Sentence Correction

The principal feature of the redesigned checks is a series of printed instructions that the
company hopes will help merchants confirm a check's authenticity, which includes
reminders to watch the endorsement, compare signatures, and view the watermark while
holding the check to the light.
A. which includes reminders to watch the endorsement, compare signatures, and
view
B. which include reminders for watching the endorsement, to compare signatures
and view
C. by including reminders for watching the endorsement, comparing signatures, and
viewing
D. including reminders to watch the endorsement, comparing signatures and viewing
E. including reminders to watch the endorsement, compare signatures, and view
Answer:E

Vertical scan:
B - parallelism problem 'watching the endorsement, to compare'
C - parallelism OK, but prefer verb over noun 'reminders to watch' over 'reminders for watching'
D - parallelism problem 'to watch the endorsement, comparing signatures'
A - which comes for authencity ...implies authenticity includes reminders to watch the endorsement, compare signatures, and view ...that does not make sense
E - IMO

IMO E

maihuna wrote:The principal feature of the redesigned checks is a series of printed instructions that the
company hopes will help merchants confirm a check's authenticity, which includes
reminders to watch the endorsement, compare signatures, and view the watermark while
holding the check to the light.
A. which includes reminders to watch the endorsement, compare signatures, and
view --> should be include, subject is instructions.
B. which include reminders for watching the endorsement, to compare signatures
and view - watching,compare,view -> not parallel
C. by including reminders for watching the endorsement, comparing signatures, and
viewing -> seems that primary feature includes reminders, instead it should be printed instructions that include reminders.
D. including reminders to watch the endorsement, comparing signatures and viewing - watch,comparing,viewing are not parallel
E. including reminders to watch the endorsement, compare signatures, and view - this is parallel and "including" modifies the previous clause correctly.
Answer:E

I read in one of the posts that "comma+including" should modify the previous Noun, but I fail to understand how does that rule applies to the correct option E here and to OAs in the following GPREP questions.
Please help me understand the right stuff.

....instructions that the company hopes will help merchants confirm a check's authenticity,
E)including reminders to watch the endorsement, compare signatures, and view....

In my opinion including should modify instructions and not authenticity.

1)A study by the Ocean Wildlife Campaign urged states to undertake a number of
remedies to reverse a decline in the shark population, which includes the
establishment of size limits for shark catches, closing state waters for shark fishing
during pupping season, and requiring commercial fishers to have federal shark
permits.
A. which includes the establishment of size limits for shark catches, closing
B. which includes establishing limits to the size of sharks that can be caught, closing
C. which include the establishment of size limits for shark catches, the closing of
D. including establishing size limits for shark catches, closing
E. including the establishing of limits to the size of sharks that are caught, the closing of

OA:D

In my opinion includin should modify "remedies" and not the preceding noun i.e. "Shark population".


2)Roughly one-half of the world's population, including virtually all of East and
Southeast Asia also, is wholly dependent on rice to be its staple food.
A. including virtually all of East and Southeast Asia also, is wholly dependent on rice to
be
B. including virtually all of East and Southeast Asia, is wholly dependent on rice as
C. virtually all of East and Southeast Asia as well, wholly dependent on rice as
D. which includes virtually all of East and Southeast Asia's, being wholly dependent on
rice as
E. which includes virtually all of East and Southeast Asia also, is wholly dependent on
rice to be

OA:B

In my opinion including should modify the whole phrase and not just "world's population".

As quoted above:

1)A study by the Ocean Wildlife Campaign urged states to undertake a number of
remedies to reverse a decline in the shark population, which includes the
establishment of size limits for shark catches, closing state waters for shark fishing
during pupping season, and requiring commercial fishers to have federal shark
permits.
A. which includes the establishment of size limits for shark catches, closing
B. which includes establishing limits to the size of sharks that can be caught, closing
C. which include the establishment of size limits for shark catches, the closing of
D. including establishing size limits for shark catches, closing
E. including the establishing of limits to the size of sharks that are caught, the closing of

OA:D
--------------

-Ron, is it grammatically correct to put a present continuous verb "including" and a present participle "establishing" in apposition. " including establishing" sounds a bit awkward.

