Bloomingdale‘s store in Santa Monica, which opened this summer, is abo

Question

Bloomingdale‘s  store in Santa Monica, which opened this summer, is about 105,000 square feet on two floors, less than one-eighth the size of the chain‘s Manhattan flagship store.

A. store in Santa Monica, which opened this summer, is about 105,000 square feet on two floors, less than one-eighth the size of the chain‘s Manhattan flagship store.

B. Santa Monica store, which opened this summer, is about 105,000 square feet on two floors, less than one-eighth the size of the chain‘s Manhattan flagship store.

C. store in Santa Monica, which opened this summer, is about 105,000 square feet on two floors, fewer than one-eighth the size of the Manhattan flagship store.

D. Santa Monica store, which opened this summer, is about 105,000 square feet on two floors, less than one-eighth the size of the Manhattan flagship store.

E. Santa Monica store, which opened this summer, is about 105,000 square feet on two floors, less than one-eighth the size of their Manhattan flagship store.

daagh · Accepted Answer

A.  Bloomingdale‘s store in Santa Monica,  which opened this summer, is about 105,000 square feet on two floors, less than one-eighth the size of  the chain‘s Manhattan flagship store. - ----    not parallel  
 
B.  Bloomingdale‘s Santa Monica store,  which opened this summer, is about 105,000 square feet on two floors, less than one-eighth the size of  the chain‘s Manhattan flagship store. ---  parallel

SOURH7WK · Answer

Bloomingdale‘s  store in Santa Monica, which opened this summer, is about 105,000 square feet on two floors, less than one-eighth the size of the chain‘s Manhattan flagship store.

A. store in Santa Monica,  which  opened this summer, is about 105,000 square feet on two floors, less than one-eighth the size of the chain‘s Manhattan flagship store.  which tends to modify Santa Monica 
B. Santa Monica store, which opened this summer, is about 105,000 square feet on two floors, less than one-eighth the size of the chain‘s Manhattan flagship store.   Correct Choice.  
C. store in Santa Monica, which opened this summer, is about 105,000 square feet on two floors, fewer than one-eighth the size of the Manhattan flagship store. which tends to modify Santa Monica & fewer is wrong here 
D. Santa Monica store, which opened this summer, is about 105,000 square feet on two floors, less than one-eighth the size of the Manhattan flagship store.  Drops the word Chain's from original sentence 
E. Santa Monica store, which opened this summer, is about 105,000 square feet on two floors, less than one-eighth the size of their Manhattan flagship store. Drops the word Chain's from original sentence

Hence Answer B

SOURH7WK · Answer

A. store in  Santa Monica, which  opened this summer, is about 105,000 square feet on two floors, less than one-eighth the size of the chain‘s Manhattan flagship store. -  which incorrectly modifies santa monica 
B. Santa Monica store, which opened this summer, is about 105,000 square feet on two floors, less than one-eighth the size of the chain‘s Manhattan flagship store.   Correct Choice  
C. store in Santa Monica, which opened this summer, is about 105,000 square feet on two floors, fewer than one-eighth the size of the Manhattan flagship store. which incorrectly modifies santa monica 
D. Santa Monica store, which opened this summer, is about 105,000 square feet on two floors, less than one-eighth the size of the Manhattan flagship store. -  The word Chain's is missing here 
E. Santa Monica store, which opened this summer, is about 105,000 square feet on two floors, less than one-eighth the size of  their  Manhattan flagship store.  The word Chain's is missing here

IMO B

yashii9 · Answer

but why do we need chain's here?

cant we simply say "Manhattan flagship store" - as in D

+1D

getgyan · Answer

Hi Yashii Let us read the sentence with option D Bloomingdale‘s Santa Monica store, which opened this summer, is about 105,000 square feet on two floors, less than one-eighth the size of the Manhattan flagship store. Now what is Manhattan flagship store? This sentence does not gives us anything which relates Bloomingdale‘s Santa Monica store to Manhattan flagship store. It could be an electronic retails shop or a fast food chain. We just cannot say. If we insert an "its" before Manhattan in this option, then it will be a correct answer as "its" will correctly refer to the singular Bloomingdale. Makes sense :-D

anukrati · Answer

Less vs Fewer
We can eliminate Option C because of "fewer".
We use fewer for countable things or for people.
We use less for uncountable things.
In this question we need Less not Fewer.

