Clouds are formed from the evaporation of the oceans water

Clouds are formed from the evaporation of the oceans’ water that is warmed by the Sun and rises high into the atmosphere, condensing in tiny droplets on minute particles of dust.

(A) Clouds are formed from the evaporation of the oceans’ water that is warmed by the Sun and rises high into the atmosphere, condensing in tiny droplets on minute particles of dust.

(B) Clouds form by the Sun’s warmth evaporating the water in the oceans, which rises high into the atmosphere, condensing in tiny droplets on minute particles of dust.

(C) Warmed by the Sun, ocean water evaporates, rises high into the atmosphere, and condenses in tiny droplets on minute particles of dust to form clouds.

(D) The water in the oceans evaporates, warmed by the Sun, rises high into the atmosphere, and condenses in tiny droplets on minute particles of dust, which forms clouds.

(E) Ocean water, warmed by the Sun, evaporates and rises high into the atmosphere, which then condenses in tiny droplets on minute particles of dust to form as clouds.

It wouldn't make sense for LIQUID water to rise high in the atmosphere. But it makes perfect sense for water to rise in atmosphere as a GAS.

Water can exist in various forms: solid (ice), liquid, or gas (vapor). Although the form of the water changes throughout the process, it's still water!

Clouds are formed from the evaporation of the oceans’ water that is warmed by the Sun and rises high into the atmosphere, condensing in tiny droplets on minute particles of dust.


(B) Clouds form by the Sun’s warmth evaporating the water in the oceans, which rises high into the atmosphere, condensing in tiny droplets on minute particles of dust. "which" incorrectly modifies "oceans". It is not the oceans that rise into the atmosphere but the water. Eliminate.

GMATNinja
I think, ocean water doesn't rise high into the atmosphere directly; it warmed by the Sun first and then it rises high into the atmosphere.
Am I right?

Clouds are formed from the evaporation of the oceans’ water that is warmed by the Sun and rises high into the atmosphere, condensing in tiny droplets on minute particles of dust.

(A) Clouds are formed from the evaporation of the oceans’ water that is warmed by the Sun and rises high into the atmosphere, condensing in tiny droplets on minute particles of dust.

(C) Warmed by the Sun, ocean water evaporates, rises high into the atmosphere, and condenses in tiny droplets on minute particles of dust to form clouds.

(D) The water in the oceans evaporates, warmed by the Sun, rises high into the atmosphere, and condenses in tiny droplets on minute particles of dust, which forms clouds.

Good questions, TheUltimateWinner. I also see (C) as a list, for the reason you provided. If the second verb were turned into rising instead, then it would indeed be serving as a modifier, but since it is conjugated the same way as evaporates and condenses, we are left with a list. In (D), warmed by the sun is logically modifying the water, jumping over the prepositional phrase and verb. It would be better placed before the verb, though, for clarity, rather than disrupting the list of actions. Consider:

The water in the oceans, warmed by the Sun, evaporates, rises high into the atmosphere, and condenses in tiny droplets on minute particles of dust, which forms clouds.

Yes, we still have that which clause at the end, but if I have come up with a reason to doubt the placement of a phrase in (D), and my altered sentence better resembles (C), then I will only feel more confident getting behind the harder-to-argue-against answer in (C).

I hope that helps. Thank you for thinking to ask me.

- Andrew

AndrewN
Thanks for the feedback.
You make me confused by the highlighted part. It seems that the highlighted part does not work! If we put the 'warmed by the Sun' part before the verb (evaporates), it essentially means that 'warmed by the Sun' part is going to modify only 'The water in the oceans'. Now we can ask questions like:
warmed by the Sun what? It is actually-warmed by the Sun The water in the oceans. Right? But, why did we use the word 'warm'? Actually, 'warm' is connected with the verb 'evaporates'. So, we must keep the modifier after 'evaporates' or before 'The water in the oceans (good version: ocean water)'. I don't know that i missed anything.

Apologies for the confusion, but I am sorry to say that your understanding is incorrect on this one. The highlighted part would work just fine. It is water that is warmed by the Sun and subsequently evaporates (and does other things), similar to saying, Because the water in the ocean is warmed by the Sun, some water evaporates... I would argue that although the placement of the phrase is flexible, putting it after the first verb in an interrupted three-verb list is less clear than keeping the three verbs together.

If some other Expert wishes to comment on the issue, I would be happy to hear him or her out. You asked how to cast doubt on (D) without referring to the which clause, so I answered with that request in mind. If you have your own answers already, then it begs the question, why ask for the input of others? (It seems you have made up your mind as to what the sentence needs to say.)

