Sentence Correction

The Chicago and Calumet Rivers originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but having been redirected by constructing canals so that the water now empties into the Mississippi by way of the Illinois River.

(A) Rivers originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but having been redirected by constructing
(B) Rivers had originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but they have been redirected by constructing
(C) Rivers, which originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan but have been redirected by the construction of
(D) Rivers, originally flowing into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but having been redirected by the construction of
(E) Rivers, originally flowing into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, have been redirected through the construction of

(A) Rivers originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but having been redirected by constructing
(B) Rivers had originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but they have been redirected by constructing
(C) Rivers, which originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan but have been redirected by the construction of
(D) Rivers, originally flowing into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but having been redirected by the construction of
(E) Rivers, originally flowing into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, have been redirected through the construction of

Sentence fragment issues in options A, C, D
Tense issue in B

Correct E

Hello abhasjha and thanks for your question,

The Chicago and Calumet Rivers originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but having been redirected by constructing canals so that the water now empties into the Mississippi by way of the Illinois River.

(A) Rivers originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but having been redirected by constructing.

The use of "having been" is incorrect. We do not expect a "so that" construction after "having been". "so that" introduces a consequence to an action. "having been" introduces the concept of premise. They do not go well together. Moreover we should expect more informations after "having been", which makes this answer a fragment.

(B) Rivers had originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but they have been redirected by constructing.

The use of "had" is incorrect. If past perfect is used in a sentence make sure that:
1. it is really needed (the two events are related, need a temporal regulation, and the earliest event is preceded by a past perfect verb).
2. The verb expressing the second temporal event is in past tense.

(C) Rivers, which originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan but have been redirected by the construction of.

"comma+which" refers to the item directly preceding "which" -except for cases in which a prepositional phrase is squeezed in, between the modifier's target and the comma preceding the modifier, because it cannot be logically placed elsewhere in the sentence. In this sentence the use of "which" is correct, but this rule is good to recall. What makes this sentence wrong is:
1. The lack of a comma after "Lake Michigan" we already have a subordinator ("which") we do not want another one in the same sentence.
2. The use of "but" baffles and is incorrect. Because of "But" The entire sentence structure is screwed.

(D) Rivers, originally flowing into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but having been redirected by the construction of

Once agin "having been" fits terribly beside "so that". "But" bewilders the sentence's meaning.

(E) Rivers, originally flowing into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, have been redirected through the construction of

This looks good, every issue has been addressed and fixed.

Hope it helps,
-tathastuGMAT.

abhasjha wrote:The Chicago and Calumet Rivers originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but having been redirected by constructing canals so that the water now empties into the Mississippi by way of the Illinois River.

(A) Rivers originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but having been redirected by constructing
(B) Rivers had originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but they have been redirected by constructing
(C) Rivers, which originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan but have been redirected by the construction of
(D) Rivers, originally flowing into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but having been redirected by the construction of
(E) Rivers, originally flowing into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, have been redirected through the construction of

A: THE CHICAGO AND CALUMET RIVERS...having been redirected BY CONSTRUCTING CANALS...
B: THE CHICAGO AND CALUMET RIVERS...have been redirected BY CONSTRUCTING CANALS...
These answer choices imply that the RIVERS were CONSTRUCTING canals.
Not the intended meaning.
Eliminate A and B.

In C and D, the Chicago and Calumet Rivers (subject) lacks a verb.
The result in each case is an incomplete sentence.
Eliminate C and D.

The correct answer is E.

GMATGuruNY wrote:

abhasjha wrote:The Chicago and Calumet Rivers originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but having been redirected by constructing canals so that the water now empties into the Mississippi by way of the Illinois River.

(A) Rivers originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but having been redirected by constructing
(B) Rivers had originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but they have been redirected by constructing
(C) Rivers, which originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan but have been redirected by the construction of
(D) Rivers, originally flowing into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but having been redirected by the construction of
(E) Rivers, originally flowing into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, have been redirected through the construction of

A: THE CHICAGO AND CALUMET RIVERS...having been redirected BY CONSTRUCTING CANALS...
B: THE CHICAGO AND CALUMET RIVERS...have been redirected BY CONSTRUCTING CANALS...
These answer choices imply that the RIVERS were CONSTRUCTING canals.
Not the intended meaning.
Eliminate A and B.

