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Why is verb-ed not a verb formas opposed to "is/are ver

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by shreenag » Mon Aug 20, 2012 7:40 pm
This question is from OG12

Quasars, at billions of light-years from Earth the most
distant observable objects in the universe, believed
to be the cores of galaxies in an early stage of
development.
(A) believed to be
(B) are believed to be
(C) some believe them to be
(D) some believe they are
(E) it is believed that they are

The correct answer is choice B.Why is the correct answer not choice A.?
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by vk_vinayak » Mon Aug 20, 2012 8:31 pm
shreenag wrote:This question is from OG12

Quasars, at billions of light-years from Earth the most
distant observable objects in the universe, believed
to be the cores of galaxies in an early stage of
development.
(A) believed to be
(B) are believed to be
(C) some believe them to be
(D) some believe they are
(E) it is believed that they are

The correct answer is choice B.Why is the correct answer not choice A.?
The phrase at billions ... in the universe is set off by comma. This modifier can be removed without altering the meaning of the sentence. If you do so, you can see that the sentence is lacking the main verb.

A. Quasars believed to be the cores of galaxies in an early stage of development. [Incorrect: NO VERB]
B. Quasars are believed to be the cores of galaxies in an early stage of development. [Correct]
- VK

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by anuprajan5 » Tue Aug 21, 2012 12:20 am
My take on this question stems from the principle of removing the fluff. This helps give clarity to the sentence.

The moment you remove the modifying prepositional clause - ´"at billions of light-years from Earth the most distant observable objects in the universe", it becomes clear what the sentence is lacking, which is the verb "are"

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by e-GMAT » Tue Aug 21, 2012 6:35 am
Hi Shreenag,

Quasars, at billions of light-years from Earth the most distant observable objects in the universe, believed to be the cores of galaxies in an early stage of development.

Let's first understand the meaning of this sentence. This sentence presents information about Quasars. Quasars are believed to be the cores of galaxies in an early stage of development. They are at billions of light-years from Earth and hence are the most distant observable objects in the universe.

Error Analysis:

The modifier "at the ... in the universe" is placed between two comma, meaning their removal will not affect the meaning of the sentence. The moment we take this modifier out, we see that there is no main verb in this sentence.

Notice that "believed" cannot be the simple past tense verb because Quasars do not do the action of believing. People believe them to be the cores of galaxies. This sentence need verb in passive voice. Hence we need a helping verb (is/am/are/was/were) to precede "believed".

POE:

(A) believed to be: Incorrect for the reason stated above.

(B) are believed to be: Correct.

(C) some believe them to be: Incorrect. The subject "Quasars" has no verb. This absence leads to fragment.

(D) some believe they are: Incorrect. This choice repeats the fragment error of choice C.

(E) it is believed that they are: Incorrect. This choice also repeats the fragment error of choice C.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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by shreenag » Tue Aug 21, 2012 7:41 am
thanks vinayak,anuprajan,shraddha.That was really helpful.

@shraddha:I have a doubt here:You had mentioned that "The modifier ..at the ... in the universe.. is placed between two comma, meaning their removal will not affect the meaning of the sentence."

is this a rule which I should remember?
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by e-GMAT » Tue Aug 21, 2012 9:00 am
shreenag wrote:I have a doubt here:You had mentioned that "The modifier ..at the ... in the universe.. is placed between two comma, meaning their removal will not affect the meaning of the sentence."

is this a rule which I should remember?
Hi,

When a modifier is placed between two commas, it sugeests that that modifier is giving some additional information about the entity that it modifies. Even if it is taken out of the sentence, the main idea still be comminicated by the sentence. Your knowledge of sentence structure should help you understanding the function of such structures. :)

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by shreenag » Tue Aug 21, 2012 11:11 pm
Thank you shraddha.Appreciate that!
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