Added to the increase in hourly wages requested last July, the railroa

Marcab-

To answer your question about the into part of the section, not all leading phrases/clauses modify the subject. My first sentence here is a good example. If I wrote the sentence differently, it would modify the subject. Here you go: "Answering the question about leading modifiers, I wrote that not all leading phrases/clauses modify the subject." The GMAT uses participles at the start of the sentence to create leading phrases that modify the subject ("answering" above is a present participle).

If you go through OG questions, you will see plenty of examples of leading phrases (ending with a comma) that are providing context for the sentence and not modifying the subject. For example, the GMAT introduces plenty of sentences with date references: By 1840, Since 1830, etc.

In the question from this thread, "Added to..." is acting (incorrectly) as a modifier for the subject. When the GMAT uses the abstract "In addition to..." the introductory phrase adds context to the beginning of the sentence instead of modifying the subject.

Here is a thread from another question that displays how introductory phrases can pivot between context and modifier: based-on-the-growth-rates-of-large-modern-reptiles-such-as-76931.html

KW

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 in addition to the increase in hourly wages that they requested last July, the employees of the railroad are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.

Concepts tested here: Subject-verb Agreement + Modifiers + Meaning + Redundancy/Awkwardness

• 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.
• When the chronology is clear because of terms such as "before/after/when/earlier/later"…or because of clear mention of dates, use past perfect tense is not required, though not incorrect either.

A: This answer choice incorrectly uses “Added to the increase in hourly wages requested last July” to modify “the railroad employees”, illogically implying that the railroad employees were added to the increase in hourly wages; the intended meaning of this sentence is that in addition to the increase in hourly wages that they requested last July, the employees of the railroad are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits; remember, a “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun.

B: This answer choice incorrectly uses “Added to the increase in hourly wages which had been requested last July” to modify “the employees of the railroad”, illogically implying that the railroad employees were added to the increase in hourly wages; the intended meaning of this sentence is that in addition to the increase in hourly wages that they requested last July, the employees of the railroad are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits; remember, a “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Further, Option B redundantly uses the past perfect tense verb "had been requested" alongside the phrase "last July"; remember, when the chronology is clear because of terms such as "before/after/when/earlier/later"…or because of clear mention of dates, use past perfect tense is not required, though not incorrect either. Additionally, Option B uses the needlessly wordy phrase "which had been requested", leading to further awkwardness.

C: This answer choice incorrectly uses the plural verb “were” to refer to the singular noun “increase”. Further, Option C uses the passive voice construction “expanded program of retirement benefits added to the increase in hourly wages”, rendering it needlessly indirect.

D: Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses the plural verb “were” to refer to the singular noun “increase”. Further, Option E uses the needlessly wordy phrase “that were requested last July”, leading to awkwardness.

E: Correct. This answer choice correctly uses the singular verb “requested” to refer to the singular noun “increase”. Further, Option E avoids the modifier error seen in Options A and B by using “In addition to the increase in hourly wages requested last July” to modify the clause “the employees of the railroad are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits”, conveying the intended meaning of the sentence- that in addition to the increase in hourly wages that they requested last July, the employees of the railroad are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits. Additionally, Option E is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

Hence, E 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):



To understand the concept of "Past Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

A - Faulty comparison. "increase in wages" compared to "railroad employees"

B is out for the same reason

C,D - both wrong because - "that were requested" instead of "that was requested"

I'll go with E.

To be honest, if I was under time crunch, I could easily haveeliminated E because it said "employees of the railroad" instead of "railroad employees"

A) Added to the increase in hourly wages requested last July, the railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits. - incorrect modifier
(B) Added to the increase in hourly wages which had been requested last July, the employees of the railroad are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits. - incorrect modifier
(C) The railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits added to the increase in hourly wages that were requested last July. - awkward
(D) In addition to the increase in hourly wages that were requested last July, the railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits. were is incorrect as it is referring to the singular 'increase'
(E) In addition to the increase in hourly wages requested last July, the employees of the railroad are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits- correct

I will go with E

D - 'that' is modifying wages but the request cannot be made by 'wages', so IMO a singular verb is required.

Another line of reasoning to consider here is 'WHO' requested increase in hourly wages.

(D) In addition to the increase in hourly wages that were requested last July, the railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.
(E) In addition to the increase in hourly wages requested last July, the employees of the railroad are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits

MANHATTAN REVIEW OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

There is a misplaced modifier in this sentence. As it stands it implies that the employees were the ones who were added to the increase in monthly wages. That means choices A and B are incorrect. Choice C has an obvious grammatical mistake in it. ‘Increase’ is singular so it should be ‘the increase in wages was discussed’. Choice D has the same error. Choice E is the correct answer.