In C and D, the Chicago and Calumet Rivers (subject) lacks a verb.
The result in each case is an incomplete sentence.
Eliminate C and D.

The correct answer is E.

in (e)- modifier "originally flowing......" suggests to me its the ongoing scenario...xplain??

and in (a)&(b)...bcoz rivers is the subject...is that why .."by constructing"..suggests its the action performed by them ...clarify??

btw thanx mitch

sukkhi wrote:
in (e)- modifier "originally flowing......" suggests to me its the ongoing scenario...xplain??

I am not a fan of the COMMA + VERBing modifier in the OA (originally flowing).
Generally, a COMMA + VERBing modifier implies an action concurrent with the main action, but here, the flowing is no longer occurring.
That said, the errors in the other answer choices cannot be debated, so the OA wins by default.

and in (a)&(b)...bcoz rivers is the subject...is that why .."by constructing"..suggests its the action performed by them ...clarify??

Correct!
SUBJECT + VERB + by VERBing implies that the subject is performing the VERBing action.

GMATGuruNY wrote:


Correct!
SUBJECT + VERB + by VERBing implies that the subject is performing the VERBing action.

hello Mitch,
Is the statement also true for prepositions other than by ?

GMATGuruNY wrote:

abhasjha wrote:The Chicago and Calumet Rivers originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but having been redirected by constructing canals so that the water now empties into the Mississippi by way of the Illinois River.

(A) Rivers originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but having been redirected by constructing
(B) Rivers had originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but they have been redirected by constructing
(C) Rivers, which originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan but have been redirected by the construction of
(D) Rivers, originally flowing into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but having been redirected by the construction of
(E) Rivers, originally flowing into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, have been redirected through the construction of

A: THE CHICAGO AND CALUMET RIVERS...having been redirected BY CONSTRUCTING CANALS...
B: THE CHICAGO AND CALUMET RIVERS...have been redirected BY CONSTRUCTING CANALS...
These answer choices imply that the RIVERS were CONSTRUCTING canals.
Not the intended meaning.
Eliminate A and B.

In C and D, the Chicago and Calumet Rivers (subject) lacks a verb.
The result in each case is an incomplete sentence.
Eliminate C and D.

The correct answer is E.

Hi Mitch,

I am unable to understand how the construction in options A & B " imply that the RIVERS were CONSTRUCTING canals. "

I mean if that would have been the case then the sentence should have been like

"THE CHICAGO AND CALUMET RIVERS...HAVE redirected BY CONSTRUCTING CANALS"

BEEN if added in the above sentence conveys that something/someone did the reconstruction.

May be my reasoning given above is wrong but I still didn't get how the options A & B conveys that RIVERS HAVE CONSTRUCTED.


Can you please help?

aflaam wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote:


Correct!
SUBJECT + VERB + by VERBing implies that the subject is performing the VERBing action.

hello Mitch,
Is the statement also true for prepositions other than by ?

The rule above seems to be constrained to by VERBing.
A related rule:
If a sentence begins with PREPOSITION + VERBing, the agent of the VERBing action must be the subject of the following clause.

The Chicago and Calumet Rivers originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but having been redirected by constructing canals so that the water now empties into the Mississippi by way of the Illinois River.

(A) Rivers originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but having been redirected by constructing
(B) Rivers had originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but they have been redirected by constructing
(C) Rivers, which originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan but have been redirected by the construction of
(D) Rivers, originally flowing into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, but having been redirected by the construction of
(E) Rivers, originally flowing into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, have been redirected through the construction of

GMATGuruNY wrote:B: THE CHICAGO AND CALUMET RIVERS...have been redirected BY CONSTRUCTING CANALS...
These answer choices imply that the RIVERS were CONSTRUCTING canals.
Not the intended meaning.
Eliminate A and B.

Hi GMATGuruNY,
Don't understand how can the option B mean what you've mentioned ?

Say, X= RIVERS and Y=CONSTRUCTING CANALS
X have been redirected by Y could only mean, I think, Y have redirected X. How this can be wrong ?

Could you please clarify ?