Bowerbirds derive their name from the elaborate bowers of sticks and

Question

Bowerbirds derive their name from  the elaborate bowers of sticks and twigs that the males build to garner positive attention from females that may develop into  a formal courtship over time.

A) the elaborate bowers of sticks and twigs that the males build to garner positive attention from females that may develop into
 
B) the male birds, who build elaborate bowers of sticks and twigs in order to garner positive attention from females, possibly developing into
 
C) the elaborate stick-and-twig bowers that the males build to garner positive attention from females, who may develop into
 
D) the fact that the male birds build elaborate stick-and-twig bowers, garnering positive attention from females and possibly developing

E) the male birds that build elaborate stick-and-twig bowers with the goal of garnering positive attention from females that may develop

Similar to this  Question

dabaobao · Accepted Answer

Official Explanation (Courtesy: Manhattan Prep)

(1) Take a First Glance (5 seconds)

The beginning of each choice changes pretty substantially—should it begin with the elaborate bowers or the male birds?—so pay attention to Meaning and Sentence Structure as you read the sentence.

(2) Read for Meaning

Bowerbirds are called bowerbirds because the males build bowers (nests, presumably?) to attract the attention of a female, hoping to develop a long-term relationship over time. Given this overall meaning of the sentence, how should the underlined portion of the correct answer begin?

Bowerbirds get their name from the bowers, not from the male birds themselves. (You could say that bowerbirds get their name from the actions taken by the male birds, but the name does not come from the male birds themselves.)

(3) Find a Starting Point

Start with any difference that seems easiest to you, then move to the next easiest issue, and so on. Stop when you have one answer or you aren’t sure how to address the remaining differences. All errors for each choice are detailed in the next section.

(4) Eliminate (and Repeat)

(A) CORRECT. The bowerbirds do derive their name from the bowers built by the males, so the meaning is appropriate. Further, a that modifier generally refers back to the previous main noun. In this case, that main noun could be females but it could also be attention (since attention is the main noun in the phrase attention from females). Attention makes logical sense (the positive attention develops into a formal courtship), so this construction is correct.

(B) This choice indicates that the name bowerbirds comes from the male birds themselves, but the name comes from the bowers. Further, the attention would possibly develop into a formal courtship, so the final modifier should be a noun modifier, as in answer (A). The structure in this choice (possibly developing) is a comma –ing modifier, which refers to an entire clause. In this choice, two clauses might be used—neither of which makes sense. The male birds build bowers does not develop into a formal courtship. And bowerbirds derive their name from the male birds likewise does not develop into a formal courtship.

(C) The modifier structure introduces a meaning error. The who modifier must refer back to the females, not to the word attention. The females, though, cannot develop into a formal courtship. The actual animals could develop a formal courtship, but the attention would develop into a formal courtship.

(D) The parallel structure garnering attention … and … developing a formal courtship introduces a meaning error. Both modifiers refer back to the main clause: males build bowers, garnering attention from females (this part is okay) and males build bowers, developing a formal courtship (this part is not okay). Who are the males developing a formal courtship with? The bowers? The females are no longer represented as part of the formal courtship—and they should be.

(E) This choice indicates that the name bowerbirds comes from the male birds themselves, but the name comes from the bowers. Further, the loss of the word into at the end of the choice introduces a meaning error. Either the attention develops a formal courtship or the females develop a formal courtship—but in both cases, the sentence never says with whom or why this formal courtship is developed. The intention is that the female would develop a relationship with the male who built the bower because that male built a bower.

Salsanousi · Answer

Only A and B give a direct explanation of how the bowerbirds derived their name.

B uses who to refer to a bird. Who is referred to human.

A is the correct answer choice.

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Vinodsai1995 · Answer

I find C the correct answer. Correct me if i am wrong

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AdityaHongunti · Answer

C. the elaborate stick-and-twig bowers that the males build to garner positive attention from females, who may develop into

Errors - "who" is used for a person. Secondly, even if can't figure out the "who" usage ,the placement of the relative pronoun "who" indicates that the "females " develop into a courtship. Which is completely wrong. The action done by the bowerbirds in building the bowers in a way results into a courtship.

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Manvi_nagpal · Answer

But option A says the same thing
Word "that" refers to females which means "females may develop into a courtship" 
Please tell me where am I wrong?