- Andrew

OA: Warmed by the sun, ocean water evaporates, rises, and condenses.
Here, the four colored actions are presented in a logical sequence.
First, the water is WARMED.
Then, the water EVAPORATES, RISES and CONDENSES.
The implication is that the incipient green action leads to the three subsequent blue actions.

D: The water in the oceans evaporates, warmed by the Sun, rises, and condenses.
Here, the four colored actions are presented OUT OF SEQUENCE, with the incipient red action inserted inexplicably between the first two blue actions.
As a result, the intended meaning -- that the incipient red action leads to the three subsequent blue actions -- is not conveyed.
Since the ordering in D is illogical, eliminate D and choose C.

OA: Warmed by the sun, ocean water evaporates, rises, and condenses.

D: The water in the oceans evaporates, warmed by the Sun, rises, and condenses.

This line of reasoning is invalid.
It presupposes that -- if we remove the nonessential warmed-modifier from D -- we must also remove the comma that directly follows this modifier.
Not so.

SC100 in the OG12:
Like the planets, the stars are in motion, some of them at tremendous speeds, but they are so far away from the Earth that their apparent positions in the sky do not change enough for their movement to be observed during a single human lifetime.
Here, if we remove the nonessential modifier in blue, we must retain the comma that follows this modifier, as follows:
Like the planets, the stars are in motion, but they are so far away from the Earth that their apparent positions in the sky do not change enough for their movement to be observed during a single human lifetime.
Even when the nonessential blue modifier is omitted, the comma immediately before but must be retained.

Similarly:
If remove the nonessential warmed-modifier from D, we must retain the comma directly before rises, as follows:
The water in the oceans evaporates, rises high into the atmosphere, and condenses in tiny droplets on minute particles of dust.
The resulting structure is not invalid.
D can be eliminated primarily for its illogical sequence and for its misuse of which.

GMATNinja
(A) Clouds are formed from the evaporation of the oceans’ water that is warmed by the Sun and rises high into the atmosphere, condensing in tiny droplets on minute particles of dust. red part acts as parallelism. yellow part modifies the whole sentence

(C) Warmed by the Sun, ocean water evaporates, rises high into the atmosphere, and condenses in tiny droplets on minute particles of dust to form clouds.
I am not able to find the working verb in option C that is my biggest problem with choice
therefore I choose option A I am not able to find where I am wrong I do agree option C has no parallel issues but the working verb bothers me.

Clouds are formed from the evaporation of the oceans’ water that is warmed by the Sun and rises high into the atmosphere, condensing in tiny droplets on minute particles of dust.

Between (C) and (D)

(A) Clouds are formed from the evaporation of the oceans’ water that is warmed by the Sun and rises high into the atmosphere, condensing in tiny droplets on minute particles of dust.

(B) Clouds form by the Sun’s warmth evaporating the water in the oceans, which rises high into the atmosphere, condensing in tiny droplets on minute particles of dust.

(C) Warmed by the Sun, ocean water evaporates, rises high into the atmosphere, and condenses in tiny droplets on minute particles of dust to form clouds.

Correct sequence. 3 actions occur TO FORM clouds. "To" here isn't used to show intention (not 100% of the time)

(D) The water in the oceans evaporates, warmed by the Sun, rises high into the atmosphere, and condenses in tiny droplets on minute particles of dust, which forms clouds.

"warmed by the sun" does it modify "the water in the oceans evaporates" or "rises high into the atmosphere?" - need to be careful when modifier is placed in between 2 things.

Also, does "which" modify dust or particles of dust (if particles, SV error)? Either way, illogical.

(E) Ocean water, warmed by the Sun, evaporates and rises high into the atmosphere, which then condenses in tiny droplets on minute particles of dust to form as clouds.

There are actually three working verbs that go with the subject of (C). The subject is "ocean water," and the verbs are "evaporates," "rises," and "condenses." It's totally fine to have more than one working verb in a sentence -- here, the three actions are all directly tied to the subject.

I hope that helps a bit!

GMATNinja KarishmaB

Bit confused, "rises" is verb for the subject ocean water. How can water rise in the atmosphere.
Refer to the comment of GMATNinja

"In B, "which" can modify - "oceans or water". It can't modify oceans. I am not sure whether it is correct to say water rises in atmosphere, but the correct option has the construction - " evaporates, rises high into the atmosphere" can be say " rises high into the atmosphere" is wrongly modifying "evaporates"? since modifiers are placed closest to the word it is modifying, and hence becomes adverb in this case. However, meaning is incorrect "


Wont the same rationale apply to option C.