Sentence Correction

Hey,
Please tell me the steps involved to eliminate all options but the correct one.

B-
With 20 percent of the world's fresh water, that is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined, -

this says - 20% of the water that is more than the great lakes. i.e., there is SOME SPECIFIC water that is "more than the great lakes", and we're talking about 20% of that water. that doesn't make sense.

further more comma + that constructution is wrong with an exception if the comma serves to enclose an immediately preceding modifier.
for instance:
Species X survives by eating several types of shrubs that grow in its habitat.
--> add a modifier:
Species X survives by eating several types of shrubs, such as A and B, that grow in its habitat.

E- when you have an INITIAL MODIFIER THAT'S NOT A CLAUSE (i.e., it doesn't have its own subject and verb), then it must modify the immediately following noun.

example:
coming home from school, the wind blew me off my bike. --> INCORRECT, because the implication is that the wind itself was "coming home from school".
coming home from school, i was blown off my bike by the wind. --> correct (even though the passive voice is used).

--

same problem in choice (e), which implies that lake baikal itself is somehow "more than all the North American Great Lakes combined".
that doesn't make sense.

D- (d) contains
20 percent of the world's fresh water, which is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

this is a direct comparison:
(amount of water) IS MORE THAN (specific lakes)
that's an illogical comparison; you can't compare a numerical amount of water (a numerical quantity) to a lake (a physical object).

C- is not a complete sentence . (20 % precent - what after that - sentence fragment )

answer A .

More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.

A. More than 300 rivers drain into Siberia's Lake Baikal, which holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
B. With 20 percent of the world's fresh water, that is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined, More than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal
C. Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, it holds more of the world's fresh water than all that of the North American Great Lakes combined, 20 percent.
D. While more than 300 rivers drain into it, Siberia's Lake Baikal holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water, which is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
E. More than all the North American Great Lakes combined, Siberia's Lake Baikal, with more than 300 rivers draining into it, holds 20 percent of the world's fresh water.

In B, that lacks a clear antecedent.
If that is standing in for 20% of the world's fresh water, we get:
With 20% of the world's fresh water, 20% of the world's fresh water is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
This meaning is nonsensical.
Eliminate B.

In C, holds serves as the verb for it.
Thus, Siberia's Lake Baikal (subject) lacks a verb.
Eliminate C.

On the GMAT, which + singular verb must refer to the nearest preceding singular noun.
In D, which seems to refer to the world's fresh water, implying that the WORLD'S FRESH WATER
is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
Not the intended meaning.
Eliminate D.

E implies that Siberia's Lake Baikal is more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
This meaning is nonsensical: a lake cannot be MORE than another lake.
Eliminate E.

The correct answer is A.

B: Siberia's Lake Baikal has more than 300 rivers.
A lake is a body of water.
A body of water does not HAVE rivers.
Another reason to eliminate B.

[email protected] wrote:Hi mukherjee.tanuj3,

This SC comes down to Modification rules and a bit of "style"

Here's what I noticed about each of the wrong answers (while there are sometimes multiple errors, these are the ones that I noticed first):

B: The opening phrase of this sentence provides a description; the thing that's described (Lake Baikal) should be immediately after the first comma, but it's not.
C: The back-to-back pronouns "...it, it..."
D: The word "while" implies a contrast, but the first 2 phrases in the sentences don't provide one.
E: Makes the comparison that Lake Baikal has "more than all the other...lakes combined", but does not say WHAT it has more of until the very end of the sentence. This is incorrect modification.

Final Answer: A

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Hi Rich,

With regards to usage of 'while' in option D, is 'while' always used for contrast? I thought it can also be used for two actions performed at the same time?

Thanks!

Cheers