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OG 12 Verbal SC

by Fernando diaz » Sun Jul 03, 2011 7:39 pm
Based on accounts of various ancient writers, scholars
have painted a sketchy picture of the activities of an
all-female cult that, perhaps as early as the sixth
century B.C., worshipped a goddess known in Latin as
Bona Dea, "the good goddess."
(A) Based on accounts of various ancient writers,
(B) Basing it on various ancient writers' accounts,
(C) With accounts of various ancient writers used
for a basis,
(D) By the accounts of various ancient writers
they used,
(E) Using accounts of various ancient writers,

Can someone be so kind to explain the diference between A and E. Thanks in advance.
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by Geva@EconomistGMAT » Sun Jul 03, 2011 10:18 pm
It's a modifier problem. the first part of the sentence before the comma is a modifier - a descriptive clause that has no subject or verb on its own, and is not standalone - it modifies/describes something else.

The rule with such a modifier appearing before the comma is that it MUST modify the noun immediately after the comma. Therefore, the noun after the comma needs to be a noun that can logically be described by the modifying clause.

Which brings us to the problem with A: logically, the scholars are not based on accounts of various writers. E solves that problem by changing the modifier to a clause that can logically describe the scholars: scholars could be "using accounts".
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by Fernando diaz » Mon Jul 04, 2011 7:59 am
Geva@MasterGMAT wrote:It's a modifier problem. the first part of the sentence before the comma is a modifier - a descriptive clause that has no subject or verb on its own, and is not standalone - it modifies/describes something else.

The rule with such a modifier appearing before the comma is that it MUST modify the noun immediately after the comma. Therefore, the noun after the comma needs to be a noun that can logically be described by the modifying clause.

Which brings us to the problem with A: logically, the scholars are not based on accounts of various writers. E solves that problem by changing the modifier to a clause that can logically describe the scholars: scholars could be "using accounts".
Thanks Geva. However, i need a little further explanation (I´m not a native speaker).
I know the rule related to missplaced modifiers but what i do not is the diference in meaning of "Based on accounts f" & "Using accounts.
Thanks in advance!
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by Geva@EconomistGMAT » Mon Jul 04, 2011 8:22 am
It's a simple logic error: is the author based on the accounts? The scholar, as a human being, cannot be 'based on an account' - a human is not based on a story by an ancient writer. His OPINION, his RESEARCH, his THEORY can be based on an account of various ancient writers.
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