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Re: Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the el [#permalink]
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02 Jan 2013, 15:16
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This SC problem tests parallelism, pronoun, verb tense. (a) that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved Pronoun "Its" has ambiguous antecedent and can refer to both elephant and aquatic animal. (b) that has suggested the elephant descended from an aquatic animal, its trunk originally evolving Pronoun "Its" has ambiguous antecedent and can refer to both elephant and aquatic animal. "elephant descended" is wrong. "descended"without "is" means downward motion. "elephant is descended" is right way to use. (c) suggesting that the elephant had descended from an aquatic animal with its trunk originally evolving Pronoun "Its" has ambiguous antecedent and can refer to both elephant and aquatic animal. (d) to suggest that the elephant had descended from an aquatic animal and its trunk originally evolving "elephant had descended" is wrong. "elephant is descended" is right way to use. (e) to suggest that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and that its trunk originally evolved Correct. Fixes the parallelism error. Correct use of "is descended. Pronoun "Its" clearly refers to the elephant. _________________
The idioms "evidence that", "evidence to" and "evidence of" are correct. The correctness of their usage depends on the way a particular senetnce has been written.
Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel.
(a) that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved (b) that has suggested the elephant descended from an aquatic animal, its trunk originally evolving (c)suggesting that the elephant had descended from an aquatic animal with its trunk originally evolving (d) to suggest that the elephant had descended from an aquatic animal and its trunk originally evolving (e) to suggest that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and that its trunk originally evolved
The answer choices with "evidence that" has some grammatical issue. Only choice E is the grammatically correct. This is the reason why here use of "evidence to" is correct.
Now take a look at this GMAT Prep question:
Astronomers have uncovered evidence that a star that was as bright as the full moon exploding into view 340,000 years ago, emitting dazzling radiation that could have disrupted Earth's protective ozone layer and sunburned our Stone Age ancestors.
A) that a star that was as bright as the full moon exploding into view 340,000 years ago, emitting B) that a star as bright as the full moon exploded into view 340,000 years ago, emitting C) of a star that was as bright as the full moon exploding into view 340,000 years ago and that it emitted D) of a star as bright as the full moon, exploding into view 340,000 years ago and emitting E) of a star as bright as the full moon that exploded into view 340,000 years ago and that emitted
The correct answer of this sentence is choice B where the uasge of the idiom "evidence that" is correct. This is so because all the other choices have some grammatical error.
Hope this helps. Thanks. Shraddha
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Re: Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the el [#permalink]
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08 Apr 2013, 00:23
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I would like to know : - please correct me if Im wrong
Tree was planted by Ram and that provided mangoes in the month of May . Clause 1: Tree was planted by Ram Subject : Tree verb : Was planted
Clause 1: that provided mangoes in the month of May Subject : That (pronoun) verb : provided
here clause 1 and 2 are BOTH independent clause , then should it not be
Tree was planted by Ram , and that provided mangoes in the month of May . <independent clause > , and < independent clause> ?
on similar lines
the correct form
Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and that its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel.
This has <Australian embryologists ( =subject) have found ( = verb) > and <that = subject , evovled = verb >
should it not have comma before and ???
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Re: Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the el [#permalink]
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16 Jan 2014, 00:55
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kiranjith wrote:
the "is descended" usage puts me in trouble.Please let me know is that really necessary?Why not just "descended"?
Before I answer your question, I have a request. Your other posts, don't have all the options listed. And the topic name should contain the question (the initial words), esle the mods will lock your posts. Please do this at the earliest.
Coming back to your question, descended as a verb has two meanings (in fact many) - 1. to get down or come down. 2. come from (a lineage or some ancestor)
She descended the bus ==> She got down from the bus. She was descended from a noble family ==> She comes from a noble family.
By just using the word, descended (without the helping verb 'is') the meaning of the sentence is changed. Hope your doubt is clarified.
