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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.
I managed to narrow it down to A and E and ultimately went to pick E since noun form sounded better than the usage of an infinitive as in A.
I rejected B,C and D on account of incorrect usage of itself which according to me refers to some sort of action, which does not make sense in the context of the sentence.
_________________
It's the journey that brings us happiness not the destination.
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.
When i Speak in English, and it happens very rarely, i use "helpful" with preposition "for" " i.e. helpful for something
helpful to do something - is not idiomatic expression, i never heard that combination. if it were "helps to demonstrate" that would be fine
Since i excluded "help to demonstrate' hence i will exclude A and D.
Now left with B, C, E
in B "itself" is rebundunt "the gun didnt prove itself"
in C same issue
In E - everything looks fine to me.
so i will choose E
Method applied in solving SC is POE (PREDICT: OBSERVE: ELIMINATE) WAY OF SAMURAI
Originally posted by dave13 on 10 Nov 2018, 10:58.
Last edited by dave13 on 10 Nov 2018, 11:01, edited 1 time in total.
I managed to narrow it down to A and E and ultimately went to pick E since noun form sounded better than the usage of an infinitive as in A.
I rejected B,C and D on account of incorrect usage of itself which according to me refers to some sort of action, which does not make sense in the context of the sentence.
adkikani , look very carefully at the modifiers of the subject of the sentence.
This sentence is hilarious. (Maybe it's funny only to native speakers.) This question was on an actual test. Its hilarity deepens when the modifiers are understood.
adkikani , one further hint: isolate the modifiers of the subject and the subject.
Of the two options with modified subjects, which modified subject is clearer?
Frequently, we can condense relative clauses (such as a THAT clause) to participles or participial phrases (such as a verbING word or phrase), but at times meaning is clearer when we do not condense. If the participle has multiple meanings that create ambiguity, even if that ambiguity is cleared up by the rest of the sentence, choose the construction that has no ambiguity.
Noam Chomsky, a famed linguist, captured the essence of the issue with this truly ambiguous example: Flying planes can be dangerous.
In this question, the modifier in the incorrect answer arguably is neither misplaced nor technically ambiguous. But its potential to confuse should make the correct choice easier.
I managed to narrow it down to A and E and ultimately went to pick E since noun form sounded better than the usage of an infinitive as in A.
I rejected B,C and D on account of incorrect usage of itself which according to me refers to some sort of action, which does not make sense in the context of the sentence.
adkikani , look very carefully at the modifiers of the subject of the sentence.
This sentence is hilarious. (Maybe it's funny only to native speakers.) This question was on an actual test. Its hilarity deepens when the modifiers are understood.
Hope that helps.
to me its hilarious with or without modifiers because when i read "shooting dead chickens" i understand that chickens were already dead but they were still being shot by gun
Re: According to United States Air Force officials a cannon shooting
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10 Nov 2018, 12:00
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1
Between A & E, A looks like the better option because of the difference in meaning.
IMO, a cannon *that shoots* ... in E sounds like the cannon proved helpful in demonstrating the results of a jet flying into a flock of birds. Whereas, as per the meaning, it should be the entire process of shooting dead chickens to demonstrate the impact, as presented in A.
According to United States Air Force officials a cannon shooting
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Updated on: 11 Nov 2018, 18:17
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shibanis01 wrote:
Between A & E, A looks like the better option because of the difference in meaning.
IMO, a cannon *that shoots* ... in E sounds like the cannon proved helpful in demonstrating the results of a jet flying into a flock of birds. Whereas, as per the meaning, it should be the entire process of shooting dead chickens to demonstrate the impact, as presented in A.
You're right to think about the meaning, and the meaning is that the cannon (generally) shoots dead chickens at planes, and not that it is (currently) shooting dead chickens at planes. I'm also going to avoid any questions on cannons and chickens by switching to a different example
(1) Peoplewho eat lots of vegetables will live longer than...
(2) Peopleeating lots of vegetables will live longer than...
The second one seems to be talking about people who are (right now) eating lots of vegetables (peoplewho are eating lots of vegetables...). But that's not the meaning that we want. We want to talk about people who (generally) eat lots of vegetables, and (1) does a better job of communicating that meaning.
Also, helpful to demonstrate is unidiomatic in option A.
_________________
Please accept my humble apology for not comprehending your hint.
