In cooperation with the school system, exceptional children requiring

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION



THE PROMPT



THE OPTIONS

• modifier error. That is →
• We have a dangling modifier: according to the noun "Touch Rule," a noun modifier should be as close as possible to the noun it modifies.
Modifier: In cooperation with the school system
Noun modified (wrong noun!): exceptional children

• Track on the logic of the introductory phrase: who or what is in cooperation with the school system?
The next thing we should be reading about is the program, not children.
• in this context, children are not in cooperation with the school system
ELIMINATE A

• I see no issues
• the introductory modifier correctly modifies the program
• note the active style (the verb is not a helping verb): the program offers
KEEP

• on the GMAT (and in most high level U.S. writing), which and that are not interchangeable
-- which sets off nonessential material and should be preceded by a comma
The underpriced house for sale, which is around the corner, will not last long on the market.
(There is only one underpriced house for sale. The fact that the house is located around the corner is not essential and can be removed.)

-- that sets off essential material and is almost never set off by a comma
The underpriced house for sale that is around the corner will not last long on the market.
(There might be or there is more than one underpriced house for sale, but I am talking about the one that is around the corner. I cannot remove location. The "that" clause gives essential information. )
-- speakers of British English, be a little be careful. In B.E., which and that are interchangeable. Your eyes are used to reading "which" without a comma. Start looking for a comma before which.
-- Native U.S. speakers, you, too, should be on the lookout, though you've probably read [comma + which] fairly often

-- in a few instances that are rarely seen on the GMAT, which is not preceded by a comma:

(1) as the object of a preposition (which refers to "both," and "both" refers to "dams")
In Michigan a few days ago, two dams, both of which had been reported as unsound, broke one after the other, causing even more suffering in the midst of a pandemic. (People in Michigan, my heart goes out to you.)

(2) as the lead word in a noun clause (in this example, the noun clause is the object of the verb remember)
I tried to remember which street I used to get to the new store.

(3) in a "double" which clause, the second which is not preceded by a comma.
The executive branch of the federal government, which states usually look to for guidance in a crisis and which has powers that states do not, has chosen to inflame political wars rather than unite the citizens of the country.

• The passive structure is not as good as the structure in option B
ELIMINATE C

• people take the pronoun who, not that
• as in option C, the passive voice (are offered) is not as strong as the active voice in (B)
ELIMINATE D


• meaning issue: exceptional children are not "in cooperation with the school system"
• again, passive voice (are being offered) is not as strong as active voice in option B
ELIMINATE E

The answer is B.

NOTES

Just one thought: on your first review of answer options, do not ever eliminate an answer on the basis of passive voice alone.
If you already have a good answer against which to compare an option, do so after you read all the options.
Make style decisions last -- style decisions such as concision and passive voice.

COMMENTS

Shrinkhla21 and 800Dreamer , welcome to SC Butler.

As always, I am glad to "see" everyone.

I encourage aspirants who might be a bit hesitant to post anyway.
This community forum is enriched when people with diverse styles post.

The answers range from good to excellent.
Nice work. Kudos to all.

The answer is D.

What is being talked about is clearly missing in the sentence. The program fits in perfectly-in cooperation with the school system.

Posted from my mobile device

In cooperation with the school system, exceptional children requiring one-to-one contact are offered assistance by professional instructors in the program.

FACT 1-> It's the program that is in cooperation with school system and not the children. So A, E is out.
FACT 2-> Using that for children makes them an object. It should be who. So D is out.
FACT 3-> Remaining are B and C. Eliminate C as which should be used after comma

So answer goes to B

A) In cooperation with the school system, exceptional children requiring one-to-one contact are offered assistance by professional instructors in the program

B) In cooperation with the school system, the program offers assistance by professional instructors to exceptional children requiring one-to-one contact

C) In the program which is in cooperation with the school system, professional instructors are offering assistance to exceptional children requiring one-to-one contact

D) Exceptional children that require one-to-one contact are offered assistance by professional instructors in the program, which is in cooperation with the school system

E) Exceptional children requiring one-to-one contact, in cooperation with the school system, are being offered assistance by professional instructors in the program

A) In cooperation with the school system, exceptional children requiring one-to-one contact are offered assistance by professional instructors in the program -> "Exceptional children" aren't in cooperation with the school system.

B) In cooperation with the school system, the program offers assistance by professional instructors to exceptional children requiring one-to-one contact -> Keep

C) In the program which is in cooperation with the school system, professional instructors are offering assistance to exceptional children requiring one-to-one contact -> "which", when used as a modifier, cannot be used without a comma since it indicates the start of a non-restrictive clause.

D) Exceptional children that require one-to-one contact are offered assistance by professional instructors in the program, which is in cooperation with the school system -> Keep

E) Exceptional children requiring one-to-one contact, in cooperation with the school system, are being offered assistance by professional instructors in the program -> Same issue as A.

