Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chip

Hi there,

Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been round all over north America ,they are named for the new Mexico site where whey were first discovered in 1932.

The contrast set by the original sentence is that Clovis Points have been found in all over the North America, but they are named for the New Mexico where they were first discovered in 1932. This contrast is correct.

So let’s proceed to the PoE now:

A. Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932. Correct. No errors.

B. Although named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, Clovis points are spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces and have been found all over North America. Incorrect.
Notice the contrast this choice presents. It says although CPs are named for New Mexico site where…, they are spear points. This is not the intended contrast. The contrast is between where they have been found and for what they have been named. This sentence presents the contrast that says they are named for NM site but they look like this.

C. Named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932, Clovis points, spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto the faces, have been found all over North America. Incorrect.

1. Use of present perfect tense “have been discovered” is incorrect to refer to an action that took place in 1932.

2. This sentence does not present any contrast.

D. Spear points with longitudinal grooves that are chipped onto the faces, Clovis points, even though named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, but were found all over North America.Incorrect.
1. There is only one verb for "Spear points…”. But still the choice is using “but”. This means there should be another verb here. Absence of this verb leads to fragment error.

E. While Clovis points are spear points whose faces have longitudinal grooves chipped into them, they have been found all over North America, and named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932. Incorrect.

1. Per this sentence, the contrast is that CPs are spear points but they have been found all over the North America and are named for the NM site. This certainly is not the intended contrast.

Take Away

1. Understand the context of the sentence very well. Carefully notice the contrasts or comparisons made.

2. Assess if those contrasts or comparisons are logical or not.

3. Once you get the intended logical meaning, do the POE to find out which answer choice conveys the intended meaning in the best way.

Hope this helps.
Thanks
Shraddha
_________________

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that though Clovis points have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932, and as extra information, they are spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Tenses + Grammatical Construction

• The simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past.
• The present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.
• “although” and “despite” are used to show contrast.
• "while" is used to refer to actions taking place simultaneously.

A: Correct. This answer choice uses the dependent clause "Even though Clovis points...have been found all over North America" to modify the independent clause "they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932", wherein the independent pronoun "they" is acted upon by the active verb phrase "are named" to form a complete thought; thus, Option A forms a complete sentence. Further, Option A uses the clause "Even though Clovis points...have been found all over North America" and places information about the Clovis points -- that they are "spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces" -- between two commas, conveying the intended meaning - that though Clovis points have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932, and as extra information, they are spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces; remember, presenting a modifying phrase between two commas is a correct way to insert extra information into an independent clause. Additionally, Option A correctly uses the simple past tense verb phrase "were first discovered" to refer to an event that concluded in the past. Besides, Option A correctly uses "though" to show contrast.

B: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the clause " Clovis points are spear points...and have been found all over North America"; the construction of this clause incorrectly implies that though Clovis points have been found all over North America, they are spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces; the intended meaning is that though Clovis points have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932, and as extra information, they are spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces.

C: Trap. This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "Named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932"; the omission of the word "although" removes a needed sense of contrast, incorrectly implying that Clovis points are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932, and they have been found all over North America; the intended meaning is that Clovis points are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932, but they have been found all over North America. Further, Option C incorrectly uses the present perfect tense verb "have been found" to refer to an event that concluded in the past; please remember, the simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past, and the present perfect tense (marked by the use of the helping verb “has/have”) is used to describe events that concluded in the past but continue to affect the present.

D: This answer choice fails to form a complete sentence; as "Spear points with longitudinal grooves that are chipped onto the faces", "Clovis Points", "even though named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932", and "but were found all over North America" are all dependent clauses, there is no independent clause for them to modify and no active verb to act upon the subject "Spear points".

