suggested to arrive at the correct answer by using more obvious errors first and then use the pronoun ambiguity error on an as-needed basis.

This is one of those questions that can be very easily solved by using other more obvious errors: Below I have listed other errors:

In late 1997, the chambers inside the pyramid of the Pharaoh Menkaure at Giza were closed to visitors for cleaning and repair due to moisture exhaled by tourists, which raised its humidity to such levels so that salt from the stone was crystallizing and fungus was growing on the walls.

(A) due to moisture exhaled by tourists, which raised its humidity to such levels so that salt from the stone was crystallizing
1: Modifier Error - which refers to tourists
2: Pronoun Number - "its" should refer to "chambers" - thus number error.
3: Meaning - Use of "due to" implies that the closure of chambers was caused by moisture. This is not correct because closure was caused by the effect of the moisture as explained in choice E.

(B) due to moisture that tourists had exhaled, thereby raising its humidity to such levels that salt from the stone would crystallize
1: Verb tense - had exhaled is incorrect verb tense.
2: Parallelism - "salt would crystallize" is not parallel to "fungus was growing".
3: Meaning - Use of "due to" implies that the closure of chambers was caused by moisture. This is not correct because closure was caused by the effect of the moisture as explained in choice E.

(C) because tourists were exhaling moisture, which had raised the humidity within them to levels such that salt from the stone would crystallize
1: Verb Tense - " were exhaling" is incorrect verb tense; "had raised" is incorrect verb tense.
2: Parallelism - "salt would crystallize" is not parallel to "fungus was growing".

(D) because of moisture that was exhaled by tourists raising the humidity within them to levels so high as to make the salt from the stone crystallize
1: Modifier Error - "raising humidity" appears to modify "tourists" - incorrect
2: Parallelism - "salt crystallize" is not parallel to "fungus was growing".

(E) because moisture exhaled by tourists had raised the humidity within them to such levels that salt from the stone was crystallizing
Correct.

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by bacchewar_prashant » Tue Apr 05, 2011 11:20 pm
IS there any difference between due to and because?

Also in answer choice D modification error mentioned is not clear to me. Can you please elaborate?

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by fangtray » Wed Apr 04, 2012 3:59 pm
komal wrote:In late 1997, the chambers inside the pyramid of the Pharaoh Menkaure at Giza were closed to visitors for cleaning and repair due to moisture exhaled by tourists, which raised its humidity to such levels so that salt from the stone was crystallizing and fungus was growing on the walls.

(A) due to moisture exhaled by tourists, which raised its humidity to such levels so that salt from the stone was crystallizing

(B) due to moisture that tourists had exhaled, thereby raising its humidity to such levels that salt from the stone would crystallize

(e) because tourists were exhaling moisture, which had raised the humidity within them to levels such that salt from the stone would crystallize

(D) because of moisture that was exhaled by tourists raising the humidity within them to levels so high as to make the salt from the stone crystallize

(E) because moisture exhaled by tourists had raised the humidity within them to such levels that salt from the stone was crystallizing

OA[spoiler] (E)[/spoiler]
whats the difference between due to and because of?

and also, why does tem refer to chambers in e, but them refers to tourists in C. E sounds like the moisture exhaled by tourists was raising the humidity within the tourists.

i chose option A, but at the time i did not look at its contradicting singular/plural.

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by Bill@VeritasPrep » Wed Apr 04, 2012 8:15 pm
Here's a pretty good explanation of because vs. due to that I found: https://web.ku.edu/~edit/because.html
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by fangtray » Fri Apr 06, 2012 4:23 am
Bill@VeritasPrep wrote:Here's a pretty good explanation of because vs. due to that I found: https://web.ku.edu/~edit/because.html[/quote

Hi Bill,

Thanks for the link! i read it and did those practice questions. 3 of 5 :(

but for our example here, just so i'm clear, we need to use "because of" is because "moisture exhaled by tourists" modifies "closed", which is a verb. and because of works as an adverb?

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by Bill@VeritasPrep » Fri Apr 06, 2012 7:05 am
fangtray wrote:
Bill@VeritasPrep wrote:Here's a pretty good explanation of because vs. due to that I found: https://web.ku.edu/~edit/because.html[/quote

Hi Bill,

Thanks for the link! i read it and did those practice questions. 3 of 5 :(

but for our example here, just so i'm clear, we need to use "because of" is because "moisture exhaled by tourists" modifies "closed", which is a verb. and because of works as an adverb?
Right. "Due to" is used for nouns and pronouns; "closed" is neither, so we use "because of."
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by Ashishkapoor7 » Tue Sep 25, 2012 10:01 am
e-GMAT wrote:GMAT's stand on the issue of pronoun ambiguity is not as clear as it is for other grammatical errors. For this reason, unless the pronoun ambiguity is absolutely clear, it is suggested to arrive at the correct answer by using more obvious errors first and then use the pronoun ambiguity error on an as-needed basis.

