According to United States Air Force officials a cannon shooting

Hi gambit07,

The two statements are slightly different. To see why, it may be better to look at a non-reduced form. Here's another example:

1. People who are wearing shorts are not allowed to get up during the call.

When we see a be-form (in this case, are) followed by the present participle in a relative clause, we should be able to drop the relative pronoun (who) and the helping verb (the are in are wearing) to get "people wearing shorts are not allowed to get up during the call". I am not aware of any exceptions to this.

2. People who wear shorts are not allowed to get up during the call.

There's no be-form in this relative clause. In such cases, we'll have to be much more careful. We may occasionally be able to drop the relative pronoun and switch from a present tense verb to a present participle, but this is not a given. That is, it can be done only with some verbs. I'm not aware of any simple rule for this, so we may have to do this by sound. Would you consider "people wearing shorts are not allowed to get up during the call" an acceptable replacement for "people who wear shorts are not allowed to get up during the call"?

So in option A, it comes down to how we look at shooting. At a minimum, that modifier results in ambiguity. More likely, the meaning it leads to is incorrect.
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Hi mSKR,

I agree with your points, but I would stick with the "it's not idiomatic" call for the to, without getting into whether it indicates purpose.
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(A) shooting dead chickens at airplanes has proved helpful to demonstrate
This isn't right use of tense

(B) shooting dead chickens at airplanes has proved itself helpful as a demonstration of
Similar reasoning as D

(C) shooting dead chickens at airplanes proves itself helpful as demonstrating
Similar reasoning as D

(D) that shoots dead chickens at airplanes proves itself helpful to demonstrate
This is ambigious since we don't know whether it's talking about dead chicken or canon

(E) that shoots dead chickens at airplanes has proved helpful in demonstrating
This provides the exact use of meaning and tense
Hence IMO E

Correct option : E
Original Sentence:
According to United States Air Force officials, a cannon shooting dead chickens at airplanes has proved helpful to demonstrate what kind of damage can result when jets fly into a flock of large birds.

Some learning :
A. Rules of Prepositions:
Rule 1- Prepositions must have an object
Rule 2- Must be placed before, follows Noun By "noun" we include: noun, proper noun, pronoun, noun group, gerund
Rule 3- The Pronoun following the Preposition should be an object form
Rule 4- Prepositions form
Rule 5- Do not confuse preposition ‘to’ with infinitive ‘to’
Rule 6- A Verb cannot be an object of a preposition

2. Preposition Useage: To, For, In
Preposition 'to' when indicating that there is movement from one place to another
Preposition 'For' usually tells us about the use of something, a reason or purpose
Preposition 'In' to indicate a location, concern area, in process, prefered before

3. As is a conjunction and an adverb and is used before a clause, another adverb or a clause beginning with a preposition

From above learning -

(A) shooting dead chickens at airplanes has proved helpful to demonstrate
Flaw - Prepositional follow verb, "That" usage to refer essential information is not available

(B) shooting dead chickens at airplanes has proved itself helpful as a demonstration of
Flaw - "as" usage is for comparison, "That" usage to refer essential information is not available, "itself" pronoun redundancy

(C) shooting dead chickens at airplanes proves itself helpful as demonstrating
Flaw - "as" usage is for comparison, "That" usage to refer essential information is not available, "itself" pronoun redundancy

(D) that shoots dead chickens at airplanes proves itself helpful to demonstrate
Flaw - Prepositional follow verb, "itself" pronoun redundancy

(E) that shoots dead chickens at airplanes has proved helpful in demonstrating
Correct

GMATNinja GMATNinja2 IanStewart VeritasKarishma Was stuck between A and E while doing the POE. Chose A. Here is my understanding of both the answer choices. Kindly help me address the gap in my understanding:

The intended "meaning" of the question is that the canon shooting chickens was useful to demonstrate the particular effect on airplanes. It was not the canon by itself as then the intended meaning is lost.

Option A conveys the meaning that it was the canon throwing chickens which helped demonstrate the effect on airplanes. E just refers to the canon all by itself thus E distorts the meaning in my opinion.

Here is another official question using a similar logic
https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-eastern- ... 68606.html

Here also the verb-ing modifier is necessary to explain the intended meaning of the sentence.

Kindly help.
Would really appreciate it.

There is a slight difference in meaning in the two:

... a canon shooting dead chickens has helped...
implies that it was a regular canon and was made to shoot dead chicken. That action helped.

a canon that shoots dead chickens...
is a special type of canon that is capable of shooting dead chicken and this canon has helped.

Now this makes more sense, right? A special type of canon would shoot dead chicken.

Also, the correct idiomatic usage is "has proved helpful in demonstrating..."

Hence, (E) is better than (A).
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Official explanation of option A is that it refers to the entire event (of a cannon shooting...). I understood this. But what I can't understand is, what exactly is wrong with that? I thought that we are talking about the event and not a cannon.

Hello An78w,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, no; the sentence refers to the cannon itself, not to the act of shooting.

The use of the present participle ("verb+ing") phrase "shooting dead chickens" incorrectly implies that the cannon is currently in the process of shooting the chickens; the intended meaning is that the cannon habitually shoots dead chickens or has the capability to shoot chickens.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global team
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Official explanation of option A is that it refers to the entire event (of a cannon shooting...). I understood this. But what I can't understand is, what exactly is wrong with that? I thought that we are talking about the event and not a cannon.[/quote]

Hello An78w,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, no; the sentence refers to the cannon itself, not to the act of shooting.