E: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "While Clovis points are spear points whose faces have longitudinal grooves chipped into them"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that although Clovis points are spear points whose faces have longitudinal grooves chipped into them, Clovis points have been found all over North America; the intended meaning is that although Clovis points are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932, Clovis points have been found all over North America. Further, Option E incorrectly uses "While" to convey a sense of contrast; please remember, “although” and “despite” are used to show contrast, and "while" is used to refer to actions taking place simultaneously.

Hence, A is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



To understand the concept of "Present Perfect Tense" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



To understand the concept of "Although", "Though", "Despite", and "While", you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team
_________________

Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932.

1. Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over North America,
- Colored one is the appositive describing the points
2. they are named for the New Mexico site
3. where they were first discovered in 1932.

Nothing wrong in A


(A) Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces,have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932.

(B) Although named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, Clovis points are spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces and have been found all over North America.-- Meaning changed contrast should be between where they have been found and for what they have been named.

(C) Named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932, Clovis points, spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto the faces, have been found all over North America.-- with time frame simple past should be used, no contradictory clauses

(D) Spear points with longitudinal grooves that are chipped onto the faces, Clovis points, even though named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, but were found all over North America.- no verbs for subject clovis ; use of even though , but in same sentence makes it wrong

(E) While Clovis points are spear points whose faces have longitudinal grooves chipped into them, they have been found all over North America, and named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932.- they named for-> wrong helping verb are , were required. also the meaning is changed

So ans :A

Hi there,

Choice D reads:

Spear points with longitudinal grooves that are chipped onto the faces, Clovis points, even though named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, but were found all over North America.

Carefully note the structure of this sentence. The subject here is Spear points. The verb for this subject is “were found”. But this verb is preceded by “but”. This means we have a contrast here. For that, we need one more verb for the subject then only we can join another verb with the same subject by using “but”. For example:

The coffee smells sweet but tastes bitter.

Here, we have two verbs for subject “The coffee” – “smells” and “tastes”. Because we have two verbs for the same subject and we are presenting contrast here, we join the two verbs with “but”.

However, there is a verb missing for Spear points.

Spear points with longitudinal grooves that are chipped onto the faces, Clovis points, even though named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932,but were found all over North America.

This is the structure of the independent clause. We have a verb missing here. This leads to fragment.












Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
_________________

I'm happy to help.

Of course, this is OG13 SC#96.

As a general rule, a subordinate conjunction, such as "although" or "even though" or "while", should be followed by a full [noun] + [verb] structure. The GMAT doesn't like following a subordinate conjunction with simply a participial phrase, such as the participial phrase "named for the new Mexico site where fist discovered in 1932". It's tricky, because this structure is quite common in colloquial English ....
While sleeping, I ...
Although wasting time, he ....
Because already tired, she ...
Any of those might pass in colloquial speech, but they would be 100% wrong on the GMAT Sentence Correction. This is the problem with (B).

For participial phrases, see:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/participle ... -the-gmat/

For more on where verbs are needed:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-gramm ... b-mistake/

Does all this make sense?

Mike
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Hi Mike

Can you please explain why past perfect is incorrect in C? If they "have been discovered in 1932" -- doesn't that imply that they are still around after being discovered? Isn't that the purpose of "have been"?

Thanks!

Hi russ9,

You are absolutely correct in saying that the present perfect tense can be used for an event that was completed in the past and whose effect is still visible in the present. However that is not the case in the above question.
Let’s take a look at a few simple examples before we discuss the official question. Can you identify which of the following sentences are correct?

1. The invention of steam engine has made our lives easier.

2. The invention of steam engine made our lives easier.

3. The steam engine has been invented in the 18th century.

4. The steam engine was invented in the 18th century.



EXAMPLE 1 & 2

Both these sentences tell us about the effects of the invention of the steam engine. The invention happened at a certain point of time in the past that is not mentioned in the sentence. However the effects of the invention (making our lives easier) are visible in the present context. So, the correct way to represent this event is by using the present perfect tense. Hence, example 1 is correct.
The simple past tense ‘made’ represents that the invention made our lives easier at a certain point of time in the past.


