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The fragile markets were caught off-guard

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The fragile markets were caught off-guard

by aditya8062 » Wed Mar 13, 2013 4:02 am
The fragile markets were caught off-guard Friday by an unexpected drop in retail sales for May, which renewed concerns about the pace of the recovery in the United States.
A. which renewed concerns about the pace of the recovery in the United States.
B. an event that renewed concerns about the pace of the recovery in the United States.
C. and renewed concerns about the pace of the recovery in the United States.
D. renewed concerns about the pace of the recovery in the United States.
E. renewing concerns about the pace of the recovery in the United States.

my concern : what makes option B wrong , i guess it very well falls into comma + noun modifier category
i believe that comma + ing modifier must make sense with the subject of the previous clause and must modify the entire previous clause . while i agree that later is followed in option E but isn't the former concept violated ?
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by spark » Wed Mar 13, 2013 11:05 am
Answer B is an attempt to end the sentence with an absolute phrase (see the Manhattan GMAT Sentence Correction book for more on absolute phrases). I believe the problem with answer B is the use of "an event" to modify the entire preceding clause. First, it seems a bit strange to call "an unexpected drop in retail sales" an "event." Also, if the absolute phrase is supposed to modify the entire preceding clause, then there is a bit of an ambiguity about what "an event" modifies: is the "event" the fragile markets getting caught off-guard, or is the "event" the unexpected drop in retail sales?

Answer E correctly uses an -ing participial phrase at the end of the sentence to modify the entire preceding clause. An -ing participial phrase at the end of a sentence can modify the subject of the preceding clause or the entire preceding clause. If an -ing participial phrase at the end of a sentence modifies the entire preceding clause, then the phrase typically presents the result of the preceding clause, as it does in this case.

Here's an example of an -ing participial phrase modifying the subject of the preceding clause.

The lion silently stalked its prey, giving no warning that it was about to attack.

Hope this helps! Good luck!
Stuart Park
Simply Brilliant
Stuart is a Harvard grad GMAT expert who scored 760 the first time he took the exam, with 99th percentile quant and verbal scores. He has extensive experience teaching for one of the "elite" GMAT prep companies. Through https://www.simplybrilliantprep.com he offers online classes, private tutoring and MBA application consulting for clients worldwide.
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by aditya8062 » Wed Mar 13, 2013 6:01 pm
thanks spark for ur inputs
spark wrote : Also, if the absolute phrase is supposed to modify the entire preceding clause, then there is a bit of an ambiguity about what "an event" modifies: is the "event" the fragile markets getting caught off-guard, or is the "event" the unexpected drop in retail sales?
i think this is accurate .infact just after posting this question i realized this ambiguity
spark wrote : First, it seems a bit strange to call "an unexpected drop in retail sales" an "event.
i feel that had it been just one event in the previous clause ,"an event" cud have been used in that case as "an event" does fall into abstract noun category
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