In addition to is not modifying the employees.. it is a prepositional clause for the the hourly wages.....

D and E both are preferred than A, B and C.... and E wins over D because of the "were requested" in D..... were is for Increase which is singular and it is wrong.....

I will go with D on this..

(A) Added to the increase in hourly wages requested last July, the railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.

- Out. Seems to indicate that railroad employees added to the increase.

(B) Added to the increase in hourly wages which had been requested last July, the employees of the railroad are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.
- Out. Same problem as A

(C) The railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits added to the increase in hourly wages that were requested last July.

- Bad construction

(D) In addition to the increase in hourly wages that were requested last July, the railroad employees are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits

I will stick with D.

(E) In addition to the increase in hourly wages requested last July, the employees of the railroad are now seeking an expanded program of retirement benefits.
- Nothing is wrong here but "the employees of the railroad" does not make sense.

AJB77,

It has no pronoun problem but a singular/plural verb problem.

I agree that the answer should be E.

Why I picked D is to verify the concept of restrictive clause?

Here is what I saw,

that were requested is a restrictive clause modifying the "wages". I want to make sure from guys like you that the restrictive clause not only modifies the object of the prepositional phrase but a subject which is a combination of subject + PP.

For example,

One of the students who are studying biology is in my class.
Or
One of the students who is studying biology is in my class.

Now if you look at 1st example, Restrictive clause "who were studying biology" is modifying student(s) is correct.

In second, Restrictive clause "who is studying biology" is modifying student(s) is not correct because the restrictive clause is modifying students which is plural.

I am going to choose the best of the worst, and having said that the answer should be E.

Choices that begin with In addition to are more appropriate than the rest, because it conveys that the railroad employees asked for not only a pay increase last year, but also retirement benefits. This narrows the choice to D and E. The only problem I have with D is the use of "that were requested". Instead if choice D used "requested" I would have chosen D rightaway. E conveys the sense of meaning better, even though it is a little awkward.

Actually, this isn't a verb tense issue, it's verb voice. Both options are in the past tense but they shift between passive and active voice: was requested (passive) and requested (active). The GMAT doesn't seem to have a preference between the two, so either one would be fine.

KW

riteshgupta1,

In choice D, Do you think that "In addition to the increase in hourly wages that were requested "

is the correct use of pronouns?

AJB, ritesh is right. D is not wrong because of verb tense following "that". Instead, it could be wrong simply because it uses a restrictive clause instead of a shorter, participial phrase in E. However, E also has problems of its own like saying "employees of the railroad" which sounds very bad to say the least.

a. The sentence is in present continuous tense. So, ‘Added to’ doesn’t go well with the sentence.
b. Same error as ‘a’.
c. ‘Added to’ should be changed with ‘in addition to’ and ‘were’ should be changed with ‘was’ as ‘increase’ here is used as singular.
d. ‘was’ should be used instead of ‘were’ as explained in option ‘c’.
e. Grammatically correct.
Hence, e is the answer.

Official Explanation

Logical predication; Agreement

The phrase Added to the increase in hourly wages . . .
modifies what immediately follows the comma, the railroad employees. This would mean that the railroad employees themselves are being added to the increase in hourly wages, which is absurd.

The idea the sentence is intended to convey is that the railroad employees are now seeking to have an expanded program of retirement benefits added to the increase in hourly earnings requested last July.

The correct answer will be the choice that most clearly, idiomatically, and grammatically expresses this idea.

A. As indicated above, the phrase added to the increase in hourly wages requested last July . . . incorrectly modifies the railroad employees.

B. The phrase Added to the increase in hourly wages which had been requested last July modifies the railroad employees, which is not what is intended.

C. Unlike the prior two choices, this choice does not make any modification errors. However, seeking an expanded program . . . added is not correct; seeking to have an expanded program . . . added would be acceptable. In the other answer choices, seeking most nearly means trying to acquire. In this choice, however, because it is used in conjunction with another verb (added), seeking most nearly means trying. When used in this sense, seeking should be followed by an infinitive.

D. Like C, but unlike A and B, this choice does not have any modification errors. However, it has an agreement flaw: the noun the increase in hourly wages is singular, so the verb must be was requested rather than were requested.

E. Correct. This version clearly and correctly conveys the intended idea.

The correct answer is E.

Let's compare (D) and (E)



The only two differences are that (D) includes "that were" and (E) uses "the employees of the railroad."

Both (D) and (E) make sense logically, but there is a subtle subject/verb agreement error in (D).

Is plural verb "were" correct?

What if we changed the prepositional phrase? To something like "money" or "pay" rather than "hourly wages."



Ahh, now that makes it more clear! We need the singular verb was.

Or, in the case of (E), we avoid the that were/was debate altogether. Tough question.