Last visit was: 14 Jun 2025, 09:33 It is currently 14 Jun 2025, 09:33
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
User avatar
pra1785
Joined: 20 Jan 2016
Last visit: 10 Mar 2019
Posts: 145
Own Kudos:
130
 [59]
Given Kudos: 64
Posts: 145
Kudos: 130
 [59]
3
Kudos
Add Kudos
55
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Most Helpful Reply
User avatar
AjiteshArun
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 15 Jul 2015
Last visit: 01 Jun 2025
Posts: 5,949
Own Kudos:
5,049
 [12]
Given Kudos: 732
Location: India
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Posts: 5,949
Kudos: 5,049
 [12]
6
Kudos
Add Kudos
5
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
User avatar
aragonn
User avatar
Retired Moderator
Joined: 23 Sep 2015
Last visit: 30 Sep 2019
Posts: 1,232
Own Kudos:
5,830
 [5]
Given Kudos: 416
Products:
Posts: 1,232
Kudos: 5,830
 [5]
5
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
General Discussion
User avatar
rocko911
Joined: 11 Feb 2017
Last visit: 12 Apr 2018
Posts: 159
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 206
Posts: 159
Kudos: 36
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
pra1785
Dolphins lack vocal cords, nevertheless creating sounds: a complicated system of whistles, squeaks, moans, trills, and clicks are produced by sphincter muscle inside the blowhole

A) nevertheless creating sounds: a complicated system of whistles, squeaks, moans, trills, and clicks are produced by

B) nevertheless creating sounds; they produce a complicated system of whistles, squeaks, moans, trills, and clicks with

C) but they do create sounds, producing a complicated system of whistles, squeaks, moans, trills, and clicks with

D) but they do create sounds, a complicated system of whistles, squeaks, moans, trills, and clicks being produced

E) but nevertheless creating sounds: a complicated system of whistles, squeaks, moans, trills, and clicks produced by

This question is available on gmatclub in a different version from 2006.

Need reasons to eliminate A and B

Is A wrong becoz of BY at the end?
Is B wrong becoz of CREATING?
User avatar
techiesam
Joined: 01 Jun 2015
Last visit: 14 Dec 2019
Posts: 157
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 197
Location: India
Concentration: Strategy, International Business
GMAT 1: 620 Q48 V26
GMAT 1: 620 Q48 V26
Posts: 157
Kudos: 327
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
rocko911
pra1785
Dolphins lack vocal cords, nevertheless creating sounds: a complicated system of whistles, squeaks, moans, trills, and clicks are produced by sphincter muscle inside the blowhole

A) nevertheless creating sounds: a complicated system of whistles, squeaks, moans, trills, and clicks are produced by

B) nevertheless creating sounds; they produce a complicated system of whistles, squeaks, moans, trills, and clicks with

C) but they do create sounds, producing a complicated system of whistles, squeaks, moans, trills, and clicks with

D) but they do create sounds, a complicated system of whistles, squeaks, moans, trills, and clicks being produced

E) but nevertheless creating sounds: a complicated system of whistles, squeaks, moans, trills, and clicks produced by

This question is available on gmatclub in a different version from 2006.

Need reasons to eliminate A and B

Is A wrong becoz of BY at the end?
Is B wrong becoz of CREATING?
rocko911

Main reason to eliminate A and B is that they lack any contrast word such as but ,while or although.We need a contrast here.
And you are right that in option B,creating doesn't have any proper justification.
In A,produced by is not wrong.But its in passive voice.You should chose passive voice only when no right answer with active voice is available.
avatar
atrayee345
Joined: 19 Dec 2018
Last visit: 19 Dec 2018
Posts: 34
Own Kudos:
10
 [5]
Posts: 34
Kudos: 10
 [5]
3
Kudos
Add Kudos
2
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
“Nevertheless” is a connector meaning “yet” or “but”. You can see the futility and redundancy of “but” in E. Again, when we use a connector like “nevertheless”, both arms of the connector should be parallel. Choices A, B and E use a clause on one side and a participial phrase on the other.
We must say ‘Dolphins lack vocal cords, nevertheless create sounds’ using verbs on both sides.
A also falters on Subject –Verb agreement.
The choice has to be between C and D while D lacks the use of ‘by’ at the end. “being produce sphincter” is wrong usage and awkward. Hence, C is the answer.
User avatar
JS1290
Joined: 27 Dec 2016
Last visit: 04 Nov 2019
Posts: 238
Own Kudos:
253
 [2]
Given Kudos: 1,101
Posts: 238
Kudos: 253
 [2]
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hi GMATNinja GMATNinjaTwo,

