In the 1950s, toy stores sold thousands of play replicas of a gun popu

This is a really interesting one, and I haven't found an answer I really like.

A. In the 1950s, toy stores sold thousands of play replicas of a gun popularized by the Wyatt Earp television series
-- The modifier after the underlined portion seems to refer to a gun. In A, the gun is pretty far away from this modifier.

B. Popularized by the 1950s Wyatt Earp television series, toy stores sold thousands of play replicas of a gun
-- The opening modifier should also modify replicas of a gun, but instead it modifies toy stores.

C. In the 1950s, the Wyatt Earp television series popularized thousands of play replicas of a gun sold in toy stores
-- Meaning change here. There is also an interesting ambiguity in the modifiers. One could read it as "toy stores sold thousands of play replicas of a gun", or "replicas of a gun, and this gun happens to be sold in toy stores"

D.A play replica of a gun popularized by the Wyatt Earp television series, which sold thousands in toy stores in the 1950s
-- No verb in the sentence.

E. As toy stores sold thousands of the 1950s replicas of a gun popularized by the Wyatt Earp television series
-- Misplaced modifier after this choice, and no independent clause (starts with As).

Even though I don't like A, it seems to be the best option?

in the available choices ,A is the closest to be called correct.


A. In the 1950s, toy stores sold thousands of play replicas of a gun popularized by the Wyatt Earp television seriesbest possible choice..the non underline portion placed after gun would have made it more appropriate...

B. Popularized by the 1950s Wyatt Earp television series, toy stores sold thousands of play replicas of a gunit may have got the gun closer to modifier but has taken the correctness far away. it has changed the meaning in which toy stores have become popularized instead of guns

C. In the 1950s, the Wyatt Earp television series popularized thousands of play replicas of a gun sold in toy storeschange in meaning, it means the tele series has come after the replicas were sold

D. A play replica of a gun popularized by the Wyatt Earp television series, which sold thousands in toy stores in the 1950scomplete disaster in terms of its meaning

E. As toy stores sold thousands of the 1950s replicas of a gun popularized by the Wyatt Earp television seriesunnecessary and inappropriate use of as clause

This comment caught my eye and I thought I should make a reply. Be careful with how you go about choosing the correct answer. You do not want to find an answer (like choice A) that doesn't seem to have errors. You eliminate incorrect answer choices until you have a single choice left. That may seem like a subtle difference, but it is a very important part of the process.

KW

This is a fun question because there is that apparent misplaced modifier in the non-underlined portion.

D&E go away quickly because they aren't sentences and B&C have meaning issues. B states that toy stores were popularized by the Wyatt Earp show when it's clear from the sentence that the gun should be popularized. C states that the television series popularized thousands of replicas of a gun. The show didn't popularize each gun individually - it popularized the gun generally and then toy stores were able to sell thousands. A is correct.

KW

--------------, the "Buntline Special," a long barreled six-gun named after the legendary Ned Buntline.

A. In the 1950s, the Wyatt Earp television series popularized thousands of play replicas of a gun sold in toy stores
B. As toy stores sold thousands of the 1950s replicas of a gun popularized by the Wyatt Earp television series
C. In the 1950s, toy stores sold thousands of play replicas of a gun popularized by the Wyatt Earp television series (Answer)
D. A play replica of a gun popularized by the Wyatt Earp television series, which sold thousands in toy stores in the 1950s


Hi,
Option A looks fine. May I know what's wrong with option A?

Thank you.

