A new satellite sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000

Question

A new satellite sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles is called POLAR, giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field.

(A) A new satellite sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles is called POLAR, giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field.

(B) A new satellite called POLAR that is giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field, sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles.

(C) Scientists are getting their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field, from a new satellite sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles called POLAR.

(D) Sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles, a new satellite called POLAR is giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field.

(E) Sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles, scientists’ best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field, is coming from a new satellite called POLAR.

GMATNinja · Accepted Answer

The moment we see that comma + "verb-ing" construction, we know that we're evaluating modifier placement and logic. In this case, "giving" illogically modifies the previous clause. It sounds as though the fact that the satellite is called POLAR somehow gives the scientists a better look at the magnetosphere. While it would be very interesting if a product's name could influence that product's effectiveness, this is certainly not the author's intent. (A) is out.

The noun phrase "A new satellite called POLAR" is followed by a series of modifiers. Because we have no main verb, this is a fragment, and not an actual sentence. Not cool.

Now it sounds as though it's the the altitudes of 32,000 miles that are called POLAR, rather than the satellite. That's illogical.

No problems here. The initial modifier in red logically modifies the "new satellite." And the ending modifier in blue correctly modifies the "magnetosphere." Looks like we have a contender.

Now it sounds as though "the scientists' best look" is "sweeping over the poles." But that makes no sense: it's the satellite that's sweeping over the poles. (E) is gone, and so (D) is our answer.

I hope that helps!

abhimahna · Answer

A new satellite sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles is called POLAR, giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field.

A. A new satellite sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles is called POLAR,  giving scientists  their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field. -->  giving scientists after comma makes the sentence run on. Hence, incorrect.

B. A new satellite called POLAR that is giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field, sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles. -->  Missing Verb Error.

C. Scientists are getting their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field, from a new satellite sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles called POLAR. -->  Are we saying 32000 miles are called POLAR? Change in meaning and illogical meaning.

D. Sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles, a new satellite called POLAR is giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field.

E. Sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles, scientists’ best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field, is coming from a new satellite called POLAR. -->  Scientists look is sweeping over the poles. Lol.

Kurtosis · Answer

A. A new satellite sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles is called POLAR, giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field. - Incorrect. Illogical. 'giving scientists their.....' appears to illogically modify the previous clause 'a new satellite......is called POLAR'.
 
B.  A new satellite   called POLAR that is giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field, sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles . - Incorrect. Missing verb error.

C. Scientists are getting their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field, from a new satellite sweeping over the poles at  altitudes of up to 32,000 miles called POLAR . - Incorrect. Illogical.

D. Sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles, a new satellite called POLAR is giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field. - Correct.

E.  Sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles ,  scientists’ best look  yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field, is coming from a new satellite called POLAR. - Incorrect. Modifier error.

Answer: D

saswata4s · Answer

A new satellite sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles is called POLAR, giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field.

A. A new satellite sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles is called POLAR, giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field.
B. A new satellite called POLAR that is giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field, sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles.
C. Scientists are getting their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field, from a new satellite sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles called POLAR.
D. Sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles, a new satellite called POLAR is giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field.
E. Sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles, scientists’ best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field, is coming from a new satellite called POLAR.

Sasan1985 · Answer

I'm confused that in the sentence " A new satellite is called Polar, giving scientists their best look." . "Giving" can modify either "Polar" or "a new satellite" , which is the subject of the previous sentence. Logically it seems OK to me, because it's either "Polar" or "a new satellite", which can give scientists their best look. So why is A incorrect.

daagh · Answer

sasan 
Whether ", giving" modifies the Polar or the satellite is not the issue in A. The problem is about calling the poles at 32000 miles as the POLAR. In terms of proper word order, 'the new satellite and the Polar' should have been placed back to back. You may see why D is correct.

apovit · Answer

Hello all,
I have created a breakup of the original option as follows:
A new satellite- Subject 1
Sweeping over the poles at altitudes of 32000 miles - Verb ing modifier modifying A new satellite.
is called POLAR- Verb for subject 1
giving scientists their best look yet(shows that till now) at the magnetosphere -Verb ing modifier which modifies the action is called (wrong in this sentence)
the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth...... modifier explaining Magnetosphere.
In this sentence the Verb ing modifier is wrong because there is no action it can modify. Reasons as follows:
 A new satellite is called - action of calling is not performed by the Satellite, so the verb ing modifier cannot modify the action.

Option A is wrong for all the above mentioned reasons.
Option B: can be directly eliminated because of the SV agreement issue (A new satellite has no verb) but the explanation as follows:
POLAR that is...........their best look yet at the magnetosphere 
Sweeping over the poles modifies the clause "that is giving scientists" that--->POLAR
POLAR is giving the scientists their best look 
Polar is sweeping over the poles...... looks like the modifier and the verb makes sense modifier presents additional info about the POLAR
 usage of their-> their should refer to scientists ideally but the usage in the option "that is giving scientists scientists best look yet at the magnetospehere"  causes confusion here.
(c) the usage of the "called POLAR" seems wrong called acts as noun modifer and should be closer to the noun"a new satellite".
(D) Sweeping.......... defines a new satellite - Verb ing modifier modifying a noun 
called POLAR modifies the closest noun a new satellite. 
is giving -Verb (rest all is correct)
(E) Verb ing modifier modifies scientists best look -- wrong
is coming from a new satellite looks correct in this option.