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Re: Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the el [#permalink]
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16 Jan 2014, 02:20
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What would u say when u want to mean ancestry r lineage? He/she is a descendant of XYZ. Is descendant is nothing but that. On the contrary when u say he/she descended from XYZ it would mean going down. Also if u do Poe. A. Evidence that suggest that is a bit redundant plus comma and sets an independent clause here which is not appropriate here. B. Evolving is not correct , u have to understand that the embryologists suggested two things and each should have a. Verb. C. Subject verb issue D.has descended again would mean gone down. Plus this is a reporting structure you need Another that after and to maintain parallelism. E. Correct. Proper parallelism maintained subject verb issue resolved.
Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel. A. that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved B. that has suggested the elephant descended from an aquatic animal, its trunk originally evolving C. suggesting that the elephant had descended from an aquatic animal with its trunk originally evolving D. to suggest that the elephant had descended from an aquatic animal and its trunk originally evolved E. to suggest that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and that its trunk originally evolved
a) incorrect- parallel clauses start with the same word."that" is missing in the 2nd clause. can u please explain me how" is descended" correct ? why do we need "is" ?? and why" descended from an aquatic animal " is incorrect. dont understand why if we remove "is" we are only left with a modifier.(as per one of the earlier explanation) descended from an aquatic animal is a modifier. so is descended here not a verb ?? eg.humans evolved from apes. here evolved is a verb. please explain.
b)incorrect- has-incorrect verb. simnple past tense should be used. only a comma between the two clauses distorts the meaning. it seems that aquatic animal's trunk evoved.
c)incorrect- with after aquatic animals modifies the animals. distorts meaning. had is incorrect verb. (according to one of the explanations to this question "had descended" changes the intended meaning ) the meaning of descend here becomes"to pass from higher to lower") please explain.
d) same errors. has-incorrect verb. and no "that"
e)correct.
please help.
Hi Sid,
Thanks for posting your doubt here.
So let's take your doubts in the order you have posted them.
Choice A: Yes, your analysis is correct that we need another "that" to maintain parallelism in the sentence.
Now, use of "is descended" is correct because it denotes that the elephants have evolved from a water animal. We need "is" because this event is a universal fact. This fact holds true for all time in the past, present, and future. When want to convey that someone has come from certain ancestor or ancestry, we use "is/was descended" depending on the context of the usage.
In this choice, "is descended" together is a verb. But in Choice B, "descended" appears to be a modifier because "that" is missing after "has suggested". The way Choice B is worded, it seems to convey that the evidence has suggested the elephant itself and not something about elephant. In such a structure, "descended" seems to be a modifier rather than a verb. Even if used as a verb, "descended" would not be correct as it would give a complete different meaning.
Choice B: You have said that "only a comma between the two clauses distorts the meaning". What lies after comma is not clause as it does not have a verb. This choice is incorrect for the usage of "has suggested the elephant". Also now the choice does not say that the evidence suggests two things.
Choice C: As I have already mentioned, when we want to denote that something has come from an ancestor or ancestry, we use "is/was descended". Any other verb form changes the meaning of the word. The verb "has descended" means it has literally come down from an elevated point.
Choice D: Your analysis of this choice is correct.
Choice E: This choice rectifies all the errors and is the correct one.
Re: Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the el [#permalink]
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23 Aug 2014, 12:21
Zatarra wrote:
TommyWallach wrote:
Hey All,
(E) to suggest that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and that its trunk originally evolved ANSWER: "descended" and "evolved" are parallel, and everything else is clear.
Hope that helps!
-t
Tommy Isnt it appropriate to say "elephant has descended" instead of "elephant is descended"
Both the usage are different. Consider the following example: A- Elephant is descended from ... : In this descended is a predicate adjective ... similar to the one in sentence " The laundry is washed" . Hence it shows a state of being of the elephant. Also the sentence can be rewritten as Descended from an aquatic animal, the elephant has a huge trunk. B- Elephant has descended from an aquatic animal ...: In this sentence "Descend" is used in the capacity of an action verb. Hence it conveys a different mean as in the "elephant is descending from ...."
