Sunspot circle

Expert replies

Dean Jones: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 239; Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2010 8:40 amFollowed by: 2 members; Location: India; Thanked: 5 times; GMAT Score:690

by Dean Jones » Sun Dec 11, 2011 11:24 am

Dear Friends,

I was having problems in answering the following question.

On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are believed to be the rate
that trees grow, as seen in the rings visible in the cross sections of their trunks.

A. On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are believed to be the rate
that trees grow
B. On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are, it is believed, the rate of
tree growth
C. On Earth, the rate at which trees grow is believed to be among the surest indications
of sunspot cycles
D. Among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles, believed to be the tree
growth rate
E. Among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles is believed to be the rate at
which trees grow

Please help.

OA after some discussions.

Regards
Deano.

Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sun Dec 11, 2011 11:24 am

MakeUrTimeCount: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 104; Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2011 1:25 pmFollowed by: 3 members; Thanked: 11 times

by MakeUrTimeCount » Sun Dec 11, 2011 1:50 pm

Hi,
Options D and E are out because "Among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles" points that there are some indications of sunspot cycles on some other place than Earth as well.
Option B: Uniodimitic. "among....are, it is" is gramatically wrong
Option A: A. On Earth, "among ..... are believed to be the rate...". Here we are talking about the rate so it should be "is" not "are"
So option C is correct Answer.

PS: I am a fresher and it's my first post. Others please confirm.

chufus: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 102; Joined: Thu Jul 21, 2011 2:22 amFollowed by: 1 member; Location: Lahore, Pakistan; Thanked: 4 times

by chufus » Sun Dec 11, 2011 11:49 pm

Even though its a pretty bad example, from the options given, E seems to be the only correct one.

Correctly uses "rate at WHICH trees grow"

There is nothing wrong with among because there are clearly more than two choices at hand !

"Is" is correctly used.

The sentence is badly structured but still E seems the only plausible option.

VivianKerr: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1035; Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 11:13 amFollowed by: 365 members; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 474 times

by VivianKerr » Sun Dec 11, 2011 11:55 pm

In A, "the rate" is singular, so we can't use the plural "are." B is eliminated for the same reason. D does not have a predicate verb and is a fragment.

Comparing C and E, it is "the rate that trees grow" that is "seen in the rings", not "sunspot cycles." We have a modification error in C.

The answer is E.

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Dean Jones: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 239; Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2010 8:40 amFollowed by: 2 members; Location: India; Thanked: 5 times; GMAT Score:690

by Dean Jones » Sat Dec 17, 2011 9:39 am

OA is option E

karthikgmat: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 172; Joined: Wed Jul 09, 2008 3:35 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 3 times; GMAT Score:610

by karthikgmat » Sun Dec 18, 2011 7:29 pm

I couldn't convince with OA E

gmatdriller: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 418; Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 12:48 pmFollowed by: 3 members; Thanked: 6 times

by gmatdriller » Thu Jun 07, 2012 10:44 pm

VivianKerr wrote:In A, "the rate" is singular, so we can't use the plural "are." B is eliminated for the same reason. D does not have a predicate verb and is a fragment.

Comparing C and E, it is "the rate that trees grow" that is "seen in the rings", not "sunspot cycles." We have a modification error in C.

The answer is E.

Hi Vivian (or anyone else),
below is like saying in an awkward manner:
"among the indications on Earth of sunspots is believed"......

But if we had the sentence below, won't it be clearer and more precise?
"Among the indications of sunspots on Earth is believed..."

Thanks for your anticipated response.

henryjejo: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 58; Joined: Tue Jul 29, 2008 11:12 pm; Thanked: 7 times

by henryjejo » Tue Sep 25, 2012 10:01 pm

Hi Vivian,

Could you help to explain why E is correct...Seems "Earth of Sunspots" in E sounds awkward.

Regards
Henryjejo

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