Declining values for farm equipment and land, the collateral against

Hello jabhatta2,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, in this sentence "the collateral against which" is, indeed, a modifying phrase in the passive voice.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Active voice - I used my car as collateral to get a loan
Active voice - I put up my home as collateral to get a loan

Hi ExpertsGlobal5 - how would you convert these 2 sentence (which i think are active voice) into passive voice

Will you "against collateral" ?

Hi ReedArnoldMPREP sayantanc2k - i eliminated option E because i thought - "Collateral" could be referring to either Values or Equipment and Land

Now i know -- if i go one step further and say -- values can technically never be collateral -- So, i am left with equipment and land as the only logical referrant to collateral.

But you should never have to do that 'extra' work for the sentence (per my understanding)

-- i eliminated E because based on the structure -- there are 2 antecedents for 'collateral' in option E.

Even though, Equipment and Land makes more sense to be the logical referant than Values does for the word "collateral" -- one shouldnt do this 'extra work' for a SC sentence.

Thoughts ?

Couple of issues with D:

a) At the very least, "which" is ambiguous, since it is not clear whether "which" is modifying "land" or "equipment and land". In fact, for the most part, "which" is not likely to ever modify a "list" ("equipment and land" in this case).

b) "which farmers use as collateral to borrow against" does not conform with GMAT‘s stylistic preference. Modifier clauses (especially relative clauses) should not end with a preposition. Here, this clause ends in a preposition "against".

Hi EducationAisle

I chose option D instead of E, because in E, it seems like the decline of equipment and land is used as collateral rather that the equipment and land themselves.

For one thing, I don't see the phrase "decline of equipment and land" in E at all.

In option E, "the collateral" is used as (what's called) an appositive and it is the property of appositives that they modify the word or phrase next to it. Here, that phrase is "farm equipment and land".

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

Understanding the difference between the following two types of modifiers would hopefully clarify your doubt:

1. Appositive modifier: A noun used to modify another noun:

Marc, my best FRIEND, will come tomorrow.
Here the noun "friend" modifies another noun "Marc" and hence is an appositive. (Also note that "my best" is an adjectival phrase that modifies the appositive "friend" in turn).
Now consider option E and compare with the above:
Declining values for farm equipment and land, THE COLLATERAL against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season, are going to force many lenders to tighten or deny credit this spring.
Here the noun "the collateral" modifies another noun phrase"farm equipment and land" and hence is an appositive. (Also note that "against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season" is a relative clause modifier that modifies the appositive"the collateral" in turn).

2. Absolute phrase modifier: A noun + noun modifier structure used to refer to a clause as a whole. (The following example is from Manhattan SC guide)

Scientists have found high levels of iridium in certain geological formations around the world, results that suggest the cataclysmic impact of a meteor millions of years ago.
The underlined part above is the absolute phrase modifier (Noun = results, noun modifier = that suggest the cataclysmic impact of a meteor millions of years ago). THe absolute phrase modifier modifies the whole clause.

2a. Resumptive modifier: A special case of Absolute phrase modifier - the noun within the absolute phrase is a repetition of another noun already used in the clause.
Scientists presented the results of their research , results that suggest the cataclysmic impact of a meteor millions of years ago.
The underlined part above is the absolute phrase modifier (Noun = results, noun modifier: that suggest the cataclysmic impact of a meteor millions of years ago). THe absolute phrase modifier modifies the whole clause. THe noun "results" is repeated.

Abstract noun is something else altogether and bears no relation with the above discussion. A noun that cannot be touched, but can only be felt is an abstract noun. Examples: love, faith, trust, pain etc. (You may go through any high school grammar book to recapitulate the different types of nouns).

Please note that the noun within the absolute phrase modifier (or resumptive modifier) need not be an abstract noun -
After decades of hard work, the workers built the monument, the monument that we all have read about in the history book.
The noun within the resumptive modifier ("The monument") is NOT an abstract noun, but a common noun.


Please let me know if you still have doubts.

Hi, I can clearly see that option E has a much clearer construction than D does, but I am unable to find any other fault in D. Am I missing something?
Is there another solid reason that can be used to eliminate D?

I am still not clear why 'declining values' is not singular

I got confused between "Declining values" as a gerund and "Declining values" as an adj-Noun phrase.

I believe the issue is that "declining" is an intransitive word (with "decline" meaning "reduce," not "refuse"). So there is only "X declines," not "X declines Y." That's why "declining values" can not be a gerund.

from oxfordlearnersdictionaries: "​ [intransitive] (rather formal) to become smaller, fewer, weaker, etc. "