NEW HERE? LEARN MORE
closeclose
Last visit was: 24 Apr 2024, 22:37 It is currently 24 Apr 2024, 22:37
Decision Tracker
My Rewards
New posts
New comers' posts

Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel

The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Con

SORT BY:
Date
Kudos
   1   2 
Tags:
Find Similar Topics 
Show Tags
Hide Tags
User avatar
L
mSKR
VP
VP
Joined: 14 Aug 2019
Posts: 1378
Own Kudos [?]: 846 [0]
Given Kudos: 381
Location: Hong Kong
Concentration: Strategy, Marketing
Schools: IE (A) IIML-IPMX '22 (A) HKUST '22
GMAT 1: 650 Q49 V29
GPA: 3.81
Send PM
The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Con [#permalink] New post   29 Aug 2020, 21:08
Quote:
The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, were, according to legend, heard around the world, but news of these shots, which were sent by swift messenger, took four days in reaching New York City as well as another additional eleven days to reach Charleston, South Carolina.


plenty is wrong in A

A clarification :
in reaching New York City and to reach Charleston-- can in reaching and to reach would have parallelism error or we can accept it to some extent depending if there are no other errors in the sentence.
please comment. DmitryFarber EMPOWERgmatRichC EMPOWERgmatVerbal chetan2u sayantanc2k
User avatar
P
DmitryFarber
Manhattan Prep Instructor
Joined: 22 Mar 2011
Posts: 2642
Own Kudos [?]: 7775 [2]
Given Kudos: 55
GMAT 2: 780  Q50  V50
Send PM
Re: The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Con [#permalink] New post   30 Aug 2020, 10:17
1
Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Expert Reply
imSKR
"In reaching" and "to reach" mean very different things, so we would be unlikely to use them in parallel. When we use the construction "in + -ing," we are setting ourselves up to talk about the significance of the activity: "In reaching this goal, I have fulfilled a lifelong dream of mine."
User avatar
G
Basshead
Director
Director
Joined: 09 Jan 2020
Posts: 966
Own Kudos [?]: 223 [1]
Given Kudos: 434
Location: United States
Send PM
Re: The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Con [#permalink] New post   15 Nov 2020, 19:24
1
Kudos
The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, were, according to legend, heard around the world, but news of these shots, which were sent by swift messenger, took four days in reaching New York City as well as another additional eleven days to reach Charleston, South Carolina.


(A) shots, which were sent by swift messenger, took four days in reaching New York City as well as another additional eleven days -- 'which' is modifying 'shots'

(B) shots that was sent by swift messenger took four days in order to reach New York City, and also another eleven days -- Incorrect modifier

(C) shots that were sent by swift messenger took four days to reach New York City and another eleven days -- Incorrect modifier

(D) shots took four days by swift messenger in order to reach New York City and another eleven days in addition - Redundant/wordy

(E) shots took four days by swift messenger to reach New York City and another eleven days -- Correct
avatar
B
Naptiste
Intern
Intern
Joined: 19 Aug 2020
Posts: 47
Own Kudos [?]: 3 [0]
Given Kudos: 77
Location: United Kingdom
Send PM
Re: The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Con [#permalink] New post   24 Nov 2021, 13:10
Hello,

How do we know that "news" is singular here ?

If we can't know for sure, how do we eliminate c)?

Thanks :)


stevegt wrote:
The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, were, according to legend, heard around the world, but news of these shots, which were sent by swift messenger, took four days in reaching New York City as well as another additional eleven days to reach Charleston, South Carolina.


(A) shots, which were sent by swift messenger, took four days in reaching New York City as well as another additional eleven days

(B) shots that was sent by swift messenger took four days in order to reach New York City, and also another eleven days

(C) shots that were sent by swift messenger took four days to reach New York City and another eleven days

(D) shots took four days by swift messenger in order to reach New York City and another eleven days in addition

(E) shots took four days by swift messenger to reach New York City and another eleven days


Source : GMATPREP Default Exam Pack
User avatar
L
ExpertsGlobal5
Experts' Global Representative
Joined: 10 Jul 2017
Posts: 5123
Own Kudos [?]: 4683 [1]
Given Kudos: 38
Location: India
GMAT Date: 11-01-2019
Send PM
Re: The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Con [#permalink] New post   02 Dec 2021, 06:58
1
Kudos
Expert Reply
Naptiste wrote:
Hello,

How do we know that "news" is singular here ?

If we can't know for sure, how do we eliminate c)?

Thanks :)


stevegt wrote:
The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, were, according to legend, heard around the world, but news of these shots, which were sent by swift messenger, took four days in reaching New York City as well as another additional eleven days to reach Charleston, South Carolina.


(A) shots, which were sent by swift messenger, took four days in reaching New York City as well as another additional eleven days

(B) shots that was sent by swift messenger took four days in order to reach New York City, and also another eleven days

(C) shots that were sent by swift messenger took four days to reach New York City and another eleven days

(D) shots took four days by swift messenger in order to reach New York City and another eleven days in addition

(E) shots took four days by swift messenger to reach New York City and another eleven days


Source : GMATPREP Default Exam Pack


Hello Naptiste,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, in English, the noun "news" is always singular and uncountable.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
avatar
B
Naptiste
Intern
Intern
Joined: 19 Aug 2020
Posts: 47
Own Kudos [?]: 3 [0]
Given Kudos: 77
Location: United Kingdom
Send PM
Re: The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Con [#permalink] New post   02 Dec 2021, 07:04
Thanks :)

Is there any list with this type of words that are the most recurrent on the GMAT (or that appeared in the OG) ?



ExpertsGlobal5 wrote:
Naptiste wrote:
Hello,

How do we know that "news" is singular here ?

If we can't know for sure, how do we eliminate c)?

Thanks :)


stevegt wrote:
The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, were, according to legend, heard around the world, but news of these shots, which were sent by swift messenger, took four days in reaching New York City as well as another additional eleven days to reach Charleston, South Carolina.


(A) shots, which were sent by swift messenger, took four days in reaching New York City as well as another additional eleven days

(B) shots that was sent by swift messenger took four days in order to reach New York City, and also another eleven days

(C) shots that were sent by swift messenger took four days to reach New York City and another eleven days

(D) shots took four days by swift messenger in order to reach New York City and another eleven days in addition

(E) shots took four days by swift messenger to reach New York City and another eleven days


Source : GMATPREP Default Exam Pack


Hello Naptiste,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, in English, the noun "news" is always singular and uncountable.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
User avatar
L
ExpertsGlobal5
Experts' Global Representative
Joined: 10 Jul 2017
Posts: 5123
Own Kudos [?]: 4683 [1]
Given Kudos: 38
Location: India
GMAT Date: 11-01-2019
Send PM
Re: The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Con [#permalink] New post   02 Dec 2021, 07:46
1
Kudos
Expert Reply
Naptiste wrote:
Thanks :)

Is there any list with this type of words that are the most recurrent on the GMAT (or that appeared in the OG) ?



Hello Naptiste,

We hope this finds you well.

In general, it is not feasible to memorize such tricky words. Fortunately, the GMAT is not likely to base a question around such a trap. Subject-verb agreement traps typically place the relevant verb and noun far apart to create confusion, use collective nouns, or use "and" to join two singular nouns into a plural noun phrase.

If you do find yourself confused as to whether a noun is singular or plural, as you did here, see whether it is countable or uncountable. An uncountable noun cannot be plural, and if the noun is countable, it is likely that it will be clear whether it is plural or singular.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
User avatar
B
Sigmabeta
Intern
Intern
Joined: 29 Sep 2021
Posts: 18
Own Kudos [?]: 6 [0]
Given Kudos: 120
Location: India
Concentration: Operations, General Management
GMAT 1: 650 Q50 V28
GPA: 3.77
Send PM
The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Con [#permalink] New post   15 Jul 2022, 10:30
stevegt wrote:
The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, were, according to legend, heard around the world, but news of these shots, which were sent by swift messenger, took four days in reaching New York City as well as another additional eleven days to reach Charleston, South Carolina.