-Moreover the same question on the Manhattan S.c forum has a different wording.
https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/sc- ... t9398.html

I am not doubting the veracity of the official problem, but am doubting the skill of the typist. Someone may have taken it down incorrectly. I say so because the manhattan link I posted above has different wordings for option D.

magnus opus wrote:As quoted above:

1)A study by the Ocean Wildlife Campaign urged states to undertake a number of
remedies to reverse a decline in the shark population, which includes the
establishment of size limits for shark catches, closing state waters for shark fishing
during pupping season, and requiring commercial fishers to have federal shark
permits.
A. which includes the establishment of size limits for shark catches, closing
B. which includes establishing limits to the size of sharks that can be caught, closing
C. which include the establishment of size limits for shark catches, the closing of
D. including establishing size limits for shark catches, closing
E. including the establishing of limits to the size of sharks that are caught, the closing of

OA:D
--------------

I was asked by PM to comment on this thread.

Quickest approach:

In A and B, the singular verb includes implies that the pronoun which refers either to the singular noun decline or to the singular noun population, but neither the decline nor the population is including the list of remedies that follows. Eliminate A and B.

C and E lack parallelism: the establishment of (the + noun + preposition), the establishing of (the + gerund + preposition), and the closing of (the + gerund + preposition) are not parallel with requiring commercial fishers (gerund + direct object). Eliminate C and E.

The correct answer is D.

D is correct primarily because A, B, C and E each have a clear error.

In D, including and establishing are performing different functions.

Generally, when a present participle (such as including) is preceded by a comma, it refers to the subject of the previous clause. It could be argued that including refers to the study: the study is including -- among the remedies that it recommends -- establishing size limits, closing state waters, and requiring fishers to have permits.

Establishing is not a present participle but a gerund (a verb functioning as a noun). Establishing size limits is one of the remedies that the study is including.

Hi Guru,

Are you trying to say that the participle phrase(adverbial phrase), following a comma, modifies the action of the subject of the main clause.
In the concerned example, "urged to undertake remedy" is the action of the subject(study). The adverbial phrase describe the extent(i.e. including establishing size limits for shark catches, closing) of the action. Am i correct?

Appreciate your time.
Garry.

lunarpower wrote:

CaptainM wrote:I read in one of the posts that "comma+including" should modify the previous Noun, but I fail to understand how does that rule applies to the correct option E here and to OAs in the following GPREP questions.
Please help me understand the right stuff.

....instructions that the company hopes will help merchants confirm a check's authenticity,
E)including reminders to watch the endorsement, compare signatures, and view....

In my opinion including should modify instructions and not authenticity.

1)A study by the Ocean Wildlife Campaign urged states to undertake a number of
remedies to reverse a decline in the shark population, which includes the
establishment of size limits for shark catches, closing state waters for shark fishing
during pupping season, and requiring commercial fishers to have federal shark
permits.
A. which includes the establishment of size limits for shark catches, closing
B. which includes establishing limits to the size of sharks that can be caught, closing
C. which include the establishment of size limits for shark catches, the closing of
D. including establishing size limits for shark catches, closing
E. including the establishing of limits to the size of sharks that are caught, the closing of

OA:D

In my opinion includin should modify "remedies" and not the preceding noun i.e. "Shark population".


2)Roughly one-half of the world's population, including virtually all of East and
Southeast Asia also, is wholly dependent on rice to be its staple food.
A. including virtually all of East and Southeast Asia also, is wholly dependent on rice to
be
B. including virtually all of East and Southeast Asia, is wholly dependent on rice as
C. virtually all of East and Southeast Asia as well, wholly dependent on rice as
D. which includes virtually all of East and Southeast Asia's, being wholly dependent on
rice as
E. which includes virtually all of East and Southeast Asia also, is wholly dependent on
rice to be

OA:B

In my opinion including should modify the whole phrase and not just "world's population".

hmm. nice find.

ok -- it appears that we'll have to widen the net a bit:

in light of this new evidence, it seems that comma + "including" can stand for the preceding NOUN -- or the preceding NOUN + MODIFIERS, if there are modifiers attached to the noun.

that should cover these cases (and all other such cases).

