Among the largest of the flying squirrels is the Japanese giant flying

Question

Among the largest of the flying squirrels is the Japanese giant flying squirrel.

is weighs didn't make sense to me. is there anybody who can breakdown the sentence?

(A) measuring two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail, with a wingspan of more than a foot and a half, and it weighs

(B) measuring two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail, a wingspan of more than a foot and a half, and weighing

(C) which measures two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail, its wingspan is more than a foot and a half, and weighing

(D) which measures two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail, with a wingspan of more than a foot and a half, weighing

(E) which measures two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail, has a wingspan of more than a foot and a half, and weighs

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-squirrels-fly-37372905/

Among the largest of the flying squirrels is the Japanese giant flying squirrel , measuring two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail, with a wingspan of more than a foot and a half , and it weights up to five pounds.

a. measuring two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail, with a wingspan of more than a foot and a half , and it weights

b. measuring two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail , a wingspan of more than a foot and a half , and weighing

NOW YOU READ THE LAST THREE AT ONCE

c. which measures two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail , its wingspan is more than a foot and a half , and weighing

d. which measures two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail , with a wingspan of more than a foot and a half , weighing

e. which measures two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail , has a wingspan of more than a foot and a half , and weighs

sayantanc2k · Accepted Answer

This is an example of subject-verb flip. First consider the following sentence:

The Japanese giant flying squirrel is among the largest of the flying squirrels.

Now flip:
Among the largest of the flying squirrels is the Japanese giant flying squirrel.

The above is the main clause of the sentence.

Then comes a relative clause modifier (for "Japanese giant flying squirrel"): "which measures..., has..., and weighs...". The three verbs "measures","has" and "weighs" are within the relative clause modifier and have the same subject "which".

daagh · Answer

a.measuring two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail, with a wingspan of more than a foot and a half , and  it weights

Option A: is there a transcription typo in saying ‘it weights”? Let’s take that the corrected version says “, and it weighs”. Even then, it runs into problems.

We m first have an IC and then two back to back modifier phrases modifying the first IC and then a another IC conjoined by a coordinator ‘and’ . Ok apparently fine; but the problem is that the back-to-back modifiers should themselves be separated by another ‘and’.

Secondly, assuming that the second IC’s ‘it’ refers to the squirrel, we can do without the pronoun and the sentence will still be grammatical as the same subject can be elliptically used in the place of the stated pronoun. Many times, it has been felt that it is redundant to state the pronoun yet again.

If we are referring to the squirrel with three features, it is best to put them all in// structures as does E.

Senthil1981 · Answer

Answer is E) since it maintains the Parallel structure
which  measures  two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail ,  has  a wingspan of more than a foot and a half , and  weighs

+1 for kudos

nishatfarhat87 · Answer

Among the largest of the flying squirrels  is the Japanese giant flying squirrel ,  measuring two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail,
with a wingspan of more than a foot and a half 
, and it weights  up to five pounds.

a.measuring two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail, with a wingspan of more than a foot and a half , and it weights -  The sentence has 2 modifiers inserted between a clause where. Correct

b. measuring two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail , a wingspan of more than a foot and a half , and weighing -  Here it tries to create parallelism between non existent parallel element. Also a wingspan... is a noun modifier. Due to its placement it modifies tail. The third element which is a phrase ain't parallel to the first element which is a clause.

c. which measures two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail , its wingspan is more than a foot and a half , and weighing -  Here it converts the second element into a clause that is connected inappropriately with the first. Also , it connects a clause with a phrase with the help of and which anyway connects 2 parallel elements.

d. which measures two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail , with a wingspan of more than a foot and a half , weighing -  It converts it weighs which is part of the main clause into a modifier as a third element causing a shift in meaning.

e. which measures two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail , has a wingspan of more than a foot and a half , and weighs -  Grammatically correct option but creates parallelism between elements which weren't parallel causing a shift in meaning.

nishatfarhat87 · Answer

Hi Daagh,

I had the following questions in bold to your responses:

Option A: is there a transcription typo in saying ‘it weights”? Let’s take that the corrected version says “, and it weighs”. Even then, it runs into problems.

We m first have an IC and then two back to back modifier phrases modifying the first IC and then a another IC conjoined by a coordinator ‘and’ . Ok apparently fine; but the problem is that the back-to-back modifiers should themselves be separated by another ‘and’. -  If we use and here then the modifiers need to be parallel. The issues is one is a verbing and the other is a prep phrase. That will not be parallel. Do you think that's right?
 
Secondly, assuming that the second IC’s ‘it’ refers to the squirrel, we can do without the pronoun and the sentence will still be grammatical as the same subject can be elliptically used in the place of the stated pronoun. Many times, it has been felt that it is redundant to state the pronoun yet again. -  If you look at the subject it is a noun phrase saying among the many....I think a pronoun simplifies it and refers to the squirrel instead of the entire noun phrase. What's your thought on this?

If we are referring to the squirrel with three features, it is best to put them all in// structures as does E.  -  For the reasons stated above I think E changes meaning by changing the focus of the sentence.

