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The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff, hissing and

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The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff, hissing and

by RBBmba@2014 » Sat Jun 13, 2015 5:25 am
The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff, hissing and rearing back, broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but having no dangerous fangs and no venom, eventually, if its pursuer is not cowered by the performance, will fall over and play dead.

(A) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but having no dangerous fangs and no venom,
(B) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom,
(C) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes, but it has no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
(D) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
(E) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and

OA: C


@ Experts - could you please share your explanation and analysis for this SC - need some solid reasons to eliminate wrong choices and choose the OA in this apparently BIT convoluted OG Qs. Much thanks in advance.
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by theCEO » Sat Jun 13, 2015 6:02 am
RBBmba@2014 wrote:The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff, hissing and rearing back, broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but having no dangerous fangs and no venom, eventually, if its pursuer is not cowered by the performance, will fall over and play dead.

(A) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but having no dangerous fangs and no venom,
(B) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom,
(C) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes, but it has no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
(D) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
(E) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and


A) Incorrect. parallel construction is needed for verbs. hissing, broadens and feigning are not in the same tense.
B) Incorrect. parallel construction is needed for verbs. hissing, broadens and feigns are not in the same tense.
D) Incorrect. parallel construction is needed for verbs. hissing, broadening and feigns are not in the same tense.

We are left with C or E. One option is to remove the exess words.

C) the snake puts on an impressive bluff..... but it has no dangerous fangs and no venom..., and
E) the snake puts on an impressive bluff..... but with no dangerous fangs and no venom....

First, option E sounds wrong.

Second, "but" in this sentence is used to introduce an independent clause. If we transformed the independent clauses to sentences, we have:

C) It has no dangerous fangs and no venom, and eventually, if its pursuer is not cowered by the performance, will fall over and play dead. ....Looks fine....
E) With no dangerous fangs and no venom, and eventually, if its pursuer is not cowered by the performance, will fall over and play dead. .....This is not a complete sentence.....

Therefore choice C is correct.
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hognose snake

by GMATGuruNY » Sun Jun 14, 2015 6:32 am
The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff, hissing and rearing back, broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but, having no dangerous fangs and no venom, eventually, if its pursuer is not cowed by the performance, will fall over and play dead.

A. broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but, having no dangerous fangs and no venom,
B. broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom,
C. broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes, but it has no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
D. broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
E. broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
A and B: The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff...broadens the flesh behind its head
Here, usage of broadens implies that the red action is DISTINCT from the blue action.
Not so.
The intention is for the red action to express HOW the blue action is performed.
Question: HOW does the snake put on a bluff?
Answer: It puts on a bluff by BROADENING the flesh behind its head.
For this meaning to be conveyed, the red action should be expressed as a VERBing modifier, as in the OA:
The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff, broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does.
Eliminate A and B.

D: hissing and rearing back, broadening...and feigns
Here, hissing, rearing and broadening are all modifiers, whereas feigns is a verb.
The result is a lack of parallelism.
Eliminate D.

The referent for a modifier must be crystal clear.
E: The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff, broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes.
Here, it is unclear whether feigning serves to modify a cobra (implying that a COBRA is feigning) or to the hognose snake (implying that the HOGNOSE SNAKE is feigning).
Eliminate E.

The correct answer is C

In the OA, the actions are parallel:
...HISSING and rearing, BROADENING...and FEIGNING...
...but it HAS...and will FALL OVER and PLAY dead.
Last edited by GMATGuruNY on Fri Jun 08, 2018 11:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by kutlee » Mon Jun 15, 2015 7:15 am
Also C is the option that has Subject 'IT' after the BUT part. The other two options D and E lack the Subject.
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by thang » Mon Aug 17, 2015 1:08 am
RBBmba@2014 wrote:The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff, hissing and rearing back, broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but having no dangerous fangs and no venom, eventually, if its pursuer is not cowered by the performance, will fall over and play dead.

