SlowTortoise wrote:
sivasanjeev wrote:
A Sumatran rhinoceros was recently born in a Cincinnati zoo, the first birth in captivity of that species in more than a century, making it a landmark development for the effort to save the endangered animal.
(A) A Sumatran rhinoceros was recently born in a Cincinnati zoo, the first birth in captivity of that species in more than a century, making it
(B) A Sumatran rhinoceros was recently born in a Cincinnati zoo, and as the first birth of that species in captivity for more than a century, it is
(C) A Sumatran rhinoceros recently born in a Cincinnati zoo, as the first birth for that species in captivity for over a century, is
(D) The recent birth of a Sumatran rhinoceros in a Cincinnati zoo, the first birth in captivity for that species in over a century, is
(E) The recent birth of a Sumatran rhinoceros, as the first birth in over a century of that species in captivity, took place in a Cincinnati zoo,
MartyMurray GMATNinja KarishmaBCould you help me understand why (D) is better than (A) and (E)?
(A) A Sumatran rhinoceros was recently born in a Cincinnati zoo, the first birth in captivity of that species in more than a century, making it
I couldn't eliminate (A) as there are correct
OG answers where the subject of the clause need not be the agent/actor of the modifier (present participial phrase) action
I eliminated (D) as "The recent birth of X....is a landmark development" didn't make sense. Probably because I missed out on the fact that landmark is acting as an adjective.
I eliminated (E) as the meaning conveyed by the modifier "as the first birth...captivity" seemed wordy
So I selected (A) based on this reasoning
The problem with (A) is that 'it' has no referrent and 'making...' refers to neither a subject nor a verb.
A Sumatran rhinoceros was recently born in a Cincinnati zoo,
the first birth..., making it a landmark development for the effort to save the endangered animal.
'the first birth ...' is a non essential modifier and hence has been removed.
comma + present participle will refer to the previous subject (A Sumatran rhinoceros) or clause (A Sumatran rhinoceros was recently born in a Cincinnati zoo). But logically it can refer to neither. What is 'making' it a landmark development? Neither the subject nor the clause.
What is 'it'? 'It' is 'birth of a Sumatran rhinoceros in captivity'
But that is not mentioned in the clause so how can 'it' refer to it.
(E) The recent birth of a Sumatran rhinoceros, as the first birth in over a century of that species in captivity, took place in a Cincinnati zoo, The recent birth of a Sumatran rhinoceros, as the first birth in over a century of that species in captivity, took place in a Cincinnati zoo, a landmark development for the effort to save the endangered animal.
Use of 'as' is suspect. 'as' implies 'role or position' here. The first did not play the role of the first birth. It was the first birth.
The birth took place in a zoo is the landmark development? Surely not. That fact that it was the first birth in captivity made it a landmark development.