Soft plaque

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Soft plaque

by sl750 » Fri Jul 22, 2011 1:54 am
Soft plaque is now emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks, harder to detect and more vulnerable to sudden, unexpected rupture than hard plaque

A) Soft plaque is now emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks, harder to detect and more vulnerable to sudden, unexpected rupture than hard plaque

B) Soft plaque is now emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks, as opposed to hard plaque, harder to detect and more vulnerable to sudden,unexpected rupture

C) Soft plaque is harder to detect and more vulnerable to rupture than hard plaque, now emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks

D) Soft plaque, harder to detect and more vulnerable to sudden, unexpected rupture than hard plaque, is now emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks

E) Soft plaque, because it is harder to detect and more vulnerable to sudden, unexpected rupture, is emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks, as opposed to hard plaque

I shall post the answer after a few comments

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by bubbliiiiiiii » Fri Jul 22, 2011 2:14 am
This question tests modifiers.

IMO D.
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by singh181 » Fri Jul 22, 2011 3:12 am
sl750 wrote:Soft plaque is now emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks, harder to detect and more vulnerable to sudden, unexpected rupture than hard plaque

A) Soft plaque is now emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks, harder to detect and more vulnerable to sudden, unexpected rupture than hard plaque Sentence fragment

B) Soft plaque is now emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks, as opposed to hard plaque, harder to detect and more vulnerable to sudden,unexpected rupture Meaning Change

C) Soft plaque is harder to detect and more vulnerable to rupture than hard plaque, now emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks Sentence Fragment

D) Soft plaque, harder to detect and more vulnerable to sudden, unexpected rupture than hard plaque, is now emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks Correct

E) Soft plaque, because it is harder to detect and more vulnerable to sudden, unexpected rupture, is emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks, as opposed to hard plaque Meaning Change

I shall post the answer after a few comments

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by sl750 » Fri Jul 22, 2011 4:11 am
Answer D is correct.

Doesn't the participial phrase 'is now emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks' modify hard plaque in the correct answer?

I am confused with its usage. Any help is appreciated

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by bubbliiiiiiii » Fri Jul 22, 2011 4:56 am
Hey SL750,

Consider the sentence construction of correct answer choice D as under,'

Soft plaque, harder to detect and more vulnerable to sudden, unexpected rupture than hard plaque, is now emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks

This is like a phrase acting like a modifier is inserted in an independent clause.

Once you agree with this, lets move to the phrase and study the phrase/modifier structure,

, harder to detect and more vulnerable to sudden, unexpected rupture than hard plaque,

The two parts marked in blue are parallel to each other and are compared with the hard plaque using the comparative operator than.

I think what might have confused you is the comma usage within the pair of commas. The pair of comma in bold and violet is used to capsule the modifier whereas the internal comma acts as a list seperator that modifies rupture.

I guess I made it too complex. Please let me know if you don't understand anything.

Others please correct incase wrong. :)
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by sl750 » Fri Jul 22, 2011 5:22 am
Thanks Pranay!!. When I see the sentence like that without the filler it does make sense

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by gmat25 » Fri Jul 22, 2011 7:04 am
Why Op C is wrong???? the comparison in first part is correct and "emerging" (COMMA + ING) i believe correctly modifying Soft plaque.

Moreover, In Op D, can u please suggest if it correct to place a COMMA between Sudden and unexpected....this COMMA is unnecessarily creating confusion. I think AND should be placed between these two words rather than a COMMA.

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by bubbliiiiiiii » Sun Jul 24, 2011 10:52 pm
Why Op C is wrong???? the comparison in first part is correct and "emerging" (COMMA + ING) i believe correctly modifying Soft plaque.


Nope it modifies hard plague and thus, changes the meaning of the sentence.
Moreover, In Op D, can u please suggest if it correct to place a COMMA between Sudden and unexpected....this COMMA is unnecessarily creating confusion. I think AND should be placed between these two words rather than a COMMA.
I agree but with you on this but not sure of AND is mandatory! :)
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by bubbliiiiiiii » Sun Jul 24, 2011 10:53 pm
Thanks Pranay!!. When I see the sentence like that without the filler it does make sense
I am glad that it helped :)

Thanks to you too for noticing my name in my signature. Sometimes, its too awkward to be called Bubbliii! ;)
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by gmat25 » Mon Jul 25, 2011 12:46 am
bubbliiiiiiii wrote:
Why Op C is wrong???? the comparison in first part is correct and "emerging" (COMMA + ING) i believe correctly modifying Soft plaque.


Nope it modifies hard plague and thus, changes the meaning of the sentence.
Well actually you are not correct here...i asked this same question from expert Mitch in other thread, coincidentally both the thread contains same questions and posted at the same time so i posted my doubt in both the threads. Here is the reply of Mitch, i learned a new concept here so sharing the same as may be u also learn something new here..

MITCH's POST
In C, it is unclear whether now emerging modifies soft plaque or hard plaque. Generally, a present participle (such as emerging) preceded by a comma refers to the subject of the preceding clause. C is confusing because the comparison in the preceding clause-- soft plaque [is] harder to detect...than [is] hard plaque -- implies two potential subjects: hard plaque and soft plaque. Many readers will assume that emerging refers to hard plaque, since it is the closer of the two preceding subjects. The intended meaning of the sentence, however, is that emerging refers to soft plaque. Since it must be clear what a modifier is modifying, eliminate C.
Here is the link to that thread:

https://www.beatthegmat.com/kaplan-sc-t87615.html

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by bubbliiiiiiii » Mon Jul 25, 2011 1:17 am
Hey GMAT25,

Thanks for sharing the info. :)
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