A star will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a

Hi experts, MartyTargetTestPrep GMATNinja

It doesn't look like anyone addressed this but.. is "...a red giant stage.." incorrect? It seems like there is more than one red giant stage. But it seems there would only be one specific red giant stage that the sentence would be talking about -- i.e., "the red giant stage."

Preamble:
1. The pronoun's first prerogative is to refer to the subject of the sentence, and if the subject does not suit, then it might antecede mostly a nearby noun that may be an object of the verb or object of the preposition. Perhaps even a third one might suit better than the subject or the object, in which case that will become the eligible referent. Logic and nothing but logic is the decider of the pronoun eligibility.
2. The adverbial modifiers modify the subject and the action of the previous clause and one must be adept at spotting the previous clause.

This is a crafty issue. Now let's move on to the question.

A star will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole after it passes through a red giant stage, depending on mass.

(A) A star will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole after it passes through a red giant stage, depending on mass.-- The pronoun refers to the star and the adverbial modifier ",depending" modifies the previous clause namely' after it(the star) passes through a red giant stage. The slip here is to mistake the previous clause as ' a star will compress', which is the first clause or the main clause but not the previous clause.

(B) After passing through a red giant stage, depending on its mass, a star will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole. --- No issue about 'its'. However, when you have two back to back modifiers that both modify a common noun, both the modifiers will be required to be intercepted by a conjunction 'and'. Otherwise, there is the risk of the second modifier modifying the first as do nested modifiers do

(C) After passing through a red giant stage, a star’s mass will determine if it compresses itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole. -- Instant misfit since the initial modifier illogically modifies the mass rather than the star.

(D) Mass determines whether a star, after passing through the red giant stage, will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole. --- No issues with this choice.

(E) The mass of a star, after passing through the red giant stage, will determine whether it compresses itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole. ---absolutely out because of the distortion that the mass passes through the red giant stage.

Vanam
As far as the referents for the pronoun 'it' in A and 'its' in B are concerned, I appreciate you are on the dot.
Can you please also see my comment on choice A especially with regard to the adverbial modifier? That is a sly pitfall.

Hi Sir,

My doubt in D is that can Mass determine something as it is not a living being can it perform the action of determining?

determine:

1. cause (something) to occur in a particular way; be the decisive factor in.
2. ascertain or establish exactly, typically as a result of research or calculation.

Hello,

I have a bit of a problem here.
In option E, why can't the modifier, 'after passing... stage', modify 'star?

Thanks!

Hello,

I have a bit of a problem here.
In option E, why can't the modifier, 'after passing... stage', modify 'star?

Thanks!

"After passing through the red giant stage" is a prepositional phrase that indicates WHEN an event occurred. Thus, it acts adverbially, and modifies the verb "will determine."

So, the subject of "will determine" must be the agent of "passing."

The subject of "will determine" is "the mass." Thus, the agent of "passing" is also "the mass."

Hi experts, MartyTargetTestPrep GMATNinja

It doesn't look like anyone addressed this but.. is "...a red giant stage.." incorrect? It seems like there is more than one red giant stage. But it seems there would only be one specific red giant stage that the sentence would be talking about -- i.e., "the red giant stage."

GMATNinja, I have a similar question.
Option D and E have used the phrasing "the red giant stage". While attempting this question, I was down to B and E. Now in B, Modifier issue strikes as the first thing. But when comparing the meaning between "a red giant stage" and "the red giant stage", "the red giant stage" seems to refer to a very unique stage, which is of course not the meaning. I half-heartedly chose B over E thinking that B is more meaningful then E. I guess "meaningful" can also be subjective .

Anyway, it would be great if you share you opinion on this.

GMATNinja, I have a similar question.
Option D and E have used the phrasing "the red giant stage". While attempting this question, I was down to B and E. Now in B, Modifier issue strikes as the first thing. But when comparing the meaning between "a red giant stage" and "the red giant stage", "the red giant stage" seems to refer to a very unique stage, which is of course not the meaning. I half-heartedly chose B over E thinking that B is more meaningful then E. I guess "meaningful" can also be subjective .

Anyway, it would be great if you share you opinion on this.

A star will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole after it passes through a red giant stage, depending on mass.


(A) A star will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole after it passes through a red giant stage, depending on mass.

"depending on mass" should modify "star" - it's too far away from the subject. OUT

(B) After passing through a red giant stage, depending on its mass, a star will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.