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi nishatfarhat87, I believe what daagh sir meant was that at the very least , there should have been an and (not that the sentence would have been completely correct in that case). Actually the subject is the Japanese giant flying squirrel (that's also the reason for singular verb is ). Such constructs are called inverted constructs; test-takers should be comfortable with these constructs. Actually E puts equal focus on the three features, because of this parallelism: ....which measures ..., has , and weighs So, Parallelism is between three verbs : measures , has , and weighs . p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses Inverted construct , its application and examples. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

Konstantin1983 · Answer

I think this is a remake of OG question about flying reptile. The same wording))

abhishek03050 · Answer

Hi, I just learnt the concept of Verb-ing Modifiers today and tried to apply the same here. According to me :- in A/ B < measuring > , needs to modify the entire clause This Modification of the Entire clause by < measuring > seems incorrect to me. C > which measures two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail , its wingspan is more than a foot and a half , and weighing <<< Seems to be Parallelism Issue to me>> D > "AND" should be there before "Weighs" E > which measures two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail , has a wingspan of more than a foot and a half , and weighs < Seems good to me > Kindly note that I have laid my hands on Verb-ed/ Verb-Ing Modifiers only today.Kindly correct me if I have said something incorrect. Regards, Abhishek

Korhand · Answer

Among the largest of the flying squirrels  is  the Japanese giant flying squirrel.

is weighs didn't make sense to me. is there anybody who can breakdown the sentence?

Korhand · Answer

is weighs didn't make sense to me. is there anybody who can breakdown the sentence?

daviddaviddavid · Answer

Among the largest of the flying squirrels is the Japanese giant flying squirrel.

is weighs didn't make sense to me. is there anybody who can breakdown the sentence?

a.  measuring  two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail,  with  a wingspan of more than a foot and a half , and it  weights

b.  measuring  two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail ,  a wingspan  of more than a foot and a half , and  weighing

NOW YOU READ THE LAST THREE AT ONCE

c. which  measures  two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail ,  its wingspan is  more than a foot and a half , and  weighing

d. which  measures  two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail ,  with  a wingspan of more than a foot and a half ,  weighing

e. which  measures  two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail ,  has  a wingspan of more than a foot and a half , and  weighs

tanww1987 · Answer

Hi, can anyone enlighten me why B is wrong?

Is it because ",measuring...." modifies a clause and not the noun before it, which in this case "measuring" is modifying the squirrel, hence the comma is excessive?

Ing modifier performs as a noun modifier without a comma in fron

Kchaudhary · Answer

Hi tanww1987,

let me try

Among the largest of the flying squirrels is the Japanese giant flying squirrel.

is weighs didn't make sense to me. is there anybody who can breakdown the sentence?

Among the largest of the flying squirrels is the Japanese giant  flying squirrel  
,  measuring  two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail, -  here 'measuring' is correctly modifying squirrel (note it is not just separated by a comma but a pair of comma)

,  with  a wingspan of more than a foot and a half,

and  it weights  up to five pounds.

B is wrong because parallelism is not maintained.

atrayee345 · Answer

This is a question based on parallelism.
A. “it weighs” is not parallel to “measuring”. So, A is out.
B. “a wingspan” doesn’t give a clear picture that flying squirrel has a wingspan.
C. “which measure”, “its wingspan” and “weighing” are not parallel.
D. “which measure”, “with a wingspan” and “weighing” are not parallel.
E. It has a complete parallel structure. Hence, E is the answer

meenakshimiyer · Answer

This is a question based on parallelism.
A. “it weighs” is not parallel to “measuring”. So, A is out.
B. “a wingspan” doesn’t give a clear picture that flying squirrel has a wingspan.
C. “which measure”, “its wingspan” and “weighing” are not parallel.
D. “which measure”, “with a wingspan” and “weighing” are not parallel.
E. It has a complete parallel structure. Hence, E is the answer.

AbhishekDhanraJ72 · Answer

E) which measures two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail, has a wingspan of more than a foot and a half, and weighs

Why relative pronoun is not repeated here?
I thought the right option should be : which measures two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail, which has a wingspan of more than a foot and a half, and which weighs
That's why I crossed out option E.
Experts your input is required.
In Manhattan Book Page : 91 , . Parallelism Question No. 12. We have relative pronoun repeated.

EducationAisle · Answer

You can go thru  this post  on when the relative pronoun should be repeated.

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  AbhishekDhanraJ72 ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, if all the elements in a list take the same relative pronoun or preposition, it does not need to be repeated throughout the list; one use of the preposition or relative pronoun at the beginning of the sentence can be held common for the entire list.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

PyjamaScientist · Answer

Hi  AndrewN ,

Would (B) be correct if it were written like this:

Among the largest of the flying squirrels is the Japanese  giant flying squirrel ,  measuring two feet from the top of its head to the tip of its tail ,  having a wingspan of more than a foot and a half , and  weighing up to five pounds .
Three coloured verb-ing modifiers modifying the noun  giant flying squirrel .

Thanks.

Among the largest of the flying squirrels is the Japanese giant flying

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Among the largest of the flying squirrels is the Japanese giant flying

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards