Saturn's Main Ring

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Saturn's Main Ring

by imskpwr » Wed Sep 05, 2012 10:35 am
Though viewed from a distance, Saturn's main rings may appear to be smooth and continuous, they are in fact composed of thousands of separate icy ringlets when viewed up close.

Though viewed from a distance, Saturn's main rings may appear to be smooth and continuous, they are in fact composed of thousands of separate icy ringlets when viewed up close.

Though Saturn's main rings may appear smooth and continuous when viewed from a distance, they are in fact composed of thousands of separate icy ringlets when viewed up close.

Saturn's main rings, when viewed from a distance, may appear to be smooth and continuous, though when viewed up close they are in fact composed of thousands of separate icy ringlets.

When viewed from a distance, Saturn's main rings may appear smooth and continuous, but closer viewing reveals them to be composed of thousands of separate icy ringlets.

Though composed of thousands of separate icy ringlets if viewed up close, the main rings of Saturn may appear smooth and continuous when they are viewed from a distance.

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by KapTeacherEli » Wed Sep 05, 2012 12:25 pm
Grammar and style are frequently tested on the GMAT, but meaning is tested too--and this problem is a great example of that.

The last part of the sentence as written says that the rings "are composed...when view up close." In other words, the sentence says that viewing the rings up close changes what the rings are made of. Some times they are composed of separate ringlets ("when viewed up close") and other times their not.

We can rule out choice (A), and (B) which repeats the questionable text verbatim. (C) and (E) make the same mistake in different ways. Only (D), which explains that closer viewing reveals the true composition, makes any sense. It must be correct.
Eli Meyer
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Cambridge, MA
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by imskpwr » Wed Sep 05, 2012 6:19 pm
KapTeacherEli wrote:Grammar and style are frequently tested on the GMAT, but meaning is tested too--and this problem is a great example of that.

The last part of the sentence as written says that the rings "are composed...when view up close." In other words, the sentence says that viewing the rings up close changes what the rings are made of. Some times they are composed of separate ringlets ("when viewed up close") and other times their not.

We can rule out choice (A), and (B) which repeats the questionable text verbatim. (C) and (E) make the same mistake in different ways. Only (D), which explains that closer viewing reveals the true composition, makes any sense. It must be correct.
thanks!
how can one avoid such a terrible mistake?
I saw the exact // structure, and picked B.

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by KapTeacherEli » Wed Sep 05, 2012 6:37 pm
imskpwr wrote:
KapTeacherEli wrote:Grammar and style are frequently tested on the GMAT, but meaning is tested too--and this problem is a great example of that.

The last part of the sentence as written says that the rings "are composed...when view up close." In other words, the sentence says that viewing the rings up close changes what the rings are made of. Some times they are composed of separate ringlets ("when viewed up close") and other times their not.

We can rule out choice (A), and (B) which repeats the questionable text verbatim. (C) and (E) make the same mistake in different ways. Only (D), which explains that closer viewing reveals the true composition, makes any sense. It must be correct.
thanks!
how can one avoid such a terrible mistake?
I saw the exact // structure, and picked B.
It's hard to generalize rules for "meaning" errors, since they are varied in form and structure. Just be aware that if the sentence doesn't make sense, it's wrong--even if it's formally grammatically correct!
Eli Meyer
Kaplan GMAT Teacher
Cambridge, MA
www.kaptest.com/gmat

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