Question Pack SC -- Roughly twice each century the planet Ve

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Roughly twice each century the planet Venus passes between the Earth and the Sun, an occasion known as a transit of Venus, during which it makes the outline of the planet visible in stark relief.

A. during which it makes the outline of the planet
B. during which the outline of the planet becomes
C. so that it makes the outline of the planet
D. such that during which the outline of the planet becomes
E. such that the outline of the planet becomes
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by richachampion » Sun Sep 25, 2016 12:38 am
OA: B
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by MBA Challengers » Mon Oct 03, 2016 1:48 am
richachampion wrote:Roughly twice each century the planet Venus passes between the Earth and the Sun, an occasion known as a transit of Venus, during which it makes the outline of the planet visible in stark relief.

A. during which it makes the outline of the planet
B. during which the outline of the planet becomes
C. so that it makes the outline of the planet
D. such that during which the outline of the planet becomes
E. such that the outline of the planet becomes
Hi richachampion,

It is important to understand what the sentence is trying to convey. Here, the sentence is talking about an event and what happens "during" the event.

This makes it clear that in the underlined part, during is a must as the underlined part is talking about what happens at the event and during is the most appropriate words to connect that. This eliminates C, D and E. Between A and B, in A it seems to convey that Venus makes its' own outline visible in stark relief. However, it is a natural process and Venus is not a living object (at least that is the common knowledge currently :) ). Thus, this process is not a controllable of Venus and it should be talked about as a process and not as Venus making the outline stark.

So, B is more appropriate inserting which, the sentence becomes: Roughly twice each century the planet Venus passes between the Earth and the Sun, an occasion known as a transit of Venus, during which the outline of the planet becomes visible in stark relief.

Hope this clarifies your doubt.
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by GMATGuruNY » Tue Oct 04, 2016 2:51 am
richachampion wrote:Roughly twice each century the planet Venus passes between the Earth and the Sun, an occasion known as a transit of Venus, during which it makes the outline of the planet visible in stark relief.

A. during which it makes the outline of the planet
B. during which the outline of the planet becomes
C. so that it makes the outline of the planet
D. such that during which the outline of the planet becomes
E. such that the outline of the planet becomes
John made the man smile.
The implication here is that JOHN and THE MAN are different people.

A and C: IT makes the outline of THE PLANET visible.
The implication here is that IT (Venus) and THE PLANET are different celestial bodies.
Not the intended meaning.
Regardless, Venus does not MAKE its outline visible; the outline BECOMES visible ON ITS OWN.
Eliminate A and C.

Such that is to be avoided in SCs.
Eliminate D and E.

The correct answer is B.

In the math section of the GMAT, such that will sometimes appear as an ADJECTIVE to describe the QUALITY of a set of numbers:
x and y are integers SUCH THAT x>y.
What KIND of integers?
Integers SUCH THAT x>y.
I have never seen the OA to an SC employ this sort of construction.
Regardless, in D and E, such that seems to be serving as a CONJUNCTION connecting two clauses.
Such that cannot serve this purpose.
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by richachampion » Tue Oct 04, 2016 3:13 am
GMATGuruNY wrote:
Such that is to be avoided in SCs.
Mr. Hunt,

Can you please enlighten me more on this.

Additionally,

I personally believe that IDIOM OF CONSEQUENCES such as:
so that__
such that__
are not correct here because we do not have the causality.

C, D, and E are down. RIGHT?
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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Oct 07, 2016 3:57 am
richachampion wrote:
GMATGuruNY wrote:
Such that is to be avoided in SCs.
Mr. Hunt,

Can you please enlighten me more on this.
X such that Y is not an acceptable idiom in SC.
Correct: such + NOUN + that + CLAUSE.

SC6 in the OG12:
Tourists had raised the humidity within them to such levels that salt from the stone was crystallizing.
Additionally,

I personally believe that IDIOM OF CONSEQUENCES such as:
so that__
such that__
are not correct here because we do not have the causality.

C, D, and E are down. RIGHT?
This line of reasoning is valid.
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by richachampion » Fri Oct 07, 2016 4:09 am
GMATGuruNY wrote: X such that Y is not an acceptable idiom in SC.
Correct: such + NOUN + that + CLAUSE.

SC6 in the OG12:
Tourists had raised the humidity within them to such levels that salt from the stone was crystallizing.
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by richachampion » Fri Oct 07, 2016 2:56 pm
GMATGuruNY wrote:
X such that Y is not an acceptable idiom in SC.
Correct: such + NOUN + that + CLAUSE.

SC6 in the OG12:
Tourists had raised the humidity within them to such levels that salt from the stone was crystallizing.
I am also confused with the usage of "during which" here. Generally which is preceded by Comma.

I have some more understanding of which =

All constructions built on preposition + "which" - such as
of which,
from which,
some of which,
with which, etc. - must be used in the same way as "which" itself.