Dear sb70012,
My friend, I see you are relatively new to GMAT. A few guidelines.
1) Before you post a question, search for it. Many published GMAT practice questions have already been posted and discussed here, and it makes no sense to start a brand new thread for a question already discussed somewhere else. I merged your post into a pre-existent thread on this question. You may find the answer to your question here, and if not, this would be the appropriate place to discuss it.
2) When you post a question, please use the correct format. Yes, choice (A) is the same as the prompt, but print that and underline it, so that the question appears in the same format as used in the OG. Also, please give all five answer choices.
Does all this make sense?
Mike

Hi all,
How can I get a actual gist from this question?
It seems that the tv series popularized the gun;however,the non underline part obviously modifies gun.
My problem arises when I have to pick either a or b.
IMO,a is better in term of the modifier in the underline part,but b is better in term of the placement of gun close to its modifier.
In fact,it could be that the store is the actual thing popularized by the tv series since we can't change the non-underline part.
In the end,I blindly pick "a" since it's the original version and it may be too far to assume that the intend meaning is the store being popularized.

It's really frustrating to pick the best between this two.
Any help would be appreciate

Dear sleepynut,

I'm happy to respond.

In the 1950s, toy stores sold thousands of play replicas of a gun popularized by the Wyatt Earp television series, the “Buntline Special,” a long-barreled six-gun named after the legendary Ned Buntline.
A. In the 1950s, toy stores sold thousands of play replicas of a gun popularized by the Wyatt Earp television series
B. Popularized by the 1950s Wyatt Earp television series, toy stores sold thousands of play replicas of a gun
C. In the 1950s, the Wyatt Earp television series popularized thousands of play replicas of a gun sold in toy stores
D. A play replica of a gun popularized by the Wyatt Earp television series, which sold thousands in toy stores in the 1950s
E. As toy stores sold thousands of the 1950s replicas of a gun popularized by the Wyatt Earp television series

You said you were picking between (A) & (B). Choice (B) has a glaring misplaced modifier error:
Popularized by the 1950s Wyatt Earp television series, toy stores sold thousands of play replicas of a gun . . .
The toy stores were not "popularized by the 1950s Wyatt Earp television series"! When a participial modifier opens a sentence, its target is almost always the subject. It's a misplaced modifier if the intended target is something other than the subject. (B) is wrong. (A) is correct.

Does this make sense?
Mike

Hi mikemcgarry,
Really appreciate your response
This does help confirm my understanding of the opening modifier with the subject.
Can I conclude that it is acceptable to place "Buntline Special,..." quite far away from gun?
Because,as far as I'm concern,this part should be placed nearest to the noun it modified to avoid misplaced modifier error as well.

Dear sleepynut,

I'm happy to respond.

Part of what is going on here is the distinction of a vital vs. non-vital modifier. A vital noun modifier, no matter how long, is always allowed to come between a target noun and another modifier.

The trouble is: whether a modifier vital or non-vital is not always 100% clear. Consider this sentence, the OA version.
In the 1950s, toy stores sold thousands of play replicas of a gun popularized by the Wyatt Earp television series, the “Buntline Special,” a long-barreled six-gun named after the legendary Ned Buntline.
The text in green is the modifier in question. Consider the sentence without this text:
In the 1950s, toy stores sold thousands of play replicas of a gun, the “Buntline Special,” a long-barreled six-gun named after the legendary Ned Buntline.
Notice that this version subtly leaves us in the dark. I've never heard of the "Buntline special," so why did toy stores in the 1950s suddenly start popularizing this gun from the 1800s? There's a serious missing piece that disrupts the logic of the sentence.
If we fill in the green text, the connection to a popular TV show, then we understand better why this gun was popular. In that sense, the green text is a vital noun modifier, so it is 100% allowed to come between the target noun "gun" and the other modifiers.

Does all this make sense?
Mike

Official Explanation

A. Although choice A is perhaps not the best choice one can imagine, it is decidedly the best choice of the five offered here. The phrase “Buntline Special” should be placed as close to gun as possible. In choice B, the opening phrase modifies toy stores, not gun, and the phrase the 1950s now modifies the television series instead of sold. Choice C also misplaces the phrase in the 1950s. Choices D and E are sentence fragments.

It seems like a [noun + noun modifer] which is versatile to modify any noun or clause in the preceding sentence

That's make the question have many acceptable answers

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