Sentence Correction

The Anasazi settlements at Chaco Canyon were built on a spectacular scale with more than 75 carefully engineered structures,of up to 600 rooms each,were connected by a complex regional system of roads.

a) were built on a spectacular scale with more than 75 carefully engineered structures,of up to 600 rooms each,were

b) with more than 75 carefully engineered structures, of up to 600 rooms each,

c) of more than 75 carefully engineered structures of up to 600 rooms,each that had been

d) of more than 75 carefully engineered structures of up to 600 rooms and with each

e) of more than 75 carefully engineered structures of up to 600 rooms each had been

OA: B

1- Why is choice D wrong?

2- In OA, can an 'Adjective modifier' or 'VERBED modifier' bypass non essential modifier? Is 'of up to 600 rooms each' adverb phrase?

Mo2men wrote:The Anasazi settlements at Chaco Canyon were built on a spectacular scale with more than 75 carefully engineered structures,of up to 600 rooms each,were connected by a complex regional system of roads.

a) were built on a spectacular scale with more than 75 carefully engineered structures,of up to 600 rooms each,were

b) with more than 75 carefully engineered structures, of up to 600 rooms each,

c) of more than 75 carefully engineered structures of up to 600 rooms,each that had been

d) of more than 75 carefully engineered structures of up to 600 rooms and with each

e) of more than 75 carefully engineered structures of up to 600 rooms each had been

OA: B

1- Why is choice D wrong?

2- In OA, can an 'Adjective modifier' or 'VERBED modifier' bypass non essential modifier? Is 'of up to 600 rooms each' adverb phrase?

Well, in the credited response the word "with" is used. With can have many meanings, but a common synonym is "having." The word with needn't be connected to what it's modifying whereas the word having must be.

Parsing the sentence carefully we can see that it says:

"The Anasazi settlements at Chaco Canyon were built on a spectacular scale..."
This is a complete thought all on its own.
Choices (D) and (E) add "of more than 75 carefully engineered structures of up to 600 rooms..."

Does that make sense? Is it unambiguous? I think it's very likely that these modifiers could be taken to modify the word "scale."

Wouldn't it make more sense to say:

The Anasazi settlements of more than 75 carefully engineered structures were built on a spectacular scale..."

Choices (D) and (E) are too ambiguous to be the best answer.

I received a PM about this thread.

1- Why is choice D wrong?

The contestants were rated on a scale of 1 to 100.
Conveyed meaning of the blue portion:
The scale is a measurement system composed of the integers 1 to 100.
D: a scale of more than 75 carefully engineered structures
Implied meaning:
The scale is a measurement system composed of more than 75 carefully engineered structures.
This meaning is nonsensical.

2- In OA, can an 'Adjective modifier' or 'VERBED modifier' bypass non essential modifier?

Yes.
Another OA from GMAC:
Many kitchens today are equipped with high-speed electrical gadgets, such as blenders and food processors, capable of inflicting injuries as serious as those caused by an industrial wood-planing machine.
Here, capable (adjective) serves modify gadgets (the noun BEFORE the non-essential modifier in blue).

Is 'of up to 600 rooms each' adverb phrase?

OA: The Anasazi settlements at Chaco Canyon were built on a spectacular scale with more than 75 carefully engineered structures, of up to 600 rooms each, connected by a complex regional system of roads.
Here, the colored portions are both adjectives serving to modify structures.
Question:
What KIND of structures?
Answer:
Structures of up to 600 rooms each.
Structures connected by a complex regional system of roads.

delte

delete

Thanks Mitch for your explanation

Are the following constructions correct? If yes,I would like to know if those constructions can bypass each other to modify any noun in the main clause.

Main Clause + Comma + VERBING modifier + Comma + VERBED modifier

Main Clause + Comma + VERBED modifier + Comma + VERBING modifier

Thanks[/quote][/quote]

Mo2men wrote:I would like to know if those constructions can bypass each other to modify any noun in the main clause.

Main Clause + Comma + VERBING modifier + Comma + VERBED modifier

Main Clause + Comma + VERBED modifier + Comma + VERBING modifier

Thanks

Offhand, I can't imagine a case in which the modifiers in red could serve to modify a noun in the main clause.

Here one has to note that structures and not rooms were connected by complex roads.

a) were built on a spectacular scale with more than 75 carefully engineered structures,of up to 600 rooms each,were - 'were' at the end wrongly connects the rooms

b) with more than 75 carefully engineered structures, of up to 600 rooms each, - CORRECT

c) of more than 75 carefully engineered structures of up to 600 rooms,each that had been - had been : connects the rooms - wrong

d) of more than 75 carefully engineered structures of up to 600 rooms and with each - commas missing hence modifiers are not clear

e) of more than 75 carefully engineered structures of up to 600 rooms each had been - same as D

GMATGuruNY wrote:

2- In OA, can an 'Adjective modifier' or 'VERBED modifier' bypass non essential modifier?

Yes.
Another OA from GMAC:
Many kitchens today are equipped with high-speed electrical gadgets, such as blenders and food processors, capable of inflicting injuries as serious as those caused by an industrial wood-planing machine.
Here, capable (adjective) serves modify gadgets (the noun BEFORE the non-essential modifier in blue).

Dear GMATGuru,

The following OG question does confirm with the rule and examples that you mentioned above.

Bihar is India's poorest state, with an annual per capita income of $111, lower than that of the most impoverished countries of the world.

Although the the adverbial modifier is non essential, the adjective 'lower' modifies the 'income' inside the preceding non essential modifier. I thought I could be bypass the adverbial like main question at hand and modifies 'state'.

Why is this case different?

Thanks

delete

Mo2men wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote:

2- In OA, can an 'Adjective modifier' or 'VERBED modifier' bypass non essential modifier?

Yes.
Another OA from GMAC:
Many kitchens today are equipped with high-speed electrical gadgets, such as blenders and food processors, capable of inflicting injuries as serious as those caused by an industrial wood-planing machine.
Here, capable (adjective) serves modify gadgets (the noun BEFORE the non-essential modifier in blue).

Dear GMATGuru,

The following OG question does confirm with the rule and examples that you mentioned above.

Bihar is India's poorest state, with an annual per capita income of $111, lower than that of the most impoverished countries of the world.

Although the the adverbial modifier is non essential, the adjective 'lower' modifies the 'income' inside the preceding non essential modifier. I thought I could be bypass the adverbial like main question at hand and modifies 'state'.

Why is this case different?

Thanks

The construction at issue:
NOUN + NONESSENTIAL MODIFIER + ADJECTIVE MODIFIER.
In this construction, the adjective modifier CAN skip over the nonessential modifier to refer to the preceding noun, but it is not REQUIRED to do so.
It may instead serve to modify a noun in the nonessential modifier.
To determine the intended referent for the adjective modifier, we must rely on context.