Hi Ron,
In the 2nd question, why is the usage of 'to be' wrong?
Please let us know the correct usage with some examples..

GMATGuruNY wrote:

magnus opus wrote:As quoted above:

1)A study by the Ocean Wildlife Campaign urged states to undertake a number of
remedies to reverse a decline in the shark population, which includes the
establishment of size limits for shark catches, closing state waters for shark fishing
during pupping season, and requiring commercial fishers to have federal shark
permits.
A. which includes the establishment of size limits for shark catches, closing
B. which includes establishing limits to the size of sharks that can be caught, closing
C. which include the establishment of size limits for shark catches, the closing of
D. including establishing size limits for shark catches, closing
E. including the establishing of limits to the size of sharks that are caught, the closing of

OA:D
--------------

I was asked by PM to comment on this thread.

Quickest approach:

In A and B, the singular verb includes implies that the pronoun which refers either to the singular noun decline or to the singular noun population, but neither the decline nor the population is including the list of remedies that follows. Eliminate A and B.

C and E lack parallelism: the establishment of (the + noun + preposition), the establishing of (the + gerund + preposition), and the closing of (the + gerund + preposition) are not parallel with requiring commercial fishers (gerund + direct object). Eliminate C and E.

The correct answer is D.

D is correct primarily because A, B, C and E each have a clear error.

In D, including and establishing are performing different functions.

Generally, when a present participle (such as including) is preceded by a comma, it refers to the subject of the previous clause. It could be argued that including refers to the study: the study is including -- among the remedies that it recommends -- establishing size limits, closing state waters, and requiring fishers to have permits.

Establishing is not a present participle but a gerund (a verb functioning as a noun). Establishing size limits is one of the remedies that the study is including.

Hi GMATGuruNY,
A quick question on the OA -

Can we say that the Verb-ing modifier including actually refers to the NEAREST PRECEDING VERB and SUBJECT -- a number of remedies and to reverse ?

Hi GMATGuruNY,
Could you please provide your quick feedback on my above query ?

Look forward to hear from you. Much thanks in advance!

RBBmba@2014 wrote:Hi GMATGuruNY,
A quick question on the OA -

Can we say that the Verb-ing modifier including actually refers to the NEAREST PRECEDING VERB and SUBJECT -- a number of remedies and to reverse ?

Many dictionaries define including as a PREPOSITION.
On the GMAT, it is probably best to consider COMMA + including a NOUN modifier that serves to introduce examples of the nearest preceding plural noun.
Do not worry about whether COMMA + including serves to refer to a preceding subject.
Such thinking will only lead to confusion.

OA: A study by the Ocean Wildlife Campaign urged states to undertake a number of remedies to reverse a decline in the shark population, including establishing size limits for shark catches, closing state waters for shark fishing during pupping season, and requiring commercial fishers to have federal shark permits.
Here, COMMA + including serves to introduce examples of remedies (the nearest preceding plural noun).

GMATGuruNY wrote:
Many dictionaries define including as a PREPOSITION.
On the GMAT, it is probably best to consider COMMA + including a NOUN modifier that serves to introduce examples of the nearest preceding plural noun.
Do not worry about whether COMMA + including serves to refer to a preceding subject.
Such thinking will only lead to confusion.

OA: A study by the Ocean Wildlife Campaign urged states to undertake a number of remedies to reverse a decline in the shark population, including establishing size limits for shark catches, closing state waters for shark fishing during pupping season, and requiring commercial fishers to have federal shark permits.
Here, COMMA + including serves to introduce examples of remedies (the nearest preceding plural noun).

Thank you so much Mr. Hunt this resolves so many doubts.