This is one of those questions that can be very easily solved by using other more obvious errors: Below I have listed other errors:

In late 1997, the chambers inside the pyramid of the Pharaoh Menkaure at Giza were closed to visitors for cleaning and repair due to moisture exhaled by tourists, which raised its humidity to such levels so that salt from the stone was crystallizing and fungus was growing on the walls.

(A) due to moisture exhaled by tourists, which raised its humidity to such levels so that salt from the stone was crystallizing
1: Modifier Error - which refers to tourists
2: Pronoun Number - "its" should refer to "chambers" - thus number error.
3: Meaning - Use of "due to" implies that the closure of chambers was caused by moisture. This is not correct because closure was caused by the effect of the moisture as explained in choice E.

(B) due to moisture that tourists had exhaled, thereby raising its humidity to such levels that salt from the stone would crystallize
1: Verb tense - had exhaled is incorrect verb tense.
2: Parallelism - "salt would crystallize" is not parallel to "fungus was growing".
3: Meaning - Use of "due to" implies that the closure of chambers was caused by moisture. This is not correct because closure was caused by the effect of the moisture as explained in choice E.

(C) because tourists were exhaling moisture, which had raised the humidity within them to levels such that salt from the stone would crystallize
1: Verb Tense - " were exhaling" is incorrect verb tense; "had raised" is incorrect verb tense.
2: Parallelism - "salt would crystallize" is not parallel to "fungus was growing".

(D) because of moisture that was exhaled by tourists raising the humidity within them to levels so high as to make the salt from the stone crystallize
1: Modifier Error - "raising humidity" appears to modify "tourists" - incorrect
2: Parallelism - "salt crystallize" is not parallel to "fungus was growing".

(E) because moisture exhaled by tourists had raised the humidity within them to such levels that salt from the stone was crystallizing
Correct.

Hi!


Please detail on why these verb tenses are incorrect in option b and c.

: Verb Tense - " were exhaling" is incorrect verb tense; "had raised" is incorrect verb tense.

Regards
Ashish

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by karthikpandian19 » Wed Oct 10, 2012 2:11 pm
Ashish,

In B - the had raised is wrong, as it goes into Past perfect mode. For which to happen, there should be another action in the simple past and should be sequential in time, which is not there.B also can be eliminated for "due to" which modifies only "noun". Easy check is replace "due to" with "caused by" and see whether it makes sense. If not, then its wrong

In C - "were exhaling" its says "ing" which means still continuing, which is not right. This action is completed as per the meaning of the sentence. This "ing" continuous is tied up with the "had..." which is again wrong
Ashishkapoor7 wrote:
e-GMAT wrote:GMAT's stand on the issue of pronoun ambiguity is not as clear as it is for other grammatical errors. For this reason, unless the pronoun ambiguity is absolutely clear, it is suggested to arrive at the correct answer by using more obvious errors first and then use the pronoun ambiguity error on an as-needed basis.

This is one of those questions that can be very easily solved by using other more obvious errors: Below I have listed other errors:

In late 1997, the chambers inside the pyramid of the Pharaoh Menkaure at Giza were closed to visitors for cleaning and repair due to moisture exhaled by tourists, which raised its humidity to such levels so that salt from the stone was crystallizing and fungus was growing on the walls.

(A) due to moisture exhaled by tourists, which raised its humidity to such levels so that salt from the stone was crystallizing
1: Modifier Error - which refers to tourists
2: Pronoun Number - "its" should refer to "chambers" - thus number error.
3: Meaning - Use of "due to" implies that the closure of chambers was caused by moisture. This is not correct because closure was caused by the effect of the moisture as explained in choice E.

(B) due to moisture that tourists had exhaled, thereby raising its humidity to such levels that salt from the stone would crystallize
1: Verb tense - had exhaled is incorrect verb tense.
2: Parallelism - "salt would crystallize" is not parallel to "fungus was growing".
3: Meaning - Use of "due to" implies that the closure of chambers was caused by moisture. This is not correct because closure was caused by the effect of the moisture as explained in choice E.

(C) because tourists were exhaling moisture, which had raised the humidity within them to levels such that salt from the stone would crystallize
1: Verb Tense - " were exhaling" is incorrect verb tense; "had raised" is incorrect verb tense.
2: Parallelism - "salt would crystallize" is not parallel to "fungus was growing".

(D) because of moisture that was exhaled by tourists raising the humidity within them to levels so high as to make the salt from the stone crystallize
1: Modifier Error - "raising humidity" appears to modify "tourists" - incorrect
2: Parallelism - "salt crystallize" is not parallel to "fungus was growing".

(E) because moisture exhaled by tourists had raised the humidity within them to such levels that salt from the stone was crystallizing
Correct.

Hi!


Please detail on why these verb tenses are incorrect in option b and c.

: Verb Tense - " were exhaling" is incorrect verb tense; "had raised" is incorrect verb tense.

Regards
Ashish
Regards,
Karthik
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