BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

OG - SC Question 35

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 184
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2012 10:04 pm
Thanked: 10 times
Followed by:2 members

OG - SC Question 35

by Mission2012 » Sat Jul 13, 2013 10:11 pm
35) By 1940, the pilot Jacqueline Cochran held seventeen official national and international speed records, and she earned them at a time when aviation was still so new for many of the planes she flew to be of dangerously experimental design.

A) and she earned them at a time when aviation was still so new for many of the planes she flew to be
B) earning them at a time that aviation was still so new for many of the planes she flew to be
C) earning these at a time where aviation was still so new that many of the planes she flew were
D) earned at a time in which aviation was still so new such that many of the planes she flew were
E) earned at a time when aviation was still so new that many of the planes she flew were

As per OG's explanation, besides other reasons option b and option c are incorrect because 'earning' is close to 'records' and not 'Jacqueline'. I think 'earning' introduces a present participle modifier and hence can modify entire preceding clause or the subject of the the clause.

Is there any exception to the concept here. Experts please help
If you find my post useful -> please click on "Thanks"
Top
Source: — Sentence Correction |
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 131
Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2011 4:50 am
Location: India
Thanked: 28 times
Followed by:6 members

by vishugogo » Sun Jul 14, 2013 3:59 am
I have used a different technique for answering this question.

A B and D are out because they do not use the correct idiom.

so...that

between C and E the usage of "where" in C is incorrect because where cannot be used to refer to time.

So E is OA.
Top
User avatar
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 » Mon Jul 15, 2013 4:56 am
Mission2012 wrote:35) By 1940, the pilot Jacqueline Cochran held seventeen official national and international speed records, and she earned them at a time when aviation was still so new for many of the planes she flew to be of dangerously experimental design.

B) earning them at a time that aviation was still so new for many of the planes she flew to be
C) earning these at a time where aviation was still so new that many of the planes she flew were

As per OG's explanation, besides other reasons option b and option c are incorrect because 'earning' is close to 'records' and not 'Jacqueline'. I think 'earning' introduces a present participle modifier and hence can modify entire preceding clause or the subject of the the clause.

Is there any exception to the concept here. Experts please help
COMMA + VERBing serves to express an action brought about by the preceding subject and verb.
B and C imply that Jacqueline HELD the records and that this action in turn brought about her EARNING them.
Not the intended meaning.
The sequence of events was just the opposite: Jacqueline EARNED the records BEFORE she held them.
Eliminate B and C.
Private tutor exclusively for the GMAT and GRE, with over 20 years of experience.
Followed here and elsewhere by over 1900 test-takers.
I have worked with students based in the US, Australia, Taiwan, China, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia -- a long list of countries.
My students have been admitted to HBS, CBS, Tuck, Yale, Stern, Fuqua -- a long list of top programs.

As a tutor, I don't simply teach you how I would approach problems.
I unlock the best way for YOU to solve problems.

For more information, please email me (Mitch Hunt) at [email protected].
Student Review #1
Student Review #2
Student Review #3
Top
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 184
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2012 10:04 pm
Thanked: 10 times
Followed by:2 members

by Mission2012 » Mon Jul 15, 2013 7:13 am
GMATGuruNY wrote:
COMMA + VERBing serves to express an action brought about by the preceding subject and verb.
B and C imply that Jacqueline HELD the records and that this action in turn brought about her EARNING them.
Not the intended meaning.
The sequence of events was just the opposite: Jacqueline EARNED the records BEFORE she held them.
Eliminate B and C.
Hi Mitch,

As per my understanding Present participle modifiers -
1. Convey result of the action of the modified clause
2. Provide extended information about the modified clause

From the sentence i inferred that the Present Participle phrase - earning them... provides more information about the kind of environment Jacqueline set the records. Kindly let me know if my understanding is incorrect.
If you find my post useful -> please click on "Thanks"
Top
User avatar
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 » Mon Jul 15, 2013 1:25 pm
Mission2012 wrote:
As per my understanding Present participle modifiers -
2. Provide extended information about the modified clause

From the sentence i inferred that the Present Participle phrase - earning them... provides more information about the kind of environment Jacqueline set the records. Kindly let me know if my understanding is incorrect.
The description in red is a bit too vague.
On the GMAT, a COMMA + VERBing modifier must serve to express an action that happens AT THE SAME TIME AS or AS A RESULT OF the preceding clause.
It cannot serve to express an action that PRECEDES the modified clause.

Please note that the main clause in the SC above discusses not when Jacqueline set the records but when she HELD them.
When Jacqueline HELD the seventeen records, she had already EARNED them.
Thus, the VERBing modifier in B and C is inappropriate.
Private tutor exclusively for the GMAT and GRE, with over 20 years of experience.
Followed here and elsewhere by over 1900 test-takers.
I have worked with students based in the US, Australia, Taiwan, China, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia -- a long list of countries.
My students have been admitted to HBS, CBS, Tuck, Yale, Stern, Fuqua -- a long list of top programs.

As a tutor, I don't simply teach you how I would approach problems.
I unlock the best way for YOU to solve problems.

For more information, please email me (Mitch Hunt) at [email protected].
Student Review #1
Student Review #2
Student Review #3
Top
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 184
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2012 10:04 pm
Thanked: 10 times
Followed by:2 members

by Mission2012 » Mon Jul 15, 2013 7:55 pm
Hi Mitch. Thanks for the explanation.
If you find my post useful -> please click on "Thanks"
Top
Post new topic Locked
• Page 1 of 1