Re: Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the el [#permalink]
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23 Nov 2014, 23:10
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Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel. A. that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved
B. that has suggested the elephant descended from an aquatic animal, its trunk originally evolving -> Descended -> Coming down -> Wrong
C. suggesting that the elephant had descended from an aquatic animal with its trunk originally evolving -> no point to use Past perfect D. to suggest that the elephant has descended from an aquatic animal and its trunk originally evolved -> The action of descending is still continuing.
E. to suggest that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and that its trunk originally evolved
A. that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved For A) Australian embryologists have found evidence that Suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal , and its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel.
Now I am confused where does "its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel." sentence connects to? Does it connect to Australian embryologists have found evidence that its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel. -> Complete Non sense or Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that its (elephants) trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel -> This make sense.
Whereas Option E) is correct and there is no confusion.
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Re: Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the el [#permalink]
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09 Aug 2015, 06:26
souvik101990 wrote:
Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel. A. that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved B. that has suggested the elephant descended from an aquatic animal, its trunk originally evolving C. suggesting that the elephant had descended from an aquatic animal with its trunk originally evolving D. to suggest that the elephant has descended from an aquatic animal and its trunk originally evolved E. to suggest that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and that its trunk originally evolved
IMO D has correct parallelism because these parts are parallel: "to suggest thatthe elephant has descended from an aquatic animal and [that is omitted]its trunk originally evolved"
But D use active form has descended and it means that elephant move down and E use passive form is descended and it means that elephant a blood relative of (a specified ancestor) _________________
Re: Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the el [#permalink]
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27 Dec 2015, 23:12
TommyWallach wrote:
(E) to suggest that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and that its trunk originally evolved ANSWER: "descended" and "evolved" are parallel, and everything else is clear.
-t
Hi,
In my pre-thinking step before looking at the answer choices, I thought that we should have 'was descended' instead of 'is descended' since 'evolved' is in past and the action of descending took place in past. But to my surprise, I found the answer choice in present tense 'is descended'. Can you please let me know where I have gone wrong in my thinking process?
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Re: Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the el [#permalink]
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16 Jan 2016, 07:01
Hi, I have 2 doubts regarding the usage of verb tense here. Can someone please clarify these doubts?
1.I thought the first sub clause should be in past tense, since the action of descending took place in the past. So it should be either descended or was descended. But since as per few explanations descended means coming down, it should be was descended. 2.The second sub clause should be in present perfect tense, since the action of evolving took place in a period of time and still the effect of action is there. Can you please clarify the misconception in my thought process?
Thanks in advance.
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I think the above link at MGMAT that discussed this topic from top to bottom in nine pages, with explanations from the entire brigade of the MGMAT, should be of help Probably because, a past tense reference may erroneously lead to the impression that the elephant of today is not a descendant of the past event. For instance, we don’t say: My grandfather who is no more, was an Indian. We still say, my grandfather is an Indian. Truly, ancestry pervades through ages. In the second case, probably because, while the trunk is still there solidly, the development as a snorkel is a completed process. Beyond this meek explanation, I think you should go through the MGMAT thread to see the spirited defense of MGMAT on this.
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Re: Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the el [#permalink]
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01 Feb 2016, 04:54
Amardeep Sharma wrote:
Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel.
(a)that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved (b) that has suggested the elephant descended from an aquatic animal, its trunk originally evolving (c)suggesting that the elephant had descended from an aquatic animal with its trunk originally evolving (d) to suggest that the elephant had descended from an aquatic animal and its trunk originally evolving (e) to suggest that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and that its trunk originally evolved
Amar
we discuss again and again this hard question.
a. we need the second "that" before "its" . if we dont have "that", the ending clause is parallel to main clause "embryologiy have found". no sense. b, structured as in b, "its" is ambiguous, refering to elephant or animal. c "its" refers to animal. no sense. d we need the second "that" before "its"
a is correct.
though I can analyze above thing, I possibly can not do so in the test room. this is a hard question
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Re: Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the el [#permalink]
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11 Jul 2016, 06:48
TommyWallach wrote:
Hey All,
I got asked to take this one on by private message, so here I am! The answer is certainly E.
Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel.
(A) that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved PROBLEM: There's no reason to use a comma with a list of two things.
