Sculpted boulders found at Lepenski Vir, an example of the

Here's my shot at it, looking forward to knowing the OA in case I went wrong anywhere:

Sculpted boulders found at Lepenski Vir, an example of the earliest monumental art known from central and western Europe, includes 15 figures with human features similar to Upper Paleolithic forms and to Middle Eastern Nantufian stone figurines.

A) Vir, an example of the earliest monumental art known from central and western Europe, includes
Incorrect: If you take out everything between the commas, it would read "Sculpted boulders found at Lepnski Vir includes . . ." Sculpted boulders does not agree with includes, it should be "include"

B) Vir, examples of the earliest monumental art known from central and western Europe, include
Incorrect: Here's what I'm not too sure about, but I think "examples" modifies "Lepenski Vir," which is singular, should "examples" should be singular also.

C)Vir, earliest of monumental art known from central and western Europe, include
Correct: "Lepenski Vir" agrees with "art" and "sculpted boulders" agrees with "include"

D)Vir are examples of the earliest monumental art known from central and western Europe and includes
Incorrect: "Sculpted boulders" does not agree with "includes"

E)Vir are examples of the earliest monumental art known from central and western Europe, including
Incorrect: Changes the meaning of the sentence, as "including" modifies western Europe.


Please assist,

Could not find so will give OA later

Will go with C...............!!
OA??

Good explanation, makes sense.

Logical predication; Agreement
The sentence is about sculpted boulders, a plural subject, which needs to be discussed in plural terms—as examples of a category of ancient art.
A. The plural subject, sculpted boulders does not agree with the singular verb includes; the plural subject boulders does not clearly agree with the singular appositive an example. If the boulders together constitute a single example, it would be better to begin the sentence with a phrase such as The group of boulders or at least The boulders.
B. Correct. The plural subject boulders agrees in number with both the plural appositive examples and the plural verb, include.
C. The concrete, plural subject boulders requires a more specific category within the abstraction art—e.g., earliest of monumental art forms.
D. The plural subject boulders does not agree with the singular verb includes.
E. The participle including seems to be introducing the nonsensical notion that figures with human features belong to the category central and western Europe or the equally nonsensical claim that 15 figures with human features define an entire category of earliest monumental art known from central and western Europe

eGMAT, thanks for great explanation. On a side note, why clause starting with include is not a Run-on.

If I take out the modifier (stuff within commas), I am left with
Sculpted boulders found at Lepenski Vir, include 15...Shouldn't this be run on.

Hi there,

Sculpted boulders found at Lepenski Vir... include 15...

This is not a run on. This is a complete sentence where "Sculpted boulders" is the subject and "include" is a verb. Your confusion stems from teh fact that you think "found" is simple past tense verb. However, it is not. "found" is a verb-ed modifier that modifies "Sculpted boulders". To learn how to distinguish between a paste tense verb-ed word and a verb-ed modifier, read this article:

ed-forms-verbs-or-modifiers-134691.html

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

Hii Shraddha.
I need to ask one question. Doesn't the "including" modifies the subject of the preceding clause and I guess subject is "examples of the earliest monumental art".

The OE says that "an example" is an appositive. Shouldnt an appositive touch the noun it modifies ? Here Sculpted boulders is far away from the appositive "examples" and "Lepenski Vir" is closer to the appositive than Sculpted boulders.

Hi Marcab,

Sorry for getting back on this so late.
We know that when comma + verb-ing modifier appears after a clause, it modifies the entire preceding clause while making sense with the subject of that clause. However, "including" is an exception" to this rule. Preceded by a comma or not, "including" always modifies the preceding noun.

So basically, the thing to keep in mind is that "including" is a versatile NOUN modifier. It always modifies a NOUN. But it is usually separated by a comma. And it may modify a noun that is separated by modifiers as well. Here are a few official sentences:
Example 1: (GMATPrep)
A study by the Ocean Wildlife Campaign urged states to undertake a number of remedies to reverse a decline in the shark population, which includes the
establishment of size limits for shark catches, closing state waters for shark fishing during pupping season, and requiring commercial fishers to have federal shark permits.

