Dr Tonegawa Nobel Prize

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Dr Tonegawa Nobel Prize

by kobel51 » Sat Mar 15, 2014 10:47 am
Dr. Tonegawa won the Nobel Prize for discovering how the body can constantly change its genes to fashion a seeming unlimited number of antibodies, each specifically targeted at an invading microbe or foreign substance.

(A) seeming unlimited number of antibodies, each specifically targeted at

(B) seeming unlimited number of antibodies, each targeted specifically to

(C) seeming unlimited number of antibodies, all specifically targeted at

(D) seemingly unlimited number of antibodies, all of them targeted specifically to

(E) seemingly unlimited number of antibodies, each targeted specifically at

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by Patrick_GMATFix » Sat Mar 15, 2014 11:01 am
An adjective (seeming) cannot be used to modify an adverb (unlimited); seemingly is needed. the idiom "targeted at" is also tested. The answer is E. I go through the question in detail in the full solution below (taken from the GMATFix App).

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by [email protected] » Sat Mar 15, 2014 1:45 pm
Hi kobel51,

Knowing your idiom and style rules can help you to pick up some SC points. Depending on how the answer choices are written though, you might be able to avoid the idiom altogether.

1) -ly Modifiers: You'll see -ly modifiers on a couple of SCs on Test Day, so you need to make sure that they're correctly placed. "Seemingly" correctly modifies the "unlimited number of antibodies..." Eliminate A, B and C.

2) Avoiding redundancy: The sentence refers to "antibodies"; while the word "all" could serve as a pronoun, the phrase "all of them" is redundant (you don't need "of them"). Eliminate D.

Final Answer: E

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