A study of food resources GMAT PREP

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A study of food resources GMAT PREP

by needthis » Sun Jul 24, 2011 12:57 am
A study of food resources in the North Pacific between 1989 and 1996 revealed that creatures of the seabed were suffering from dwindling food supplies, possibly resulting from increasing sea surface temperatures during the same period.

(A) that creatures of the seabed were suffering from dwindling food supplies, possibly resulting from increasing
(B) that creatures of the seabed were suffering because food supplies were dwindling, possibly as a result of an increase in
(C) that creatures of the seabed were suffering because of food supplies, which were dwindling possibly as a result of increasing
(D) creatures of the seabed that were suffering from food supplies that were dwindling, possibly resulting from an increase in
(E) creatures of the seabed that were suffering because food supplies were dwindling, which possibly resulted from increasing

In A, "possible resulting..." is wrong because it's modifying the "creatures of the seabed " not "dwindling food supplies" as orginally intended?
Thanks!


OA B
Source: — Sentence Correction |

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by Ozlemg » Sun Jul 24, 2011 4:19 am
I found this on net : it appears that on the gmat, as well as in standard written english in general, 'resulting from' after a comma is generally considered unacceptable.

choice B features the standard use of a prepositional phrase as an adverb modifier: '(possibly) as a result of', like other prepositional phrases that follow commas, serves to modify the action of the preceding clause (i.e., were dwindling). this is totally standard usage, so make sure you know it.

An also for me, "resulting from increasing" sounds more awkward than "as a result of an increase"...

Hope this helps...
The more you suffer before the test, the less you will do so in the test! :)

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by Buix0065 » Sun Jul 24, 2011 6:02 pm
I think B

A/D: creatures are suffering because food supplies are dwindling (aka they don't have enough to eat) it's cause and effect. 'suffering from food supplies' would imply that 'food supplies' is a disease such as suffering from a migraine.

C: suffering because of dwindling food supplies is one thought, food supplies alone isn't making them suffer, so the comma is not necessary
D/E: "creatures of the seabed that..." implies that the study revealed specific creatures that had been suffering. This is inconsistent with the meaning of the original sentence.

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