(B) that has suggested the elephant descended from an aquatic animal, its trunk originally evolving PROBLEM: You have to say "that" after the verb "to suggest".
(C) suggesting that the elephant had descended from an aquatic animal with its trunk originally evolving PROBLEM: The use of the past perfect tense here is incorrect, because the action isn't complete. I know it may seem like the descent has ended, but in the present, the elephant is STILL descended from an aquatic animal. That's an eternal truth. Also, using the prepositional phrase "with its trunk originally evolving" ends up modifying "an aquatic animal", when we really want to be referring to the elephant.
(D) to suggest that the elephant has descended from an aquatic animal and its trunk originally evolved PROBLEM: We don't want to change tense in parallel unless there's a significant reason ("yesterday I went to the store but today I will stay at home"). No good reason from present perfect "has descended" to past "evolved".
(E) to suggest that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and that its trunk originally evolved ANSWER: "descended" and "evolved" are parallel, and everything else is clear.
Hope that helps!
-t
Amardeep Sharma wrote:
Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel.
(a)that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved (b) that has suggested the elephant descended from an aquatic animal, its trunk originally evolving (c)suggesting that the elephant had descended from an aquatic animal with its trunk originally evolving (d) to suggest that the elephant had descended from an aquatic animal and its trunk originally evolving (e) to suggest that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and that its trunk originally evolved
Amar
Since people are having doubts on A and E, let me focus on that... with a point everyone else has missed :
A) evidence : that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved
Due to the missing that, we can interpret it as : researchers have found that: evidence that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and researchers have found its trunk originally evolved ....
No!!!!!
researchers have found evidence pointing to each of the things.... we need a second that to clarify that the intended meaning is :
researchers have found evidence that its trunk originally evolved
More than 'its' or 'a comma issue', the second that is required here to clarify the meaning
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Re: Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the el [#permalink]
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29 Jan 2017, 20:38
x97agarwal wrote:
OG16 SC130 Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel. A. that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved B. that has suggested the elephant descended from an aquatic animal, its trunk originally evolving C. suggesting that the elephant had descended from an aquatic animal with its trunk originally evolving D. to suggest that the elephant has descended from an aquatic animal and its trunk originally evolved E. to suggest that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and that its trunk originally evolved The correct answer is E.
I'm just talking about E. Here, the correct sentence is: Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and that its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel. This sentence works like------ Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest a) that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal (x) and b) that its trunk originally evolved (y) So, the whole sentence looks like---- Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest x and y. This sentence will also be fine if I say: Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest Mr. Robert and Mr. John. This x and y should be equivalent to some activities (like tense or clause) to make the original sentence legitimate. We can't say that ''I have found evidence to suggest pen (x) and paper (y)''. We should write the activities of 'pen and paper'. So, the complete sentence will be something like below. I have found evidence to suggest pen is used to write something on the answer script and paper is used for making answer script. In the above sentence, there should have a conjunction like THAT to animate the part ''I have found evidence to suggest''. So, the correct sentence will be: I have found evidence to suggest THAT pen is used to write something on the answer script and paper is used for making answer script. In the above sentence, I suggested two things simultaneously. So, if I break down the whole sentence into several parts, then the sentence will be like following. I have found evidence to suggest THAT 1) pen is used to write something on the answer script and 2) paper is used for making answer script. So, if I write the above sentence into separate parts, then it'll work perfectly. Here are the separate parts of the above sentence: 1/ I have found evidence to suggest THAT pen is used to write something on the answer script. 2/ I have found evidence to suggest THAT paper is used for making answer script.
Now, if I write the sentence like below, then it'll be... I have found evidence to suggest THAT pen is used to write something on the answer script and THAT paper is used for making answer script. If I breakdown this sentence, then it'll be... I have found evidence to suggest THAT a) pen is used to write something on the answer script and b) THAT paper is used for making answer script. So, if I write the above sentence into separate parts, then it'll NOT work perfectly. Here are the separate parts of the above sentence: 1/ I have found evidence to suggest THAT pen is used to write something on the answer script. --->OK 2/ I have found evidence to suggest THAT THAT paper is used for making answer script. ---->NOT OK SAME thing is happened in the original sentence of Official Guide! Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and that its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel. Now, if I break down this sentence into several parts it'll be.... Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest that a) the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and b) that its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel So, if I write the above sentence into separate parts, then it'll NOT work perfectly. Here are the separate parts of the above sentence: 1/ Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal. ----->OK 2/ Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest that that its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel. -----> NOT OK (doesn't make sense to me!)
