Americas latest probe to Mars, Insight landed safely on the Martian

Question

America’s latest probe to Mars, Insight landed safely on the Martian surface on November 26,  which made it the first rover dedicating to studying the deep interiors of Mars to land successfully on its surface, and is expected to successfully revive two other malfunctioned American rovers on the Martian surface.

A. which made it the first rover dedicating to studying the deep interiors of Mars to land successfully on its surface, and is expected to successfully revive two other malfunctioned American rovers on the Martian surface

B. an event that made it the first rover dedicated to studying the deep interiors of Mars to land successfully on its surface, is expected to successfully revive two other American rovers on the surface of Mars that malfunctioned.

C. made it the first rover dedicated to studying the deep interiors of Mars to land successfully on its surface, and is expected to successfully revive two other American rovers on the Martian surface that malfunctioned.

D. an event that made it the first rover dedicated to studying the deep interiors of Mars to land successfully on its surface, and is expected to successfully revive two other malfunctioned American rovers on the Martian surface

E. an event that made it the first rover that dedicated to studying the deep interiors of Mars to land successfully on its surface, expected to successfully revive two other malfunctioned American rovers on the Martian surface.

Bunuel · Answer

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shameekv1989 · Answer

America’s latest probe to Mars, Insight landed safely on the Martian surface on November 26,  which made it the first rover dedicating to studying the deep interiors of Mars to land successfully on its surface, and is expected to successfully revive two other malfunctioned American rovers on the Martian surface.

A.  which  made it the first rover  dedicating to  studying the deep interiors of Mars to land successfully on its surface, and is expected to successfully revive two other malfunctioned American rovers on the Martian surface  - Incorrect usage of which; which can not modify a clause; rover dedicating to is incorrect - it should be dedicated to

B. an event that made it the first rover dedicated to studying the deep interiors of Mars to land successfully on its surface , is expected  to successfully revive two other American rovers on the surface of Mars that malfunctioned.  - run on sentence (comma + without FANBOYS)

C.  made it the  first rover dedicated to studying the deep interiors of Mars to land successfully on its surface, and is expected to successfully revive two other American rovers on the Martian surface that malfunctioned.  - Verb'ed modifier can not modify the clause

D.  an event  that made it the first rover  dedicated to  studying the deep interiors of Mars to land successfully on its surface,  and is expected  to successfully revive two other malfunctioned American rovers on the Martian surface  - Correct usage of Noun+Noun modifier modifying the previous clause (Insight landed safely)

E. an event that made it the first rover that dedicated to studying the deep interiors of Mars to land successfully on its surface,  expected to successfully  revive two other malfunctioned American rovers on the Martian surface.  - Incorrect usage of Verb'ed modifier.

arvind910619 · Answer

Imo D

Splits 
1) which / an event / made.
2) that dedicated / dedicated
3) is expected / and is expected

Which can not refer to the clause before it, so in the original sentence which refers to martial surface. The meaning is not correct and the sentence is clearly wrong. Since it comes between it has to be a non essential modifier. A noun + noun modifier is correct

That dedicated is wrong. There is no need to use that before dedicated.

And is expected is correct the two clauses are parallel. These two clauses are connected by and. This sentence is an example of compound subject.

America’s latest probe to Mars, Insight landed safely on the Martian surface on November 26  and  is expected to successfully revive two other malfunctioned American rovers on the Martian surface

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

STEP 1 - UNDERSTANDING INTENDED MEANING

America’s latest probe to Mars, Insight landed safely on the Martian surface on November 26, 
 which made it the first rover dedicating to studying the deep interiors of Mars  
 Error:  
1.“ Which” is modifying the verb “landed”  in the preceding clause – it is the landing event that made the rover….- and thus, this portion is incorrect. "Which" cannot modify a verb, it can only modify a noun.
 Correct version:  restructuring of this portion – perhaps a flexible modifier (Noun+Noun modifier)

2.  “dedicating to studying” is a very awkward construction . What we need is a noun modifier to modify the noun “rover” and remove this awkwardness.
 Correct version:  the first rover, dedicated to studying…

to land successfully on its surface , 
 and is expected to successfully revive two other malfunctioned American rovers on the Martian surface.

INTENDED MEANING

• America’s latest probe to Mars, Insight landed safely on the Martian surface on November 26.
• This event(the landing) made Insight the first rover to land successfully on Mars’ surface.
• Insight is the first rover dedicated to studying the deep interiors of Mars
• The same event is also expected to successfully revive two other malfunctioned American rovers on the Martian surface.

STEP 2 - ELIMINATE CHOICES WITH IDENTIFIED ERRORS 
None of the choices has the errors present in Choice A.

STEP 3: EVALUATE MEANING OF REMAINING CHOICES
 
CHOICE B 
America’s latest probe to Mars, Insight landed safely on the Martian surface on November 26,  an event that made it the first rover dedicated to studying the deep interiors of Mars to land successfully on its  surface, is expected  to successfully revive two other American rovers on the surface of Mars that malfunctioned.

• The connector “and” is missing. It seems the “surface” is expected to do something. 
• The segment is not parallel - “an event that made ……., is expected to”

Incorrect Choice.

CHOICE C 
America’s latest probe to Mars,  Insight landed  safely on the Martian surface on November 26,   made  it the first rover dedicated to studying the deep interiors of Mars to land successfully on its surface, and is expected to successfully revive two other American rovers on the Martian surface that malfunctioned

• “Made” is modifying the verb “landed”. After all it is the landing that made the rover…. 
• “Made” is an ed verbal. It can only modify a noun and not a verb
• The entire structure becomes skewed “Insight landed …, made it …, and is expected..”

