BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

Nikola Tesla,

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 222
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 1:06 pm
Thanked: 19 times
Followed by:1 members

Nikola Tesla,

by abcgmat » Mon Apr 30, 2012 11:54 pm
Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, because he was excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for producing electric power, he predicted in the mid-1890's that electricity generated at Niagara would one day power the streetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris.

(A) Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, because he was excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for producing electric power, he
(B) The prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power was exciting to Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, and so he
(C) Excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power, Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current,
(D) Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for the production of electric power and
(E) The inventor of alternating current, excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for producing of electric power, Nikola Tesla

[spoiler]OA: C[/spoiler]
Though B could be eliminated for subject - Verb agreement 'prospects -was'
B: Would like to know if ', and so he' is fine or Incorrect
The prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power was exciting to Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, and so he predicted in the mid-1890's that electricity generated at Niagara would one day power the streetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris.
Top
Source: — Sentence Correction |
Legendary Member
Posts: 2789
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 12:19 am
Location: Chennai, India
Thanked: 206 times
Followed by:43 members
GMAT Score:640

by GmatKiss » Tue May 01, 2012 6:12 am
Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, because he was excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for producing electric power, he predicted in the mid-1890's that electricity generated at Niagara would one day power the streetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris.

(A) Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, because he was excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for producing electric power, he
(B) The prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power was exciting to Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, and so he
(C) Excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power, Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current,
(D) Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for the production of electric power and
(E) The inventor of alternating current, excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for producing of electric power, Nikola Tesla

IMO: C
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 222
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 1:06 pm
Thanked: 19 times
Followed by:1 members

by abcgmat » Tue May 01, 2012 6:30 am
But why is ', and so he' Incorrect
Top
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1239
Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:25 am
Thanked: 233 times
Followed by:26 members
GMAT Score:680

by sam2304 » Tue May 01, 2012 10:41 am
abcgmat wrote:But why is ', and so he' Incorrect
B - the sentence makes 'the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls' as the main subject and Nikola Tela as the object. 'and so he' makes it a dependent clause modifying the direct object of the sentence.

We are looking for a sentence where 'predicted in the mid-1890's ..' is part of the main clause. So C is right choice making it short and concise. Eliminating the Opening modifier and non essential modifiers, Nikola tesla becomes the main subject and 'that electricity generated ...' becomes the main object of the sentence.
Getting defeated is just a temporary notion, giving it up is what makes it permanent.
https://gmatandbeyond.blogspot.in/
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 222
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 1:06 pm
Thanked: 19 times
Followed by:1 members

by abcgmat » Tue May 01, 2012 11:27 pm
Does it mean subject pronoun refers only to subject and
object pronoun refers only to object

can we say it is wrong otherwise 100% of the time
when object pronoun refers to subject or subject pronoun refers to object -It is always incorrect
Top
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1239
Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:25 am
Thanked: 233 times
Followed by:26 members
GMAT Score:680

by sam2304 » Wed May 02, 2012 2:22 am
abcgmat wrote:Does it mean subject pronoun refers only to subject and
object pronoun refers only to object

can we say it is wrong otherwise 100% of the time
when object pronoun refers to subject or subject pronoun refers to object -It is always incorrect
I don't get your query, by the way I never mentioned anything about pronouns.

The prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power were exciting to Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, and so he predicted in the mid-1890's that electricity generated at Niagara would one day power the streetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris. - This is grammatically right, but doesn't give us the right meaning as I said in the above explanation.
Getting defeated is just a temporary notion, giving it up is what makes it permanent.
https://gmatandbeyond.blogspot.in/
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 222
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 1:06 pm
Thanked: 19 times
Followed by:1 members

by abcgmat » Wed May 02, 2012 4:33 am
sam2304 wrote:
abcgmat wrote:But why is ', and so he' Incorrect
B - the sentence makes 'the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls' as the main subject and Nikola Tela as the object. 'and so he' makes it a dependent clause modifying the direct object of the sentence.
.
-- I understood that ',and so he....' is a dependent clause.
I also understood that 'he' refers to object Nikola Tela
[So i assumed you meant to say that: he(subject pronoun) is referring to object which it should not]
--I now get thats not what you meant

you said: 'We are looking for a sentence where 'predicted in the mid-1890's ..' is part of the main clause'
But why do you want to make the above as part of main clause. What is wrong if its dependent clause
it still makes sense. correct me If I am wrong
Top
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1239
Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:25 am
Thanked: 233 times
Followed by:26 members
GMAT Score:680

by sam2304 » Wed May 02, 2012 5:49 am
abcgmat wrote: -- I understood that ',and so he....' is a dependent clause.
I also understood that 'he' refers to object Nikola Tela
[So i assumed you meant to say that: he(subject pronoun) is referring to object which it should not]
--I now get thats not what you meant
so far so good :) I thought I did a pathetic job in explaining what I wanted to say.
you said: 'We are looking for a sentence where 'predicted in the mid-1890's ..' is part of the main clause'
But why do you want to make the above as part of main clause. What is wrong if its dependent clause
it still makes sense. correct me If I am wrong
This is not about whether the sentence makes sense or not. Its about conveying the facts in the most precise and understandable form. GMAT prefers concision. What you wanted to convey should be the main clause and whatever that are unnecessary should come as a dependent clause. So its like reading the main point of a sentence. If we remove the sub ordinate clauses, modifiers - non essential ones we should get what is being conveyed. See how it works in B and C.

B - The prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power were exciting to Nikola Tesla [spoiler], the inventor of alternating current, and so he predicted in the mid-1890's that electricity generated at Niagara would one day power the streetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris. [/spoiler] - Removing the modifiers and the sub ordinate clauses, we don't get the necessary meaning as in this is not we wanted to know from this sentence.

C - Excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power, Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, predicted in the mid-1890's that electricity generated at Niagara would one day power the streetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris. - Compared to B, this is better, short and very clear in conveying by giving importance to what is necessary.

GMAT SCs always try to make the main clauses shorter so that the intended meaning is clear by moving out unnecessary details as modifiers or as sub ordinate clauses. - This is completely my opinion but I have observed this in most of the sentences.
Getting defeated is just a temporary notion, giving it up is what makes it permanent.
https://gmatandbeyond.blogspot.in/
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 222
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 1:06 pm
Thanked: 19 times
Followed by:1 members

by abcgmat » Wed May 02, 2012 6:28 am
Sam2304, many thanks

I think the use of 'and' also require parallelism

The prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power were exciting to Nikola Tesla , the inventor of alternating current, and so he predicted in the mid-1890's that electricity generated at Niagara would one day power the streetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris.

prospects of harnessing Niagara is not so much parallel to he
Top
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2015 7:48 am

by anant03 » Sat Sep 19, 2015 3:06 am
Hi Experts ,

Can you please advise that in option A , why COMMA + HE is wrong ?

Please advise.

Thanks
Top
Post new topic Locked
• Page 1 of 1