I'll go with A

[spoiler]A & C are very close. IMO A.[/spoiler]habit of smoking is less idiomatic than smoking habit.

Apart from that ," Comma + located behind the ear" correctly modifies the preceding noun "brain". So that brings us to [spoiler]A & C.[/spoiler]

I would go for A.

The habit of smoking Vs smoking habit:

We say:

Walking stick....
Jogging shoes....
Eating habit......
Writing pen.......
Drawing pencil....

We don't say:

Stick of walking ......
Shoes of jogging......
Habit of eating ......
Pen of writing.........

So, the conclusion is smoking habit is correct.

BUT "the habit of smoking" is NOT wrong.

In the world of GMAT, we like brevity.

"Smoking habit" is more concise than "they habit of smoking".

Answer should be A.

I think its either C or E. A smoking habit sounds awkward.

You all got it , the OA is A

IMO C

Just as you don't say " He has a drinking habit",you don't say "He has a smoking habit"

We say he has a habit of drinking.

"He has a habit of criticizing people". You don't say "He has a criticizing habit"

Check MGMAT SC guide.It has an advanced topic on this thing [too concise]

A,B,and D out.

D is also a fragment [that clause doesn't have a verb]

E has redundancy.We have already specified what part of the brain.Using "the one"to the same part of the brain is a wastage of words.

Btw both A and B mean the same! I don't understand your logic for eliminating B ,but choosing A!

Whether you set off located behind the ear with comma or not,it will still modify brain!

What is the source of the question and the OA?

If your are eliminating B just because it has extra commas and A doesn't.Then you are wrong! GMAT doesn't test punctuations!

B has no modification issues!

If that is the case :"This question is not worth wasting your time for this will never ever be tested on GMAT!"

I'd go with [C] too. What is the original source of the question? "Smoking habit" could be any habit that is smoking You get my drift.. the habit of smoking makes more sense.

Deepthi Subbu wrote:In surprising medical news, scientists investigating long-term effects of stroke are reporting that injury to a specific part of the brain, located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit.
(A) brain, located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit
(B) brain located behind the ear can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit
(C) brain, located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break the habit of smoking
(D) brain located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit
(E) brain, the one located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break the habit of smoking

OA after some discussion

i chose B because i dont think there is a comma needed here? can anybody please explain B?

diebeatsthegmat wrote:

Deepthi Subbu wrote:In surprising medical news, scientists investigating long-term effects of stroke are reporting that injury to a specific part of the brain, located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit.
(A) brain, located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit
(B) brain located behind the ear can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit
(C) brain, located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break the habit of smoking
(D) brain located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit
(E) brain, the one located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break the habit of smoking

OA after some discussion

i chose B because i dont think there is a comma needed here? can anybody please explain B?

GMAT DOES NOT TEST PUNCTUATIONS!

rishab1988 wrote:

diebeatsthegmat wrote:

Deepthi Subbu wrote:In surprising medical news, scientists investigating long-term effects of stroke are reporting that injury to a specific part of the brain, located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit.
(A) brain, located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit
(B) brain located behind the ear can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit
(C) brain, located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break the habit of smoking
(D) brain located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit
(E) brain, the one located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break the habit of smoking

OA after some discussion

i chose B because i dont think there is a comma needed here? can anybody please explain B?

GMAT DOES NOT TEST PUNCTUATIONS!

Punctuations can help to eliminate the wrong answers, though it is not the main deal with the answer.

For example:

When we are going to join two clauses, we need to know the use of punctuation. So to say that GMAT does not test punctuation may make any one not see punctuation issue lightly.

Thanks.

gmat_Tutor wrote:

rishab1988 wrote:

diebeatsthegmat wrote:

Deepthi Subbu wrote:In surprising medical news, scientists investigating long-term effects of stroke are reporting that injury to a specific part of the brain, located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit.
(A) brain, located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit
(B) brain located behind the ear can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit
(C) brain, located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break the habit of smoking
(D) brain located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit
(E) brain, the one located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break the habit of smoking

OA after some discussion

i chose B because i dont think there is a comma needed here? can anybody please explain B?

