verb-ing form help_O.G problem

This topic has expert replies
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 96
Joined: Mon Mar 07, 2011 8:43 pm
Thanked: 1 times
Followed by:1 members

verb-ing form help_O.G problem

by yvonne0923 » Wed Jun 15, 2011 11:28 am
The use of lie detectors is based on the assumption that lying produces emotional reactions in an individual that. in turn, create unconscious phYSiological responses.

(A) that, in turn, create unconscious physiological responses
(B) that creates unconscious physiological responses in turn
(C) creating, in turn, unconscious physiological responses
(D) to create, in turn, physiological responses that are unconscious
(E) who creates unconscious physiological responses in turn



I have one questions for O.A. here: why we don't use"...that, in turn, creating unconscious physioloogical responses" instead of the original choice A? Since we need to use -ing form after comma in a sentence most of time, right? If choice A is right, then does anyone can explain the difference of these two situations for me?

Thanks.

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 905
Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 1:38 am
Thanked: 378 times
Followed by:123 members
GMAT Score:760

by Geva@EconomistGMAT » Wed Jun 15, 2011 10:29 pm
yvonne0923 wrote:The use of lie detectors is based on the assumption that lying produces emotional reactions in an individual that. in turn, create unconscious phYSiological responses.

(A) that, in turn, create unconscious physiological responses
(B) that creates unconscious physiological responses in turn
(C) creating, in turn, unconscious physiological responses
(D) to create, in turn, physiological responses that are unconscious
(E) who creates unconscious physiological responses in turn



I have one questions for O.A. here: why we don't use"...that, in turn, creating unconscious physioloogical responses" instead of the original choice A? Since we need to use -ing form after comma in a sentence most of time, right? If choice A is right, then does anyone can explain the difference of these two situations for me?

Thanks.
The basic premise is that every clause needs its own subject and verb. Think of it as a loop that opens with a subject, and closes once you realize what the subject DOES.

A gerund (V-ing) cannot act as the verb of a clause, because it is not conjugated for tense.
"Yvonne thinking" is not a real clause - it has no main verb that tells us when the action is happening. We need some sort of helping verb: is, was, will be thinking, etc.
Yvonne IS thinking
Yvonne WAS thinking
Yvonnet WILL be thinking.
etc.

With this in mind, let's analyze the subject-verb loops in the sentence.

In the sentence above, the main clause's subject is "the use", and the verb is "is": the use...is based.

Next, "that" opens a relative clause, which needs its own subject and verb. The subject is "lying", and we are left to look for the verb - what does "lying"...do? lying....produces.

Next, another "that" - a relative clause modifying "emotional reactions" - it tells us what the reactions do. The emotional reactions serve as the subject, but what do they do? the emotional reactions...create. Create is the verb of the last relative clause.

That's why you need the verb "create" there - to close the subject verb loop opened by "reactions and the relative pronoun that. the "in turn" part is enclosed by commas, indicating that it is merely a side note, and the sentence can be read without it. Take it out of the sentence, and it might be clearer why we need the verb create instead of the gerund creating.
Geva
Senior Instructor
Master GMAT
1-888-780-GMAT
https://www.mastergmat.com

Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 96
Joined: Mon Mar 07, 2011 8:43 pm
Thanked: 1 times
Followed by:1 members

by yvonne0923 » Fri Jun 17, 2011 10:10 am
Geva@MasterGMAT wrote:
yvonne0923 wrote:The use of lie detectors is based on the assumption that lying produces emotional reactions in an individual that. in turn, create unconscious phYSiological responses.

(A) that, in turn, create unconscious physiological responses
(B) that creates unconscious physiological responses in turn
(C) creating, in turn, unconscious physiological responses
(D) to create, in turn, physiological responses that are unconscious
(E) who creates unconscious physiological responses in turn



I have one questions for O.A. here: why we don't use"...that, in turn, creating unconscious physioloogical responses" instead of the original choice A? Since we need to use -ing form after comma in a sentence most of time, right? If choice A is right, then does anyone can explain the difference of these two situations for me?

Thanks.
The basic premise is that every clause needs its own subject and verb. Think of it as a loop that opens with a subject, and closes once you realize what the subject DOES.

