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Holstein Cows

by saranshpuri » Sun May 04, 2014 11:18 am
For the farmer who takes care to keep them cool, providing them with high-energy
feed, and milking them regularly, Holstein cows are producing an average of 2,275
gallons of milk each per year.
A. providing them with high-energy feed, and milking them regularly, Holstein cows are
producing
B. providing them with high-energy feed, and milked regularly, the Holstein cow
produces
C. provided with high-energy feed, and milking them regularly, Holstein cows are
producing
D. provided with high-energy feed, and milked regularly, the Holstein cow produces
E. provided with high-energy feed, and milked regularly, Holstein cows will produce

OA is E
Plz EXPLAIN , i am confused by the use of past participle provided and milked.
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by [email protected] » Sun May 04, 2014 12:32 pm
Hi saranshpuri,

This SC is based on a couple of standard grammar rules (both of which the GMAT will tested you on):

1) Pronouns - This SC uses the word "them", which is a plural pronoun. The matching noun will have to be COWS. Eliminate B and D.

2) Parallelism - This SC involves a list of 3 things that a farmer should do for his cows; the 3 things have to be in parallel format. The first ("keep them cool") provides the model that the second and third things must match. Verbs in "-ing" format do NOT match the needed format. Eliminate A and C.

Final Answer: E

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by GMATGuruNY » Sun May 04, 2014 1:34 pm
For the farmer who takes care to keep them cool, providing them with high-energy
feed, and milking them regularly, Holstein cows are producing an average of 2,275
gallons of milk each per year.
A. providing them with high-energy feed, and milking them regularly, Holstein cows are
producing
B. providing them with high-energy feed, and milked regularly, the Holstein cow
produces
C. provided with high-energy feed, and milking them regularly, Holstein cows are
producing
D. provided with high-energy feed, and milked regularly, the Holstein cow produces
E. provided with high-energy feed, and milked regularly, Holstein cows will produce
in B and D, them (plural) does not agree with the Holstein cow (singular). Eliminate B and D.

In C, provided and milking are not parallel. A conjunction such as and must connect PARALLEL FORMS. Eliminate C.

As for A:
COMMA + VERBing serves to indicate an action happening AT THE SAME TIME as the verb in the preceding clause.
The implication is that the VERBing action and the preceding verb both occur as part of a SINGLE EVENT.
Typically, the VERBing action is a RESULT of the preceding action.
In A, providing them with feed and milking them regularly do NOT result from the preceding action (to keep them cool).
Thus, A does not convey the intended meaning.

The correct answer is E.

In E, the farmer takes care to keep the cows COOL, PROVIDED and MILKED.
Here, provided and milked serve as RESULTATIVE ADJECTIVES that are parallel with cool, the first resultative adjective in the list.

A resultative adjective follows the noun that it modifies and serves to indicate the RESULT of a preceding action.
John painted the room BLACK.
Here, the room is BLACK as a RESULT of the preceding action (John PAINTED).

In E, the three resultative adjectives describe the cows.
For the farmer who TAKES CARE, what are the results?
The cows are kept COOL, PROVIDED WITH FEED, and MILKED REGULARLY.
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