For the Stegosaurus, a dinosaur from the late Jurassic Period, the sev

Question

Project SC Butler: Day 157: Sentence Correction (SC1) 
 For SC butler Questions  Click Here

For the Stegosaurus, a dinosaur from the late Jurassic Period, the seventeen bony plates embedded in its back were necessary elements for survival,  to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it  from much larger carnivores.

A) to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it

B) to regulate their temperature throughout their bus-sized bodies and to protect them

C) for regulating the temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it

D) regulating its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and protecting it

E) which are used to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it

generis · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION Project SC Butler: Day 157: Sentence Correction (SC1) THE PROMPT THE OPTIONS • the infinitives to regulate and to protect are ungrammatical because they have nothing to modify. • I have not seen one exception to this guideline (and if you can find an official question that is an exception, please send it my way): infinitives cannot set off modifying clauses. -- Wrong: He spent a few hours each day in the garden, to grow unusual vegetables and fruits.

-- Correct : He spent a few hours each day in the garden, growing unusual vegetables and fruits. • If the past participle (verbED) used were included, this sentence would be fine. This way: Correct but not an option : For the Stegosaurus, the bony plates embedded in its back were necessary elements for survival , used to regulate its temperature and to protect it from much larger carnivores. -- used is a verbal that can take infinitives. "Used" would modify "elements for survival." • elements for survival, in turn = bony plates. See the discussion of an official question about diabetes and the past participle surpassed, HERE • These verbals, in one form or another, are in every answer choice. We can think: what could we use instead? Some of you were waiting for a modifier or another clause that would add to or follow from the main clause. Good. That means you've been reading. (I think. If not, don't disabuse me of my delusions.) Bottom line: we need something that ties the regulation of temperature and the protection from carnivores to the bony plates or the mechanisms for survival. -- rishab0507 , you are spot on. GMAC does test infinitives against participles (verbINGs) in this kind of question. Good insight. Infinitives can be hard. If you are not sure about (A), KEEP • same problem as in (A): the infinitive phrases have nothing to modify • easier to spot: noun/pronoun disagreement. -- The Stegosaurus is singular; the non-underlined portion contains the singular possessive word ITS. -- The pronouns their and them are plural. Eliminate B. • for regulating and to protect are not parallel Eliminate C. • Boom. We needed participial modifiers (verbING words) because they can modify the entire preceding clause • regulating and protecting describe how the bony plates "were" necessary elements for survival. • alternatively, "regulating and protecting" might be described as adjectives that modify elements for survival (participles can modify immediately preceding nouns) • in option A, we needed to tie how the bony plates worked with the descriptors. Present participles (verbINGs) are versatile. They can modify (explain) whole clauses and the subjects of clauses. They can be adjectives. ___ING words can often stand in ways that infinitive phrases (and modifiers such as which ) cannot. -- Keep perspective. ___ING words are not perfect. -- I included the "used" sentence in (A) because sometimes the GMAT constructs questions requiring that kind of structure (I linked to one official example). KEEP. (Option A is now looking rather feeble, but we will check it anyway.) • we now have used , but are is ridiculous. Dinosaurs are extinct. The correct verb is were . • pretend that the verb is correct and says were . In that case, which would work. -- which is a noun-modifier and cannot modify a clause -- Typically which is placed as close as possible to the noun it modifies. -- nonessential modifiers such as which can reach back over essential modifiers such as prepositional phrases, but which cannot reach back over a verb to get to "bony plates." -- We could argue that the which-clause modified "elements ." And if the verb were correct, we would follow the structure in the official question that I mentioned above, discussed (same link) HERE . • Below I offer one final alternative that GMAC could toss at us. Eliminate E Option A compared to Option D? We need modifiers that connect the functions (regulation, protection) to the main clause—on one reading of (D) the words being tested tell us how the bony plates acted as elements for survival. The infinitive phrases in A have nothing to modify. The contest between A and D is no contest. Whereas the infinitive phrases in option A have nothing to modify, the participles (verbINGs) in (D) tell us how the bony plates functioned as means for survival. The answer is D. ISSUES • how to see that the infinitive phrases have nothing to modify in option A? -- acquaint yourselves with infinitive phrases (they are not difficult, just a little weird at first for non-native speakers) -- One good article is HERE -- A general overview is HERE In the first article listed, Mike McGarry of Magoosh lists 10 SC questions from OG 12 that test infinitive phrases. Take a look at those questions. • when you see infinitives and participles, ask what they are trying to do. What are they supposed to describe or be connected to? -- set aside "infinitive of purpose" for a moment. What are the ideas? -- the ideas are to regulate temperature and to protect the animal from large carnivores. -- The bony plates are somehow connected to those two ideas. -- well, to regulate and to protect cannot be adjectives that modify the noun plates, but we are close. -- what basic questions do we ask: what? where? when? why? HOW? Aha. The infinitives describe HOW the bony plates work or what they do. We need a verb (which were used) or a verbal ( used, which is not an option, or __ING words). • what about which in option E? I don't typically advocate rewriting sentences, but in this case, to clarify the role that which could and does play in some GMAT questions, I will do so. -- we need a noun for which to modify. We have one: bony plates. That noun is just too far from which. So we can make up a synonym or repeat the noun, and change which to that . (Jargon: a repeated word is called a resumptive modifier —as in "resume" .) -- Correct but not an option : For the Stegosaurus, the seventeen bony plates embedded in its back were necessary elements for survival, triangular nodes that were used to regulate its temperature and protect it from much larger carnivores. -- Correct but not an option : For the Stegosaurus, the seventeen bony plates embedded in its back were necessary elements for survival, plates that were used to regulate its temperature and protect it from much larger carnivores. (resumptive modifier) • finally, learn about participial and prepositional modifiers, which are two of the most easily placed (and hence versatile) modifiers. -- I wrote a post about six types of introductory modifiers that you can find HERE and that includes a discussion of introductory prepositional and participial modifiers (and four other kinds). -- In general, participles (verbINGS) are more versatile as adverbial modifiers than infinitive phrases are. -- infinitive phrases can function as adverbial modifiers (and many other parts of speech), but they cannot modify whole clauses. ING modifiers can do so. -- examples of infinitive phrases that are adverbial modifiers (1) modifying an adjective: Stefan was ready to drive to the airport. Ready is an adjective. Stefan was ready for what? To do what? to drive to the airport. That infinitive phrase is an adverbial modifier of ready . (2) modifying a verb: The repairmen came to inspect the furnace. To inspect modifies the verb came and answers, "Why did they come?" If you have taken some official questions, pull them and see whether you can articulate what is wrong with four answers. That's the end game. COMMENTS rishab0507 - That analysis—which I was not planning to write