I was wondering if you could please go through each of the answer choices and explain why the incorrect answer choices are incorrect? Upon searching this question on this platform and other websites, I noticed that there wasn't much discussion on this question for some reason even though the tag given is from GMATPrep.
avatar
meenakshimiyer
Joined: 12 Jan 2019
Last visit: 13 Mar 2019
Posts: 35
Own Kudos:
19
 [1]
Posts: 35
Kudos: 19
 [1]
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
“Nevertheless” is a connector meaning “yet” or “but”. You can see the futility and redundancy of “but” in E. Again, when we use a connector like “nevertheless”, both arms of the connector should be parallel. Choices A, B and E use a clause on one side and a participial phrase on the other.
We must say ‘Dolphins lack vocal cords, nevertheless create sounds’ using verbs on both sides.
A also falters on Subject –Verb agreement.
The choice has to be between C and D while D lacks the use of ‘by’ at the end. “being produce sphincter” is wrong usage and awkward. Hence, C is the answer.
User avatar
NandishSS
Joined: 06 Jan 2015
Last visit: 28 Jan 2021
Posts: 721
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 579
Location: India
Concentration: Operations, Finance
GPA: 3.35
WE:Information Technology (Computer Software)
Posts: 721
Kudos: 1,687
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
HI GMATNinja, mikemcgarry, DmitryFarber, MagooshExpert (Carolyn), ccooley, GMATGuruNY, EMPOWERgmatVerbal, EducationAisle

Can you please help me with this SC?
avatar
Bishal123456789
Joined: 30 May 2018
Last visit: 26 Mar 2021
Posts: 27
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 93
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
daagh Please explain What is wrong with optionE?
User avatar
teaserbae
Joined: 24 Mar 2018
Last visit: 07 Mar 2022
Posts: 192
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 288
Location: India
GMAT 1: 680 Q50 V31
GMAT 1: 680 Q50 V31
Posts: 192
Kudos: 44
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
AjiteshArun Is but and nevertheless redundant in the above Question ?
assuming but and nevertheless is not redundant how can we reject E ?
User avatar
AjiteshArun
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 15 Jul 2015
Last visit: 01 Jun 2025
Posts: 5,949
Own Kudos:
5,049
 [5]
Given Kudos: 732
Location: India
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Posts: 5,949
Kudos: 5,049
 [5]
5
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
teaserbae
AjiteshArun Is but and nevertheless redundant in the above Question ?
assuming but and nevertheless is not redundant how can we reject E ?
The nevertheless is not necessary, but there is a much more reliable way to remove E. This is the sentence option E leads to:

Dolphins lack vocal cords, but nevertheless creating sounds: a complicated system of whistles, squeaks, moans, trills, and clicks produced by sphincter muscle inside the blowhole.

We're basically saying "Dolphins lack (verb) something but creating (participle) something". The conjunction but does not join two similar elements in this case (lack and creating), and that's a great reason to take this option out.

Here is another question that tests the same thing.
User avatar
teaserbae
Joined: 24 Mar 2018
Last visit: 07 Mar 2022
Posts: 192
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 288
Location: India
GMAT 1: 680 Q50 V31
GMAT 1: 680 Q50 V31
Posts: 192
Kudos: 44
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
AjiteshArun
In A I rejected for are as it should be is
Why B is wrong ?
what's wrong in "nevertheless creating sound" in B
User avatar
thangvietnam
Joined: 29 Jun 2017
Last visit: 09 Mar 2023
Posts: 771
Own Kudos:
409
 [1]
Given Kudos: 2,198
Posts: 771
Kudos: 409
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
nevertheless is an adverb, which connect two independent clause. so, nevertheless can not stand in that position. only a few, not all, prepositions/conjunctions can stand in that position in choice A and B.

in the pattern
the main clause + comma+doing phrase

in this, doing phrase can stand before or after the main clause
in this pattern, doing phrase can show many meaning relations with the main clause, such as context, reason or cause of the main verb in the main clause. but doing can not show a contrast meaning with the meaning of the main clause.

instead of learning gmat, I go out for change

"instead of" is preposition/conjunction which can be in this position. I dont care "instead of" in this position is a preposition or conjunction. I think it is a conjunction because "learning" works as an adjective as in the case of " although tired, I continue to work".
User avatar
Rukia
Joined: 11 Jun 2019
Last visit: 19 Dec 2023
Posts: 49
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 861
Products:
Posts: 49
Kudos: 32
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
AjiteshArun
teaserbae
AjiteshArun
In A I rejected for are as it should be is
Why B is wrong ?
what's wrong in "nevertheless creating sound" in B
This is what we get with option B:

Dolphins lack vocal cords, nevertheless creating sounds; they produce a complicated system of whistles, squeaks, moans, trills, and clicks with sphincter muscle inside the blowhole.

The ", nevertheless creating sounds" is wrong for two reasons:
1. It doesn't logically connect to the clause "Dolphins lack vocal cords". Participles used this way normally communicate something that extends what the initial clause communicates. However, here the participle brings us an entirely new idea that does not connect to the initial clause at all (it is actually a contrasting idea). For example:

She did not go to the movie with her friends, choosing to stay at home and study for the GMAT instead.

The instead could make us think that we're looking to introduce a contrasting idea, but even in this case the participle communicates something in the same "direction" as the initial clause "she did not go..."

2. Look at the portion after the semicolon. It is all about the fact that Dolphins can produce sounds. That is, the idea contained in the ", nevertheless creating sounds" bit is central to the intended meaning of the sentence. We should not stick it in a modifier and leave it there. It is more important than that. There is a big difference in terms of emphasis between (a) Dolphins lack vocal cords, nevertheless creating sounds and (b) Dolphins lack vocal cords, but nevertheless create sounds.

Option A: A participle is not appropriate here as it doesn't support the intended meaning. System is singular, but are is plural. The use of the passive voice is generally avoidable and the passive verb are produced by makes it harder for the reader to identify dolphins as the agent (the who or the what that produces those sounds).

Option B: A participle is not appropriate here as it doesn't support the intended meaning. The semicolon brings in a full subject-verb pair and because the "producing sounds" idea is not an integral part of the initial clause, the two clauses joined by the semicolon don't make as much sense anymore (Dolphins lack vocal cords; they produce a complicated system of sounds).

Option C: The best of the 5 options.

Option D: There is no by after produced, and the being makes it seem as if we are discussing an ongoing action.

Option E: But should not be used to join lack (a verb) and creating (a participle).

Finally, although this is marked as a GMATPrep question, I'm not comfortable with the non-underlined portion. Specifically, "with sphincter muscle" doesn't make any sense ("with sphincter muscles" or "with a sphincter muscle" would have been better).

Shouldn’t choice C rather say produced by or using the sphincter muscle instead of with sphincter muscle?
User avatar
AjiteshArun
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 15 Jul 2015
Last visit: 01 Jun 2025
Posts: 5,949
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 732
Location: India
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Posts: 5,949
Kudos: 5,049
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Rukia
Shouldn’t choice C rather say produced by or using the sphincter muscle instead of with sphincter muscle?
Hi Rukia,

I think there is a mistake in the question, possibly a typo. Flagging it for review.
User avatar
Bunuel
User avatar
Math Expert
Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Last visit: 14 June 2025
Posts: 102,015
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 93,852
Products:
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 102,015
Kudos: 732,255
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
AjiteshArun
Rukia
Shouldn’t choice C rather say produced by or using the sphincter muscle instead of with sphincter muscle?
Hi Rukia,

I think there is a mistake in the question, possibly a typo. Flagging it for review.
_____________________
Fixed the typo. Thank you.
User avatar
Rukia
Joined: 11 Jun 2019
Last visit: 19 Dec 2023
Posts: 49
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 861
Products:
Posts: 49
Kudos: 32
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
AjiteshArun
Rukia
Shouldn’t choice C rather say produced by or using the sphincter muscle instead of with sphincter muscle?
Hi Rukia,

I think there is a mistake in the question, possibly a typo. Flagging it for review.

Hi AjiteshArun,

It seems Bunuel fixed a typo but Choice C still has “with” at the end.
User avatar
AjiteshArun
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 15 Jul 2015
Last visit: 01 Jun 2025
Posts: 5,949
Own Kudos:
5,049
 [2]
Given Kudos: 732
Location: India
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q83 V90 DI83
GMAT 1: 780 Q50 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V169
Posts: 5,949
Kudos: 5,049
 [2]
Kudos
Add Kudos
2
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Rukia
Hi AjiteshArun,

It seems Bunuel fixed a typo but Choice C still has “with” at the end.
Hi Rukia,

I think "produce something with a muscle" is okay. For example, I've come across phrases like produce force with a muscle or muscle group (1) many times.
User avatar
Rukia
Joined: 11 Jun 2019
Last visit: 19 Dec 2023
Posts: 49
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 861
Products:
Posts: 49
Kudos: 32
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
AjiteshArun
Rukia
Hi AjiteshArun,

It seems Bunuel fixed a typo but Choice C still has “with” at the end.
Hi Rukia,

I think "produce something with a muscle" is okay. For example, I've come across phrases like produce force with a muscle or muscle group (1) many times.

I see thank you!


Posted from my mobile device
 1   2   
Moderators:
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7325 posts
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
235 posts