Doer01 · Answer

A. the elaborate bowers of sticks and twigs that the males build to garner positive attention from females that may develop into

B. the male birds, who build elaborate bowers of sticks and twigs in order to garner positive attention from females, possibly developing into : derive their name from the male bird? Ok, Lets see whats next. Additional information within a comma pair followed by a gerund phrase. It is just wrong and does not make a lot of sense.  OUT

C. the elaborate stick-and-twig bowers that the males build to garner positive attention from females, who may develop into: Pronoun error; Who refers to females and they just do not turn into a formal courtship but attention can.  OUT

D. the fact that the male birds build elaborate stick-and-twig bowers, garnering positive attention from females and possibly developing: derive their name from a fact!!  OUT

E. the male birds that build elaborate stick-and-twig bowers with the goal of garnering positive attention from females that may develop: That is again trying to convert females into courtship and that just cannot happen.  OUT

Option  A  is the best choice.

shiva007 · Answer

Bowerbirds derive their name from the elaborate bowers of sticks and twigs that the males build to garner  positive attention  from females  that  may develop into a formal courtship over time.
IMO, "that" is referring to "positive attention" and not "females"

Correct me, if I'm wrong.

AdityaHongunti · Answer

Bowerbirds derive their name from the elaborate bowers of sticks and twigs that the males build to garner positive attention from females that may develop into a formal courtship over time.

You are right to point out that "that" is placed next to females and indicative of female modifier.

But look carefully that female is the additional info for attention

attention from females- here attention is the main subject and "from females" is the additional info... In such cases the relative pronoun (that, which) can refer to the main subject (here-attention)
And therefore is plausible.. though the placement is not ideal but makes the arrangement meaningful and plausible.

Whereas in C- the "who" modifier is completely wrong. Firstly because "who" refers to persons .secondly even if drop females then the who modifier is supposed to modify attention...which again would be wrong , as "attention" is not a person.

I guess you didn't understand the actual subject the end modifier is supposed to modify.
It is the attention which later results into a courtship

There are several OFFICIAL questions where relative prpnpuns- which that whose - can refer to slightly far away nouns.

Our goal is to find the least worst.

Helium · Answer

DmitryFarber

Can you please elaborate the high-lighted potion of OE?

Thanks.

CJWORK · Answer

A - nothing wrong and has the logical meaning
B - the idiom "derive X from Y": I don't think derive their names from the male birds makes sense in this case. Moreover, "who" can only modify human.
C - "who" is the issue here
D - the fact that is wordy, and the v-ing modifiers distort the meaning.
E - The same issue as in B

Hence A

Priya8997 · Answer

Can someone please help understand when the usage of -ing forms is appropriate? I am not quite clear with the concept.

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EducationAisle · Answer

Hi Priya, by "-ing" forms, I am assuming you mean  present participles  (and  not  gerunds).

Our book    EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana    discusses  present participles , their application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

GMAT0010 · Answer

I don't understand!! In A , ....the females "that" may develop into a formal ... Isn't "That" modifying females? Females developing into a formal relationship??

Please help!! GMATNinja , generis , Abhi077

tt147 · Answer

D is wrong because the phrase after "and" i.e. - "and possibly developing" points to the 1st portion of the sentence "Bowerbirds derive their name from the fact that the male birds build elaborate stick-and-twig bowers". This distorts the intended meaning by saying that the males are developing a formal courtship with the bowers.

Jitu20 · Answer

GMATNinja   IanStewart   generis   VeritasKarishma   GMATNinjaTwo  , can someone deconstruct and explain this question?

IanStewart · Answer

I haven't read the thread, so I imagine I'll be repeating some things said above: The birds derive their name from the "bowers" they build (whatever those are, I have no idea

), not from "the male birds" -- that would make no sense. So B and E cannot be right. Then at the end of the sentence, it's not the "females" who might "develop into a formal courtship", but rather the "positive attention... that might develop into" something more. Answer C suggests the female birds will develop into a courtship, which is nonsensical. Answer D suggests that the bowers themselves garner positive attention (that part is fine) and develop into formal courtship (that part makes no sense), so only A could be right. Answer A still is a bit strange, because you can read "attention from females that may develop into a formal courtship" to say "females that may develop into a formal courtship", which would make no sense, but while it's a bit confusingly written, it's still comprehensible, and is the best answer by far among the choices.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Bowerbirds derive their name from the elaborate bowers of sticks and

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Bowerbirds derive their name from the elaborate bowers of sticks and

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