SC - Wordy construction

Question

The rapid rise in the number of motor-vehicle related fatalities in the 1950's and 1960's led to passing the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966, authorizing the federal government to both regulate standards and punish manufacturers who design motor vehicles with the intent of skirting these regulations.

(A) passing the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966, authorizing the federal government to both regulate standards and punish manufacturers who design motor vehicles with the intent of skirting

(B) the passage of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966, which authorizes the federal government to both regulate standards and punish manufacturers who design motor vehicles with the intent that they will skirt

(C) the passage in 1966 of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, which authorizes the federal government to both regulate standards and punish manufacturers who design motor vehicles with the intent of skirting

(D) the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, which was passed in 1966, and it authorizes the federal government to both regulate standards and punish manufacturers who design motor vehicles with the intent to skirt

(E) the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, passed in 1966 and authorizing the federal government to both regulate standards and punish manufacturers who design motor vehicles with the intent of skirting

Regards,
Karthik
The source of the questions that i post from JUNE 2013 is from KNEWTON

---If you find my post useful, click "Thank"

---
---Never stop until cracking GMAT---

vk_vinayak · Answer

karthikpandian19 wrote:The rapid rise in the number of motor-vehicle related fatalities in the 1950's and 1960's led to passing the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966, authorizing the federal government to both regulate standards and punish manufacturers who design motor vehicles with the intent of skirting these regulations.

(A) passing the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966, authorizing the federal government to both regulate standards and punish manufacturers who design motor vehicles with the intent of skirting >> It should be 'passing of' or 'passage of'.

(B) the passage of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966, which authorizes the federal government to both regulate standards and punish manufacturers who design motor vehicles with the intent that they will skirt >> 'they' seems to refer to vehicles, while it should refer to manufacturers. Also not sure about the idiom 'intent that'

(C) the passage in 1966 of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, which authorizes the federal government to both regulate standards and punish manufacturers who design motor vehicles with the intent of skirting >> 'the passage in 1966 of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act' is awkward.

(D) the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, which was passed in 1966, and it authorizes the federal government to both regulate standards and punish manufacturers who design motor vehicles with the intent to skirt >> 'it' illogically refers to rise.

(E) the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, passed in 1966 and authorizing the federal government to both regulate standards and punish manufacturers who design motor vehicles with the intent of skirting >> sounds about ok

- VK

I will (Learn. Recognize. Apply)

karthikpandian19 · Answer

This sentence employs the awkward use of a gerund (in the phrase "led to passing") and a misplaced modifier ("in 1966" describes when the Act was passed and should be connected directly to this action).

Additionally, the participial phrase authorizing the federal government should describe the Act itself and not the passing of the act; however this is not clear, because participial phrases modify the subjects of the clauses that they follow.

Choice B corrects the initial gerund phrase, but leaves the modifying prepositional phrase in the wrong place in the sentence. Furthermore, the intent that is not idiomatically correct.

Choice C improves the initial gerund phrase, changing it to "the passage of", a better construction. Additionally, in 1966 immediately follows the passage, clearly indicating that the passage occurred in 1966. Which authorizes directly follows the Act, indicating that the Act and not passing the act is what authorizes the government.

Choice D is unnecessarily wordy and the pronoun it is ambiguous.

Choice E changes the entire section of the sentence after the comma into one long modifier for the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, which is particularly unwieldy. Passed and authorizing are not parallel modifiers.

Choice C is correct.

vk_vinayak wrote:
karthikpandian19 wrote:The rapid rise in the number of motor-vehicle related fatalities in the 1950's and 1960's led to passing the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966, authorizing the federal government to both regulate standards and punish manufacturers who design motor vehicles with the intent of skirting these regulations.

(A) passing the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966, authorizing the federal government to both regulate standards and punish manufacturers who design motor vehicles with the intent of skirting >> It should be 'passing of' or 'passage of'.

(B) the passage of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966, which authorizes the federal government to both regulate standards and punish manufacturers who design motor vehicles with the intent that they will skirt >> 'they' seems to refer to vehicles, while it should refer to manufacturers. Also not sure about the idiom 'intent that'

(C) the passage in 1966 of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, which authorizes the federal government to both regulate standards and punish manufacturers who design motor vehicles with the intent of skirting >> 'the passage in 1966 of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act' is awkward.

(D) the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, which was passed in 1966, and it authorizes the federal government to both regulate standards and punish manufacturers who design motor vehicles with the intent to skirt >> 'it' illogically refers to rise.

(E) the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, passed in 1966 and authorizing the federal government to both regulate standards and punish manufacturers who design motor vehicles with the intent of skirting >> sounds about ok

Regards,
Karthik
The source of the questions that i post from JUNE 2013 is from KNEWTON

---If you find my post useful, click "Thank"

---
---Never stop until cracking GMAT---

vk_vinayak · Answer

Choice E changes the entire section of the sentence after the comma into one long modifier for the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, which is particularly unwieldy. Passed and authorizing are not parallel modifiers.

I agree that E can be wrong for awkwardness, but I do not agree that Passed and authorizing are not parallel modifiers.

- VK

I will (Learn. Recognize. Apply)

GMATGuruNY · Answer

Check my posts here: https://www.beatthegmat.com/the-cybersqu ... 11474.html Much of the same reasoning could be applied to the SC above.

karthikpandian19 · Answer

The problem with answer choice E is that it changes the meaning of the sentence. On SC questions, the correct answer choice should be error-free and preserve the original meaning of the sentence (unless the only way to get rid of grammar and style errors is to change the meaning). If there is an answer choice that preserves the original meaning and is free of errors, then that is the best answer choice.

So the problem with choice E is that, according to the original sentence, the rapid rise did not lead to the Safety Act itself; the rapid rise led to the PASSAGE of the Safety Act. So answer choice E changes the meaning of the sentence.

"passed" and "authorizing" could be considered parallel because they are both participial phrases describing the same noun, but making them parallel skews the meaning of the sentence by simply describing the Safety Act with information about when it was passed, when the original sentence makes it clear that the rapid rise led to the passage of the Safety Act.

vk_vinayak wrote:
Choice E changes the entire section of the sentence after the comma into one long modifier for the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, which is particularly unwieldy. Passed and authorizing are not parallel modifiers.

I agree that E can be wrong for awkwardness, but I do not agree that Passed and authorizing are not parallel modifiers.

Regards,
Karthik
The source of the questions that i post from JUNE 2013 is from KNEWTON

---If you find my post useful, click "Thank"

---
---Never stop until cracking GMAT---

Choose how you want to prepare

Get Ready for GMAT Test Day Faster with Live Online Classes

Target Test Prep EA OnDemand

Sep 6 to Dec 6, 2026

Target Test Prep GMAT OnDemand

SC - Wordy construction

Chicago Booth

GMAT Course Reviews

Admissions Consulting Reviews

FREE GMAT PREP RESOURCES

GMAT PREP DEAL TRACKER