Again, if we break down the original sentence into several parts like below, then it'll be.... Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest a) that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal (X) b) that its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel (Y) The whole sentence is something like below.... Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest X and Y. So, the above sentence is ''SENTENCE FRAGMENT''
Hi daagh, sayantanc2k, IanStewart, chetan2u, mikemcgarry, VeritasPrepKarishma, egmat It seems that I'm questioning the Official Answer. I've some confusion in this problem, but unfortunately, all the confusion is in the correct option, which is E. So, can you help me to find out my mistake so that I can easily accept E as a correct option, please? Thank you all my honorable expert!
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Re: Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the el [#permalink]
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01 Feb 2017, 12:38
sayantanc2k wrote:
iMyself wrote:
x97agarwal wrote:
OG16 SC130 Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel. A. that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved B. that has suggested the elephant descended from an aquatic animal, its trunk originally evolving C. suggesting that the elephant had descended from an aquatic animal with its trunk originally evolving D. to suggest that the elephant has descended from an aquatic animal and its trunk originally evolved E. to suggest that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and that its trunk originally evolved The correct answer is E.
I'm just talking about E. Here, the correct sentence is: Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and that its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel. This sentence works like------ Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest a) that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal (x) and b) that its trunk originally evolved (y) So, the whole sentence looks like---- Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest x and y. This sentence will also be fine if I say: Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest Mr. Robert and Mr. John. This x and y should be equivalent to some activities (like tense or clause) to make the original sentence legitimate. We can't say that ''I have found evidence to suggest pen (x) and paper (y)''. We should write the activities of 'pen and paper'. So, the complete sentence will be something like below. I have found evidence to suggest pen is used to write something on the answer script and paper is used for making answer script. In the above sentence, there should have a conjunction like THAT to animate the part ''I have found evidence to suggest''. So, the correct sentence will be: I have found evidence to suggest THAT pen is used to write something on the answer script and paper is used for making answer script. In the above sentence, I suggested two things simultaneously. So, if I break down the whole sentence into several parts, then the sentence will be like following. I have found evidence to suggest THAT 1) pen is used to write something on the answer script and 2) paper is used for making answer script. So, if I write the above sentence into separate parts, then it'll work perfectly. Here are the separate parts of the above sentence: 1/ I have found evidence to suggest THAT pen is used to write something on the answer script. 2/ I have found evidence to suggest THAT paper is used for making answer script.
Now, if I write the sentence like below, then it'll be... I have found evidence to suggest THAT pen is used to write something on the answer script and THAT paper is used for making answer script. If I breakdown this sentence, then it'll be... I have found evidence to suggest THAT a) pen is used to write something on the answer script and b) THAT paper is used for making answer script. So, if I write the above sentence into separate parts, then it'll NOT work perfectly. Here are the separate parts of the above sentence: 1/ I have found evidence to suggest THAT pen is used to write something on the answer script. --->OK 2/ I have found evidence to suggest THAT THAT paper is used for making answer script. ---->NOT OK SAME thing is happened in the original sentence of Official Guide! Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and that its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel. Now, if I break down this sentence into several parts it'll be.... Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest that a) the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and b) that its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel So, if I write the above sentence into separate parts, then it'll NOT work perfectly. Here are the separate parts of the above sentence: 1/ Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal. ----->OK 2/ Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest that that its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel. -----> NOT OK (doesn't make sense to me!)
