By skimming along the top of the atmosphere a proposed new style of a

Why is its (used in the last part of the sentence) not a problem in choice 'A' ?

By skimming along the top of the atmosphere, a proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours, according to its proponents.

A) By skimming along the top of the atmosphere, a proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours, according to its proponents.

B) By skimming along the top of the atmosphere, proponents of a proposed new style of aircraft say it could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours.

C) A proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours, according to its proponents, with it skimming along the top of the atmosphere.

D) A proposed new style of aircraft, say its proponents, could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours because of its skimming along the top of the atmosphere.

E) According to its proponents, skimming along the top of the atmosphere makes it possible that a proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours.

SC91660.02


Similar but not identical to this question, here.

When we are dealing with a prepositional phrase like ‘a proposed new style of aircraft’ in the above question, isn’t the starting modifier ‘By skimming along the top of the atmosphere’ modifying the bit which comes immediately after the modifier i.e ‘proposed new style’ rather than ‘aircraft’?

What is the rule we follow here?

Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one thing at a time, and narrow down our options quickly so we know how to answer questions like this when they pop up on the GMAT! To begin, let's take a quick look at the question and highlight any major differences between the options in orange:

By skimming along the top of the atmosphere, a proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours, according to its proponents.

A) By skimming along the top of the atmosphere, a proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours, according to its proponents.

B) By skimming along the top of the atmosphere, proponents of a proposed new style of aircraft say it could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours.

C) A proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours, according to its proponents, with it skimming along the top of the atmosphere.

D) A proposed new style of aircraft, say its proponents, could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours because of its skimming along the top of the atmosphere.

E) According to its proponents, skimming along the top of the atmosphere makes it possible that a proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours.

After a quick glance over the options, two things has become very clear:

1. The entire sentence is underlined.
2. We cannot find anything in particular to highlight - it’s all different!

Whenever you see something like this on the GMAT, you need to look for the bigger picture: what is actually different about each of these options?

Their organization!

We need to take a closer look at each option and determine which one is organized the best. This means making sure modifiers and antecedents agree, the intended meaning is clear, and that we don’t have any unnecessary “splitting up” of phrases:

A) By skimming along the top of the atmosphere, a proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours, according to its proponents.
This is CORRECT! The modifier “By skimming along the top of the atmosphere” is placed directly before the aircraft. The modifier “according to its proponents” is placed directly after what they said about the aircraft. This is the most logical and clearest organization of these 3 clauses!

B) By skimming along the top of the atmosphere, proponents of a proposed new style of aircraft say it could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours.
This is INCORRECT because the “proponents” won’t be skimming along the top of the atmosphere - the aircraft will! This is a modifier-antecedent agreement problem, so let’s rule this one out.

C) A proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours, according to its proponents, with it skimming along the top of the atmosphere.
This is INCORRECT because the pronoun “it” is so far away from its intended antecedent (the aircraft) that it could be mistaken to be referring to the closest singular noun, which in this case is Earth!

D) A proposed new style of aircraft, say its proponents, could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours because of its skimming along the top of the atmosphere.
Again, this is INCORRECT because the pronoun “its” is too vague. It sounds like “its” is referring to Earth, instead of the aircraft.

E) According to its proponents, skimming along the top of the atmosphere makes it possible that a proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours.
This is INCORRECT because the pronoun “its” is now referring to “skimming along the top of the atmosphere” and NOT the aircraft itself!

There you go - option A was the winner all along! Remember - when the entire sentence is underlined, think BIG problems like organization, modifiers, and overall meaning!


Don’t study for the GMAT. Train for it.

By skimming along the top of the atmosphere, a proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours, according to its proponents.

A) By skimming along the top of the atmosphere, a proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours, according to its proponents.

B) By skimming along the top of the atmosphere, proponents of a proposed new style of aircraft say it could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours.

C) A proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours, according to its proponents, with it skimming along the top of the atmosphere.

D) A proposed new style of aircraft, say its proponents, could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours because of its skimming along the top of the atmosphere.

E) According to its proponents, skimming along the top of the atmosphere makes it possible that a proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours.

SC91660.02


Similar but not identical to this question, here.

I couldn't see a single post on why or how the participial phrase/modifier is correct in option A.
Going by the rules, I think a verb-in modifier in such a construction as the one in option A either modifies the entire clause (subject and action) or creates a cause-effect relation. However, I couldn't notice such a relationship. Maybe I'm missing something. Could anyone please help me with this?

Hi Gautham, what you are saying, is true for participial phrases towards the end of a clause and preceded by a comma.

For example:

Suryakumar Yadav was out for a golden duck for the third consecutive time, diminishing his chances of selection in future matches.

Notice that the participial phrase "diminishing his chances of selection in future matches" appears towards the end of a clause and is preceded by a comma. In such case, your observation holds true.

However, in option A, we have a participial phrase at the beginning of the clause. Such participial phrases typically modify the word/phrase next to the participial phrase. Also note that in this case, the participial phrase actually is a prepositional phrase as well (since it starts with the preposition by). Such prepositional phrases generally act as adverbial modifiers (in this case, answering the question how the aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours).

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

However, my doubt is about the 'according to' phrase in the end. Maybe I'm missing an important concept here.

A) By skimming along the top of the atmosphere, a proposed new style of aircraft could fly between most points on Earth in under two hours, according to its proponents.

From the concept of non-essential modifiers we know that we can remove the sentence placed between those two commas, causing the remaining sentence to remain unimpacted.