Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red su

Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year--they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises--heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand.

This Questions becomes very easy if 2 things are known - sentence structure & focus on meaning.
The intended meaning: It presents a contrast. Although heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than their supermarket cousins (fact), they are more flavorful & in increasing demand (is the contrast).

Splitting the sentence:
1. Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year. SV error. No verb for subject Heirloom tomatoes.
2. they are often green and striped, or (they) have plenty of bumps and bruises. SV pair looks ok.
3. heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand. SV pair in agreement.
Pronoun "they" logically refers to noun heirloom tomatoes, because author is presenting a fact/contrast about heirloom tomatoes.

POE:
(A) Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year. No verb for this clause.
(B) Although heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year, appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins. Correct choice with proper SV Pair.
(C) Although they appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the pervious year. No verb for noun heirloom tomatoes
(D) Grown from seeds saved during the previous year, heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins. This sentence seems grammatically correct (other than usage of ; ) but loses the contrast per original sentence..
(E) Heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year, although they appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins. This seems again IC and Heirloom tomatoes has no verb

This passage is testing sentence structure, construction and style

A. Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year-------In this simple sentence, introduced by a participial modifier, the modified subject heirloom tomatoes is repeated twice and hence redundant.

B Although heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year, appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins—avoids mentioning heirloom tomatoes in the underlined portions and thus escapes redundancy ------ correct choice

C Although they appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year- same redundancy as in A

D Grown from seeds saved during the previous year, heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins. ---------- The two ICs forming the compound sentence are not conjugated with the conjunction and hence is a run-on

E Heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year, although they appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins---In this complex sentence with an early subordinate clause and a following major clause , redundancy of heirloom tomatoes is a problem as in A and C

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 core meaning of this sentence is that although heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Grammatical Construction + Verb Forms

• Removing extra information between commas or within dashes/parenthesis should not alter the core meaning of the sentence.
• Statements of universal fact are best conveyed through the simple present tense.
• Semicolons and the “comma + conjunction” construction are used to link two independent clauses; commas are used to link an independent clause with a dependent one; comma cannot be used to join two independent clauses.

A: The sentence formed by this answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “heirloom tomatoes…heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand”; the repetition of the noun “heirlooms” leads to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that although heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand; remember, removing extra information between commas or within dashes/parenthesis should not alter the core meaning of the sentence. Further, Option A incorrectly uses the present participle (“verb+ing” – “appearing” in this sentence) to refer to a statement of universal fact; remember, statements of universal fact are best conveyed through the simple present tense.

B: Correct. The sentence formed by this answer choice directly uses “Although heirloom tomatoes…appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins” to directly modify the clause “heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand”, conveying the intended meaning – that although heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand; in other words, the sentence formed by Option B preserves the core meaning of the sentence, even after removing the extra information between commas and dashes. Further, the sentence formed by Option B avoids the grammatical construction error seen in Option D, as it includes only one independent clause. Additionally, Option B correctly uses the simple present tense verb “appear” to refer to a statement of universal fact.

C: The sentence formed by this answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “heirloom tomatoes…heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand”; the repetition of the noun “heirlooms” leads to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that although heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand; remember, removing extra information between commas or within dashes/parenthesis should not alter the core meaning of the sentence.

D: This answer choice incorrectly joins the independent clauses “heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins” and “heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand” without punctuation or conjunction; remember, either the semicolon or “comma + conjunction” construction must be used to join independent clauses.

E: The sentence formed by this answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “Heirloom tomatoes…heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand”; the repetition of the noun “heirlooms” leads to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that although heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand; remember, removing extra information between commas or within dashes/parenthesis should not alter the core meaning of the sentence.

Hence, B is the best answer choice.

