Clark and Florence Wallace, a husband-and-wife medical team, worked st

Question

Clark and Florence Wallace, a husband-and-wife medical team, worked steadily and efficiently through the night, but  sipping their coffee the next morning, she noticed that he seemed disoriented .

(A) sipping their coffee the next morning, she noticed that he seemed disoriented

(B) sipping their coffee the next morning, he seemed to be disoriented, she noticed

(C) as they sipped their coffee the next morning, she noticed that he seemed disoriented

(D) as they were sipping their coffee the next morning, he seemed, she noticed, disoriented

(E) he seemed disoriented, she noticed, sipping their coffee the next morning

daagh · Accepted Answer

When you use the pronoun ‘their’ for sipping the coffee, then a plural subject such as ‘they’ or ‘he and she; should follow as the modified subject. Choices A, B and E instead use the singular she or he. Hence they are out. Between C and D, the former is better because it avoids the use of past progressive and the unnecessary splitting of the verb phrase ‘seemed disoriented” by ‘she noticed’

egmat · Answer

Hi Vivek,
Clark and Florence Wallace, a husband-and-wife medical team, worked steadily and efficiently through the night, but  sipping their coffee the next morning, she noticed that he seemed disoriented .

Since the meaning of this sentence is simple to comprehend, let’s proceed to the  error analysis :
1. The verb-ing modifier “sipping their coffee the next morning” suggests that she (Florence) was drinking her coffee as well as her husband’s coffee. This does not sound logical. Both the husband and their wife were sipping their own coffee. Hence, we have modifier issue here.

POE: 
(A) sipping their coffee the next morning, she noticed that he seemed disoriented:  Incorrect  for the reason stated above.

(B) sipping their coffee the next morning, he seemed to be disoriented, she noticed:  Incorrect.  
1. This choice repeats the same modification error of choice A. Now it suggests that he (Clark) was drinking both their coffees.
2. Also two independent clauses are joined just by a comma. This leads to run-on sentence.

(C) as they sipped their coffee the next morning, she noticed that he seemed disoriented:  Correct.

(D) as they were sipping their coffee the next morning, he seemed, she noticed, disoriented:  Incorrect.  Same run-on sentence error as in choice B.

(E) he seemed disoriented, she noticed, sipping their coffee the next morning:  Incorrect. 
1. This choice also repeats the run-on sentence error.
2. Verb-ing modifier “sipping…” is now modifying the preceding clause, suggesting that she (Florence) was drinking her coffee as well as her husband’s coffee.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

gmat1220 · Answer

A means they were sipping coffee throughout the night. That is not intended at all :-)

So I will go with phrase "as they sipped". Next morning she realized something different about her husband. That happens very often ;-)

ha ha

manavecplan · Answer

Try looking at it crudely:

(E) he seemed disoriented, she noticed, sipping their coffee the next morning.

Now, try taking out the unimportant matter. Generally, we find that content enclosed by commas are of lesser importance to the structure of a sentence.

Deploying that logic: he seemed disoriented sipping their coffee the next morning.

What does this now represent? That he got disoriented while sipping coffee in the morning!!

What should it mean, logically? That his wife noticed his disorientation while sipping coffee in the morning. The sipping of coffee is thus a background activity while her noticing his disorientation is the the main import of the sentence.

What supports this the BEST? Option C.

daagh · Answer

The use of the plural pronoun their makes it essential that we use a plural noun as well namely they. Just referring to only- she-, the subject - pronoun number distorts agreement. So A, B and E are dropped. Chocie D is somewhat odd with the use of several split phrases. The wrong word order of the phrase - she noticed- just prior to disoriented is suspect. Therefore, C would be ideal

egmat · Answer

Hi @bradfris,

When two independent clauses are not connected properly to each other, they are called run-on sentence. The most common instance is two ICs connected just by a comma. For example:

I can’t come to your house now, I am doing my homework.

Both the sentences here are independent clauses. They can stand by their own. We can very well use a full stop instead of the comma in this sentence. Joining these two sentences with comma leads to a run-on structure.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

AyanamiRei · Answer

OA is C.

Clark and Florence Wallace, a husband-and-wife medical team, worked steadily and efficiently through the night, but  sipping their coffee the next morning, she noticed that he seemed disoriented. 
 
Note that there is a     in the sentence, and to save efforts, let's analyze only the sentence after "but".

(A)   sipping their coffee   the next morning, she noticed that he seemed disoriented 
Wrong.
The subject is  "she" , however is it irrational for the wife to drink up all  "their"  coffee alone. 
Based on the context, we know that the wife actually did, too.

(B)   sipping their coffee   the next morning, he seemed to be disoriented, she noticed 
Wrong.
Similar to A. It is irrational for the husband to drink up all  "their"  coffee alone. 
The word "husband" is closer to "sipping", therefore grammatically only the husband drank the coffee.
But based on the context we know that the wife actually did, too.

(C) as they sipped their coffee the next morning, she noticed that he seemed disoriented 
Correct. 
Both the husband and wife are drinking coffee, and the wife noticed that her husband is disoriented.
(I have to admit that the simple past tense "sipped" makes me feel uncomfortable.)

(D) as they were sipping their coffee the next morning, he seemed,   she noticed  , disoriented 
If there is no option A, I will go for D because the present progressive tense is perfect. 
But here is my reason to cross out D: 
In C,"she" is the subject, which means that the sentence is stressing the wife's discovery.
In D, "she noticed" is only a parentheses. And if you actually did so, the sentence is therefore stressing the husband's disorientation, not the wife's discovery.

(E) he seemed disoriented, she noticed,   sipping their coffee   the next morning 
Wrong.
Same as A.

Nightmare007 · Answer

Hi e-gmat team,  abhimahna , 
 Can you please explain me why there are two independent clauses 
IC, BUT DC, IC. Two independent clauses in the same sentence ?

abhimahna · Answer

Hey Nightmare007 , Yes, it is perfectly fine to have two IC within a sentence provided they follow the rule perfectly. Here is a great article that should help you. https://gmatclub.com/forum/unmasking-in ... 60401.html I hope that helps.

GyMrAT · Answer

Clark and Florence Wallace, a husband-and-wife medical team, worked steadily and efficiently through the night, but  sipping their coffee the next morning, she noticed that he seemed disoriented .

(A)  sipping   their  coffee the next morning,  she noticed  that he seemed disoriented
(B)  sipping   their  coffee the next morning,  he seemed  to be disoriented,  she noticed 
(C)  as they sipped  their coffee the next morning,  she  noticed that  he seemed disoriented 
(D) as they were sipping their coffee the next morning,  he seemed, she noticed, disoriented 
(E)  he seemed disoriented, she noticed , sipping their coffee the next morning

Answer C.

Thanks,
GyM

dabaobao · Answer

The action "sipping their coffee" cannot be done by just one person (i.e. she or he). It should be done by both people. All choices but the correct answer make this mistake.

(A)  sipping their coffee the next morning, she  noticed that he seemed disoriented  - Wrong: 1) Modifier issue

(B)  sipping their coffee the next morning, he  seemed to be disoriented , she  noticed  - Wrong: 1) Modifier issue 2) 2 Independent clauses connected without a conjunction.

(C) as they sipped their coffee the next morning, she noticed that he seemed disoriented  - Correct

(D)  as they were sipping their coffee the next morning, he  seemed , she  noticed, disoriented  - Wrong: 1) Modifier issue 2) 2 Independent clauses connected without a conjunction.

(E) he seemed disoriented , she  noticed , sipping their  coffee the next morning  - Wrong: 1) Modifier issue 2) 2 Independent clauses connected without a conjunction.

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