A59. On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot

Question

A59.  On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are believed to be the rate that trees grow , as seen in the rings visible in the cross sections of their trunks.

A. On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are believed to be the rate that trees grow
B. On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are, it is believed, the rate of tree growth
C. On Earth, the rate at which trees grow is believed to be among the surest indications of sunspot cycles
D. Among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles, believed to be the tree growth rate
E. Among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles is believed to be the rate at which trees grow

A60. First discovered more than 30 years ago, Lina's sunbird, a four-and-a-half-inch animal  found in the Philippines and that resembles  a hummingbird, has shimmering metallic colors on its head; a brilliant orange patch, bordered with red tufts, in the center of its breast; and a red eye. 
A. found in the Philippines and that resembles
B. found in the Philippines and that, resembling
C. found in the Philippines and resembling
D. that is found in the Philippines and it resembles
E. that is found in the Philippines and that, resembling

apurva1985 · Answer

A is wrong as it is wordy and unidiomatic as "to be the rate that tree grows"is not souding correct
B is wrong as same are is wrong the phrase "it is believed" modifies the meaning of the sentence and placement of it is wrong
c is wrong as the later part of the sentence is the modiier for the tree growth so it should be as close as posible to the later part
d setting believed to be by comma gives a wrong meaning 
E is right as the insertion of verb is gives the right meaning to the sentence

x97agarwal · Answer

apurva - you make a good point as to why C is wrong. However, I am still a little unclear on E. Could you explain further?

Thanks

apurva1985 · Answer

the subject of the sentence is Earth so the verb shoud be agreeing with the subject which is singular so i think is sholud go

grepro · Answer

i think the subject is "among the surest indications" which is a phrase and hence singular.

GMAT TIGER · Answer

it is wrong to say that either "Among the surest indications" or "Earth" is the subject of the sentence.

This is a case of inversion and the subject is "the rate at which trees grow". the sentence can be read as: "  The rate at which trees grow is believed to be among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles, as seen in the rings visible in the cross sections of their trunks  ".

patrannn · Answer

A59. On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are believed to be the rate that trees grow, as seen in the rings visible in the cross sections of their trunks.

A. On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are believed to be the rate that trees grow
B. On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are, it is believed, the rate of tree growth
C. On Earth, the rate at which trees grow is believed to be among the surest indications of sunspot cycles
D. Among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles, believed to be the tree growth rate
E. Among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles is believed to be the rate at which trees grow

A- among the surest indications of sunspot cycles is a phrase . it should take singular verb - are- is incorect
B- Similar like A
C- Change the meaning
D- Missing verb
E- Correct-

patrannn · Answer

A60. First discovered more than 30 years ago, Lina's sunbird, a four-and-a-half-inch animal found in the Philippines and that resembles a hummingbird, has shimmering metallic colors on its head; a brilliant orange patch, bordered with red tufts, in the center of its breast; and a red eye. 
A. found in the Philippines and that resembles
B. found in the Philippines and that, resembling
C. found in the Philippines and resembling
D. that is found in the Philippines and it resembles
E. that is found in the Philippines and that, resembling

A- not parallel
B- not parallel

C- hold it
D-that... and it - not clear
E- that....and that.., Resembling- I don't thing that , is required after second that 
so C seems to be correct

apurva1985 · Answer

I dont know y i keep on missing all these concepts................i think i need a lot of practice :cry:

StartupAddict · Answer

C
A

A is very very basic parallelism.

ellipse at a four and a half inch sunbird... if you can't get this question, be sure to read up on ellipsing.

vd · Answer

IMO E and C

i did some reserach on these questions and found interesting explanations by Manhattan

u can find these explanations here

https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/on- ... t1833.html

https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/fir ... -t353.html

mbawaters · Answer

For the first one the non-underlined part 'as seen in the rings visible in the cross sections of the tree' was the key
for me to look for answer and only think that portion could modify was 'indications of sunspot cycles'. So, I pick C

winnie · Answer

OA for A60 is C. I came up with this question 3 times on GMAT Prep.
And I think C for A59

A59. On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot

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