Between B and D, following points stand out:
1. D is in passive voice -> While this doesn't mean that the sentence is wrong, GMAT prefers Active Voice over it.
2. "Which" modifies nouns before the comma. However, there is an exception: if there is a prepositional phrase before the comma, "which" will skip the phrase and modify the noun before that. Therefore, in the sentence, "which" will end up not modifying "program". Unfortunately, this will change the meaning. Henceforth, D is out.

Correct Answer: B

A) In cooperation with the school system, exceptional children requiring one-to-one contact are offered assistance by professional instructors in the program

A says that children are in cooperation with the school system. I guess it should be either some program or instructors.

B) In cooperation with the school system, the program offers assistance by professional instructors to exceptional children requiring one-to-one contact


Seems perfect.

C) In the program which is in cooperation with the school system, professional instructors are offering assistance to exceptional children requiring one-to-one contact

Seems so wordy. B is better than C

D) Exceptional children that require one-to-one contact are offered assistance by professional instructors in the program, which is in cooperation with the school system

Seems okay. But passive voice is troubling me. generis. I have 1 question. What is this " , which" referring to? Is it instructors or the program? May I know when it can jump over prepositional phrases and when it can not?
Anyways B is still better than D

E) Exceptional children requiring one-to-one contact, in cooperation with the school system, are being offered assistance by professional instructors in the program
What is in cooperation? not clear.

IMO B

The official explanation is here

I have 1 question in D. What is this " , which" referring to? Is it instructors or the program? May I know when it can jump over prepositional phrases and when it can not?

generis I have the same question. Can which refer back to "program" here or will it refer back to " professional instructors in the program"?

800Dreamer , sorry, I forgot to answer your question.

And Kritisood , I just saw yours.

The word which can refer to the immediately preceding noun ("program") or, more commonly on the GMAT of late, to the main noun in a prepositional phrase ("instructors").

In this case, the singular verb "is" and the logic of the sentence tell us that "which" refers to "program."

(You might think that you can argue that "which" is confusing because in option D, which theoretically could refer to "assistance," another singular noun. Bad idea. If there is only one logical antecedent, the pronoun which is not ambiguous.)

The relative pronoun which can always reach back over a prepositional phrase to get to its noun.
The antecedent noun can even be quite far away from which.

Why? Because essential (vital) modifiers trump nonessential modifiers. Essential modifiers are placed closest to the noun. In English, prepositional phrases that define a noun cannot be placed elsewhere. But the "which" information about that noun still must have its chance to tell us more about the noun.

Prepositional phrases that follow nouns are essential modifiers.

The red house on Maple Street is creepy.
We cannot simply remove the prepositional phrase "on Maple Street." I am not talking about just any house.

On the other hand, which clauses preceded by a comma contain nonessential information.

The houses on Maple Street, which is unlit and unkempt, are often creepy.

The which phrase is a nonessential modifier. The verb in this example is singular and thus "which" must refer to the singular "Maple Street." (Houses is a plural word.)

Finally, the noun can be quite far away from the which clause.

The red house with broken windows and walls inscribed with violent graffiti located on Maple Street, which is up for sale, is creepy.
Again, the which phrase is a nonessential modifier. Notice that which reaches back over many essential modifiers and refers to house.

Although essential prepositional modifiers trump nonessential modifiers, the "which" clause still needs to reach its noun;
thus, as you note, which can "reach back over" the prepositional phrase or over many such phrases to get to its noun.

As long as the noun is the only logical antecedent and matches the verb (attached to which) in number, that antecedent
noun can be quite far away from the "which" clause.

"Which" cannot jump back over the main verb in a sentence to reach a noun.
Wrong: The red house on Maple Street is on the market, which I think is too creepy to sell.
Which cannot jump back over the main verb "is" in order to reach "house." The market is not too creepy to sell! The house is.

I wrote about prepositional phrases and which in in this post, here, on a very good thread called "SC Tips 'N Tricks," by dave13 . That thread is here.

Hope that helps.

Posted from my mobile device
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A) In cooperation with the school system, exceptional children requiring one-to-one contact are offered assistance by professional instructors in the program - Misplaced Modifier

B) In cooperation with the school system, the program offers assistance by professional instructors to exceptional children requiring one-to-one contact - Correct

C) In the program which is in cooperation with the school system, professional instructors are offering assistance to exceptional children requiring one-to-one contact - Comma required before 'Which'

D) Exceptional children that require one-to-one contact are offered assistance by professional instructors in the program, which is in cooperation with the school system - That is used for Exceptional Children. Should had been 'Who'

E) Exceptional children requiring one-to-one contact, in cooperation with the school system, are being offered assistance by professional instructors in the program- Being

Hi generis,

Just one query in option A. In one of the earlier posts about introductory prepositional phrases (in which you mentioned five types of introductory phrases), you explained about the exception of "Preposition + verbING" phrases: only "Preposition + verbING" phrases can act as noun modifiers, modifying the subject of the sentence.

Therefore, in option (A) I was under the impression that the phrase "In cooperation with school" is acting as an adverbial modifier. While sorting through the options I was on-the-fence between options A and B.

Please assist if my logic is flawed.

Regards
Maksha

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