Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans

The author is trying to say that fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans. Such a situation is hospitable for harmful viruses to exist.

B. Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans and circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses
Means the fruit bats have the circumstances in addition to long lifespans. Incorrect.

C. Fruit bats, which gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.
The last part of the sentence forms a clause that cannot stand by itself. Incorrect.

D. Fruit bats, which gather in large, sociable swarms, have long life spans and circumstances that may be particularly hospitable for harmful viruses.
E. Fruit bats, gathering in large, sociable swarms, have long life spans and circumstances that may be particularly hospitable for harmful viruses.
Like B, these options imply that fruit bats have the favorable circumstances for harmful viruses to prevail. Incorrect.

A. Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.
This option accurately presents the author's intent

It's hard to say, and it' s not the point.

I mean: focus on the overall structure first.
Try to see if the meaning is correct, if the sentence uses a correct structure,...
There are many things you can check before "hospitable to" VS "hospitable for".

The original sentence has proper parallelism and modifier usage.

Fruit bats
gather in large, sociable swarms
and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses

Underlined part is the modifier.

Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.



1. Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.
2. Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans and circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.
3. Fruit bats, which gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.
4. Fruit bats, which gather in large, sociable swarms, have long life spans and circumstances that may be particularly hospitable for harmful viruses.
5. Fruit bats, gathering in large, sociable swarms, have long life spans and circumstances that may be particularly hospitable for harmful viruses.


This is one of the most difficult question I have encountered so far-
This is classic GMAT misdirection, employing a unique structure to "hide the correct answer".

Veritas Gives this Answer:

A. Avoid the temptation to eliminate choice A simply because its structure, with the modifier "circumstances that..." at the end, may seem strange. This is classic GMAT misdirection, employing a unique structure to "hide the correct answer". Note the logical flaw within choices B, D, and E - fruit bats don't "have circumstances", but instead they have traits to which "circumstances" refers. Choice C, once you get rid of the "which" modifier, doesn't have a subject-verb construction and therefore isn't a sentence. Choice A commits none of critical errors and is therefore correct.

I opted for B i am still not sure why A is chosen.

Have you ever heard of fruit bats having circumstances? They may long life spans but not circumstances. That is why B is out

GMATNinja GMATNinjaTwo can you explain this one please?

Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.

a) Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.
b) Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans and circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.
c) Fruit bats, which gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.
d) Fruit bats, which gather in large, sociable swarms, have long life spans and circumstances that may be particularly hospitable for harmful viruses.
e) Fruit bats, gathering in large, sociable swarms, have long life spans and circumstances that may be particularly hospitable for harmful viruses.

Solution:

Rule 1. ',which' is always used to provide non necessary information. and to provide necessary information a comma is never used.

Rule2. If you don't find a grammar error simply in the sentence then always look for meaning error.


A:Correct.
B:Fruit bats gather...and have long life...and circumstances this is not parallel (not supposed to be :P ) and this does not make any sense either because according to the structure only fruit bats are being connected to circumstances and nothing else . for this reason this is wrong as stated in rule 2.
C:which gather in large, wrong for the reason mentioned in rule1
D:which gather in large, wrong for the reason mentioned in rule1
E: gathering in large This modifier modifies the fruit bat and gives a meaning that only those fruit bat that gather in large,sociable swarms provide hospitable circumstances and not all the fruit bats. For this reason this sentence is wrong as mentioned in rule 2

look at choice A
noun+noun modifier can refer the whole preceding clause or to a preceding noun.
inhere " circumstances that..." refer to which phrase, clause or noun
pls tell me the phrase that "circumstances that..." modifies

if circumstances modifies the whole preceding clause, circumstances must be in singular. if it modifies a noun, which noun?

Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.

I would be thankful , if experts could help me understand why we do not have "and" in between large and sociable .
as per my understanding , large and sociable both act as adjectives for swarm , thus we need and in between them to make a proper list .

what i mean is that as per my understanding , the below needs to be the correct answer

fruit bats gather in large and sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances hospitable to harmful viruses

gather in large and sociable swarms (list 1)
and
have long life spans (list 2)

circumstances hospitable to harmful viruses (noun + noun modifier)

daagh GMATNinja

Never thought that a GMAT question would someday explain madness happening these days ...