The use of the present participle ("verb+ing") phrase "shooting dead chickens" incorrectly implies that the cannon is currently in the process of shooting the chickens; the intended meaning is that the cannon habitually shoots dead chickens or has the capability to shoot chickens.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global team[/quote]

Thanks for the prompt response ExpertsGlobal5

Dear An78w
"to" or "in order to" signifies purpose

cannon has proved helpful in order to demonstrate some damage?

(A) a cannon shooting dead chickens at airplanes has proved helpful to demonstrate what kind of damage can result when jets fly into a flock of large birds.

Hope it helps.

Project SC Butler: Day 4: Sentence Correction (SC2)[/header3]
For SC butler Questions Click Here[/textarea]
According to United States Air Force officials, a cannon shooting dead chickens at airplanes has proved helpful to demonstrate what kind of damage can result when jets fly into a flock of large birds.

(A) shooting dead chickens at airplanes has proved helpful to demonstrate

(B) shooting dead chickens at airplanes has proved itself helpful as a demonstration of

(C) shooting dead chickens at airplanes proves itself helpful as demonstrating

(D) that shoots dead chickens at airplanes proves itself helpful to demonstrate

(E) that shoots dead chickens at airplanes has proved helpful in demonstrating


The best/excellent answers get kudos, which will be awarded after the answer is revealed.
The best answer or excellent answers explain concepts or provide reasons for eliminating or keeping an answer choice.[/quote]
OFFICIAL ANSWER

• Option A is incorrect because a cannon shooting imprecisely
suggests either an event, the shooting of dead chickens at airplanes, or
what appears to be intended, [that is,] a description of
the cannon that specifies its use.

• Choices B and C also include this error.

• In addition, choices A, C, and D use unidiomatic constructions, to demonstrate and as demonstrating,
after helpful, rather than the correct in demonstrating.

• The phrase as a demonstration of in choice B is idiomatic but
inappropriate because it suggests a single event rather than a
purpose.

• Choices B, C, and D all introduce an unnecessary itself as well, and

• C and D wrongly use the present tense proves rather than has proved to indicate recently completed
action.

• The best answer is choice E.



AdityaHongunti , for a good restult and for graciousness. Let's hope that your courtesy and graciousness spread.

dave13, for a good answer and consistently a good sense of humor

adkikani, a good answer, persisitence and curiosity


Finally, rever08 and
shibanis01 = good answers

Happy kudos, All![/quote]


Official explanation of option A is that it refers to the entire event (of a cannon shooting...). I understood this. But what I can't understand is, what exactly is wrong with that? I thought that we are talking about the event and not a cannon.[/quote]

Hello An78w,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, no; the sentence refers to the cannon itself, not to the act of shooting.

The use of the present participle ("verb+ing") phrase "shooting dead chickens" incorrectly implies that the cannon is currently in the process of shooting the chickens; the intended meaning is that the cannon habitually shoots dead chickens or has the capability to shoot chickens.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global team[/quote]

MartyTargetTestPrep KarishmaB GMATNinja EducationAisle

Need your expert opinion on this official question. Was confused between A and E.
Need to confirm whether one of the reasons to eliminate A is that it means shooting at "that particular time" is correct, as mentioned in the above thread(bold potion above)?
However, based on my knowledge and reading of the rules, the verb-ing noun modifier do not signify any "tense".

Here's the portion of (A) you're referring to

a cannon shooting dead chickens at airplanes has proved helpful

The issue with that wording is that it communicates that this particular cannon is "a cannon shooting dead chickens at airplanes," as if to make clear that this cannon is currently, on an ongoing basis, shooting dead chickens at airplanes.

That meaning doesn't make sense. After all, what's logical is not that there is a cannon that is endlessly "shooting dead chickens."

The logical point to be made is that there is a cannon that does, at times, shoot dead chickens at airplanes, when there is a reason to for it to do so.

So, the wording we see in (E), "a cannon that shoots dead chickens at airplanes," makes sense.
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MartyTargetTestPrep

Thanks for the explanation. So in this case, a verb-ing modifier and a "that" modifier, modifying a noun are giving different meanings, albeit slightly but enough to cause a right and wrong in an answer choice.
But wasn't true it that the verb-ing modifier(noun) and that(relative pronoun)modifier are interchangeable always?

Not always, because the meanings conveyed by the two types of modifiers are not the same. So, in some cases, one makes sense, and the other doesn't.
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Present participle does not give the tense but it does tell us that the state or action was maintained "at that time."

Wearing a yellow frock, the little one looked like an angel.
In the past, she was wearing a yellow frock. She looked like an angel at that time.

The man sitting at the table is my brother.
Currently he is sitting at the table and he is my brother.

The girl wearing a yellow dress has completed her project.
Present perfect. The girl is currently wearing a yellow dress and she has completed her project.

The tense is decided by the active verb of the sentence.

In (A), 'a cannon shooting dead chickens at airplanes has proved...'
The cannon is currently shooting dead chickens and it has proved something.

Even if I were to assume that the "experiment" is ongoing, I would say "the cannon shooting ..." because I am talking about that specific cannon which is shooting dead chickens at airplanes right now.


(E) says a kind of cannon (one that shoots dead chickens at airplanes) has proved helpful. So this works.
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