In the field of eugenics, geneticists have thoroughly scrutinized the

A) increasing impressive number of physiological characteristics in the unborn, each -out
B) increasingly impressive number of physiological characteristics in those not yet born, and each one - wordy = out
C) increasing impressive number of physiological characteristics in those unborn who are - out
D) increasingly impressive number of physiological characteristics in the unborn, all of them -out
E) increasingly impressive number of physiological characteristics in the unborn -correct

IMO E

In the field of eugenics, geneticists have thoroughly scrutinized the human genome and its ability to shape certain traits to select and pre-determine an increasing impressive number of physiological characteristics in the unborn, each “ready to order” to parents’ specifications.

A) increasing impressive number of physiological characteristics in the unborn, each

the number is "increasing impressive" doesn't make sense, incorrect.

B) increasingly impressive number of physiological characteristics in those not yet born, and each one

'those not yet born' reads very strangely, out.

C) increasing impressive number of physiological characteristics in those unborn who are

the number is "increasing impressive" doesn't make sense, incorrect.

D) increasingly impressive number of physiological characteristics in the unborn, all of them

"all of them" doesn't make sense if you get nitpicky but i'm not sure...could refer to too many things

E) increasingly impressive number of physiological characteristics in the unborn

I like this one the most although I personally feel it reads strangely. E

First split increasing Vs increasingly --> as we are modifying "number of physiological characteristics", which is modified by adjective -> "impressive" so we require and adverb to modify ADJECTIVE+NOUN construction so usage of "Increasingly" is appropriate.

A and C out.

In B, after COMMA+AND we require full clause so ",and each one “ready to order” to parents’ specifications." does not makes sense.

In D, "all of them “ready to order” to parents’ specifications." should be a full clause and them is ambiguous.

In E, “ready to order” to parents’ specifications- modifies "unborn".

So E should be right answer.

In the field of eugenics, geneticists have thoroughly scrutinized the human genome and its ability to shape certain traits to select and pre-determine an increasing impressive number of physiological characteristics in the unborn, each “ready to order” to parents’ specifications.

A. increasing impressive number of physiological characteristics in the unborn, each

--> We have two adjectives: increasing and impressive that are not joined correctly.

B. increasingly impressive number of physiological characteristics in those not yet born , and each one

--> , and requires complete sentence if it's not the case that we join similar items in a list.
those not yet born is wordy and awkward.

C. increasing impressive number of physiological characteristics in those unborn who are

--> We have two adjectives: increasing and impressive that are not joined correctly.
We do not have any proper reason to include those.

D. increasingly impressive number of physiological characteristics in the unborn, all of them

--> them is ambiguous: does them refer to characteristics or the unborn ?

E. increasingly impressive number of physiological characteristics in the unborn

--> correct.

My 2 cents:
I think this link is useful: https://grammarist.com/grammar/coordinate-adjectives/
Coordinate adjectives are adjectives that appear in sequence with one another to modify the same noun. For example, the adjectives in the phrases bright, sunny day and dark and stormy night are coordinate adjectives. Coordinate adjectives are usually separated with either commas or and, and "and" always comes before the final adjective.

Some sequential pairs or groups of adjectives that modify single nouns are not coordinate. For example, in the phrase harsh verbal warning, harsh and verbal are not coordinate adjectives because harsh modifies the phrase verbal warning.
If you ever have difficulty deciding whether a pair or group of adjectives is coordinate, try inserting and between them. If and would work, the adjectives are coordinate and hence do need a comma.


For example,
Forecasters warned of another day of hot, windy conditions across Southern California on Sunday. [Los Angeles Times]
In addition, their breathtakingly cruel and callous actions also led to a tribute plaque. [Liverpool Echo]
Obama stands accused of giving stuffy, cliche-ridden graduation speeches. [Standard-Examiner]

And these adjective pairs are not coordinate because they modify their nouns in different ways:
Amazon prepping multiple wallet-friendly tablets. [CNET]
With this in mind, I wanted to design a screen to identify dirt-cheap smaller companies. [Seeking Alpha]
The Red Wings are demonstrably a tough hockey team. [Detroit News (link now dead)]

I think there are definitely a few transcription errors here. First, notice that "an" shouldn't be underlined. As for E, it should have a comma at the end, at the very least.

‘Increasingly impressive’ is the correct usage, (increasingly is used to modify adjectives). So A and C are out.

‘Each one’ is a modifier, so it cannot be connected with ‘and’, so B is wrong.

‘Number’ is the subject in D and it is singular. So it does not fir with ‘all of them’



So E is the right option

Can somebody explain the meaning of the sentence?

ready to order what?

Thanks!

Kanika3agg The intended meaning seems to be "made-to-order," as in put together according to the customer's specifications.

DmitryFarber Thank you, I got this!

In the field of eugenics, geneticists have thoroughly scrutinized the human genome and its ability to shape certain traits to select and pre-determine an increasingly impressive number of physiological characteristics in the unborn “ready to order” to parents’ specifications.

manhattan gmat says "a number of+plural comments noun" means many items i.e. plural then how come all of them is wrong?

Why is increasing wrong? I have done a few problems that are in the form of adj+adj+noun. I know this usage depends on the context, but from this problem, I can't tell if "increasing" is modifying "impressive" or "number"!

An example of adj+adj+noun would be:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/reporting-th ... 67639.html

GMATNinja Could you help please?

VeritasKarishma

In D, can't them refer to characteristics and consequently we can then say that these characteristics are ready to order

(A) increasing impressive number of physiological characteristics in the unborn, each
(B) increasingly impressive number of physiological characteristics in those not yet born, and each one
(C) increasing impressive number of physiological characteristics in those unborn who are
(D) increasingly impressive number of physiological characteristics in the unborn, all of them
(E) increasingly impressive number of physiological characteristics in the unborn

A , C out since it isn't sync with throughly so increasingly
B in thoae not yet born too wordy unborn is far better
D All of them doesn't have a subject id it the baby or the genetic characters hence
IMO E

Hello,


I can't properly understand why "increasing" is wrong here ?

How do we know that an adjective ("increasing") modifying "number" is wrong ? In other words, how do we know that the increase should be modify "impressive" ?

More generally, is there a way to determine when a noun or a pronoun is being modified rather than everything else, requiring an adverb?


Thanks

Hello Naptiste,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe we can resolve your doubt.

In this question, you must consider the meaning of the sentence to determine whether the adjective or adverb is the correct form to use. Here, if the adjective "increasing" is applied it will modify "number", awkwardly implying that the number of physiological characteristics in the unborn is impressive and currently increasing; the meaning conveyed through the use of the adverb "increasingly" - that the number of physiological characteristics in the unborn continually grows more impressive is more logical.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Could anybody explain why the option D is wrong :

an increasingly impressive number of physiological characteristics in the unborn, all of them

"all of them" looks fine with "An increasingly impressive number of physiological characteristics"

AjiteshArun : Could you please help in it ?