—is, I hope, at least some of what you were looking for. I can answer more easily if I know a little more precisely what the issues are. Everyone is welcome to pull some examples of questions resembling this one (or any question that I post) that bother you, to figure out what bothers you, to post queries on the thread that sparked your initial inquisitiveness, and to tag me. (Inquisitiveness is a very good thing. I don't get people who aren't curious. Then again, they probably don't get me, either.) I am always happy to try to help. I am tagging everyone because I got waylaid and because I want to say thank you especially to J2S2019 (it wouldn't matter whether your sentence were grammatical -- it was gracious! but yes, it is very well-written) and Xylan for posting encouraging words and kudos when I wanted to holler. (At my own eyes.) Kindness and understanding are classy. I felt much better after I read your posts.

I missed two or three people in that mention because I haven't read my email yet. You'll hear from me.

Also thank you to ChuHoaiNam , Arvind42 , Ashokshiva , rishab0507 , TheNightKing , Itgelee (welcome to SC Butler!) , and ccheryn -- I appreciate the effort, the variety, and the consistency. This one is vernacular: I also appreciate good sports. Nice work, all! Happy kudos.

ahabib · Answer

A) to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it

Following a comma we expect either an independent clause or a modifying clause.. This is neither and should not follow a comma.

B) to regulate  their  temperature throughout their bus-sized bodies and to protect them

"Their" is referring back to a singular noun (Stegosaurus)

C)  for regulating  the temperature throughout its bus-sized body  and to protect it

Not parallel

D) regulating its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and protecting it

Good.

E)  which  are used to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it

"Which" is referring back to survival, and that doesn't make sense.