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



To understand the use of punctuation on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~10 minutes):



To understand the concept of "Extra Information Between Commas" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~4 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Please read the sentence in full- both the underlined and non-underlined portion put together. Choice B is a complex sentence, with the following structure. A subordinate clause followed by a major clause appearing in the non-underlined part. The first heirloom tomatoes is the subject of the subordinate clause with its own verb appear and the second heirloom is the subject of the major clause with its verb are more flavorful. Therefore an unnecessary, extra use of the phrase heirloom has been avoided in the underlined portion by properly using phrase heirloom.

You have to decide wht that phrase heirloom tomatoes stands for in the given context. If it stands for the subject of a clause within the underlined portion, then it is ok. On the contrary, if it stands for the subject of the major clause, then it turns dangling and redundant, since the major clause is already having a subject.

You may perhaps like to read the sentence in full- both the underlined and non-underlined portions put together. For the sake of clarity just remove the modifiers and the parenthetics that are not contributory but just descriptive.
Choice B is a complex sentence, with the structure of a subordinate clause followed by a major clause that appears in the non-underlined part. The first heirloom tomatoes is the subject of the subordinate clause with its own verb appear and the second heirloom is the subject of the major clause with its verb are more flavorful. Both heirloom subjects have been served with their own verbs and hence there is no redundancy

You have to decide what that phrase heirloom tomatoes stands and how many times it appears in the given context. If it is within the underlined part and stands for the subject of a clause within the underlined portion, then it is ok. On the contrary, if it is within the underlined part and still stands for the subject of the major clause that is outside the underline, then it turns dangling and redundant in this context, because the major clause is already having a subject.

Concept tested: Pronouns, Run on sentences, Fragment.
Difficulty level: High
Illustration: The most important takeaway of this problem is that “ambiguity in pronouns is a flexible rule in the GMAT.” Now with that in mind, let us look at the options.
A and C use “heirloom tomatoes” twice causing construction errors and redundancy.
D is a clear run-on sentence which violates construction rule.
E misuses the construction for phrases with “although” which should be used as:
Although (independent clause), Independent clause
For e.g: Although he did not study hard, Harry topped his class.
B is correct (This tells us the GMAT is indeed flexible with logical albeit a little ambiguous pronouns)

Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year – they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises-heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand.

A Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year Sentence fragment as there is nothing with heirloom tomatoes to complete the sentence.

B Although heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year, appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins

Correctly indicates the contrast pet the actual meaning.

C Although they appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year Sentence fragment as there is nothing with heirloom tomatoes to complete the sentence

D Grown from seeds saved during the previous year, heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins
The contrast is missing.
E Heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year, although they appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins Blank out the highlighted portion, Sentence fragment

This Questions becomes very easy if 2 things are known - sentence structure & focus on meaning.
The intended meaning: It presents a contrast. Although heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than their supermarket cousins (fact), they are more flavorful & in increasing demand (is the contrast).

Splitting the sentence:
1. Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year. SV error. No verb for subject Heirloom tomatoes.
2. they are often green and striped, or (they) have plenty of bumps and bruises. SV pair looks ok.
3. heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand. SV pair in agreement.
Pronoun "they" logically refers to noun heirloom tomatoes, because author is presenting a fact/contrast about heirloom tomatoes.

POE:
(A) Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year. No verb for this clause.
(B) Although heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year, appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins. Correct choice with proper SV Pair.
(C) Although they appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the pervious year. No verb for noun heirloom tomatoes
(D) Grown from seeds saved during the previous year, heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins. This sentence seems grammatically correct (other than usage of ; ) but loses the contrast per original sentence..
(E) Heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year, although they appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins. This seems again IC and Heirloom tomatoes has no verb

Blueseas, I just want to confirm with you that D is wrong because of the missing conjunction. Is it so?

Will D be correct , had the option D been - "Grown from seeds saved during the previous year, heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins -- they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises -- and are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand."

if this is not the answer choice and we have just to check that your sentence is gramatically correct then YES...it is correct GRAMATICALLY correct.

ERRORS IN OPTION D:
Grown from seeds saved during the previous year, heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins – they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises-heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand.

