Sentence Correction

Stymieing the Armada's plans to meet up with the Duke of Parma's army off the coast of Flanders in the Spanish Netherlands, the reason for the defeat of the Spanish Armada was not only due to gale winds that favored the British but also the sacrificing of eight war ships as "fireships," vessels filled with pitch, brimstone, gunpowder, and tar and sent downwind toward the closely-anchored Spanish fleet.

A) Stymieing the Armada's plans to meet up with the Duke of Parma's army off the coast of Flanders in the Spanish Netherlands, the reason for the defeat of the Spanish Armada was not only due to gale winds that favored the British but also the sacrificing

B) The defeat of the Spanish Armada, which stymied the Armada's plans to meet up with the Duke of Parma's army off the coast of Flanders in the Spanish Netherlands, was not only due to gale winds that favored the British but also the sacrificing

C) The defeat of the Spanish Armada, which stymied the Armada's plans to meet up with the Duke of Parma's army off the coast of Flanders in the Spanish Netherlands, was not only due to gale winds that favored the British but also due to the sacrificing

D) Stymieing the Armada's plans to meet up with the Duke of Parma's army off the coast of Flanders in the Spanish Netherlands, the reason for the defeat of the Spanish Armada was not only gale winds that favored the British but also the sacrifice

E) Stymieing the Armada's plans to meet up with the Duke of Parma's army off the coast of Flanders in the Spanish Netherlands, the defeat of the Spanish Armada was due not only to gale winds that favored the British but also to the sacrifice

Answer: E
SOurce:MGMAT

[spoiler]
Why is C incorrect? It conveys the same meaning.[/spoiler]

mparakala wrote:Stymieing the Armada's plans to meet up with the Duke of Parma's army off the coast of Flanders in the Spanish Netherlands, the reason for the defeat of the Spanish Armada was not only due to gale winds that favored the British but also the sacrificing of eight war ships as "fireships," vessels filled with pitch, brimstone, gunpowder, and tar and sent downwind toward the closely-anchored Spanish fleet.

A) Stymieing the Armada's plans to meet up with the Duke of Parma's army off the coast of Flanders in the Spanish Netherlands, the reason for the defeat of the Spanish Armada was not only due to gale winds that favored the British but also the sacrificing

B) The defeat of the Spanish Armada, which stymied the Armada's plans to meet up with the Duke of Parma's army off the coast of Flanders in the Spanish Netherlands, was not only due to gale winds that favored the British but also the sacrificing

C) The defeat of the Spanish Armada, which stymied the Armada's plans to meet up with the Duke of Parma's army off the coast of Flanders in the Spanish Netherlands, was not only due to gale winds that favored the British but also due to the sacrificing

D) Stymieing the Armada's plans to meet up with the Duke of Parma's army off the coast of Flanders in the Spanish Netherlands, the reason for the defeat of the Spanish Armada was not only gale winds that favored the British but also the sacrifice

E) Stymieing the Armada's plans to meet up with the Duke of Parma's army off the coast of Flanders in the Spanish Netherlands, the defeat of the Spanish Armada was due not only to gale winds that favored the British but also to the sacrifice

In A and D, stymieing seems to modify the reason, implying that THE REASON stymied the Armada's plans -- a nonsensical meaning.
The intended meaning is that THE DEFEAT of the Armada stymied the Armada's plans.
Eliminate A and D.

In B and C, which seems to modify the Armada, implying that THE ARMADA stymied the Armada's plans -- a nonsensical meaning.
The intended meaning is that THE DEFEAT of the Armada stymied the Armada's plans.
Eliminate B and C.

The correct answer is E.

Thank you for your response Mitch!

Could you kindly clarify one more thing? In option C,

C) The defeat of the Spanish Armada, which stymied the Armada's plans

I thought "which" modified "the defeat of the Spanish Armada" but not just "Armada". SO, should I understand that "which" modifies the word that immediately precedes it and not the entire fragment that precedes it?

Thanks!

mparakala wrote:Thank you for your response Mitch!

Could you kindly clarify one more thing? In option C,

C) The defeat of the Spanish Armada, which stymied the Armada's plans

I thought "which" modified "the defeat of the Spanish Armada" but not just "Armada". SO, should I understand that "which" modifies the word that immediately precedes it and not the entire fragment that precedes it?

Thanks!

The DEFAULT interpretation is that which refers to the NEAREST ELIGIBLE ANTECEDENT.
Here, the nearest eligible antecedent is ARMADA.
Thus, the default interpretation is that which refers to Armada.

In some cases, the nearest eligible antecedent will not IMMEDIATELY precede which.
To illustrate:

Barbara Jordan did not become a nationally recognized figure until 1974, when she participated in the HEARINGS on the impeachment of President Richard Nixon, which WERE televised nationwide.

Here, which is followed by a plural verb (were), so it's clear that which refers not to impeachment but to HEARINGS (the nearest preceding plural noun).

In general:
If COMMA + which is followed by a SINGULAR verb, then which should refer to the nearest preceding SINGULAR noun.
If COMMA + which is followed by a PLURAL verb, then which should refer to the nearest preceding PLURAL noun.

Hi Mitch

Is there something wrong with C apart from 'Which' modifier. I am asking this because singular or plural indicator, which you referred to in your above post, is not present. Hence, it is very difficult to decide what 'which' is modifying?

Is there something wrong with 'The defeat...... was due to the sacrificing of'? I am sensing a parallelism issue here. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Is it the correct usage "due not only to"?

Hi Mitch,

Isn't this construction rhetorical...?

ex - "...was due not only to X but also to Y."

rajatvmittal wrote:Hi Mitch

Is there something wrong with C apart from 'Which' modifier. I am asking this because singular or plural indicator, which you referred to in your above post, is not present. Hence, it is very difficult to decide what 'which' is modifying?

Precisely the point.
Since the OA avoids this confusion, it is BY DEFAULT THE BETTER ANSWER CHOICE.

Is there something wrong with 'The defeat...... was due to the sacrificing of'? I am sensing a parallelism issue here. Please correct me if I am wrong.

In C, sacrificing is a GERUND: a verb serving as a NOUN.
Here, the use of the gerund presents several issues:

The WINDS and the SACRIFICING (a basic noun and a verb serving as a noun) are not as parallel as the WINDS and the SACRIFICE (two basic nouns).

It doesn't make sense to contrast a static noun (winds) with an ACTION (sacrificing).

When the GMAT uses a gerund, it should be crystal clear who or what is performing the action of the gerund.
Here, the AGENT of the sacrificing is not crystal clear.

Generally, a gerund serves to refer to the PROCESS of performing an action.
After his accident, John found running difficult.
In this sentence, John found the PROCESS of running -- the moving of his legs, the pumping of his arms -- difficult.
In the SC above, the gerund is misused: the defeat was due not to the PROCESS of sacrificing the eight war ships but to the LOSS of the eight war ships.

A good rule of thumb: If we're given a choice between a basic noun (such as sacrifice) and a gerund form (such as sacrificing), the answer choice with the basic noun is more likely to be correct.

For all of these reasons, eliminate C and choose E.

hello Mitch

Can you please elaborate on the usage of "due to" here? I'm not entirely convinced that "due to" is the most suitable connector here.

here 2/ 3 splits

sacrificing and sacrifice

now A B c , out due to Not only but also need to NOT ONLY to the gale winds //BUT ALSO TO THE NOUN( sacrifice )

now B is tempting here //


D / E - D dont have preposition ,

aslo main subject is defeat that should come just after modifier

so E

whats_in_the_store wrote:hello Mitch

Can you please elaborate on the usage of "due to" here? I'm not entirely convinced that "due to" is the most suitable connector here.

The defeat of the Spanish Armada was due not only to gale winds that favored the British but also to the sacrifice of eight war ships.

Due is not a connector but an ADJECTIVE.
Here, due serves to modify the defeat: The defeat was DUE.
To gale winds serves as an ADVERB indicating HOW the defeat was due.
HOW was the defeat due?
It was due TO GALE WINDS.
To the sacrifice also serves as an adverb indicating how the defeat was due.
The connectors here are not only and but also, which serve to join the two adverbs:
The defeat was due NOT ONLY to gale winds BUT ALSO to the sacrifice.

@GMAT GURUNY

Mitch, thank you so much for your answer on the usage of "which". This info has helped me in getting various questions right!

Greatly appreciate your help. Thank you !!