Please review.

hanvd1990 · Answer

Dear  GMATNinja  and other experts, 
Can someone help explain what is the usage of "yet" in "giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere" ?
Thank you so much!

GMATNinja · Answer

Sure thing! In this case, "yet" basically means "up to now" or "up until the present", as in the following examples:

"I have not received the rent check yet." 
 "I've suffered several injuries on a trapeze, but this is the worst one yet!"

In choice (D), we are essentially talking about the scientists' best look  up until now . This is similar to saying that it's their best look  to date  or their best look  ever .

I hope that helps!

sampriya · Answer

hi  GMATNinja 
my question is:

(A) A new satellite sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles is called POLAR, giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field.

when we have a modifier in a comma pair we know that its not part of the core sentence and therefore can be eliminated, so can we eliminate this sentence also on grounds that "the region of space....field" could be modifying POLAR and that creates an illogical meaning or is it grammatically understood that "the region of space..field" explicitly refers to magnetosphere and no other noun in the sentence?

GMATNinja · Answer

Consider this example: "I gave the money to my friend, a musician who lives in Alaska, the largest and coldest state in the US." (Oddly enough, some of the best Italian food I've ever eaten was in a town of 800 people in rural Alaska. Go figure.)

Here, "the largest and coldest state in the US" clearly modifies "Alaska" and "a musician who lives in Alaska" clearly modifies "friend". 
 But if we remove the modifier in the middle, we are left with something that doesn't make any sense: "I gave the money to my friend, the largest state in the US." 
 If we want to eliminate the middle modifier to analyze the "core" of the sentence, then we also have to eliminate anything that modifies the middle modifier!"

Similarly, if you are going to eliminate "giving scientist their best look yet at the magnetosphere", then you also have to get rid of the thing that modifies magnetosphere: "region of space..."

For an explanation of why (A) is wrong, check out  this post .

I hope that helps!

Kinshook · Answer

(A) A new satellite sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles is called POLAR, giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field.

(B) A new satellite called POLAR that is giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field,  sweeping over  the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles.

(C) Scientists are getting their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field, from a new satellite sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles  called POLAR .

(D) Sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles, a new satellite called POLAR is giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field.

(E) Sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles,  scientists’ best look  yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field, is coming from a new satellite called POLAR.

IMO D

saby1410 · Answer

AjiteshArun 
giving scientists  their  best look yet at the magnetosphere

their  logically refers to scientists
please can you explain this construction

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  saby1410 ,

We hope this finds you well.

Having gone through the question and your query, we believe we can help resolve your doubt.

Here, "their" is a possessive pronoun that refers to "scientists", conveying that the "best look" is that of the scientists.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  saby1410 ,

We can look at this construction like this:

{verb form} + {indirect object} + {direct object}

1.  I gave  you   a book .  ←  A book  is the direct object, the thing that actually receives the action.  You  is the indirect object. It's like "I gave  a book  to  you ".

And just in case your question was about whether the pronoun can be used immediately after the noun that it refers to:

2.  I gave  you   your book .  ← This is almost the same. The only difference is that we've switched from  a book  to  your book .

The pronouns we choose depend on the intended meaning, so we could go with something like (3) or (4) as well:

3.  I gave  him   your book .  ←  Your book  is the direct object, and  him  is the indirect object.

4.  I gave  myself   a pat on the back .  ←  A pat on the back  is the direct object, and  myself  is the indirect object.

Tanchat · Answer

GMATNinja

I have a question on (C)

Scientists are getting their best look yet at the magnetosphere, the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field, from a new satellite sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000 miles called POLAR.

If we didn't consider "called POLAR", would it still be correct to put "from" in that place?

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  Tanchat ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, the use of "from" would still be correct, even if "called POLAR" were deleted; the phrase "from a new satellite" modifies the verb phrase "getting their best look yet at the magnetosphere", and the phrase "called POLAR" is a separate one that modifies the noun "satellite".

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Dinesh654 · Answer

I really appreciate the user who pointed out this doubt, I was also confused with the use of yet!
cause I thought its the "yet" of contrast and I was looking for an independent clause with S-V pair.
wasted lots of time!
we do have the other yet, right? 
How to refrain from going into other direction?

GMATNinja · Answer

If you're trying to come up with some black-and-white rules governing the definition of "yet" (i.e. "'yet' means '_____' if used in  ..."), then you're barking up the wrong tree.

Now that you've grasped that "yet" has multiple meanings, you just have to think carefully and decide what makes the most sense given the context. In short, GMAT SC isn't about rules -- it's about thinking hard about meaning and logic. Rigidly applying memorized rules rarely helps, so you're better off staying flexible, and making sure that you stay engaged in the overall meaning of the sentence.

I hope that helps a bit!

A new satellite sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000

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A new satellite sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000

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