EXAMPLE 3 & 4

Both these sentences tell us about an event (the invention of steam engine) that happened in the 18th century. Since it is clearly mentioned in the sentence when the event happened and the sentence does not talk about the effects of this event, the correct way to represent this event is by using the simple past tense. So, example 4 is correct.


OFFICIAL QUESTION

From the context of this question, it is clear that Clovis points were first discovered at a certain point of time in the past: i.e., in 1932. The first discovery itself does not extend into the present. So, the discovery of the Clovis points is an event that happened in 1932 and hence it should be represented using the simple past tense (were discovered).

Note that the use of the present perfect tense verb “have been found” is perfectly correct here. Since the action of finding the Clovis points is a continuous action that started in the past and has continued over the years, it is represented using the present perfect tense (have been found).


Hope this helps!

Regards,
Deepak
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Hello Archit

Frankly, It's not easy to split 2:3 or 3:2 for this question. However, you can use signal words to eliminate wrong answers very quickly.

Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been round all over north America ,they are named for the new Mexico site where whey were first discovered in 1932


1) Even though Clovis points , spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over north America, they are named for the new Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932.
Correct.

2) Although named for the new Mexico site where fist discovered in 1932. Clovis points are spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces and have been found all over north America .
Wrong. phrase "are spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces" is NOT main clause, because it does not reflect contrast meaning. Thus, it should be modifier only ==> Changes intended meaning.

3) Named for the new Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932. Clovis points, spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto the faces, have been found all over north America .
Wrong. The contrast signal words such as even though, although... are "must have" here. ==> C does not reflect intended meaning.

4) Spear points with longitudinal grooves that are chipped onto the faces ,Clovis points , even though named for the new Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, but were found all over north America .
Wrong. Even though...., but..... ==> absolutely wrong structure because of redundant (but).

5) While Clovis points are spear points whose faces have longitudinal grooves chipped into them ,they have been found all over north America ,and named for the new Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932
Wrong. "while" is incorrect use here. "them" refers to "spear points" or "faces" ==> very unclear.

Hope it helps.

Hello,

In option A :

Isn't "they are named for the New Mexico site......in 1932" a noun-modifier ? If yes, then it is misplaced.

Doubt: Has it not been considered a modifier because it can stand alone as a sentence ? Can a modifier never stand alone as a sentence ?

Appreciate your support experts !

Hi Parul,

Whenever in a structure, you find a Subject and a Verb, it becomes a clause. So let's see how many clauses do we have in this official sentence:

Cl. 1: Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over north America,
Cl. 2: they are named for the new Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932.

(blue = Subject, green = Verb)

So we have two subject pairs in this sentence and hence two clauses. The first clause is a Dependent Clause and the second one is an Independent Clause.

Now modifiers are generally not clauses. However, only Relative Pronoun Modifiers can form a clause or are followed by a clause. This is the only modifier that makes a clause. For example:

The boy who lives next door is very naughty.

As you can see, here the Relative pronoun modifier "who lives next door" is a clause and makes a Dependent Clause.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
SJ
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I have a question of choice C
it is clear that "have been..." in this choice is wrong.
but there is another error.
"named.... 1932" work as an adverb for main clause and,so, is not logic for this capacity.
if we changer the place of this phrase into"

Clovis point, "named for.... 1932", have been found....

in this sentence, "named for..." work as an adjective and , so, logic.

in conclusion, the change of the place of a phrase make its grammatical role changen

am I correct? please, help

A modifier can be placed before or after the noun it refers to. In option C "named for .. " is placed before and in your example it is placed after the noun "Clovis points". In both it works as adjective for that noun.

Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been
found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in
1932.

Sentence wants to clarify the contrast between two features of Clovis points :
- They are found all over North America, yet they are named after the New Mexican site where they were first discovered.
This has been correctly done in option A itself.

A. Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have
been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first
discovered in 1932.
Correct

B. Although named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, Clovis points are spear
points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces and have been found all over North America.
Here the contrast is shown between “named for the New Mexico site” and “are spear points of longitudinal grooves”
Which is not the intended contrast & meaning…

C. Named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932, Clovis points, spear
points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto the faces, have been found all over North America.
No contrast at all in this sentence..
Also, “have been discovered” is incorrect tense...a simple past tense is preferred

D. Spear points with longitudinal grooves that are chipped onto the faces, Clovis points, even though
named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, but were found all over North
America.
Here the contrast is reversed…It says although they are named after Mexican sites, they are found all over North America..
If this is NOT good enough reason to reject this option, then , the Simple past tense “were found” is not correct as well..It says Clovis points are not found any more in the North America…

E. While Clovis points are spear points whose faces have longitudinal grooves chipped into them, they
have been found all over North America, and named for the New Mexico site where they have been
first discovered in 1932.
Again incorrect contrast between “Clovis points are spear points” and “they have been found all over North America”.
Also, “have been discovered” is incorrect tense...a simple past tense is preferred
_________________

Correct Answer is A.
I'll focus on the takeaways from this question.

Firstly, Why not C?

- "Named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932....": Use of present participle (or past participle for that matter!) is incorrect here. Had it been simple past [i.e. ..were first discovered..], it would have avoided the tense related issue.

- Original sentence asks for a contrast, which is not found in C

Note to self

Takeaway 1 :
Just an observation, any question with contrast will always have a grammatically correct/almost correct contender option, missing contrast.
Always look out for the non-contrasting contender, and decide whether you need a contrast.


Takeaway 2 :
If I need to work really hard to make a participle tense fit, chances are, I am picking the wrong answer. As a rule of thumb, "Discovery" in a question, takes simple tense.


Takeaway 3 :
Named for and Named after : both are correct

My post, created for my own benefit, perhaps a little trivial for all you advanced students. So go ahead and ignore

Hello mihir0710,

I know I am quite late to complement you for our analysis of this official question. Nonetheless, better late than never.

You have actually done a brilliant job in analyzing each and every answer choice for this question. So keep the great work.


I would just like to add my two cents about rejecting Choice D on solid grounds.





The grammatical reason (incorrect verb tense) is definitely correct to reject Choice D. However, there is another verb related error that makes choice D incorrect.

This choice uses the expression but were found. Presence of the connector but tells us that there is a list in this sentence whose last parallel entity is the verb were found. Now this verb associates with the subject Clovis points.

However, there is no other verb before were found that associates with Clovis points to form a list with were found. So the subject Clovis points misses a verb in Choice D.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
_________________

Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932.

A. Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932.

B. Although named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, Clovis points are spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces and have been found all over North America.

The above sentence presents the contrast between two things which author doesn’t intend to.
Named for New Mexico site where….
They are spear points of longitudinal grooves…

C. Named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932, Clovis points, spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto the faces, have been found all over North America.

No Contrast has been posed in this sentence.
Have been discovered present perfect isn’t required. Was discovered would have been fine. Even though the time frame is given but it sticks to the year 1932.
Hence C goes out.

D. Spear points with longitudinal grooves that are chipped onto the faces, Clovis points, even though named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, but were found all over North America.

But forms a parallel marker with Y = “were found all over the North America”
With No X present to make the sentence parallel. Hence Option D goes out.

E. While Clovis points are spear points whose faces have longitudinal grooves chipped into them, they have been found all over North America, and named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932.

They in “they have been found all over…” has ambiguous antecedent i.e. Clovis point or longitudinal grooves
Hence Option E goes out.

IMO, apart from the other flaws in option D, it is also redundant as it uses both "even though" and "but" in the same sentence.

A pronoun's first job is to try and match the subject of the clause, failing which it may seek other suitors such as objects of verbs or object of prepositions. Therefore, 'they',as a matter of protocol refers to the Clovis points and why would we think that 'they and Clovis points' reference is not logical?