"depending on its mass" - because it's in between "red giant stage" and a "star," it's ambiguous. Which one is it modifying? OUT

(C) After passing through a red giant stage, a star’s mass will determine if it compresses itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.

(D) Mass determines whether a star, after passing through the red giant stage, will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.

Yes. "whether" can be used to identify more than 2 options. e.g., "Whether I will study math, economics, or English"

(E) The mass of a star, after passing through the red giant stage, will determine whether it compresses itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.


SC43561.01

Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one thing at a time, and narrow down our options quickly so we know how to answer questions like this when they pop up on the GMAT! To begin, let's take a quick look at the question and highlight any major differences between the options in orange:

A star will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole after it passes through a red giant stage, depending on mass.

(A) A star will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole after it passes through a red giant stage, depending on mass.
(B) After passing through a red giant stage, depending on its mass, a star will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.
(C) After passing through a red giant stage, a star’s mass will determine if it compresses itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.
(D) Mass determines whether a star, after passing through the red giant stage, will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.
(E) The mass of a star, after passing through the red giant stage, will determine whether it compresses itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.

Whenever you see an entire sentence highlighted like this, and each option is organized very differently, there is one grammar issue you can typically count on to be the problem:

MODIFIERS!

We need to make sure that modifier phrases, such as "after passing through a red giant stage" and "depending on its mass" are organized clearly and convey the correct meaning. Let's see how each option handles this:

(A) A star will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole after it passes through a red giant stage, depending on mass.

This is INCORRECT because the phrase "depending on mass" is supposed to modify "star," and not "a red giant stage." It's not 100% clear to readers what that phrase should modify because it's in the wrong place. Let's rule this one out.

(B) After passing through a red giant stage, depending on its mass, a star will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.

This is INCORRECT for a couple reasons. First, the phrase "depending on its mass" should only refer to "a star," but this placement makes it ambiguous. It could modify either "a star" or " a red giant stage." Second, the pronoun "its" is unclear - is it referring back to "a red giant stage" or "a star?" It's unclear, so let's rule this one out too.

(C) After passing through a red giant stage, a star’s mass will determine if it compresses itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.

This is INCORRECT because "a star's mass" doesn't pass through a red giant stage - a star does. The pronoun "it" is also too vague - it's not clear if "it" is referring to "a red giant stage" or "a star's mass." Either way, it would be wrong anyway. The modifier and antecedent don't make logical sense, so let's rule this one out also.

(D) Mass determines whether a star, after passing through the red giant stage, will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.

This is OKAY for now. By rewriting it a little, we've gotten rid of the "determined by mass" modifier altogether - so we don't have to worry about that. The modifier "after passing through the red giant stage" is located directly after its antecedent "a star," which is clear and logical. Let's keep this one for now.

(E) The mass of a star, after passing through the red giant stage, will determine whether it compresses itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.

This one is INCORRECT because "the mass of a star" doesn't pass through the red giant stage - the star itself does. Since this doesn't make logical sense as written, let's rule this one out.


There you have it - option D is our correct choice! The modifiers and antecedents are logical and located clearly to show the intended meaning.


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.

Is it right to say that, for option B - ", depending on its mass," being between two commas is non-essential and hence not to be considered while checking modifier? hence the sentence will be "After passing through a red giant stage, depending on its mass, a star will compress itself into a white ...wherein passing through a red giant stage is correctly modifying a star and hence there is nothing wrong in terms of modifier
dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole."

EMPOWERgmatRichC
Is it right to say that, for option B - ", depending on its mass," being between two commas is non-essential and hence not to be considered while checking modifier? hence the sentence will be "After passing through a red giant stage, depending on its mass, a star will compress itself into a white ...wherein passing through a red giant stage is correctly modifying a star and hence there is nothing wrong in terms of modifier
dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole."

Hi Rickooreo,

When dealing with Modifiers in an SC, the general rule you want to follow is "put the modifying word/phrase as close to what it's supposed to modify as possible."

With Answer B, the opening modifying phrase "After passing through a red giant stage,...." is clearly meant to modify "a star." However, the intervening phrase "depending on its mass" comes next - and that's a problem which we cannot simply ignore (since it distances the modifier from the noun that it's supposed to modify). The correct answer properly places the first modifier.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Contact Rich at: Rich.C@empowergmat.com