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by vivek.kapoor83 » Wed Oct 01, 2008 12:20 am
According to its proponents, a proposed new style of aircraft could, by skimming along the top of the atmosphere, fly between most points on Earth in under two hours.

A. According to its proponents, a proposed new style of aircraft could, by skimming along the top of the atmosphere, fly between most points on Earth in under two hours.
B. By skimming along the top of the atmosphere, proponents of a proposed new style of aircraft say it could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours.
C. A proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours, according to its proponents, with it skimming along the top of the atmosphere.
D. A proposed new style of aircraft, say its proponents, could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours because of its skimming along the top of the atmosphere.
E. According to its proponents, skimming along the top of the atmosphere makes it possible that a proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours.

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by chase4meg » Wed Oct 01, 2008 12:33 am
IMO C

A - I felt "By skimming along" is not the correct usage
B - Misplaced modifier - "By skimming along the top of the atmosphere, proponents"
D and E - awkward and wordy

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by chase4meg » Wed Oct 01, 2008 12:37 am
IMO C

A - I felt "By skimming along" is not the correct usage
B - Misplaced modifier - "By skimming along the top of the atmosphere, proponents"
D and E - awkward and wordy

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by kiran.raze » Thu Oct 02, 2008 11:12 am
IMO A , whats the OA ?

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by stop@800 » Thu Oct 02, 2008 11:42 am
I also think ans is A

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by Stacey Koprince » Thu Oct 02, 2008 12:52 pm
A.

Again, one of those ones that sounds weird but it's really just an old-fashioned construction. Nothing wrong with it.

B. "By skimming along, proponents..." In this one, the proponents are apparently skimming along the top of the atmosphere!

C. "with it skimming along" sounds like a separate piece of info - it can both fly between most points in under two hours and skim along the top of the atmosphere. This changes the meaning - we want to say that it can fly between most points in under two hours because it skims along the top of the atmosphere.

D. "because of its" - what's skimming along? The aircraft? The Earth? Maybe this happens because the Earth has this special characteristic: it skims along the top of the atmosphere (of space or something - I don't know. I mean I personally know space doesn't have an atmosphere, but I'm not supposed to be using outside knowledge here!).

E. This sounds like the proponents are proponents of skimming, not proponents of the aircraft. There could be a Skimming Enthusiasts of the World club, for all I know, but the original sentence indicates that the proponents are proponents of the new style of aircraft, not of the process of skimming.

E.
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by bleacherseat » Thu Oct 02, 2008 8:17 pm
Stacey Koprince wrote:A.

Again, one of those ones that sounds weird but it's really just an old-fashioned construction. Nothing wrong with it.

B. "By skimming along, proponents..." In this one, the proponents are apparently skimming along the top of the atmosphere!

C. "with it skimming along" sounds like a separate piece of info - it can both fly between most points in under two hours and skim along the top of the atmosphere. This changes the meaning - we want to say that it can fly between most points in under two hours because it skims along the top of the atmosphere.

D. "because of its" - what's skimming along? The aircraft? The Earth? Maybe this happens because the Earth has this special characteristic: it skims along the top of the atmosphere (of space or something - I don't know. I mean I personally know space doesn't have an atmosphere, but I'm not supposed to be using outside knowledge here!).

E. This sounds like the proponents are proponents of skimming, not proponents of the aircraft. There could be a Skimming Enthusiasts of the World club, for all I know, but the original sentence indicates that the proponents are proponents of the new style of aircraft, not of the process of skimming.

E.
Stacy,
I think none is right. This is one of those weird.

In A the subject is new style [of aircraft] and not the aircraft itself

new style of aircraft..................................... could fly

style can't fly , its the aircraft that flies. And none of the answer choices meet this criteria.

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by NSNguyen » Sun Oct 05, 2008 7:47 am
IMO:D
Please share your idea and your reasoning :D
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by Stacey Koprince » Mon Oct 06, 2008 7:42 am
I suppose we could nitpick this one and say "style" can't fly - but the word style by itself means nothing. You actually need the modifier here to know what you're talking about: "style of aircraft." And a style of aircraft can certainly fly. Alternatively, if you just know that "style" refers specifically and only to a style of aircraft... then, again, a style of aircraft can fly. (As opposed to those early styles that didn't actually fly and the Wright Brothers crashed to the ground... :))
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by gmattakers » Thu Oct 30, 2008 4:43 pm
Another OG question. I will pick D.

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by goelmohit2002 » Tue Jul 07, 2009 11:01 am
Hi All,

In the above question, can we kick out C based on incorrect location of modifier ?

i.e. "according to its proponets"...it should have been placed adjacent to the aircraft ....isn't it...?

Also in D....can some one please tell why "its" does not refer to aircraft...the previous its clearly refer to aircraft...then the later its should refer to aircraft only....isn't it ?

Or I am missing something here ?

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by MBA2010HereWeGo » Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:50 pm
Hi, guys.

Agree with Stacy's earlier explaination. IMO A.
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by maihuna » Wed Dec 23, 2009 11:46 am
A: Correct
B: By skimming nonsensically describes proponents
C: The prepositional phrase (with it..) is indirect ans wordy and too far from the noun phrase it modifies(style of aircraft)
D: The explanation of how the aircraft could accomplish its feat is awkwardly expressed in the phrase...because its..
E: possible and could repeat the same meaning; because the antecedent for its so far from the opening phrase, the reference is unclear.
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by frank1 » Thu Apr 22, 2010 10:19 am
ok seems like A is the answer
but i would have said C ,i think.

A sounded akward to me and i think these kind of ackward correct construction provides clear advantage to native english speaker in these kinds of exams.
no offence.

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by Stacey Koprince » Thu Apr 22, 2010 10:43 am
Yes, it's always easier to take a test in your native language. I'm learning French right now and I could never take a test this complicated in French! I'd completely fail. :)

Just a note: I don't rely on that "awkward-sounding" feeling I sometimes (well, often, really!) get when I do SCs. I've learned from experience that I can easily read something, think "that sounds terrible!" and then end up deciding that it's actually the best choice after I've looked at all of the others. :)

Instead, when I get that "this sounds bad" feeling, I try to figure out exactly WHY it sounds bad. If I can pinpoint an actual error, then I know it's wrong. If I can't, then I don't eliminate that one; I start going through the others and wait until later to decide what to do with this one.
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