ChuHoaiNam · Answer

For the Stegosaurus, a dinosaur from the late Jurassic Period, the seventeen bony plates embedded in its back were necessary elements for survival, to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it from much larger carnivores.

A) to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it

B) to regulate  their  temperature throughout their bus-sized bodies and to protect them

C)  for regulating  the temperature throughout its bus-sized body and  to protect  it

D)  regulating  its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and  to protecting  it

E)  which  are used to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it

IMO: A is the correct answer.

Stegosarus, a dinosaur -> must be "it" not "their" -> Eliminate B.

A,C,D is about parallelism. -> Eliminate C and D.

Now we have A and E. This split is about meaning. In E, "Which" can modify survival or elements, however, after "which" we have "are" therefore "Which" must modify "elements". However:
A) bony plates was necessary elements to regulate and to protect
D) elements are used to regulate and to protect ( I dont think this one is correct)

So, A

Lampard42 · Answer

A) to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it -  Correct

B) to regulate their temperature throughout their bus-sized bodies and to protect  them - it refers to Stegosaurus in plural

C) for regulating the temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it -  False parallelism - Puts regulating and to protect in parallel with survival - it must be provided in such as way to show how it helps them to survive

D) regulating its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and  to protecting  it -  Unnecessary "to"

E) which are used to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it -  "Which" refers to survival - makes the sentence illogical

XyLan · Answer

Sentence Structure Subject - Verb : For the Stegosaurus, a dinosaur from the late Jurassic Period, the seventeen bony plates embedded in its( Stegosaurus ) back were necessary elements for survival, 1) regulating its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and 2) protecting it from much larger carnivores. Issues: I am expecting to see either the RESULT of the preceding clause or the additional info explaining HOW the seventeen bony plates were necessary elements, hoping for a verb-ing modifier - regulating and protecting . Will jump to answer choice analysis. Answer choice analysis: A) to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it The usage of To-verb from distorts the meaning. B) to regulate their temperature throughout their bus-sized bodies and to protect them Pronoun disagreement as Stegosaurus is a singular entity. C) for regulating the temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it Parallelism issue D) regulating its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and protecting it Great. D is the champ! E) which are used to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it the term which CAN overreach and modify necessary elements , rather than survival . However, the change is tense is unwarranted . J2S2019 , Our thoughts concur!

And generis , a shoutout to you!

Your tenacity and check-steps before posting speak of the virtuoso. Mate, you don't need to apologize. It's an unintended mistake, which can happen to the best of us.

I'm really glad and proud of the way you manage and post quality questions on the SC butler.

J2S2019 · Answer

IMO correct answer is A

Xylan  i am also agreed with you.

Option A is not a satisfied choice, i dont know if i am wrong but i was searching for a VerbING modifier to come after the comma & modify the preceding clause "...the seventeen bony plates embedded in its back were necessary elements for survival..." - suggesting some necessary information about the previous clause and also sharing the same subject "the seventeen bony plates"..

but infinitive usage was bit a tricky judge for me.
 generis  waiting for the OE & your analysis here.

But anyhow, it is better a choice than the others.

Q:-
For the Stegosaurus, a dinosaur from the late Jurassic Period, the seventeen bony plates embedded in its back were necessary elements for survival, to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it from much larger carnivores.

A)  to regulate  its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and  to protect  it - Correct parallelism

B) to regulate their temperature throughout their bus-sized bodies and to protect  them  - Pronoun ambiguity & number mismatch - "them" incorrectly refers back to singular collective noun "the Stegosaurus"

C)  for regulating  the temperature throughout its bus-sized body and  to protect  it - Incorrect parallelism

D)  regulating  its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and  to protecting  it - Incorrect parallelism

E)  which  are used to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it -  incorrectly modifies the previous noun - For an instance i was thinking if ",which" - a relative pronoun is violating the touch rule by not modifying "survival" instead modifying "necessary elements" & "for survival" is just a mere noun phrase (prepositional phrase) associated with it - but again i was confused with this rule also. - Somewhat discarded it.

Ashokshiva · Answer

IMO A

For the Stegosaurus, a dinosaur from the late Jurassic Period, the seventeen bony plates embedded in its back were necessary elements for survival, to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it from much larger carnivores.