A gerund (V-ing) cannot act as the verb of a clause, because it is not conjugated for tense.
"Yvonne thinking" is not a real clause - it has no main verb that tells us when the action is happening. We need some sort of helping verb: is, was, will be thinking, etc.
Yvonne IS thinking
Yvonne WAS thinking
Yvonnet WILL be thinking.
etc.

With this in mind, let's analyze the subject-verb loops in the sentence.

In the sentence above, the main clause's subject is "the use", and the verb is "is": the use...is based.

Next, "that" opens a relative clause, which needs its own subject and verb. The subject is "lying", and we are left to look for the verb - what does "lying"...do? lying....produces.

Next, another "that" - a relative clause modifying "emotional reactions" - it tells us what the reactions do. The emotional reactions serve as the subject, but what do they do? the emotional reactions...create. Create is the verb of the last relative clause.

That's why you need the verb "create" there - to close the subject verb loop opened by "reactions and the relative pronoun that. the "in turn" part is enclosed by commas, indicating that it is merely a side note, and the sentence can be read without it. Take it out of the sentence, and it might be clearer why we need the verb create instead of the gerund creating.

Thanks, so according to this type of questions, how can I recognize that this is a side note so that I could just eliminate such note when I do problems?

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 905
Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 1:38 am
Thanked: 378 times
Followed by:123 members
GMAT Score:760

by Geva@EconomistGMAT » Sun Jun 19, 2011 2:32 am
yvonne0923 wrote:
Geva@MasterGMAT wrote:
yvonne0923 wrote:The use of lie detectors is based on the assumption that lying produces emotional reactions in an individual that. in turn, create unconscious phYSiological responses.

(A) that, in turn, create unconscious physiological responses
(B) that creates unconscious physiological responses in turn
(C) creating, in turn, unconscious physiological responses
(D) to create, in turn, physiological responses that are unconscious
(E) who creates unconscious physiological responses in turn



I have one questions for O.A. here: why we don't use"...that, in turn, creating unconscious physioloogical responses" instead of the original choice A? Since we need to use -ing form after comma in a sentence most of time, right? If choice A is right, then does anyone can explain the difference of these two situations for me?

Thanks.
The basic premise is that every clause needs its own subject and verb. Think of it as a loop that opens with a subject, and closes once you realize what the subject DOES.

A gerund (V-ing) cannot act as the verb of a clause, because it is not conjugated for tense.
"Yvonne thinking" is not a real clause - it has no main verb that tells us when the action is happening. We need some sort of helping verb: is, was, will be thinking, etc.
Yvonne IS thinking
Yvonne WAS thinking
Yvonnet WILL be thinking.
etc.

With this in mind, let's analyze the subject-verb loops in the sentence.

In the sentence above, the main clause's subject is "the use", and the verb is "is": the use...is based.

Next, "that" opens a relative clause, which needs its own subject and verb. The subject is "lying", and we are left to look for the verb - what does "lying"...do? lying....produces.

Next, another "that" - a relative clause modifying "emotional reactions" - it tells us what the reactions do. The emotional reactions serve as the subject, but what do they do? the emotional reactions...create. Create is the verb of the last relative clause.

That's why you need the verb "create" there - to close the subject verb loop opened by "reactions and the relative pronoun that. the "in turn" part is enclosed by commas, indicating that it is merely a side note, and the sentence can be read without it. Take it out of the sentence, and it might be clearer why we need the verb create instead of the gerund creating.

Thanks, so according to this type of questions, how can I recognize that this is a side note so that I could just eliminate such note when I do problems?
As my post shows, one clue would be the separation by commas on both sides.

Example: Geva, the GMAT expert, is answering posts on Beatthegmat.

The above is what is called an "apositive" - a part of the sentence that is separated by commas, and is merely used to replce the part before it (you can say the GMAT expert instead of Geva).

ther are other examples (such as the "in turn" in the original post), but generally, a part that is separated by commas is suspect of being a side note.
Geva
Senior Instructor
Master GMAT
1-888-780-GMAT
https://www.mastergmat.com

User avatar
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 35
Joined: Sun Dec 02, 2007 1:06 pm

by jaguar123 » Sun Jun 19, 2011 10:55 pm
question is posted with wrong part underlined - very confusing and misleading.