GMAT DOES NOT TEST PUNCTUATIONS!

Punctuations can help to eliminate the wrong answers, though it is not the main deal with the answer.

For example:

When we are going to join two clauses, we need to know the use of punctuation. So to say that GMAT does not test punctuation may make any one not see punctuation issue lightly.

Thanks.

I agree that you have to pay a close attention on GMAT whether 2 IC are joined by just a comma [ a run-on sentence] or full of commas[each part being a fragment].However,neither of those issues are at hand here,as I mentioned before.You can see that I eliminated choice D [for being a fragment].

Except these 2 cases [a rare which vs that ] we never will be tested on comma on GMAT.

gmat_Tutor wrote:

rishab1988 wrote:

diebeatsthegmat wrote:

Deepthi Subbu wrote:In surprising medical news, scientists investigating long-term effects of stroke are reporting that injury to a specific part of the brain, located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit.
(A) brain, located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit
(B) brain located behind the ear can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit
(C) brain, located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break the habit of smoking
(D) brain located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit
(E) brain, the one located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break the habit of smoking

OA after some discussion

i chose B because i dont think there is a comma needed here? can anybody please explain B?

GMAT DOES NOT TEST PUNCTUATIONS!

Punctuations can help to eliminate the wrong answers, though it is not the main deal with the answer.

For example:

When we are going to join two clauses, we need to know the use of punctuation. So to say that GMAT does not test punctuation may make any one not see punctuation issue lightly.

Thanks.

totally agree with you, well, i have seen so many question which are wrong because of a commas or a punctuations....being careful is never let you feel sorry!

rishab1988 wrote:

gmat_Tutor wrote:

rishab1988 wrote:

diebeatsthegmat wrote:

Deepthi Subbu wrote:In surprising medical news, scientists investigating long-term effects of stroke are reporting that injury to a specific part of the brain, located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit.
(A) brain, located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit
(B) brain located behind the ear can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit
(C) brain, located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break the habit of smoking
(D) brain located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit
(E) brain, the one located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break the habit of smoking

OA after some discussion

i chose B because i dont think there is a comma needed here? can anybody please explain B?

GMAT DOES NOT TEST PUNCTUATIONS!

Punctuations can help to eliminate the wrong answers, though it is not the main deal with the answer.

For example:

When we are going to join two clauses, we need to know the use of punctuation. So to say that GMAT does not test punctuation may make any one not see punctuation issue lightly.

Thanks.

I agree that you have to pay a close attention on GMAT whether 2 IC are joined by just a comma [ a run-on sentence] or full of commas[each part being a fragment].However,neither of those issues are at hand here,as I mentioned before.You can see that I eliminated choice D [for being a fragment].

Except these 2 cases [a rare which vs that ] we never will be tested on comma on GMAT.

anyways, thanks but why not B? dun understand

diebeatsthegmat wrote:

rishab1988 wrote:

gmat_Tutor wrote:

rishab1988 wrote:

diebeatsthegmat wrote:

Deepthi Subbu wrote:In surprising medical news, scientists investigating long-term effects of stroke are reporting that injury to a specific part of the brain, located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit.
(A) brain, located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit
(B) brain located behind the ear can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit
(C) brain, located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break the habit of smoking
(D) brain located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit
(E) brain, the one located behind the ear, can instantly and permanently break the habit of smoking

OA after some discussion

i chose B because i dont think there is a comma needed here? can anybody please explain B?

GMAT DOES NOT TEST PUNCTUATIONS!

Punctuations can help to eliminate the wrong answers, though it is not the main deal with the answer.

For example:

When we are going to join two clauses, we need to know the use of punctuation. So to say that GMAT does not test punctuation may make any one not see punctuation issue lightly.

Thanks.

I agree that you have to pay a close attention on GMAT whether 2 IC are joined by just a comma [ a run-on sentence] or full of commas[each part being a fragment].However,neither of those issues are at hand here,as I mentioned before.You can see that I eliminated choice D [for being a fragment].

Except these 2 cases [a rare which vs that ] we never will be tested on comma on GMAT.

anyways, thanks but why not B? dun understand

Just read my post.