Quote:
Of the two options with modified subjects, which modified subject is clearer?
In this question, the modifier in the incorrect answer arguably is neither misplaced nor technically ambiguous. But its potential to confuse should make the correct choice easier.
Quote:
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.
Quote:
(E) that shoots dead chickens at airplanes has proved helpful in demonstrating
In both A and E: Opening modifier: According to United States Air Force officials correctly modifies the noun: a cannon
In A, a verb-ing modifier without coma i.e. shooting (note that shooting is placed next to cannon) will correctly modify only preceding noun: cannon. There is no question of coma+verb-ing (causal/ how aspect of preceding clause here) This is a classic case of verb-ing acting as an adjective. What type of cannon: the one that shoots dead chickens.
This is similar to your example: Flying planes can be dangerous. What types of planes: Flying. Noun: planes Verb: can be
In E, the noun modifier that correctly refers back to a cannon Since cannon is singular and the verb for that (shoots) is correct, I see no ambiguity here too.
Let me know your two cents.
_________________
It's the journey that brings us happiness not the destination.
Re: According to United States Air Force officials a cannon shooting
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11 Nov 2018, 05:04
10 seconds answer :
"helpful in " is the idiom preferred by GMAT ... this is supported by GMATNinja as soon as i see "helpful" i look for "in" ...that's it .. if more than 1 ans choice has "helpful in" then look for other error
Re: According to United States Air Force officials a cannon shooting
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11 Nov 2018, 05:20
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AdityaHongunti wrote:
10 seconds answer :
"helpful in " is the idiom preferred by GMAT ... this is supported by GMATNinja as soon as i see "helpful" i look for "in" ...that's it .. if more than 1 ans choice has "helpful in" then look for other error
That'll get you the answer. In this case. However, it is easy to make sentences in which helpful is followed by something other than in, and the sentence is still correct. Context is important.
It'll be helpfulfor us to know the meaning behind her words. That explanation was helpfulto us. You were very helpful.
Look for the in only if there is something that the helpful bit "provided".
_________________
Re: According to United States Air Force officials a cannon shooting
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11 Nov 2018, 05:25
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AjiteshArun wrote:
AdityaHongunti wrote:
10 seconds answer :
"helpful in " is the idiom preferred by GMAT ... this is supported by GMATNinja as soon as i see "helpful" i look for "in" ...that's it .. if more than 1 ans choice has "helpful in" then look for other error
That'll get you the answer. In this case. However, it is easy to make sentences in which helpful is followed by something other than in, and the sentence is still correct. Context is important.
It'll be helpfulfor us to know the meaning behind her words. That explanation was helpfulto us. You were very helpful.
Look for the in only if there is something that the helpful bit "provided".
Pardon me for being vague.. I should have added that "helpful in" is preferred when a purpose verb ( supposedly defining the purpose) .
Thank you for pointing this out... Would have misguided fellow students.
Please accept my humble apology for not comprehending your hint.
Quote:
Of the two options with modified subjects, which modified subject is clearer?
In this question, the modifier in the incorrect answer arguably is neither misplaced nor technically ambiguous. But its potential to confuse should make the correct choice easier.
Quote:
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.
Quote:
(E) that shoots dead chickens at airplanes has proved helpful in demonstrating
In both A and E: Opening modifier: According to United States Air Force officials correctly modifies the noun: a cannon
In A, a verb-ing modifier without coma i.e. shooting (note that shooting is placed next to cannon) will correctly modify only preceding noun: cannon. There is no question of coma+verb-ing (causal/ how aspect of preceding clause here) This is a classic case of verb-ing acting as an adjective. What type of cannon: the one that shoots dead chickens.
This is similar to your example: Flying planes can be dangerous. What types of planes: Flying. Noun: planes Verb: can be
In E, the noun modifier that correctly refers back to a cannon Since cannon is singular and the verb for that (shoots) is correct, I see no ambiguity here too.
Let me know your two cents.
adkikani , I am about to post the official answer, and I can't quite tell whether anyone has picked up on the full extent of the ambiguity.
I think not.
Is shooting an adjective or a gerund? More on that in the OE.
Yes, in context, The "cannon shooting = the cannon that shoots projectiles." And yes, correct, in that case, "shooting" is an adjective.
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.
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 isidiomatic 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
close
53% (01:13) correct 
i use "helpful" with preposition "for" " i.e. helpful for something 