WRONG.
-According to original sentence intended meaning we need a contrast so contrasting word such as ALTHOUGH is required.
-yes there is no conjunction to connect 2 ICs.
-moreover the modifier "Grown from seeds saved during the previous year"==>this modifier before the heirloom tomatoes brings the intended meaning that because heirloom tomatoes are grown from seeds saved during the previous year==>heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing==>which is not the intended meaning. ==>so you can see how the placement of modifier changes the meaning .

so lastly i will say your rephrased optioin is gramatically correct but not meaningwise.

hope it helps

I think it's equally helpful, if u can break the sentence part by part...

Main sentence
Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year – they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises-heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand

Now, let's see who is modifying what..

1. "grown from seeds" > heirloom tomatoes
2. "saved during the previous year" > seeds
3. "— they are often green and striped" > heirloom tomatoes (here dash (-) is used instead of comma)
4. "— heirloom are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand." (here dash (-) is used instead of semicolon)

Now, for our simplicity, let's give a short name for each long clauses.

1. most of their round and red supermarket cousins > X
2. often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises > "actually Y"
3. are more flavorful and thus increasing in demand. > "do Z"

Eliminate the modifier "grown from seeds saved during the previous year" which is unnecessary


Now rephrase each answer choices with including nonunderlined portion of main sentence, try to find out the inconsistencies of each sentence.
1. Although appearing less appeatizing than X, Heirloom tomatoes they are actually Y; Heirlooms do Z. (Redundant)
2. Although heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than X, they are actually Y; Heirlooms do Z.
3. Although they appear less appetizing than X, Heiloom tomatoes, they are actually Y; Heirlooms do Z. (Redundant)
4. Heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than X, they are actually Y; Heirlooms do Z (conjunction missing; two independent clauses cannot be connected without conjunction or semicolon or dash)
5. Heirloom tomatoes, although they appear less appetizing than X, they are actually Y; Heilooms do Z. (Redundant)

Hope, it helps a lot.

Could you please elaborate as to why option D is incorrect? Also how do we decide on the usage of em dash?

Hi Megha, with D, the sentence would be:

Grown from seeds saved during the previous year, heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins – they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises-heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand.

The portion between the dash is called parenthetical: It interrupts the core sentence, to make a point. So, to expose the core of the sentence, we can look at the sentence without the parenthetical. So, the core of the sentence is:

Grown from seeds saved during the previous year, heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand.

Now it becomes clearer. There are two two Independent clauses here:

i) Grown from seeds saved during the previous year, heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins
ii) Heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand

The issue is that this is (what is called) a run-on sentence. Basically, two Independent clauses have to be connected by a conjunction or a semicolon. We cannot just have a blank or a comma connecting two Independent clauses.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses run-on sentences, their application and examples in significant detail. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id, I can mail the corresponding section.

Isn't the word "they" creating an ambiguity ( how do we know is it modifying heirloom or its cousins). Help needed please. (Or is it the case that when two IC's are separated by a dash-the word "they" in the following clause, represents the subject of the first clause i.e heirloom tomatoes)

Your reasoning is correct, this kind of usage is not considered ambiguous. However note that this usage is applicable not just for two independent clauses, but also for any combination of clauses (e.g. independent clause + dependent clause).

Hi sayantanc2k,
You said: 2 modifier can't modify the same thing (heirloom tomatoes) in a row. Now, I'm going to cross out some of the option of the question by this method.
Here,
part 1: " Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins"
Part 2: "heirloom tomatoes"
Part 3: " grown from seeds saved during the previous year"
In A: part 1 modify part 2. also, part 3 modify part 2...>cross out
In C: part 1 modify part 2. also, part 3 modify part 2...>cross out
In E: part 3 modify part 2. also, part 1 modify part 2....>cross out
Is it the wrong?
Thanks...

You have a misunderstanding it seems:

You are right that part 1 and part 3 are modifiers for part 2. But these 2 modifiers DO NOT come in a row one after the other - part 2 comes in between. Hence you cannot eliminate these choices based on modifier issue.