Again, if we break down the original sentence into several parts like below, then it'll be.... Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest a) that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal (X) b) that its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel (Y) The whole sentence is something like below.... Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest X and Y. So, the above sentence is ''SENTENCE FRAGMENT''
Hi daagh, sayantanc2k, IanStewart, chetan2u, mikemcgarry, VeritasPrepKarishma, egmat It seems that I'm questioning the Official Answer. I've some confusion in this problem, but unfortunately, all the confusion is in the correct option, which is E. So, can you help me to find out my mistake so that I can easily accept E as a correct option, please? Thank you all my honorable expert!
The confusion arises because you are unable decide where the parallel structure starts. Consider the following cases:
1. I know THAT [(X) AND (Y)] ... I know only one thing: that one thing consists of both X and Y. 2. I know [(THAT X) AND (THAT Y)]... I know two things: The first is X and the second is Y.
If you remember the twice in-once out rule of parallelism, then the above would be easier to understand. In the first case, "that" is outside the parallel structure (hence once), and in the second "that" is inside the structure (hence twice).
In GMAT, it is generally a practice to use "that" inside the structure (i.e. twice).
Here, "evidence to suggest" is going to indicate that evidence exists for the purpose of suggesting something. we are not still sure WHO is the DOER of the words ''suggest''. Is it ''evidence'' or ''is the evidence a means by which the embryologists suggest something?
The use of ''evidence to suggest'' is confusing in this sentence. If we replace the word '' to suggest'' with ''suggesting'', then the correct sentence will be: Australian embryologists have found evidence suggesting that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal (X) and that its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel (Y). Here, the Australian embryologists' evidence suggest 2 things: Australian embryologists have found evidence suggesting X and Y.
Here is the Official Answer (E) again, Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and that its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel. If we remove the word ''the'' from the original sentence, then it'll be subtle different in which the ''elephant'' is definite in the above sentence and in the following sentence (after removing 'the') it is NOT definite ''elephant''. But, there is NO big deal between these 2 sentences. Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest that elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and that its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel. If we breakdown the above sentence into 2 parts, then it says: Australian embryologists have found evidence to suggest that elephant is descended from an aquatic animal (X) and that its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel (Y). The red part is something like the wrong choice (D) in the official guide 13th edition, question#10. Here is the wrong sentence of this specific question: The widely accepted big-bang theory holds the beginning of the universe to have been an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago.-->(NOT OK) ---> in this sentence, the big-bang theory has 2 hands that holds the universe. (HaHaHa) The widely accepted big-bang theory holds that the universe began in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago.--->(OK) In the red part, Australian embryologists are suggesting the elephant! This sentence is totally ridiculous and nonsense to me. The Official correct choice (E) is something like my following sentence: Students have found evidence to suggest that instructor is totally different from other instructors (X) and that his GMAT score is awesome (Y). ---> In this above sentence, the students' evidence has NOT found 2 things. Actually, students are suggesting the instructor IN the above sentence! I'm taking the first ''that'' as a 'determiner'. Here is an example: I'm suggesting THAT boy to do the job. ---> In the official sentence, the embryologists are suggesting THAT elephant to do blah blah blah... In the official sentence, someone MAY take the sentence as comparison like THAT....THAT. But, I'm taking the sentence like ''The embryologists are suggesting THAT elephant (the elephant, which is owned by gmatclub )..... So, If I take this sentence as above where is my fault? Thank you Expert...
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Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel.
(A) that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved The sentence is trying to tell us that the evidence suggests two things: 1) that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and 2) that the elephant's trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel; in order to avoid a parallelism issue, we would have to change, "..., and its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel" to "and that its trunk evolved as a kind of snorkel." Furthermore, this sentence has a string of relative clauses ("evidence that suggests that the elephant...", and the GMAT considers it "awkward and confusing to string together relative clauses." For these two reasons, choice A can be eliminated.
(B) that has suggested the elephant descended from an aquatic animal, its trunk originally evolving The simple present tense ("suggests") should be used instead of the present perfect tense ("has suggested") because we are describing a present action (what is the evidence currently doing?) and not referring to what the evidence was doing in the past. Present perfect is typically used to describe how long an action has been going on, for example, "For the past 100 years, most evidence has suggested (present perfect) that the elephant is descended from a land animal; however, new evidence suggests (simple present) that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal." Furthermore, a past tense should be used instead of "evolving" because we are talking about a past action (how the trunk evolved in the past, not how it is evolving now), so choice B can be eliminated.
(C) suggesting that the elephant had descended from an aquatic animal with its trunk originally evolving This choice can easily be eliminated because the past perfect ("had descended") is not the appropriate tense (we do not have two past actions occurring at different times). Also, a past tense should be used instead of "evolving" (see choice B notes).
(D) to suggest that the elephant had descended from an aquatic animal and its trunk originally evolving Again, the past perfect ("had descended") is not the appropriate tense. Also, this choice contains a parallelism issue ("its trunk originally evolving..." is not parallel to "that the elephant had descended.."), and a past tense should be used instead of "evolving" (see choice B notes).
(E) to suggest that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and that its trunk originally evolved Here the infinitive "to suggest" is properly used as an adjective to modify "evidence". This choice also avoids parallelism issues ("suggest that the elephant is descended... and that its trunk originally evolved..."). The predicate adjective "descended" follows the linking verb "is" and properly modifies "the elephant". This might not sound right because we are used to hearing "descend" used as a verb (ie "I descended a flight a stairs."), but you shouldn't trust your ear when analyzing SC problems! Choice E is correct. _________________
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10 Apr 2017, 03:20
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Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel.
(A) that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved (B) that has suggested the elephant descended from an aquatic animal, its trunk originally evolving (C) suggesting that the elephant had descended from an aquatic animal with its trunk originally evolving (D) to suggest that the elephant had descended from an aquatic animal and its trunk originally evolving (E) to suggest that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal and that its trunk originally evolved
One useful thing to remember in this context is the difference in meaning between is descended and has descended. Is descended is a linking or extant verb that denotes a state of being. There is no action involved in it. On the other hand, 'has descended' means going down effortfully as in descending from the top floor to the ground floor. There is an action involved in it. 'Is descended' is mostly used in genealogy and genetics, in which we refer to some traits that are derived from their ancestors. This knowledge will help us to get rid of B, C, and D. Now between A and E, it will not be difficult to dislodge A for using missing the 'that' //ism. It is E.
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I am unable to figure out the difference between 'to suggest' and 'that suggest'.
Australian embryologistshave found evidence that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel.
We use simple present tense to show a habit, a fact, or a general information. So use of 'is' is correct here because that fact is still true in the current context. If we use present perfect (has/have+ present participle), it would show that elephants descended from ........but this information is not true anymore.
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Help me make my explanation better by providing a logical feedback.
Australian embryologists have found evidence that suggests that the elephant is descended from an aquatic animal, and its trunk originally evolved as a kind of snorkel.
We use simple present tense to show a habit, a fact, or a general information. So use of 'is' is correct here because that fact is still true in the current context.
Correct. Present tense is kind of weird in English: it indicates a general characteristic. And sure, it works here: the elephant is, as a general characteristic, descended from an aquatic mammal. (Apparently. Frankly, I'd love to see an elephant swim. I splashed around in a river with one once, but she wasn't actually swimming.)
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If we use present perfect (has/have+ present participle), it would show that elephants descended from ........but this information is not true anymore.
I'm not quite sure what you're referring to in this part. Present perfect (has/have + participle) is used for actions that started in the past, but continue into the present. We could say something like "elephants have evolved from fish", and I think that's OK, since you could argue that elephants started evolving in the past, and are still evolving. But I'm not sure if that answers your question...?
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I am unable to figure out the difference between 'to suggest' and 'that suggest'.
Heh heh. Yeah, this part is tricky. I can tell you what the GMAT is thinking in this particular case: they really don't like the use of two consecutive clauses starting with "that" ("evidence that suggests that the elephant...") here. Fair enough.
But the tricky part is that I don't want to overgeneralize based on this example -- there's no single rule that will help you figure out when to use "to" and when to use "that." I guess we could say that the GMAT prefers the idiom "evidence to suggest that X occurs" over "evidence that suggests that X occurs"... but you won't see this exact issue very often.
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