Data gathered by weather satellites has been analyzed by scientists, r

I think data is plural and datum is singular

So A and B straight out

D is awkward
E is passive


C lives

Data gathered by weather satellites has been analyzed by scientists, reporting that the Earth?s northern latitudes have become about ten percent greener since 1980, due to more vigorous plant growth associated with warmer temperatures and higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

A)Data gathered by weather satellites has been analyzed by scientists, reporting that the Earth?s northern latitudes have - Who is reporting? Data or Scientists? Seems as if Data is reporting so misplaced modifier.

Ask same ques to each choice and we come up with C as the best answer

C)After analyzing data gathered by weather satellites, scientists report that the Earth?s northern latitudes have

Scientists have analyzed the data and report.

C: "After analyzing data gathered by weather satellites, scientists report that the Earth's northern latitudes have" - should it not be "After analyzing data gathered by weather satellites, scientists report(ed) that the Earth's northern latitudes have", otherwise it sounds more like a phenomenon which kind of repeats itself - think the intent is to limit the observation to a specific event.

Thanks

Data gathered by weather satellites has been analyzed by scientists, reporting that the Earth?s northern latitudes have become about ten percent greener since 1980, due to more vigorous plant growth associated with warmer temperatures and higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

A)Data gathered by weather satellites has been analyzed by scientists, reporting that the Earth?s northern latitudes have

B)Data gathered by weather satellites has been analyzed by scientists, and they report the Earth?s northern latitudes as having

C)After analyzing data gathered by weather satellites, scientists report that the Earth?s northern latitudes have

D)After analysis of data, gathered by weather satellites, scientists report the Earth?s northern latitudes as having

E)After data gathered by weather satellites was analyzed by scientists, who report that the Earth?s northern latitudes hav

A ,E and B seem to be passive.
D reported speech that makes more sense
also as having is not correct

C is best

Some of the stats of this forum just surprises me. Yes this isn't a super hard question..but only 5% got it wrong!?!? That doesn't sound right.

Anyways, I'd like to point out that C has incorrect usage of "due to" albeit being the correct answer. :D:D

GMATNinja VeritasPrepKarishma egmat



Can experts help if coma + verb-ing modifier - reporting - is correct in (A)
Does not due to modify a verb- have become ?

Hello @Arpit/ adkikani,


Thank you for the query.

IMHO, usage of comma + verb-ing modifier reporting is certainly incorrect in Choice A because this choice seems to suggest that data reported something. This certainly is not the intended logical meaning.

From the context of the sentence, we can say for sure that scientists did the action of reporting. Hence, usage of comma + reporting is incorrect in Choice A.

Well, it is true that the due to in this official sentence has been used to refer to the action have become. This usage is incorrect. But it is not tested in this sentence.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

Hello Ms.Payal ,

In the e-gmat course, it was discussed that verb+ing modifiers can modify the closest of the verbs in case the statement they are modifying has multiple verbs.

Ex stated was : Mary's father wants Mary to become a doctor, making a difference in people's lives...
It was explained that the ing modifer, making, modifies become.

So why can't the same principle be applied in the option A ?
Data gathered by weather satellites has been analyzed by scientists, reporting that the Earth's northern latitudes have be..

Can't reporting modify analyzed ?? It states the result of the analysis and also the do-er of both the modifier as well as the verb that it is modifying is same - scientists.

Please reply!!
I was stuck in between the choices A & C and then eliminated C thinking that since the statement in placed in past tense and hence usage of report is wrong.
Also it would be really helpful if you can explain the misconception I am having about the verb usage.

Thanks
Hareesh

Dear Expert,

I've Googled this but I got mixed findings - my question is, is it "data has been gathered" or "data have been gathered"?

Isn't data a plural noun? (datum??)

I've found both questions with the use of data that uses plural and singular verbs:

"Discouraged by new data that show increases in toxic emissions from domestic factories, searches for alternative investment opportunities are being conducted by shareholders of the nation’s leading manufacturing companies."
vs.
"Now that so much data travels via light—i.e., is carried in glass fibers rather than by electrical current—one goal of semiconductor research is to develop a silicon chip that can transmit and receive light signals directly, a development that mav one day lead to smaller, faster semiconductors."

Thanks!

Hello shabuzen102,
Thank you for the query.

Whether data is a singular noun or a plural noun is actually irrelevant to both the official questions mentioned here. For the official question in this discussion thread, only Choice A uses data as a subject. Even if we are not sure whether data should take a singular or a plural verb, Choice A has an incorrect modifier that makes this choice incorrect.

In the other official question, the clause Now that so much data travels via light lies in the non-underlined portion of the sentence. So, the sentence does not intend to test the number of the noun data.

Hence, we can arrive at the correct answer choice in both the official questions without worrying about whether data is a singular or a plural noun entity.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

Dear AnthonyRitz VeritasPrepHailey DmitryFarber GMATGuruNY MartyTargetTestPrep AjiteshArun IanStewart GMATRockstar GMATNinja,

I'm not sure whether this is official question, but it seems so. (Please feel free to confirm )

After analyzing data gathered by weather satellites, scientists report that the Earth's northern latitudes have become about ten percent greener since 1980, due to more vigorous plant growth associated with warmer temperatures and higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Why is DUE TO correct here?
IMHO, DUE TO can be used only as ADJECTIVE, not as adverb (as is the case in this problem).

Do not make decisions based on the idiomatic usage of "due to."

This question is based on Modifiers, Tense, and Verb forms.
Option A has the error of Dangling Modifier as the modifier “reporting that the Earth's northern latitudes have….” doesn’t modify the clause “Data gathered by weather satellites has been analyzed by scientists”. A participle phrase can modify either a noun or the subject in the clause before it. The subject is ‘data’ but in this case, data cannot report anything. So, Option A can be eliminated.

Option B ends in the perfect participle “having become”. The present perfect or the present perfect continuous tense is used with the preposition ‘since’. So, the form ‘have become’ is the more appropriate form and therefore, Option B can also be eliminated.

Options C, D, and E have a different structure.

Option D contains commas that are unnecessary - After analysis of data, gathered by weather satellites, - The placement of commas unnecessarily separates the phrase “gathered by weather satellites” from the noun ‘data’. Option D also contains the perfect participle, thereby repeating the error in Option B. So, Option D can also be eliminated.

Option E is an incomplete sentence; the structure of E is:
After data gathered by weather satellites was analyzed by scientists – Dependent adverbial clause
who report that the Earth's northern latitudes have become about ten percent greener since 1980, due to more vigorous plant growth associated with warmer temperatures and higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide – Dependent adjective clause

So, effectively, Option E is made up of two dependent clauses. There is no independent clause to complete the meaning.

Option C correctly uses the adverbial phrase (After analyzing data gathered by weather satellites) to modify the subject and verb (scientists report) to show that the scientists report something after analyzing data.

The option also contains the present perfect tense to suit the preposition ‘since’.
"have become about ten percent greener since 1980"

Therefore, C is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.

In option C
Is the usage of verb report correct?
Shouldn't that be "have reported" or just "reported" ?

Experts ! Please clarify.

Thanks in advance

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