By passing laws that encourage indoor modular farming solutions, the

Great explanation! But, is there not an ambiguity from "their" in option E? "could use urban farms to supply their residents" - here the intent is the resident of the "cities", but it can also be misconstrued as "urban farms" residents, correct? Is "their" correctly modifying cities in option E? Please help explain.

Take a look at this article https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -the-gmat/

Quote: You can’t eliminate an answer choice just because there are two nouns that could technically match the pronoun. In short, pronoun ambiguity on the GMAT isn’t usually a great reason to eliminate an answer choice. If you’re down to two answer choices, choose the one without the “ambiguous” pronoun.

I think its E

1) The beginning modifier phrase modifies Cities
2) No Passive structure
3) Use of "Their" is clearly justified

Experts' Global Official Explanation:

Modifiers + Meaning + Redundancy/Awkwardness

Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that according to one architect, by passing laws that encourage indoor modular farming solutions, cities could use urban farms to supply their residents with fresh, local produce.

• In the “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction.

A. Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses “By passing laws that encourage indoor modular farming solutions” to modify “the cities’ residents”, incorrectly implying that the cities’ residents have the capacity to pass laws that encourage indoor farming solutions that could allow them to be supplied with fresh, local produce through urban farming; the intended meaning of this sentence is that according to one architect, by passing laws that encourage indoor modular farming solutions, cities could use urban farms to supply their residents with fresh, local produce; please remember that in the “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction. Additionally, Option A utilizes the passive voice construction “cities’ residents could be supplied with …”, rendering it needlessly indirect.

B. This answer choice incorrectly uses “By passing laws that encourage indoor modular farming solutions” to modify “urban farms”, incorrectly implying that the urban farms have the capacity to pass laws that encourage indoor farming solutions that could allow them to be used to supply the cities’ residents with fresh, local produce; the intended meaning of this sentence is that according to one architect, by passing laws that encourage indoor modular farming solutions, cities could use urban farms to supply their residents with fresh, local produce; please remember that in the “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction. Additionally, Option B utilizes the passive voice construction “urban farms could be used …”, rendering it needlessly indirect.

C. Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses “By passing laws that encourage indoor modular farming solutions” to modify “one architect reports…”, incorrectly implying that the architect reports on the potential use of urban farms by passing laws that encourage indoor modular farming solutions; the intended meaning of this sentence is that according to one architect, by passing laws that encourage indoor modular farming solutions, cities could use urban farms to supply their residents with fresh, local produce; please remember that in the “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction.

D. This answer choice incorrectly uses “By passing laws that encourage indoor modular farming solutions” to modify “one architect reports…”, incorrectly implying that the architect reports on the potential use of urban farms by passing laws that encourage indoor modular farming solutions; the intended meaning of this sentence is that according to one architect, by passing laws that encourage indoor modular farming solutions, cities could use urban farms to supply their residents with fresh, local produce; please remember that in the “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction. Additionally, Option D utilizes the passive voice construction “cities’ residents could be supplied with …”, rendering it needlessly indirect.

E. Correct. This answer choice correctly uses “By passing laws that encourage indoor modular farming solutions” to modify “cities”, conveying the intended meaning of the sentence- that according to one architect, by passing laws that encourage indoor modular farming solutions, cities could use urban farms to supply their residents with fresh, local produce. Further, Option E is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

E is the best answer choice.

Experts' Global Video Explanation: