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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 03 Mar 2022, 05:25
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VIGHNESHKAMATH
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Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
monarc
A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago, the Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan of 36 feet, believed to be the largest flying creature the world has ever seen.

(A) believed to be
(B) and that is believed to be
(C) and it is believed to have been
(D) which was, it is believed,
(E) which is believed to be


Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of this sentence is that the Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan of 36 feet and is believed to have been the largest flying creature the world has ever seen.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Modifiers + Tenses + Pronouns

• The pronoun “that” is used to refer to a variation of the subject, and the pronoun “it” is used to refer to the exact same subject.
• In a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction.
• "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refers to the noun just before the comma.
• The present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.
• The simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.

A: Trap. This answer choice incorrectly modifies "wingspan of 36 feet" with "believed to be...ever seen", illogically implying that a wingspan of 36 feet is believed to have been the largest flying creature the world has ever seen; the intended meaning is that the Quetzalcoatlus is believed to have been the largest flying creature the world has ever seen; please remember, in a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction. Further, Option A incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb "be" to refer to an event that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present; please remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present, and the simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.

B: Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb "be" to refer to an event that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present; please remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present, and the simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature. Further, Option B incorrectly uses "that" to refer to the exact same subject - "the Quetzalcoatlus"; please remember, the pronoun “that” is used to refer to a variation of the subject, and the pronoun “it” is used to refer to the exact same subject.

C: Correct. This answer choice uses the phrase "and it is believed", avoiding the meaning errors seen in Options A, D, and E and conveying the intended meaning - that Quetzalcoatlus is believed to have been the largest flying creature the world has ever seen. Further, Option C correctly uses the present perfect tense verb "have been" to refer to an event that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present. Additionally, Option C correctly uses the pronoun "it" to refer to the exact same subject - "the Quetzalcoatlus".

D: This answer choice incorrectly refers to "wingspan of 36 feet" with "which was, it is believed...ever seen", illogically implying that a wingspan of 36 feet is believed to have been the largest flying creature the world has ever seen; the intended meaning is that the Quetzalcoatlus is believed to have been the largest flying creature the world has ever seen; please remember, "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma.

E: This answer choice incorrectly refers to "wingspan of 36 feet" with "which is...ever seen", illogically implying that a wingspan of 36 feet is believed to have been the largest flying creature the world has ever seen; the intended meaning is that the Quetzalcoatlus is believed to have been the largest flying creature the world has ever seen; please remember, "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma. Further, Option E incorrectly uses the simple present tense verb "be" to refer to an event that concluded in the past but continues to affect the present; please remember, the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present, and the simple present tense is used to indicate actions taking place in the current time frame, indicate habitual actions, state universal truths, and convey information that is permanent in nature.

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Phrase Comma Subject" and "Subject Comma Phrase" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1minute):



To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



To understand the concept of "Present Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Hello Team,

You had mentioned that ''The pronoun “that” is used to refer to a variation of the subject, and the pronoun “it” is used to refer to the exact same subject''. Could you please elaborate on this? I know that ''that''' can act as a demonstrative pronoun, I have seen such usages quite common in comparison question, employing ''that of''. In such cases, are we not using ''that'' to refer to the exact same subject and not the variation of subject?

Regards
Vighnesh Kamath
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Hello VIGHNESHKAMATH,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, in the case of "that of", the "of" phrase modifies "that" to produce a variation.

Please consider this example: "John's personality is level-headed, unlike that of Mike."

Here, "that" refers to "personality", so "that of Mike" is a variation of "personality".

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 11 Jun 2022, 21:27
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Experts - quick question: can't "believed to be" modify the whole preceding clause "the Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan"? Or is it just the preceding noun (36 feet), the preceding noun clause (wingspan of 36 feet) or the preceding verb( "had a wingspan")?
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 11 Jun 2022, 21:48
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gmatimothy
Experts - quick question: can't "believed to be" modify the whole preceding clause "the Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan"? Or is it just the preceding noun (36 feet), the preceding noun clause (wingspan of 36 feet) or the preceding verb( "had a wingspan")?
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"Believed to be" always begins a modifier that modifies the preceding noun, noun phrase, or noun clause. It never modifies a statement, such as "the Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan."

Notice that it's logical that only a thing could be "believed to be," not a statement.

For example:

John plays the violin, believed to be as skillful as that of Paganini, has stunned audiences worldwide. - incorrect because the statement "John plays the violin" cannot be skillful

Even this doesn't work:

John plays the violin, believed to be true ....

This works:

John's violin playing, believed to be as skillful as that of Paganini, has stunned audiences worldwide. - logical
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 12 Jun 2022, 09:10
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MartyTargetTestPrep Got it, thank you! So Verb-ED modifier depends on the word itself - some can modify the whole clause if placed at the end of the sentence following a comma, but some don't - just depends on the word/context?

MartyTargetTestPrep
gmatimothy
Experts - quick question: can't "believed to be" modify the whole preceding clause "the Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan"? Or is it just the preceding noun (36 feet), the preceding noun clause (wingspan of 36 feet) or the preceding verb( "had a wingspan")?
"Believed to be" always begins a modifier that modifies the preceding noun, noun phrase, or noun clause. It never modifies a statement, such as "the Quetzalcoatlus had a wingspan."

Notice that it's logical that only a thing could be "believed to be," not a statement.

For example:

John plays the violin, believed to be as skillful as that of Paganini, has stunned audiences worldwide. - incorrect because the statement "John plays the violin" cannot be skillful

Even this doesn't work:

John plays the violin, believed to be true ....

This works:

John's violin playing, believed to be as skillful as that of Paganini, has stunned audiences worldwide. - logical
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 12 Jun 2022, 10:50
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MartyTargetTestPrep Got it, thank you! So Verb-ED modifier depends on the word itself - some can modify the whole clause if placed at the end of the sentence following a comma, but some don't - just depends on the word/context?
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Yes, though such a modifier rarely modifies the entire clause.
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 28 Oct 2022, 20:40
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1. For option B - How does the use of noun + that differ from use of and + that? What can "that" when used as "and that" modify? Subject of previous clause?
Also to confirm irrespective whether it is comma + and that or 'no' comma + and that .....that will modify subject

2. Option C - Isn't option C wordy
Instead of - and it is believed to have been
It should have been - and it has been believed
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 29 Oct 2022, 08:35
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1. For option B - How does the use of noun + that differ from use of and + that? What can "that" when used as "and that" modify? Subject of previous clause?
Also to confirm irrespective whether it is comma + and that or 'no' comma + and that .....that will modify subject

2. Option C - Isn't option C wordy
Instead of - and it is believed to have been
It should have been - and it has been believed
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"That" has many uses in GMAT SC, and is a useful word to look out for. But it is tricky, because it has so many uses. Most commonly, 'that' is used as a modifier: "The dog that I love is cute" "Dogs that play fetch make the best pets."

But 'that' has other uses as well. It can be used as a conjunction for verbs (or modifiers-from-verbs) like "believe" or "suspect" or "said":

"My manager has realized that I am stealing pens from the office."

"The angry crowd interrupted the politician's speech, yelling that he had misled them with false promises."

(This version of 'that' always feels like both a modifier and a conjunction to me).

But 'that' can also be a noun or pronoun, which is how it is used in B. When 'B' says, "And that is believed to be," it's referencing another noun in the sentence. What is 'that?' Well, it would have to be the Quetzalcoatlus, to be the 'largest flying creature.' However, the use of 'that' really indicates a specificity. And we're not talking about a specific individual creature, we're talking about the creature in general, as a species. (In general, I think it would be hard to find an OG question where 'that' is used as a subject like this in a correct answer... It's a bit too informal and vague).

"That" can be used as a subject, but in a weird sentence like: "That she is tall does not mean she excels at basketball." Here "That" is capturing the whole idea "she is tall."


Regarding C, if we make your suggested changes, we have:

"The Q has a wingspan of 36 feet, and it is has been believed the largest flying creature."

It's unclear structurally what 'largest flying creature' is doing here. "it" is the Q. So we have:

"The Q has a wingspan of 36 feet, and [the Q] has been believed the largest flying creature."

It's not clear there that the Q *is* a large flying creature.
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 06 Dec 2022, 06:36
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Why "have been" is used to refer to a fact (the largest flying creature the world has ever seen.) . Isn't the use of past perfect incorrect ? And we should use present tense to convey simple fact .
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 09 Apr 2023, 23:34
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Isnt the use of"it" generally for things and not for living beings?? "It" is generally used for objects isn'it?
this it threw me off te correct choice..
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 10 Apr 2023, 06:34
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Isnt the use of"it" generally for things and not for living beings?? "It" is generally used for objects isn'it?
this it threw me off te correct choice..
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"It" can be used for non-human living things. So a reptile could certainly be referred to as 'it.'
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 12 Apr 2023, 04:37
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Isnt the use of"it" generally for things and not for living beings?? "It" is generally used for objects isn'it?
this it threw me off te correct choice..
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Hello GOBI93,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, "it" can be used to refer to all living things other than humans.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 08 Oct 2023, 03:27
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GMATNinja AjiteshArun I have a question on this - I do not think that option A is incorrect because of a modifier issue because past participles do not necessarily need to touch the noun they want to modify, I eliminated C because of the meaning issue that the two clauses are independent, however, the second clause is actually help explain the first one i.e. why were they believed to be the largest flying creature - because of wing size and hence thought connecting with a conjunction would convey the wrong meaning here.

Moreover, even if I consider the fact that believed to be is used for living things, please explain what is wrong with this sentence - "My grandmother, believed to be a demi-God, died at the age of 65."
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 08 Oct 2023, 21:56
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GMATNinja AjiteshArun I have a question on this - I do not think that option A is incorrect because of a modifier issue because past participles do not necessarily need to touch the noun they want to modify, I eliminated C because of the meaning issue that the two clauses are independent, however, the second clause is actually help explain the first one i.e. why were they believed to be the largest flying creature - because of wing size and hence thought connecting with a conjunction would convey the wrong meaning here.

Moreover, even if I consider the fact that believed to be is used for living things, please explain what is wrong with this sentence - "My grandmother, believed to be a demi-God, died at the age of 65."
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Hi priyadabas01,

There are a couple of points we should keep in mind here:
1. {, + participle} structures are much more messy than introductory participles {participle + ,}. Here's a short discussion on this [07:44]:



2. In general, we can't be as flexible with the placement of adjectives as we can with the placement of adverbs. This is because adjectives are far more sensitive to proximity, so it's usually better to place an adjective as close to the noun it's trying to refer to. Here's an example:

2a. She joined Deloitte, believed to be one of the biggest consulting firms in the world. ← When we read this, it seems that the modifier is trying to refer to Deloitte. We would not go with this sentence if we wanted to say that she is what is believed to be one of the biggest consulting firms in the world.

As for your second question, I'm not sure why we should think that believed to be is used only for living things. Is this something you've come across in a test prep resource? I would think that something like "A painting believed to be worth only a few hundred dollars actually sold for..." is fine.
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A huge flying reptile that died out with the dinosaurs some 65 million 04 Nov 2025, 23:22
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