According to its proponents, a proposed new style of aircraft could

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According to its proponents, a proposed new style of aircraft could, by skimming along the top of the atmosphere, fly between most points on Earth in under two hours.


(A) According to its proponents, a proposed new style of aircraft could, by skimming along the top of the atmosphere, fly between most points on Earth in under two hours.

(B) By skimming along the top of the atmosphere, proponents of a proposed new style of aircraft say it could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours.

(C) A proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours, according to its proponents, with it skimming along the top of the atmosphere.

(D) A proposed new style of aircraft, say its proponents, could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours because of its skimming along the top of the atmosphere.

(E) According to its proponents, skimming along the top of the atmosphere makes it possible that a proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours.

According to its proponents, a proposed new style of aircraft could, by skimming along the top of the atmosphere, fly between most points on Earth in under two hours.


(A) According to its proponents, a proposed new style of aircraft could, by skimming along the top of the atmosphere, fly between most points on Earth in under two hours.

(B) By skimming along the top of the atmosphere, proponents of a proposed new style of aircraft say it could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours.

(C) A proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours, according to its proponents, with it skimming along the top of the atmosphere.

(D) A proposed new style of aircraft, say its proponents, could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours because of its skimming along the top of the atmosphere.

(E) According to its proponents, skimming along the top of the atmosphere makes it possible that a proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours.

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Hi Honorable Experts,
MartyTargetTestPrep, GMATNinja, GMATGuruNY, AjiteshArun, VeritasPrepHailey, BrightOutlookJenn,
I'm passing hard time to grasp the usage of the highlighted part. Can you explain how the highlighted part makes the sentences wrong?
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Hi egmat, VeritasKarishma, generis
Hope you all are doing great!

I have a doubt related to option D. Can the below-highlighted structure act as an independent clause?

(D) A proposed new style of aircraft, say its proponents, could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours because of its skimming along the top of the atmosphere.

KarishmaB

Hi Karishma,

(E) According to its proponents, skimming along the top of the atmosphere makes "it" possible that a proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours.

"IT" refers to what? Is it a placeholder pronoun? Or meaning-wise "it' refers to fly but grammatically not possible.

I also wanted to understand usage of "between". As per the idiom, it must be "between x & y". Are there any other usage of between ("between most points)?

Thanks in advance!

KarishmaB

Hi Karishma,

(E) According to its proponents, skimming along the top of the atmosphere makes "it" possible that a proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours.

"IT" refers to what? Is it a placeholder pronoun? Or meaning-wise "it' refers to fly but grammatically not possible.

I also wanted to understand usage of "between". As per the idiom, it must be "between x & y". Are there any other usage of between ("between most points)?

Thanks in advance!

KarishmaB

Why D is incorrect?
(D) A proposed new style of aircraft, say its proponents, could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours because of its skimming along the top of the atmosphere.
Are there any grammatical errors?
Why skimming can't be the reason to fly btw most points on Earth?

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that according to proponents of the new style of aircraft, it could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours by skimming along the top of the atmosphere.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Modifiers + Pronouns + Idioms

• In a “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction.
• "due to" is used to modify nouns and "because of" is used to modify verbs and clauses.
• A pronoun and its derivatives can only refer to one noun in a sentence.

A: Correct. This answer choice correctly modifies the clause "a proposed new style of aircraft could" with the phrase "by skimming along the top of the atmosphere", conveying the intended meaning - that the new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours, and it could do so by skimming along the top of the atmosphere. Further, Option A correctly uses the pronoun "its" to refer only to "a...new style of aircraft". Additionally, Option A avoids the idiomatic error seen in Option D, as it uses the phrase "by skimming" rather than "because of" or "due to". Besides, Option A is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

B: This answer choice incorrectly uses "By skimming along the top of the atmosphere" to modify "proponents of a proposed new style of aircraft", illogically implying that the proponents skim along the top of the atmosphere; the intended meaning is that the new style of aircraft skims along the top of the atmosphere; remember, in a “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun.

C: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "with it skimming along the top of the atmosphere"; the construction of this phrase leads to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that according to proponents of the new style of aircraft, it could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours by skimming along the top of the atmosphere.

D: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "because of its skimming"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours because it has already skimmed along the top of the atmosphere; the intended meanings that the new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours by skimming along the top of the atmosphere. Further, Option D unidiomatically uses "because of" to refer to the noun phrase "its skimming"; remember, "due to" is used to modify nouns, and "because of" is used to modify verbs and clauses.

E: This answer choice incorrectly uses "its" to refer to "a...new style of aircraft" and as a placeholder pronoun; remember, a pronoun and its derivatives can only refer to one noun in a sentence. Further, Option E uses the needlessly wordy phrase "makes it possible that", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

Hence, A 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 (~1 minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

I thought "because of" can also precedes a noun phrase, so "because of" in D is not necessarily incorrect, or am I wrong?