Growing evidence that coastal erosion occurs continuously, not in just

B

Highlighted portions in A, C and E are incorrect.
In D it is unclear which has led scientists.

Additionally, "such as" shows exact examples. Here, hurricanes are used as an example of a burst that expedites the erosion process.

Shouldn't it be "like" and not "such as"? 'Like' emphasizes similarity, which is what is required here.

Also, I seem to have found the original: https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/24/scien ... pment.html

Scientists and Planners Consider New Limits To Coastal Development
By CORY DEAN
Published: July 24, 1990

GROWING evidence that coastal erosion occurs continuously, not just in calamitous bursts like Hurricane Hugo, has led scientists, planners and some Federal disaster officials to urge a stringent new approach to limiting development along the nation's shoreline.

There was an interesting statement in Manhattan SC guide - In modern English, like is often misused to mean "for example." Even the New York Times endorses this faulty usage. But the GMAT is firm on the issue.

B is the answer, 'such as' is the right usage here.

Answer should be B.
Even if use of like in D could be correct, the sentence is incorrect..since it says growing evidence.., which has.. the use of which is wring here.. If there was a verb clause defining growing evidence ( growing evidence exists/ growing eveidence is being found) then it could have been follwoed by WHICH has- not correct in this case.

I know that the OA is B. But why are you referring to option D - "like" isn't even used in 'D' it's only used in options A, C & E.

B.

Guys please mention the resource. I don't want to solve GMAT prep Qs as I am yet to give the test.
This will inflate the score.

Guys,
Can we reflect a little bit on the logic of each answer and why it's wrong.
I did a 2/3 split between costal/there is

I chose there is, because it went better with the sentense. Finally answer E was pretty good I chose E. I went back to all the answers, and B sounded pretty good out of other choices. Finally I chose E. (I know this is not the answer), but could someone elaborate on each answer and why it's wrong?

Thanks,
Regards,

I was confused between option B and D. My answer was D: "Growing evidence that there is ..."
Can someone please elaborate why this is wrong?

Dear scofield1521,

D is not a complete sentence.

Let's review D:
Growing evidence [that there is continuous coastal erosion[, not just in calamitous bursts such as hurricanes,]] [which has led scientists and planners to urge a stringent new approach to limiting development along the nation’s shoreline.]

The subject of this sentence is "growing evidence". This subject is followed by three modifiers:
1) that there is continuous coastal erosion: provides information about what kind of evidence is being talked about
2) not just in calamitous bursts such as hurricanes: provides extra information about where the coastal erosion is occurring
3) which has led ... shoreline: provides information about "some" noun (does not matter which -- the pronoun is ambiguous but the main error lies elsewhere) before the "which"

Now notice that there is no main verb anywhere in the sentence, making the sentence in D a fragment.

--Prasad

I will go with B. Such as should be used to give examples.

Growing evidence that coastal erosion occurs continuously, not in just such calamitous bursts like hurricanes, has led scientists and planners to urge a stringent new approach to limiting development along the nation's shoreline.

A. coastal erosion occurs continuously, not in just such calamitous bursts like hurricanes, has
B. coastal erosion occurs continuously, not just in calamitous bursts such as hurricanes, has
C. coastal erosion is continuously occurring, not in just calamitous bursts like hurricanes, having
D. there is continuous coastal erosion, not just in calamitous bursts such as hurricanes, which has
E. there is continuous coastal erosion occurring, not in just such calamitous bursts like hurricanes, has

between B & D,
'Growing evidence ' led scientists and planners to urge a stringent new approach.
But in D, the meaning is changed, it says the hurricanes(, which has) led scientists and planners to urge a stringent new approach.

Ans : B

Growing evidence that coastal erosion occurs continuously, not in just such calamitous bursts like hurricanes, has led scientists and planners to urge a stringent new approach to limiting development along the nation’s shoreline.

A. coastal erosion occurs continuously, not in just such calamitous bursts like hurricanes, has
B. coastal erosion occurs continuously, not just in calamitous bursts such as hurricanes, has
C. coastal erosion is continuously occurring, not in just calamitous bursts like hurricanes, having
D. there is continuous coastal erosion, not just in calamitous bursts such as hurricanes, which has
E. there is continuous coastal erosion occurring, not in just such calamitous bursts like hurricanes, has

1.Active voice is correctly used.
2.'not just in' is better than 'not in just'.
3.Although like is used for comparison ,here i dont find a reason to say that it is wrongly used because the calamitous bursts is compared to hurricanes.
4.Which after comma modifies noun directly before the comma,so which is modifying hurricanes .So it is wrong.
5.Option B is the correct answer.

Kindly elaborate on not in just vs not just in

This question is based on Sentence Structure and Idiomatic usage.

In Option A, the placement of the adverb ‘just’ changes the meaning. The adverb, as it is placed in this option modifies ‘such calamitous bursts’. It should modify the other adverb ‘not’. Additionally, the conjunction ‘like’ implies a comparison that is not being made in the sentence. The sentence gives an example of calamitous bursts which is conveyed by the phrase ‘such as’. So, Option A can be eliminated.

Option B contains the appropriate idiomatic usage – such as. The placement of the adverb ‘just’ is also appropriate in this option. So, B is the best option.

Option C is incomplete. The sentence as conveyed by this option only contains two modifiers without a subject and verb to complete the sentence. It also contains the same error of adverb placement as Option A. So, Option C can be eliminated.

Option D is also incomplete. It again consists of two modifiers. The only difference between C and D is the form of the second modifier. So, Option D can also be eliminated.

Option E also has the same incorrect adverb placement as Options A and C. The phrase “continuous coastal erosion occurring” is redundant as either the adjective ‘continuous’ or the present participle ‘occurring’ would convey the sense of continuity. So, Option E can also be eliminated.

Therefore, B is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.

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