D. including establishing size limits for shark catches, closing

Comma + Including modifies "REMEDIES". But look at the modifiers that lie between this modifier and the modified noun.

Example 2: (GMATPrep)
The new image of Stone Age people as systematic hunters of large animals, rather than merely scavenging for meat, have emerged from the examination of tools found in Germany including , three wooden spears that archaeologists believe to be about 400,000 years old.

E)mere scavengers of meat, has emerged from the examination of toolsfound in Germany, including

Comma + Including modifies "TOOLS". But look at the modifier that lie between this modifier and the modified noun.

Example 3: (GMATPrep & Verbal 2nd Edition #107)
Bluegrass musician Bill Monroe, whose repertory, views on musical collaboration, and vocal style were influential on generations of bluegrass artists, was also an inspiration to many musicians, that included Elvis Presley and Jerry Garcia, whose music differed significantly from his own.
Correct choice has , including where including modifies preceding noun

B) influenced generations of bluegrass artists, also inspired many musicians, including Elvis Presley and Jerry Garcia, whose music differed significantly from
Comma + Including modifies "musicians" - in this case the closest noun.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.

Hi there,

"an example of the earliest..." or for that matter "examples of the earliest..." in the correct answer choice is a noun modifier. And a noun modifer can very well modify a slightly far away noun.
Notice that "an example..." or "examples..." is preceded by another noun modifier "found at Lepenski Vir". This modifier modifies "Sculpted boulders" and cannot be placed anywhere else in the sentence without distorting the meaning of the sentence. Hence, "an example..." or "examples..." can jump over this noun modifier to refer to "Sculpted boulders".

For detailed explanation on this far away modification topic, please read the article by clicking on the following link:
noun-modifiers-can-modify-slightly-far-away-noun-135868.html

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

apologies for revisiting this thread but i am still a bit confused. you said that including always modifies a noun and in your examples it can modify a noun separated by modifiers. In this question, why arent we allowed to say including is describing sculpted boulders and the rest is modifying sculpted boulders?

jmuduke08,

The issue with this choice is more of meaning error rather than grammatical error

Assume including modifies the phrase - from central and western Europe - which means art forms in central and western Europe - which is not the intent of the statement since 15 figures are found at Lepenski Vir.
Assume including modifies the subject of phrase - example of the earliest monumental art - which means comparing the found items against examples which include same items.. it is like saying Sachin Tendular is one of the greatest batsman including Sachin Tendular.

let me know if you have questions..

//kudos please, if the above explanation is good

I was just checking the GC quite after sometime and I couldn't resist myself from putting myself in.
In A and D, the issue is singular verbs. Do note that the we are concerned with "sculpted boulders" so the verb has to be plural i.e. without s at the end of the verb. C misses the complete idea of the "examples". In E, "including" seems to modify "central and western Europe".
Regards,

includes - subject verb agreement error with sculpted boulders
including - dangling modifier error (i think this is what it's called?), it does not tell us what includes what => ambiguity

B) - appositive used to explain what the sculpted boulders are is best.

reagarding C

I want to know more about why C is wrong.

I thing "earliest of art" is ungramatical. earliest is superlative adjective and,so, can not go with a noun "art"
am i correct?

Why ''including...'' can't modify previous clause here? I considered that part a modifier and chose A, as I thought it gives a new meaning which is more meaningful!

Hello rma26,

I will be glad to help you out with one.

It is true that a comma + verb-ing modifier placed after a clause acts as an action modifier and modifies the preceding action. In doing so, it must also make sense with the doer of the modified action.

However, including is one exception to this rule. Even if including is placed after a clauses and is preceded by a comma, it will never act as an action modifier. including ALWAYS acts a noun modifier.

This is the reason why its usage in Choice E is incorrect as it seems to illogically modify the closest noun central and western Europe.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha