For farmers in the Salinas Valley

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killer1387: Legendary Member; Posts: 581; Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2011 7:53 am; Thanked: 52 times; Followed by:5 members

For farmers in the Salinas Valley

by killer1387 » Wed Mar 21, 2012 7:53 am

For farmers in the Salinas Valley, the vegetable growing business has always been one of economic ups and downs, the downs usually because of unfavorable weather that killed crops, or they ripened too quickly.

(A) because of unfavorable weather that killed crops, or they ripened
(B) because of unfavorable weather killing or ripening crops
(C) being caused by unfavorable weather that killed or ripened crops
(D) caused by unfavorable weather that kills crops or ripens them
(E) caused by unfavorable weather killing crops, or that they ripen

Source: GMATCLUB
[spoiler]OA: D
i dont understand the difference between B and D, please explain in detail.[/spoiler]

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Wed Mar 21, 2012 7:53 am

GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pm; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; Followed by:1906 members; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:54 am

killer1387 wrote:For farmers in the Salinas Valley, the vegetable growing business has always been one of economic ups and downs, the downs usually because of unfavorable weather that killed crops, or they ripened too quickly.

(A) because of unfavorable weather that killed crops, or they ripened
(B) because of unfavorable weather killing or ripening crops
(C) being caused by unfavorable weather that killed or ripened crops
(D) caused by unfavorable weather that kills crops or ripens them
(E) caused by unfavorable weather killing crops, or that they ripen

Source: GMATCLUB
[spoiler]OA: D
i dont understand the difference between B and D, please explain in detail.[/spoiler]

In A and B, because of unfavorable weather (adverb) seems to be modifying the downs (noun). Only an adjective can modify a noun. Eliminate A and B.

In C, killed and ripened imply actions completed in the past. Since the sentence is discussing an ONGOING TRUTH, the present tense is needed. Eliminate C.

In E, they (plural) lacks a clear antecedent. Eliminate E.

The correct answer is D.

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killer1387: Legendary Member; Posts: 581; Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2011 7:53 am; Thanked: 52 times; Followed by:5 members

by killer1387 » Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:59 am

GMATGuruNY wrote:
In A and B, because of unfavorable weather (adverb) seems to be modifying the downs[/i] (noun). Only an adjective can modify a noun. Eliminate A and B.

Could you please explain the part in bold.

Apart from relevance in the question of the options B and D consider two independent statements :

1. unfavorable weather killing or ripening crops
2. caused by unfavorable weather that kills crops or ripens them

What are meaning differences between the bold parts above in the two options. How does these parts qualify the weather?

THNX

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GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pm; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; Followed by:1906 members; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Wed Mar 21, 2012 10:48 am

killer1387 wrote:
Apart from relevance in the question of the options B and D consider two independent statements :

1. unfavorable weather killing or ripening crops
2. caused by unfavorable weather that kills crops or ripens them

What are meaning differences between the bold parts above in the two options. How does these parts qualify the weather?

THNX

In killing and ripening the crops too quickly, too quickly seems to modify both killing and ripening, implying that the bad weather is KILLING the crops TOO QUICKLY -- not the intended meaning.