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by kevincanspain » Wed Jul 20, 2011 1:26 pm
The first thing to do is to read the orginal sentence for meaning: what is 'harder to detect' referring to? What is the main idea of the sentence?
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by jonathan123456 » Wed Jul 20, 2011 8:25 pm
IMO D. Is OA D as marked?
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by chaitanya.mehrotra » Wed Jul 20, 2011 9:21 pm
Yes D is OA
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by gmat25 » Thu Jul 21, 2011 6:06 am
kevincanspain wrote:The first thing to do is to read the orginal sentence for meaning: what is 'harder to detect' referring to? What is the main idea of the sentence?
Why Op C is wrong???? the comparison in first part is correct and "emerging" (COMMA + ING) i believe correctly modifying Soft plaque.

Moreover, In Op D, can u please suggest if it correct to place a COMMA between Sudden and unexpected....this COMMA is unnecessarily creating confusion. I think AND should be placed between these two words rather than a COMMA.
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by chaitanya.mehrotra » Thu Jul 21, 2011 10:16 am
I have a query: In option C, if we remove now -> emerging will act as modifier and modify Subject + Verb ( Soft plaque is). Then the meaning is alright.

WIll option C be correct if remove "Now"
-> Soft plaque is harder to detect and more vulnerable to rupture than hard plaque, emerging as the cause of up to 80% of heart attacks.
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by aspirant2011 » Thu Jul 21, 2011 10:24 am
i think in C the modifier "now emerging as the cause of upto 80% of heart attacks" tends to wrongly modify hard plaque instead of soft plaque and therefore option C is wrong............
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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Jul 22, 2011 7:04 am
Soft plaque is now emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks, harder to detect and more vulnerable to sudden, unexpected rupture than hard plaque

A) Soft plaque is now emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks, harder to detect and more vulnerable to sudden, unexpected rupture than hard plaque

B) Soft plaque is now emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks, as opposed to hard plaque, harder to detect and more vulnerable to sudden,unexpected rupture

C) Soft plaque is harder to detect and more vulnerable to rupture than hard plaque, now emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks

D) Soft plaque, harder to detect and more vulnerable to sudden, unexpected rupture than hard plaque, is now emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks

E) Soft plaque, because it is harder to detect and more vulnerable to sudden, unexpected rupture, is emerging as the cause of up to eighty percent of heart attacks, as opposed to hard plaque

I shall post the answer after a few comments

Thanks
In A, harder to detect incorrectly modifies eighty percent of heart attacks. Eliminate A.

In B, harder to detect seems to modify hard plaque. The intended meaning of the sentence is that soft plaque is harder to detect. Eliminate B.

In E, as opposed to hard plaque should be placed closer to the element being opposed (soft plaque). Eliminate E.

In C, it is unclear whether now emerging modifies soft plaque or hard plaque. Generally, a present participle (such as emerging) preceded by a comma refers to the subject of the preceding clause. C is confusing because the comparison in the preceding clause-- soft plaque [is] harder to detect...than [is] hard plaque -- implies two potential subjects: hard plaque and soft plaque. Many readers will assume that emerging refers to hard plaque, since it is the closer of the two preceding subjects. The intended meaning of the sentence, however, is that emerging refers to soft plaque. Since it must be clear what a modifier is modifying, eliminate C.

The correct answer is D.
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by gmat25 » Fri Jul 22, 2011 8:44 am
Hi Mitch,

Thanks a lot for your post. But i have one more doubt.
Generally, a present participle (such as emerging) preceded by a comma refers to the subject of the preceding clause. C is confusing because the comparison in the preceding clause-- soft plaque [is] harder to detect...than [is] hard plaque -- implies two potential subjects:
First time i have seen such thing here that when in a clause we compare two items then we have two potential subjects and that's why as u said its unclear what that -ing participle is referring to. Thanks, i learned a new concept here.

Doubt:---->

In Op D, can u please suggest if it correct to place a COMMA between Sudden and unexpected....this COMMA is unnecessarily creating confusion. I think AND should be placed between these two words rather than a COMMA.
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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Jul 22, 2011 10:33 am
gmat25 wrote:Hi Mitch,

Thanks a lot for your post. But i have one more doubt.
Generally, a present participle (such as emerging) preceded by a comma refers to the subject of the preceding clause. C is confusing because the comparison in the preceding clause-- soft plaque [is] harder to detect...than [is] hard plaque -- implies two potential subjects:
First time i have seen such thing here that when in a clause we compare two items then we have two potential subjects and that's why as u said its unclear what that -ing participle is referring to. Thanks, i learned a new concept here.

Doubt:---->

In Op D, can u please suggest if it correct to place a COMMA between Sudden and unexpected....this COMMA is unnecessarily creating confusion. I think AND should be placed between these two words rather than a COMMA.
It is quite common to insert a comma between two adjectives modifying the same noun:

Mary was a happy, wealthy woman.
The handsome, smiling stranger entered the room.
In an instant, the two were swept away by a magical, all-consuming passion.

Punctuation issues are rarely addressed on the GMAT. Consider a punctuation issue only if it presents a clear, grammatical error or a change in meaning. Whether to insert a comma or and between sudden and unexpected is an issue not of grammar or meaning but of style.
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by gmatjeet » Thu Jul 28, 2011 9:37 am
chaitanya.mehrotra wrote:I have a query: In option C, if we remove now -> emerging will act as modifier and modify Subject + Verb ( Soft plaque is). Then the meaning is alright.

WIll option C be correct if remove "Now"
-> Soft plaque is harder to detect and more vulnerable to rupture than hard plaque, emerging as the cause of up to 80% of heart attacks.
Can someone answer this question please. I understand why C is wrong in the original sentence. But the quoted sentence seems to be right as per me.
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by GMATGuruNY » Sat Jul 30, 2011 1:45 pm
gmatjeet wrote:
chaitanya.mehrotra wrote:I have a query: In option C, if we remove now -> emerging will act as modifier and modify Subject + Verb ( Soft plaque is). Then the meaning is alright.

WIll option C be correct if remove "Now"
-> Soft plaque is harder to detect and more vulnerable to rupture than hard plaque, emerging as the cause of up to 80% of heart attacks.
Can someone answer this question please. I understand why C is wrong in the original sentence. But the quoted sentence seems to be right as per me.
Removing now helps, but some readers might still wonder whether emerging refers to soft plaque or to hard plaque, since both are subjects in the previous part of the sentence (soft plaque is harder to detect than hard plaque [is]).

There is another error in C. A present participle (such as emerging) expresses contemporaneous action (one action taking place at the same time as another action). The two actions in C, however, are not contemporaneous: soft plaque is harder to detect is an ongoing event, whereas emerging is an action happening only during a particular period of time. Since the two time frames are different, the present participle emerging is inappropriate.
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