My Question = "during which" is also used in the same capacity as in the examples I have cited above.
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by GMATGuruNY » Sat Oct 08, 2016 2:43 am
richachampion wrote:
GMATGuruNY wrote:
X such that Y is not an acceptable idiom in SC.
Correct: such + NOUN + that + CLAUSE.

SC6 in the OG12:
Tourists had raised the humidity within them to such levels that salt from the stone was crystallizing.
I am also confused with the usage of "during which" here. Generally which is preceded by Comma.

I have some more understanding of which =

All constructions built on preposition + "which" - such as
of which,
from which,
some of which,
with which, etc. - must be used in the same way as "which" itself.

My Question = "during which" is also used in the same capacity as in the examples I have cited above.
Generally, COMMA + PREPOSITION + which serves to refer to the nearest preceding noun.
I discuss this construction in my second post here:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/og-16-q80-ne ... 85757.html

The SC above presents an interesting exception.
during means at one point within a PERIOD OF TIME or a PROCESS.
OA: a transit of Venus, during which the outline of the planet becomes visible
Here, since during must serve to refer to a period of time or a process, it is crystal clear from context that which serves to refer not to Venus itself but to a TRANSIT of Venus (the nearest preceding term that expresses a process).
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by Mo2men » Tue Oct 11, 2016 5:47 am
GMATGuruNY wrote:
richachampion wrote:
GMATGuruNY wrote:
X such that Y is not an acceptable idiom in SC.
Correct: such + NOUN + that + CLAUSE.

SC6 in the OG12:
Tourists had raised the humidity within them to such levels that salt from the stone was crystallizing.
I am also confused with the usage of "during which" here. Generally which is preceded by Comma.

I have some more understanding of which =

All constructions built on preposition + "which" - such as
of which,
from which,
some of which,
with which, etc. - must be used in the same way as "which" itself.

My Question = "during which" is also used in the same capacity as in the examples I have cited above.
Generally, COMMA + PREPOSITION + which serves to refer to the nearest preceding noun.
I discuss this construction in my second post here:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/og-16-q80-ne ... 85757.html

The SC above presents an interesting exception.
during means at one point within a PERIOD OF TIME or a PROCESS.
OA: a transit of Venus, during which the outline of the planet becomes visible
Here, since during must serve to refer to a period of time or a process, it is crystal clear from context that which serves to refer not to Venus itself but to a TRANSIT of Venus (the nearest preceding term that expresses a process).
Dear GMATGuru,

In one of you post you wrote: 'during must serve to refer to a period of time or an event that has a DEFINITE BEGINNING AND END.'

However, in the sentence being discussed here, there is no DEFINITE BEGINNING AND END that could be seen.

Can you clarify please??

Thanks

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by GMATGuruNY » Tue Oct 11, 2016 6:02 am
Mo2men wrote:Dear GMATGuru,

In one of you post you wrote: 'during must serve to refer to a period of time or an event that has a DEFINITE BEGINNING AND END.'

However, in the sentence being discussed here, there is no DEFINITE BEGINNING AND END that could be seen.

Can you clarify please??

Thanks
The transit of Venus is a JOURNEY.
This journey has a definite beginning and end.
On DAY X Venus begins its passage between the Earth and the Sun.
On DAY Y Venus ends its passage between the Earth and the Sun.
Thus, the transit of Venus has a definite beginning (Day X) and a definite end (Day Y).
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by MartyMurray » Thu Oct 13, 2016 10:35 pm
richachampion wrote:I am also confused with the usage of "during which" here. Generally which is preceded by Comma.

I have some more understanding of which =

All constructions built on preposition + "which" - such as
of which,
from which,
some of which,
with which, etc. - must be used in the same way as "which" itself.

My Question = "during which" is also used in the same capacity as in the examples I have cited above.
which is preceded by a comma when which is used to begin a non restrictive modifier, as in the following example.

John showed us the plane, which he uses for skydiving.

When which is combined with a preposition to create constructions such as from which or on which, the constructions so created may be used to begin NON RESTRICTIVE or RESTRICTIVE modifiers. If the modifier is non restrictive, a comma is used between the noun being modified and the modifier. If the modifier is restrictive, no comma is used and the preposition + which construction is used in a way similar to the way in which that is used.

John showed us the plane from which he has jumped many times. - a particular plane

This is the table on which the cake will be placed at the end of the reception. - a particular table
Last edited by MartyMurray on Fri Nov 04, 2016 6:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by richachampion » Sat Oct 22, 2016 10:23 am
Marty Murray wrote:If the modifier is non restrictive, no comma is used and the preposition + which construction is used in a way similar to the way in which that is used.
Mr Murray, I think in the above post you wanted to say that If the modifier is restrictive, Right?
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by MartyMurray » Fri Nov 04, 2016 6:20 pm
richachampion wrote:
Marty Murray wrote:If the modifier is non restrictive, no comma is used and the preposition + which construction is used in a way similar to the way in which that is used.
Mr Murray, I think in the above post you wanted to say that If the modifier is restrictive, Right?
Yes, exactly. Now fixed.
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