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
reason your answer plz.
The hognose snake
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- logitech
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(E) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
There is a dangling modifier issue here. who has no fangs and venom ?
There is a dangling modifier issue here. who has no fangs and venom ?
LGTCH
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"DON'T LET ANYONE STEAL YOUR DREAM!"
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.
impressive bluff includes
-1)hissing
-2)rearing back
-3)brodening the flesh
-4)feigning
but HOW COME, its stucture is 1,2 and 3,4 INSTEAD of 1,2,3 and 4.
am i missing some point?
plz help!!
impressive bluff includes
-1)hissing
-2)rearing back
-3)brodening the flesh
-4)feigning
but HOW COME, its stucture is 1,2 and 3,4 INSTEAD of 1,2,3 and 4.
am i missing some point?
plz help!!
let's beat GMAT.
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- lunarpower
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It should be C. This choice has better parallelism than does choice E, and is phrased in a way that makes MUCH more sense. Choice E, while not strictly ungrammatical, is a 'garden path sentence' - one that reads incorrectly the first couple of times your eyes run over it, and that only makes sense if you go back and read it several more times. The specifics:
C:
The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff,
hissing and rearing back, broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes, --> note the parallelism between these two parts: both are in the form '(verb)ING and (verb)ING'
but 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. --> contains a key transition ('but'), and the start of a new clause (new subject & new verb), in just the right place - to mark the sudden transition/contrast between the stuff in the first half (all this intimidating behavior) and the stuff in the second half (it's all a big fake - snake oil, if you don't mind the pun).
E:
The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff,
hissing and rearing back, broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom,
These two items are falsely made to look like two more items in a series begun with 'hissing...' and 'broadening...'. In addition, there is NO emphasis on the transition 'but', because no new clause is begun at this point. That's bad, because there's a sudden huge shift in what the sentence is talking about at this point.
and eventually, if its pursuer is not cowered by the performance, will fall over and play dead.
C:
The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff,
hissing and rearing back, broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes, --> note the parallelism between these two parts: both are in the form '(verb)ING and (verb)ING'
but 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. --> contains a key transition ('but'), and the start of a new clause (new subject & new verb), in just the right place - to mark the sudden transition/contrast between the stuff in the first half (all this intimidating behavior) and the stuff in the second half (it's all a big fake - snake oil, if you don't mind the pun).
E:
The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff,
hissing and rearing back, broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom,
These two items are falsely made to look like two more items in a series begun with 'hissing...' and 'broadening...'. In addition, there is NO emphasis on the transition 'but', because no new clause is begun at this point. That's bad, because there's a sudden huge shift in what the sentence is talking about at this point.
and eventually, if its pursuer is not cowered by the performance, will fall over and play dead.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.
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Hi Ron
Need a small clarification.
I am having trouble deciding whether to repeat the subject( by means of a pronoun) . I have seen a few Gmatprep Questions which present 2 different ideas but the subject is not repeated. How to decide whether to repeat the subject or not ?
As an example , the correct ans choice (E) in the following gmatprep Q does not repeats the subject
After several years of rapid growth, the healthy care company became one of the largest health care providers in the metropolitan area, while it then proved unable to handle the increase in business, falling months behind in its payment to doctors and hospitals.
A. while it then proved unable to handle the increase in business, falling months behind in its payment to
B. while it then proved unable to handle the increase in business and fell months behind in its payment to
C. but then it proved unable to handle the increase in business, falling months behind in its paying
D. but then proving unable to handle the increase in business, falling months behind in paying
E. but then proved unable to handle the increase in business, falling months behind in paying
Need a small clarification.
I am having trouble deciding whether to repeat the subject( by means of a pronoun) . I have seen a few Gmatprep Questions which present 2 different ideas but the subject is not repeated. How to decide whether to repeat the subject or not ?
As an example , the correct ans choice (E) in the following gmatprep Q does not repeats the subject
After several years of rapid growth, the healthy care company became one of the largest health care providers in the metropolitan area, while it then proved unable to handle the increase in business, falling months behind in its payment to doctors and hospitals.
A. while it then proved unable to handle the increase in business, falling months behind in its payment to
B. while it then proved unable to handle the increase in business and fell months behind in its payment to
C. but then it proved unable to handle the increase in business, falling months behind in its paying
D. but then proving unable to handle the increase in business, falling months behind in paying
E. but then proved unable to handle the increase in business, falling months behind in paying
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basically, you don't want to repeat the subject if it's unnecessary.hk_4u wrote:Hi Ron
Need a small clarification.
I am having trouble deciding whether to repeat the subject( by means of a pronoun) . I have seen a few Gmatprep Questions which present 2 different ideas but the subject is not repeated. How to decide whether to repeat the subject or not ?
As an example , the correct ans choice (E) in the following gmatprep Q does not repeats the subject
there will be 2 kinds of circumstances under which you should repeat the subject:
(1) the sentence is really long and tortuous, and it would be nearly impossible to read without the repeated pronoun;
(2) the sentence is ambiguous without the repeated pronoun.
the hognose snake problem is an example of #1. if you take the "it" out of the correct answer, it's almost impossible to figure out the meaning without reading the sentence multiple times.
--
don't worry, though. if the second pronoun is CORRECT BUT UNNECESSARY, then you won't have to decide the problem based on its presence/absence; they won't ever give you a problem with two correct answers.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.
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Voit esittää kysymyksiä Ron:lle myös suomeksi
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Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.
Yves Saint-Laurent
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Pueden hacerle preguntas a Ron en castellano
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On peut poser des questions à Ron en français
Voit esittää kysymyksiä Ron:lle myös suomeksi
--
Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.
Yves Saint-Laurent
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Hi,ska7945 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
reason your answer plz.
I'm wondering why there is no "and" between "hissing and rearing back " and "broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes"? Or GMAT omits a comma before "and feigning repeated strikes"?
Thanks in advance.
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@Ron: Could you please help on following two questions as well .lunarpower wrote:basically, you don't want to repeat the subject if it's unnecessary.hk_4u wrote:Hi Ron
Need a small clarification.
I am having trouble deciding whether to repeat the subject( by means of a pronoun) . I have seen a few Gmatprep Questions which present 2 different ideas but the subject is not repeated. How to decide whether to repeat the subject or not ?
As an example , the correct ans choice (E) in the following gmatprep Q does not repeats the subject
there will be 2 kinds of circumstances under which you should repeat the subject:
(1) the sentence is really long and tortuous, and it would be nearly impossible to read without the repeated pronoun;
(2) the sentence is ambiguous without the repeated pronoun.
the hognose snake problem is an example of #1. if you take the "it" out of the correct answer, it's almost impossible to figure out the meaning without reading the sentence multiple times.
--
*
don't worry, though. if the second pronoun is CORRECT BUT UNNECESSARY, then you won't have to decide the problem based on its presence/absence; they won't ever give you a problem with two correct answers.
In case the subject is not repeated, we should NEVER use a comma before conjuction which the subject follows?
In one OG problem , repetition of subject is stated as grammatical error.
I never though English grammar can be that confusing and rules can jumbled that badly .
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Hi yyz5028,yyz5028 wrote:Hi,ska7945 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
reason your answer plz.
I'm wondering why there is no "and" between "hissing and rearing back " and "broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes"? Or GMAT omits a comma before "and feigning repeated strikes"?
Thanks in advance.
There is no "and" between "hissing and rearing back " and "broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes" because the sentence wants to separate between the two compounds. "Hissing... and rearing" is one compound action, and "broadening... and feigning..." is another compound action. If there were a third "and," an awkard list of "a and b and c and d" would result. Lists of 3 or more can only be constructed in the following way: a, b, and c.
As for ",and": A comma should be placed before "and" in only two situations:
1) a list (as was mentioned above): a, b, and c
2) to separate two independent clauses: subject+verb,and subject+verb
I hope that helps!
Best,
Sarai
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lunarpower wrote:It should be C. This choice has better parallelism than does choice E, and is phrased in a way that makes MUCH more sense. Choice E, while not strictly ungrammatical, is a 'garden path sentence' - one that reads incorrectly the first couple of times your eyes run over it, and that only makes sense if you go back and read it several more times. The specifics:
C:
The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff,
hissing and rearing back, broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes, --> note the parallelism between these two parts: both are in the form '(verb)ING and (verb)ING'
RON, EXPERT, PLS, EXPLAIN
why is B wrong?
I see that "but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, " in B is correct and meaning of B is acceptable.
but 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. --> contains a key transition ('but'), and the start of a new clause (new subject & new verb), in just the right place - to mark the sudden transition/contrast between the stuff in the first half (all this intimidating behavior) and the stuff in the second half (it's all a big fake - snake oil, if you don't mind the pun).
E:
The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff,
hissing and rearing back, broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom,
These two items are falsely made to look like two more items in a series begun with 'hissing...' and 'broadening...'. In addition, there is NO emphasis on the transition 'but', because no new clause is begun at this point. That's bad, because there's a sudden huge shift in what the sentence is talking about at this point.
and eventually, if its pursuer is not cowered by the performance, will fall over and play dead.