Big Bang

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Big Bang

by paes » Sat Jul 10, 2010 5:22 pm
Astronomers have theorized that the Big Bang governs the behavior of interstellar dust, particles that comprise the atoms and molecules created in the progenitive explosion and persisting in even the emptiest regions of space.

* persisting
* persists
* persisted
* they persist
* are persisting

OA Later
Source: — Sentence Correction |

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by hardik.jadeja » Sat Jul 10, 2010 7:40 pm
Tough one.

Check here - https://www.beatthegmat.com/big-bang-and ... html#93548

Hope that helps..

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by paes » Sat Jul 10, 2010 8:29 pm
OA is A

Jadeja,

I know the question is similar to OG problem
' "giant fungus in the forest of Michigan" '

and I agree with the OA and its explanation.

But actually my problem is, on a test day, I selected B because it was looking a more straightforward answer.

Astronomers have theorized that the Big Bang governs the behavior of interstellar dust, particles that comprise the atoms and molecules created in the progenitive explosion and persists in even the emptiest regions of space.

So without considering the meaning of the sentence,
is there anything wrong with the above parallelism ?

Please explain.

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by hardik.jadeja » Sat Jul 10, 2010 9:17 pm
I did the same mistake as you did. When I was searching for the OA, I found that Karen's post. Here's what I understood from that post..

Option B looks parallel but it's not(why? look at my following post). If we assume that in option B "governs" and "persists" are parallel, then the sentence alters the meaning of the original sentence. In that case, B would mean that

Astronomers have theorized that the Big Bang persists in even the emptiest regions of space.

This is not what the original sentence intends to convey.

Let me explain to you the structure of the original sentence.

The main clause is - Astronomers have theorized that the Big Bang governs the behavior of interstellar dust

particles that comprise the atoms and molecules created in the progenitive explosion and persisting in even the emptiest regions of space - This is a modifier that modifies the noun interstellar dust

I have underlined the correct parallelism.

Astronomers have theorized that the Big Bang governs the behavior of interstellar dust, particles that comprise the atoms and molecules created in the progenitive explosion and persisting in even the emptiest regions of space.

Notice what this sentence means.

Astronomers have theorized that the Big Bang governs the behavior of interstellar dust, particles that comprise the atoms and molecules persisting in even the emptiest regions of space.

Hope that helps...
Last edited by hardik.jadeja on Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:39 am, edited 6 times in total.

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by hardik.jadeja » Sat Jul 10, 2010 9:29 pm
Another reason why B is wrong... Option B is actually not parallel.

"governs" and "persists" would be parallel only if the sentence was like this

Astronomers have theorized that the Big Bang governs the behavior of interstellar dust, particles that comprise the atoms and molecules created in the progenitive explosion, and persists in even the emptiest regions of space.

Observe the comma before the second underlined part. If the original sentence intends to say that Big Bang persists in even the emptiest regions of space, then the modifier("particles that...") has to end before "and persists..."

Only if there is a comma before AND, we can dispose the modifier "particles that..." and create to separate sentences out of B...

Astronomers have theorized that the Big Bang governs the behavior of interstellar dust

Astronomers have theorized that the Big Bang persists in even the emptiest regions of space


The combined parallel sentence would be..

Astronomers have theorized that the Big Bang governs the behavior of interstellar dust and persists in even the emptiest regions of space.

Hope that helps...
Last edited by hardik.jadeja on Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

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by frank1 » Sat Jul 10, 2010 11:16 pm
I think A and B are equally good....
but gmat question have only one answer
so as their is no reason to say A is wrong....
A wins

but having said that if we discount off B saying it is not parallel....A is not parallel as well...plus i think
persists even in ...is the more correct than saying ....persists in even
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by paes » Sat Jul 10, 2010 11:47 pm
frank,

persist even in or persist in even do not matter here.

And A is perfectly a parallel sentence.

To understand it, follow the link provided by Jadeja above.

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by paes » Sat Jul 10, 2010 11:53 pm
hardik.jadeja wrote:Another reason why B is wrong... Option B is actually not parallel.

B would be parallel only if it was like this

Astronomers have theorized that the Big Bang governs the behavior of interstellar dust, particles that comprise the atoms and molecules created in the progenitive explosion, and persists in even the emptiest regions of space.

Observe the comma before the second underlined part. If the original sentence intends to say that Big Bang persists in even the emptiest regions of space, then the modifier("particles that...") has to end before "and persists..."

Only if there is a comma before AND, we can dispose the modifier "particles that..." and create to separate sentences out of B...

Astronomers have theorized that the Big Bang governs the behavior of interstellar dust

Astronomers have theorized that the Big Bang persists in even the emptiest regions of space


The combined parallel sentence would be..

Astronomers have theorized that the Big Bang governs the behavior of interstellar dust and persists in even the emptiest regions of space.

Hope that helps...
Jadeja

Again you have given the right explanation what I was looking for. Thanks to catch my intention.
I was also looking explanation from comma + and structure point of view.
Now also, I am not clear when to put a comma before and AND when no need to put a comma before and.
If there is any general rule, link, please provide.

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by hardik.jadeja » Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:21 am
paes wrote: Jadeja

Again you have given the right explanation what I was looking for. Thanks to catch my intention.
I was also looking explanation from comma + and structure point of view.
Now also, I am not clear when to put a comma before and AND when no need to put a comma before and.
If there is any general rule, link, please provide.
Yes, there is a general rule..

Use "X and Y" when X and Y are nouns or noun phrases.
Eg: I bought some apples, pears and oranges.

Use "X, and Y" when X and Y are two independent clauses.
Eg: Miguel took piano lessons for sixteen years, and today he is an accomplished performer.

The use of the comma would also apply when any of the seven coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet) join two independent clauses.

Notice in the next example that we do not use a comma before "and" because it does not join two independent clauses but merely joins two verbs:
Eg:Miguel took piano lessons for sixteen years and today is an accomplished performer.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here in this particular question, the case is different. In the following sentence we need comma before AND because of the modifier(particles that... explosion). The comma before AND suggests that the modifier has ended there.

Astronomers have theorized that the Big Bang governs the behavior of interstellar dust, particles that comprise the atoms and molecules created in the progenitive explosion, and persists in even the emptiest regions of space.

If we remove the modifier(particles that... explosion) from the sentence, then we do not need the comma before "and" because it does not join two independent clauses but merely joins two verbs:

Astronomers have theorized that the Big Bang governs the behavior of interstellar dust and persists in even the emptiest regions of space.

Hope that helps...

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by paes » Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:39 am
Thanks Jadeja.
Nice explanation.

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