Believed to originate from a small area on their foreheads

[simplyjat]

Believed to originate from a small area on their foreheads, elephants emit low-frequency sounds that may be used as a secret language to communicate with other members of the herd.

(A) Believed to originate from a small area on their foreheads, elephants emit low-frequency sounds that may be used
(B) Elephants emit low-frequency sounds that are believed to originate from a small area on their foreheads, and they may use this
(C) Elephants emit low-frequency sounds, believed to originate from a small area on their foreheads, that they may use
(D) Originating, it is believed, from a small area on their foreheads; elephants emit low-frequency sounds they may use
(E) Originating, it is believed, from a small area on their foreheads, low-frequency sounds are emitted by elephants that may be used

OA C

[HarvardDreamin]

Believed to originate from a small area on their foreheads, elephants emit low-frequency sounds that may be used as a secret language to communicate with other members of the herd.

(A) Believed to originate from a small area on their foreheads, elephants emit low-frequency sounds that may be used
(B) Elephants emit low-frequency sounds that are believed to originate from a small area on their foreheads, and they may use this
(C) Elephants emit low-frequency sounds, believed to originate from a small area on their foreheads, that they may use
(D) Originating, it is believed, from a small area on their foreheads; elephants emit low-frequency sounds they may use
(E) Originating, it is believed, from a small area on their foreheads, low-frequency sounds are emitted by elephants that may be used

OA C

Answer should be C - modifier is incorrectly placed in A and C is the only version where it makes sense logically and grammatically.

[gmat740]

Hello friends,

I am opening this topic again.

What makes B wrong?

Lets put it this way :

(B) Elephants emit low-frequency sounds that are believed to originate from a small area on their foreheads, and they may use this

is "this" the only reason to kick out B?

I find C not at all convincing(although B has this particular Error)

[magnus opus]

but the problem does not only arise due to subject and pronoun mismatch, The main concern is that it alters the meaning. Since "this" is singular it takes the only singular subject "area". Hence the meaning of the sentence changes.

The elephants use the sounds to communicate NOT the area on the forehead.

This is indeed a hard one, especially under timed conditions.