Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
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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
(B) Although heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year, appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins
(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
(D) Grown from seeds saved during the previous year, heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins
(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
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