(A) shots, which were sent by swift messenger, took four days in reaching New York City as well as another additional eleven days

(B) shots that was sent by swift messenger took four days in order to reach New York City, and also another eleven days

(E) shots took four days by swift messenger to reach New York City and another eleven days


Source : GMATPREP Default Exam Pack



In this Q, I agree that choice-E is the best out of the given choices.

but my doubt in choice-A and B is-

In option A - which were.... is modifying shots. ??(because were(plural)-verb agrees with plural subject )
In option B - That was is referring to news ??? because here, was is singular and hence that can't refer to shots (plural) ??

and hence, the reason to reject choice-b is redundancy error. Not the modification error ?
User avatar
L
AjiteshArun
GMAT Club Legend
GMAT Club Legend
Joined: 15 Jul 2015
Posts: 5181
Own Kudos [?]: 4653 [1]
Given Kudos: 631
Location: India
GMAT Focus 1:
715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Send PM
The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Con [#permalink] New post   15 Jul 2022, 21:29
1
Kudos
Expert Reply
Sigmabeta wrote:
In option B - That was is referring to news ??? because here, was is singular and hence that can't refer to shots (plural) ??

and hence, the reason to reject choice-b is redundancy error. Not the modification error ?

Hi Sigmabeta,

This is a meaning call.

1. {News of the shots} took four days by swift messenger...
2. {News of the shots that was sent by swift messenger} took four days...

The second one tells us that the news of the shots may have been sent by other means, but the specific news that was sent by swift messenger took four days to reach New York City. This is very unlikely to be the intended meaning. Instead, the author is most likely trying to tell us that it took some time for people to become aware of what happened, because news of the shots (in general) took at least four days to reach New York City and another eleven days to reach Charleston.
User avatar
G
Iwillget770
Manager
Manager
Joined: 25 Jul 2023
Posts: 106
Own Kudos [?]: 135 [0]
Given Kudos: 63
Send PM
Re: The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Con [#permalink] New post   20 Sep 2023, 08:38
stevegt wrote:
The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, were, according to legend, heard around the world, but news of these shots, which were sent by swift messenger, took four days in reaching New York City as well as another additional eleven days to reach Charleston, South Carolina.


(A) shots, which were sent by swift messenger, took four days in reaching New York City as well as another additional eleven days

(B) shots that was sent by swift messenger took four days in order to reach New York City, and also another eleven days

(C) shots that were sent by swift messenger took four days to reach New York City and another eleven days

(D) shots took four days by swift messenger in order to reach New York City and another eleven days in addition

(E) shots took four days by swift messenger to reach New York City and another eleven days


Source : GMATPREP Default Exam Pack


Hi AjiteshArun,

In Option B, apart from the "in order to " error ,

Quote:
(B) shots that was sent by swift messenger took four days in order to reach New York City, and also another eleven days


is the red part (after comma) correct ? We need an IC but , and also another eleven days to reach Charleston, South Carolina is not an IC.

Regards
User avatar
L
AjiteshArun
GMAT Club Legend
GMAT Club Legend
Joined: 15 Jul 2015
Posts: 5181
Own Kudos [?]: 4653 [1]
Given Kudos: 631
Location: India
GMAT Focus 1:
715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Send PM
Re: The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Con [#permalink] New post   20 Sep 2023, 20:06
1
Kudos
Expert Reply
Iwillget770 wrote:
Hi AjiteshArun,

In Option B, apart from the "in order to " error ,

Quote:
(B) shots that was sent by swift messenger took four days in order to reach New York City, and also another eleven days


is the red part (after comma) correct ? We need an IC but , and also another eleven days to reach Charleston, South Carolina is not an IC.

Regards

Hi Iwillget770,

Are you looking for an independent clause there because of the comma before and?
User avatar
G
Iwillget770
Manager
Manager
Joined: 25 Jul 2023
Posts: 106
Own Kudos [?]: 135 [0]
Given Kudos: 63
Send PM
The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Con [#permalink] New post   21 Sep 2023, 00:10
AjiteshArun wrote:
Iwillget770 wrote:
Hi AjiteshArun,

In Option B, apart from the "in order to " error ,

Quote:
(B) shots that was sent by swift messenger took four days in order to reach New York City, and also another eleven days


is the red part (after comma) correct ? We need an IC but , and also another eleven days to reach Charleston, South Carolina is not an IC.

Regards

Hi Iwillget770,

Are you looking for an independent clause there because of the comma before and?


Hi AjiteshArun ,

Yes I am looking for an independent clause because of the comma before and .

If we read the sentence by putting OPTION B ,

The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, were, according to legend, heard around the world, but news of these shots that was sent by swift messenger took four days in order to reach New York City, and also another eleven days to reach Charleston, South Carolina.

then,the BLUE part is IC
The RED part is another IC

Now, the brown part after , and should also be an IC if it needs to be parallel to the RED PART.


or if the the intended parallelism is

Quote:
but news of these shots that was sent by swift messenger took
A- four days in order to reach New York City
B- , and also another eleven days to reach Charleston, South Carolina.

Then in that case the comma is not required. If comma is mentioned then we cannot take the verb TOOK as common.

Sentence when read without comma:

but news of these shots that was sent by swift messenger took four days in order to reach New York City
and
news of these shots that was sent by swift messenger took also another eleven days to reach Charleston, South Carolina.


Regards
User avatar
L
AjiteshArun
GMAT Club Legend
GMAT Club Legend
Joined: 15 Jul 2015
Posts: 5181
Own Kudos [?]: 4653 [1]
Given Kudos: 631
Location: India
GMAT Focus 1:
715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Send PM
The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Con [#permalink] New post   21 Sep 2023, 21:32
1
Kudos
Expert Reply
Iwillget770 wrote:
Hi AjiteshArun ,

Yes I am looking for an independent clause because of the comma before and .

...

or if the the intended parallelism is

Quote:
but news of these shots that was sent by swift messenger took
A- four days in order to reach New York City
B- , and also another eleven days to reach Charleston, South Carolina.

Then in that case the comma is not required. If comma is mentioned then we cannot take the verb TOOK as common.

Hi Iwillget770,

We shouldn't look at that rule as an absolute. Have a look at this official question.

You could also go through this SC session:

User avatar
B
sk05
Intern
Intern
Joined: 10 May 2021
Posts: 17
Own Kudos [?]: 0 [0]
Given Kudos: 16
Send PM
Re: The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Con [#permalink] New post   04 Oct 2023, 09:05
@gmatninja

Can't the 'were' in option C refer to 2 sets of news sent to New York City and Charleston?
Also, can you please explain why E is the correct answer? I sounds awful.
User avatar
B
aashusuman1
Intern
Intern
Joined: 27 Feb 2022
Posts: 37
Own Kudos [?]: 3 [0]
Given Kudos: 33
Schools: Fisher '26 (S)
Send PM
Re: The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Con [#permalink] New post   05 Oct 2023, 01:02
Kindly help me understand why option C is incorrect.

The first shots (Plural) were heard around the world. But news ( Singular) of these shots( Plural) that were sent by X took Y time.

whether the phrase that were sent is modifying shots?
So shots is the subject for verb were.
User avatar
L
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
Joined: 13 Aug 2009
Status: GMAT/GRE/LSAT tutors
Posts: 6920
Own Kudos [?]: 63658 [0]
Given Kudos: 1773
Location: United States (CO)
GMAT 1: 780 Q51 V46
GMAT 2: 800 Q51 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V170

GRE 2: Q170 V170
Send PM
Re: The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Con [#permalink] New post   17 Oct 2023, 07:04
Expert Reply
aashusuman1 wrote:
Kindly help me understand why option C is incorrect.

The first shots (Plural) were heard around the world. But news ( Singular) of these shots( Plural) that were sent by X took Y time.

whether the phrase that were sent is modifying shots?

So shots is the subject for verb were.


sk05 wrote:
@gmatninja

Can't the 'were' in option C refer to 2 sets of news sent to New York City and Charleston?

Also, can you please explain why E is the correct answer? I sounds awful.

No, the "news" itself is a singular concept -- it's the same news that reached both of those places.

Regardless, the "that" modifier in (C) is, at best, very confusing. It seems to modify "shots", and that doesn't make any sense -- the shots themselves weren't sent by messenger to other cities!

The prepositional phrases in (E) might seem a bit clunky, but the meaning of these modifiers (shown in brackets below) is perfectly clear:

    News [of these shots] took (1) four days [by swift messenger] [to reach New York City] and (2) another eleven days [to reach Charleston, South Carolina].

Since the parallelism checks out and the modifiers are much clearer in (E) that in (C), we have to go with (E) regardless of how we think it sounds.

Check out this article or this video for more on why your ear is your enemy when it comes to GMAT SC.
GMAT Club Bot
gmatclubot
Re: The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Con [#permalink]
17 Oct 2023, 07:04
   1   2 
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
6920 posts
GMATNinjaTwo
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
238 posts

Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group | Emoji artwork provided by EmojiOne
Main navigation
GMAT Resources
Partners
MBA Resources
www.gmac.com|www.mba.com | | GMAT Club Rules | Terms and Conditions