Astronomers have discovered what is now the largest known structure -

Question

Astronomers have discovered what is now the largest known structure in the universe- the Supervoid,   an incredibly big hole in space distinguished by its unusual emptiness and stretching more than 1.8 billion light-years from end to end

A. an incredibly big hole in space distinguished by its unusual emptiness and stretching more than 1.8 billion light-years from end to end

B. an incredibly big hole in space distinguished by its unusual emptiness and stretches more than 1.8 billion light-years from end to end

C. an incredibly big hole in space distinguishing by its unusual emptiness and stretching more than 1.8 billion light-years from end to end

D. a hole incredibly big in space distinguished by its unusual emptiness and stretch more than 1.8 billion light-years from end to end

E. a hole incredibly big in space distinguished by its unusual emptiness and its stretch more than 1.8 billion light-years from end to end

Source: Experts Global

sudarshan22 · Answer

+1 for   E  .

A. an incredibly big hole in space  distinguished by  its  unusual emptiness  and  stretching  more than 1.8 billion light-years from end to end -->  Incorrect 
B. an incredibly big hole in space  distinguished by  its  unusual emptiness  and  stretches  more than 1.8 billion light-years from end to end -->  Incorrect 
C. an incredibly big hole in space  distinguishing by  its  unusual emptiness  and  stretching  more than 1.8 billion light-years from end to end -->  Incorrect 
D. a hole incredibly big in space  distinguished by  its  unusual emptiness  and  stretch  more than 1.8 billion light-years from end to end -->  Incorrect 
E. a hole incredibly big in space  distinguished by   its   unusual emptiness  and  its stretch  more than 1.8 billion light-years from end to end -->   Correct

Hence,   E  .

Mick1005 · Answer

A and B both are fine.
ill go with B. 
Verb-ing in the middle always looks sketchy. B looks crisp and clean

daagh · Answer

1. In E, the phrase 'more than 1.8 billion light-years from end to end' seems to modify both the emptiness and the stretch, an illogical proposition, as emptiness cannot be measured in length. This arises because 'distinguished by' is ascribed to both emptiness and the stretch taken together as a compound object. 
The order should be reversed as --- a hole incredibly big in space distinguished by its stretch more than 1.8 billion light-years from end to end and its unusual emptiness.

Example from OG:

The original

Correct choice

A maintains parallelism by using a past participle 'distinguished by' and a present participle ' stretching' to modify the big hole 
 
3. In E, 'in space' modifies incredibly big while in A, 'in space' correctly modifies the hole.

I would vote A

sudarshan22 · Answer

Sure, I missed that out

Many thanks for rectifying the blunder daagh

Adhering to the pointers you have mentioned, Option A looks legit indeed

rever08 · Answer

Isn't the and in option A incorrect?

daagh · Answer

'and' is the conjunction of two participle modifiers 'distinguished by' and 'stretching'

hiranmay · Answer

Astronomers have discovered what is now the largest known structure in the universe- the Supervoid,  an incredibly big hole in space distinguished by its unusual emptiness and stretching more than 1.8 billion light-years from end to end  .

A. an incredibly big hole in space  distinguished  by its unusual emptiness and  stretching  more than 1.8 billion light-years from end to end -->  correct  usage of appositive "an incredibly big hole": hole  that is distinguished  by ... and  that stretches more  than ...

B. an incredibly big hole in space  distinguished  by its unusual emptiness and  stretches  more than 1.8 billion light-years from end to end

C. an incredibly big hole in space  distinguishing  by its unusual emptiness and  stretching  more than 1.8 billion light-years from end to end

D. a hole incredibly big in space  distinguished  by its unusual emptiness and  stretch  more than 1.8 billion light-years from end to end

E. a hole incredibly big in space  distinguished  by its unusual emptiness and  its stretch  more than 1.8 billion light-years from end to end

ashimakumari · Answer

Can anyone explain a bit clearer why A and not b?

krndatta · Answer

Hi  Maxximus ,
Can you throw some light on why option's B and C are incorrect?

Thanks

samarth1222 · Answer

I eliminated A because it is not following the parallelism "stretching" also present participle is not directly used as the action verb but it modifies the noun or any verb here stretching is one of the main verb but it is used in the present participle. In B I didn't find this error everything is in parallel and also the main verb is not a present participle. so can someone please explain the reasoning which I have used is correct or not?

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  samarth1222 ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, in Option A the past participle phrase "distinguished by its unusual emptiness" parallels the present participle phrase "stretching more than 1.8 billion light-years from end to end", and both of these phrases modify the noun phrase "an incredibly big hole in space".

Past participles and present participles can indeed be parallel in a sentence, as long as they play the same role.

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

Astronomers have discovered what is now the largest known structure -

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

Astronomers have discovered what is now the largest known structure -

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