Comparison

In C and D, we are comparing Bloomingdale's store in Santa Monica with the Manhattan flagship store.
Which is not correct.
Here correct meaning is comparing Bloomingdale's Santa Monica Store with Bloomingdale's Manhattan flagship store.

Hence we are left A, B and E.
In E , the error is of "their" Hence incorrect.

In A and B the comparison is correct, but the things being compared are not parallel in A.
hence answer is A

+1 B

Suryangshu · Answer

C out because of fewer.
E is incorrect because of their.
D is incorrect, the word Chain's is missing here.
In A 'in Santa Monica' is an essential modifier. why is it wrong ?

daagh · Answer

Surya

If I understood you correctly, you meant that since 'Santa Monica' is an essential modifier that modifies logically the store, we should rather consider the store as the logical referent of ", which." 
I must agree with you. But the problem in A has more to do with parallelism, I suppose.

pradeepmaria · Answer

Hello,

Can you pls explain why option E is incorrect. Why cant we use "their" here. If we try to replace all the preceding nouns only bloomingdale will correctly fit on the spot of "their", So I thought option E is correct.

DmitryFarber · Answer

pradeepmaria , the pronoun "their" must always refer to a plural noun. "Bloomingdale's" is singular, so we need to use it/its.

warrior1991 · Answer

generis   GMATNinja

Most of the people have eliminated A based on  'which'  incorrectly modifying the  Santa Monica .

My question is that the Santa Monica is placed as a preposition phrase "Bloomingdale‘s store  in Santa Monica " and I think  which   is correctly modifying  "Bloomingdale‘s store"  .

Option A is wrong not because of modifier issue but because of faulty parallelism.

Please help.

AjiteshArun   egmat  Need your inputs as well.

generis · Answer

warrior1991  , regarding your statement that I highlighted --  you are correct.

People above who insist that "which" can modify  only  the immediately preceding noun are mistaken.

"Which" can "reach back" over the prepositional modifier  in Santa Monica.  That latter modifier can't go anywhere else. Meaning is clear.

I don't know whether Manhattan changed its SC book, but the the current edition quoted below* supports your correct position.

Hope that helps.

*I quote verbatim: 
 The placement of modifiers is really a function of meaning. . .   (My emphasis.)

The majority of the time, a noun and its modifier will be placed right next to each other, with no other words intervening.

In certain circumstances, a noun and its modifier may be separated by another modifier. For example:

The box of nails, which is nearly full, belongs to Jean.

The noun has two modifiers,   of nails  and  which is nearly full . They can't both be placed right after the noun; one has to come first.

An essential modifier trumps a nonessential modifier.  Of nails  is an essential modifier (which box? The box of nails), so it is placed immediately after  box. . The "comma which" modifier is a nonessential modifier, so it can come second. In this case, the which modifier refers to the closest preceding  main  noun,  box.

Manhattan Prep GMAT Sentence Correction, 6th edition (2014) pp. 59-60

ddll · Answer

I thought that inanimate objects can't take the possessive form, that's why I opted for D rather than B - can someone explain to me why "chain's" is correct?

Posted from my mobile device

DmitryFarber · Answer

danilev  There's definitely no rule forbidding inanimate possessives. We see these all the time: China's trade policy, the iPhone's battery life, my car's check engine light, etc.

VerbalBot · Answer

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.

Bloomingdale‘s store in Santa Monica, which opened this summer, is abo

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

Bloomingdale‘s store in Santa Monica, which opened this summer, is abo

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