Incorrect Choice.

CHOICE D 
America’s latest probe to Mars,  Insight landed  safely on the Martian surface on November 26,   an event that made  it the first rover dedicated to studying the deep interiors of Mars to land successfully on its surface,  and is expected  to successfully revive two other malfunctioned American rovers on the Martian surface

• This construction correctly uses  a flexible modifier  – “ an event that made…”(Noun + noun modifier) to modify the verb “landed” in the preceding clause.
• The segment is parallel – an event that made it….and is expected to…”

1. Logical
2. Clear
3. Same as the intended meaning

Correct Choice.

CHOICE E 
America’s latest probe to Mars, Insight landed safely on the Martian surface on November 26,  an event that made it the first rover that dedicated to studying the deep interiors of Mars to land successfully on its  surface, expected to  successfully revive two other malfunctioned American rovers on the Martian surface

• “expected” is modifying the noun “surface” which is illogical. The surface is not expected to revive the other rovers.

Incorrect Choice.

Kunni · Answer

Hi,

I believe Noun + Noun modifier modifies either any noun placed in the sentence or the whole clause. It does not modify verb, so it can't modify laded. Please advise.

Thanks 
Kunal

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi Kunal Flexible modifiers (noun+noun modifier) can modify any noun in a sentence or even the main verb(in that sense, a flexible modifier does modify the clause). So, they can modify • The verb • Any noun in the middle of the sentence • The noun placed before it. Here are three examples showing three different entities modified by a flexible modifier. 1. Harry has graduated from Cambridge University with distinction in economics, an achievement that sets him apart from his contemporaries . The portion “an achievement that sets him apart from his contemporaries” is a flexible modifier.So, which entity does it modify? If you focus on the meaning, it will be very clear that since we are talking about an achievement, the modified entity should the action of “graduation with distinction” because that seems to be the achievement. So, i n this case the flexible modifier is modifying the main verb in the clause. Let us now modify the flexible modifier a bit. 2. Harry has graduated from Cambridge University with distinction in economics, an institution that is considered to be one of the best in the world. In this sentence, the flexible modifier used is “an institution that is considered to be one of the best in the world”. So, which entity does it modify? Clearly there is only one entity that it can modify. The entity is Cambridge University because there is no other institution mentioned in the sentence. So, this time t he modifier presents more information about the University which is a noun placed in the middle of the sentence. Let’s take another version of this sentence. 3. Harry has graduated from Cambridge University with distinction in economics , a subject that is one of the most difficult to master. In this sentence, the flexible modifier is “a subject that is one of the most difficult to master”. Now, what does this modifier modify? Again if you focus on the meaning it would be clear that it can only modify “economics” as that is the only subject which is mentioned in the sentence. So, in this case the flexible modifier modifies the noun which comes right before it Takeaway: A flexible modifier (noun+noun modifier) can modify any noun in a sentence or even the main verb. The entity being modified can be easily understood by focusing on the meaning of the sentence. Hope this helps

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Choice A:  This answer choice incorrectly uses the word "which" to modify the verb landed; "which" can only be used to modify nouns. This answer choice also uses the past continuous tense to refer to the dedication of the rover to its purpose; the rover was dedicated to its purpose at some point in the past, meaning the appropriate tense to use here is the simple past tense. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice B:  This answer choice fails to provide appropriate conjunction to connect the phrases "an event..." and "is expected..."; resultantly, this answer choice incorrectly modifies the noun "surface" with the verb "is expected" and fails to maintain parallelism. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice C:  This answer choice incorrectly uses the word "made" to modify the verb "landed". Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice D:  This answer choice preserves the meaning of this sentence by introducing the noun phrase "an event" to serve as a subject for the verb "made". This answer choice also maintains parallelism between "made" and "expected". Thus, this answer choice is correct.

Choice E:  This answer choice incorrectly uses the phrase "expected to" to modify the noun "surface". Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Hence, D is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Use of Which, Who, Whose, and Where on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0M_MYzDfMk

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

rocksailor9 · Answer

C. made it the first rover dedicated to studying the deep interiors of Mars to land successfully on its surface, and is expected to successfully revive two other American rovers on the Martian surface that malfunctioned.

D. an event that made it the first rover dedicated to studying the deep interiors of Mars to land successfully on its surface, and is expected to successfully revive two other malfunctioned American rovers on the Martian surface

Why cant Option C use "America’s latest probe to Mars" as the Subject of the Clause, making the sentence as
America’s latest probe to Mars,  Insight landed safely on the Martian surface on November 26 , made it the first rover dedicating to studying the deep interiors of Mars to land successfully on its surface, and is expected to successfully revive two other malfunctioned American rovers on the Martian surface.

could somebody please explain this to me?

shameekv1989 · Answer

rocksailor9 
America’s latest probe to Mars,  Insight   landed  safely on the Martian surface on November 26,  made it

Because after 1st comma in the non-underlined part there is a Main clause that has a subject and verb. It is not connected by a FANBOY for it to be valid otherwise. Therefore C will be a run-on sentence in that case.

itspC · Answer

The red words in sentences are errors as per my POE.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Americas latest probe to Mars, Insight landed safely on the Martian

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