Sentence Correction

Hello Everyone,

This is a great example of a MODIFIER question you might find on the GMAT! Let's start off by taking a quick look at the original question, and highlighting any major differences in orange:

Severely hindered by problems with local suppliers, the fact that the AQ division also had a new management team to adapt to was not seen by the board of directors as a legitimate excuse for such low productivity.

A. Severely hindered by problems with local suppliers, the fact that the AQ division also had a new management team to adapt to
B. Though severely hindered by local supply problems, the fact that the AQ division also had a new management team to which to adapt
C. Severely hindered by problems with local suppliers, the AQ division also had to adapt to a new management team, but this
D. Severely hindered by local supply problems, that the AQ division also had to adapt to a new management team
E. Though severely hindered by problems with local suppliers, the AQ division's also having a new management team to which it had to adapt

After a quick scan over the options, there are a few differences that jump out:

1. Severely hindered / Though severely hindered (Meaning)
2. the fact that the AQ division / the AQ division / that the AQ division / the AQ division's (Modifier Agreement)
3. to adapt to / to which to adapt / to which it had to adapt (Wordiness/Meaning)

Since this is a modifier question, let's start with #2 on our list: Modifier Agreement. We need to make sure that the modifier is paired up with what it's modifying. To help answer this, ask yourself "WHO/WHAT has been severely hindered by local supply problems?" The AQ division! Let's see how each option works out:

A. Severely hindered by problems with local suppliers, the fact that the AQ division also had a new management team to adapt to
B. Though severely hindered by local supply problems, the fact that the AQ division also had a new management team to which to adapt
C. Severely hindered by problems with local suppliers, the AQ division also had to adapt to a new management team, but this
D. Severely hindered by local supply problems, that the AQ division also had to adapt to a new management team
E. Though severely hindered by problems with local suppliers, the AQ division's also having a new management team to which it had to adapt

There you have it - only option C correctly states that the AQ division is the one hindered by problems with local suppliers! All the other options attribute that modifier to having a new management team to adapt to, which isn't the intended meaning we're going for.

If you can identify GMAT SC questions that deal with modifiers, it's easy to do a quick check to ensure the modifier and subject match up! You can narrow down your options rather quickly, and in some cases, get to the correct choice even quicker!


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