gagan0303 wrote:
Hey
GMATNinja can you please explain this question and how to approach such questions from modifier and verb stand point.
Please help.
As Karishma and Andrew have both noted, the difference between the modifier form and the verb form is often about meaning: passive vs active.
To see why, consider the various ways we can use "perpetuated" or "perpetuating."
1) Tim, who perpetuated the rumor that he'd been nominated for the Nobel Price in Physics, has failed every science class he's ever taken.
Here, "perpetuated" is functioning as a verb meaning "to make perpetual" or "to preserve." Because "who" refers to "Tim", we know that it's Tim who is actively keeping a rumor alive.
2) The rumor that Tim would win the Nobel, perpetuated by many of the neighborhood kids, spread far and wide.
This time "perpetuated" is functioning as a modifier describing the "rumor." Notice that the word has a passive connotation here. The "rumor" isn't doing anything itself. Someone or something else has to
do the perpetuating, and in this case, it's the neighborhood kids who are preserving the rumor.
3) Perpetuating the rumor that he was going to win the Nobel, Tim tacked poorly made signs to every cork board in a three-mile radius of his house.
Now "perpetuating" is serving as a modifier describing "Tim," so again, there's an active connotation, and it's Tim preserving the idea.
To summarize: "perpetuated" can be used as a modifier or as a verb, depending on context. When it's used as a verb, it has an active connotation, but when it's used as a modifier, it's passive and should be done "by" some entity.
"Perpetuating" is a modifier that will describe the entity performing the action. This one also has an active connotation.
In this question, we know that the word is connected to "language variations." So the first question we'd ask ourselves is whether the language variations are doing the preserving (active) or are themselves being preserved (passive.) Clearly, the passive interpretation makes more sense, especially given the phrase, "by geographical isolation." So let's keep that in mind as we break down the options.
Quote:
(A)The increased popularity and availability of televisions has led to the decline of regional dialects, language variations which originate from diverse ethnic and cultural heritages and perpetuated by geographic isolation.
This is like our first example above, in which "perpetuated" functions as the verb to "which", so it suggests that the language variations are actively doing the preserving.
This makes no sense. What are they preserving? Themselves? And now the phrase "by geographical isolation" doesn't work, since there's nothing for it to describe.
(A) is out.
Quote:
(B) The increased popularity and availability of televisions has led to the decline of regional dialects, language variations that originated from diverse ethnic and cultural heritages and perpetuated by geographical isolation.
Same problem as (A), but now "perpetuated is the verb for "that." Kill (B).
Quote:
(C) The increased popularity and availability of televisions has led to the decline of regional dialects, language variations originated from diverse ethnic and cultural heritages and perpetuated by geographic isolation.
This is a mess. Notice that the portions in blue and red are both independent clauses, but there's no conjunction connecting them. This is a run-on sentence, so it's out.
Quote:
(D) The increased popularity and availability of televisions has led to the decline of regional dialects, language variations originating from diverse ethnic and cultural heritages and perpetuated by geographic isolation.
This looks better. Because "perpetuated" is parallel to the modifier "originating" we can assume that "perpetuated" is also serving as a modifier here, meaning it has a passive connotation. So the "language variations" are preserved
by geographic isolation. Perfectly reasonable. Hold on to (D).
Quote:
(E) The increased popularity and availability of televisions has led to the decline of regional dialects, language variations originating from diverse ethnic and cultural heritages and perpetuating by geographic isolation.
Remember that "perpetuating" is a modifier with an active connotation, so we're back to this idea that the language variations are themselves doing the preserving. Same logical problem as (A) and (B). (E) is out.
So we're left with (D), which is our winner.
I hope that helps!
Hi! In C why can't originated and perpetuated both be modifiers, modifying language variations. I read if the subject of the sentence is the doer of the action, then its a verb and if not, the its a past participle(modifier). Here originated can function as modifier (language variations originated..... and perpetuated) and this whole will be an absolute phrase. Please help
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27 Jan 2020, 05:57