(A) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but having no dangerous fangs and no venom,
(B) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom,
(C) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes, but it has no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
(D) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
(E) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and

OA: C


@ Experts - could you please share your explanation and analysis for this SC - need some solid reasons to eliminate wrong choices and choose the OA in this apparently BIT convoluted OG Qs. Much thanks in advance.
this is more simple than we think
in A, we need "and" before "broaden"
in D we need "and " before "broadening"
in e, we need "and" before "feigning"
all error in a,d,e are mechanical structural errors. no need to understand meaning
in B, "without..." should be follow by the subject modified by this phrase. there is no such phrase, B is out
looking for the girl living in Bradford UK, visiting Halong bay, Vietnam on 26- 27 Jan 2014. all persons, pls, forward this message to all persons you know to help me find her: my email: [email protected], call: 84904812758
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by thang » Mon Aug 17, 2015 1:08 am
RBBmba@2014 wrote:The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff, hissing and rearing back, broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but having no dangerous fangs and no venom, eventually, if its pursuer is not cowered by the performance, will fall over and play dead.

(A) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but having no dangerous fangs and no venom,
(B) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom,
(C) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes, but it has no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
(D) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
(E) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and

OA: C


@ Experts - could you please share your explanation and analysis for this SC - need some solid reasons to eliminate wrong choices and choose the OA in this apparently BIT convoluted OG Qs. Much thanks in advance.
this is more simple than we think
in A, we need "and" before "broaden"
in D we need "and " before "broadening"
in e, we need "and" before "feigning"
all error in a,d,e are mechanical structural errors. no need to understand meaning
in B, "without..." should be follow by the subject modified by this phrase. there is no such phrase, B is out
looking for the girl living in Bradford UK, visiting Halong bay, Vietnam on 26- 27 Jan 2014. all persons, pls, forward this message to all persons you know to help me find her: my email: [email protected], call: 84904812758
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by thang » Mon Aug 17, 2015 1:08 am
RBBmba@2014 wrote:The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff, hissing and rearing back, broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but having no dangerous fangs and no venom, eventually, if its pursuer is not cowered by the performance, will fall over and play dead.

(A) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but having no dangerous fangs and no venom,
(B) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom,
(C) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes, but it has no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
(D) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
(E) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and

OA: C


@ Experts - could you please share your explanation and analysis for this SC - need some solid reasons to eliminate wrong choices and choose the OA in this apparently BIT convoluted OG Qs. Much thanks in advance.
this is more simple than we think
in A, we need "and" before "broaden"
in D we need "and " before "broadening"
in e, we need "and" before "feigning"
all error in a,d,e are mechanical structural errors. no need to understand meaning
in B, "without..." should be follow by the subject modified by this phrase. there is no such phrase, B is out
looking for the girl living in Bradford UK, visiting Halong bay, Vietnam on 26- 27 Jan 2014. all persons, pls, forward this message to all persons you know to help me find her: my email: [email protected], call: 84904812758
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by RBBmba@2014 » Sat Sep 05, 2015 2:09 am
GMATGuruNY wrote:
The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff, hissing and rearing back, broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but, having no dangerous fangs and no venom, eventually, if its pursuer is not cowed by the performance, will fall over and play dead.

A. broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but, having no dangerous fangs and no venom,
B. broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom,
C. broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes, but it has no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
D. broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
E. broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
.
.
.

In E, the list of actions is not parallel: broadening...feigning...and will fall over. Eliminate E.

The correct answer is C.

In C, the actions are parallel:
...HISSING and rearing, BROADENING...and FEIGNING...
...but it HAS...and will FALL OVER and PLAY dead.
GMATGuruNY - In E, I think, AND is missing before feigning ?

Isn't it another major ERROR in E ?
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by GMATGuruNY » Sat Sep 05, 2015 4:40 am
RBBmba@2014 wrote: GMATGuruNY - In E, I think, AND is missing before feigning ?

Isn't it another major ERROR in E ?
Yes.
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