In addition, spear points are only nonessential appositive modifiers of Clovis points, and if one were to temporarily remove the apposition for the sake of better clarity, what will 'they' then modify?
_________________

Hello Everyone!

This is a great example of a question that has the entire sentence underlined. These can seem tricky, but if we apply the same method we use for other types of questions, we can still narrow down our options quickly and get to the correct choice! To begin, here is the original question with all the major differences between the options highlighted in orange:

Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932.

(A) Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932.
(B) Although named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, Clovis points are spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces and have been found all over North America.
(C) Named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932, Clovis points, spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto the faces, have been found all over North America.
(D) Spear points with longitudinal grooves that are chipped onto the faces, Clovis points, even though named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, but were found all over North America.
(E) While Clovis points are spear points whose faces have longitudinal grooves chipped into them, they have been found all over North America, and named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932.

While there are many more things we could focus on, here are just a few simple ones that jump out:

1. ...spear points with/of/whose faces have longitudinal grooves (Idioms)
2. have been found / were found (Verb Tense)
3. were discovered / discovered / have been discovered (Verb Tense/Meaning)

Whenever we see an entire sentence underlined, we can also focus our attention to "big ticket" grammar problems, such as modifiers, parallelism, and intended meaning. However, we're going to start with the basic differences we found while scanning over the options quickly.

Let's start with #1 on our list: with/of/whose faces have. When describing something, we have some idiom rules we need to follow:

noun + WITH + detail --> CORRECT
(The boy with the red hat... / Flowers with purple leaves... / Songs with banjos...)

noun + OF + detail --> WRONG
(The word "of" used in this way becomes a possessive, like when we say "The students of the theatre." This means the students belong to the theatre, which is not what we're trying to do here.)

So, let's see how each of our options breaks down:

(A) Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932.
(B) Although named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, Clovis points are spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces and have been found all over North America.
(C) Named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932, Clovis points, spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto the faces, have been found all over North America.
(D) Spear points with longitudinal grooves that are chipped onto the faces, Clovis points, even though named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, but were found all over North America.
(E) While Clovis points are spear points whose faces have longitudinal grooves chipped into them, they have been found all over North America, and named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932.

We can eliminate options B & C because they say "spears of," which changes the meaning to "the spears belong to longitudinal grooves," which doesn't make any sense.

Let's move on to #2 on our list: have been found vs. were found. While they are both grammatically correct to use in this sentence, they do mean two completely different things:

have been found = Clovis points were found all over North America in the past, and they're still found there today
were found = Clovis points were found all over North America in the past, but no one has found any today

It makes more sense to say that Clovis points were found all over North America and still are today, so let's stick with the options that reflect that:

(A) Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932.
(D) Spear points with longitudinal grooves that are chipped onto the faces, Clovis points, even though named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, but were found all over North America.
(E) While Clovis points are spear points whose faces have longitudinal grooves chipped into them, they have been found all over North America, and named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932.

We can eliminate option D because it uses the incorrect "were found," which changes the intended meaning.

Now that we've got it narrowed down to only 2 options, let's focus on some of those "big ticket" issues we discussed earlier. Check to make sure modifiers are in the right places, everything is parallel, and the meaning isn't distorted or illogical:

(A) Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932.

This is CORRECT! The phrase "even though" sets up a contrast between the fact that Clovis points are named after where they were discovered, but they're actually found all over North America. It also uses the right verb tenses, idiom structures, and a clear, logical meaning.

(E) While Clovis points are spear points whose faces have longitudinal grooves chipped into them, they have been found all over North America, and named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932.

This is INCORRECT. By starting the sentence with a clause beginning with the word "while," we expect the phrase after it to be the other side of the contrast. If you read the red part by itself, it doesn't really work, does it? What does finding them in North America have to do with the grooves in them? Nothing. The contrast should be between the fact that they can be found all over North America, but they were named for a specific site in New Mexico.


There you have it - option A is the correct choice!


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