A)  to regulate  its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and  to protect  it
Correct parallelism

B) to regulate  their  temperature throughout their bus-sized bodies and to protect them
A dinosaur is singular

C)  for regulating  the temperature throughout its bus-sized body and  to protect  it
Parallelism error

D)  regulating  its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and  to protecting  it
To protecting is wrong

E)  which  are used to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it
Which does not modify the bony plates

generis · Answer

ChuHoaiNam  ,  Arvind42  ,  ahabib  ,  Xylan  ,  J2S2019  , and  Ashokshiva  ,

I have edited the answer choices.   Please review and if need be, edit your answers.

I apologize for the inconvenience and/or confusion.
I have a pretty bad case of eye strain that cannot be avoided. 
What I do professionally (my "real" job) takes its toll on my eyes. (I read, write, and edit too much prose.)

Posting these questions is the only area in which I encounter problems. 
I triple-check. I read each answer choice out loud. But I am transcribing: I am toggling between text on a screen and text in a book. My eyes miss things. I apologize.

I will delay the release of the OA by 12 hours. (It's been 12 hours since I posted this question.)

generis · Answer

@J2S019 , please see my message posted just above this one.

Thank you for mentioning my name.

Other than checking the thread constantly (I can't do so), the only way I have to know that something is amiss is a tag or a report ("report this post" button). Thank you again!

J2S2019 · Answer

Thats perfect & too kind of you.

You are doing a true up-hill task, running these forum apart from your daily activities, & we are really very much thankful to you for this.

I dont know whether my above sentence is grammatically correct

& used with proper VerbING modifier or not but surely SC Butler is what i enjoy solving regularly. Good day

J2S2019 · Answer

Its clearly D now. with both the VerbING modifier used in parallel structure & modifying the preceding clause.

rishab0507 · Answer

IMO D :
to verb is used to describe an action/ an intent where an action can take place, whereas in this case it just providing an extra information, and we should look for modifier ING to support that.

A) to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it:  2nd Best option but not the correct choice. Parallel but we don't need to verb
 
B)to regulate their temperature throughout their bus-sized bodies and to protect them  : parallel, but use of their is incorrect ,Singular verb to use

C) f or regulating  the temperature throughout its bus-sized body and  to protect  it  : not parallel

D) regulating its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and protecting it  : parallel and ING verb working as modifier

E)  which  are used to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it : we don't need which

generis : this question is a good example of where we can use To verb and where Ing and often these are easily interchangeable and confusing. I have found many OG questions that trick in this. Can you please highlight what and where should be correct useage of To (be) verb and where ING. If you already had , can you please give link

TheNightKing · Answer

Let's try this one.
Stegosaurus may or may not be singular. So may be you should check int he non underlined portion (Most of the time GMAT will tell you what it is). in its back means it is singular.
Let's get rid of low hanging fruits (as per our Legend)

B) to regulate their temperature throughout their bus-sized bodies and to protect them.  "their" is a good enough reason to eliminate this option.

The second thing you should notice is "and" and let's take care of Parallelism.

C) for regulating the temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it.  So here we are trying to make regulating parallel to "to protect it". That is not right.

D) regulating its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and protecting it - This looks good. Let's keep it for now.

E) which are used to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it  By now, you should know why "which" is not right. If you don't know may be you should read about it

Between A and D, 
A uses to regulate and to protect form of the verb vs regulating and protecting in D. If you understand what the sentence is saying "the seventeen bony plates embedded in its back were necessary elements for survival" this whole phrase is what is helping it to regulate and protect. So we need the ing modifier to modify the entire clause.

IMO D.

Ashokshiva · Answer

IMO D

D)  regulating  its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and  protecting  it

Perfect parallelism

Itgelee · Answer

For the Stegosaurus, a dinosaur from the late Jurassic Period, the seventeen bony plates embedded in its back were necessary elements for survival, to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it from much larger carnivores.

A) to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it
"To" in the beginning distorts the meaning.

B) to regulate their temperature throughout their bus-sized bodies and to protect them
"To" in the beginning distorts the meaning. Plus, pronoun "They" brings agreement error.

C) for regulating the temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it
For might work if both regulate and protect were parallel. Parallelism error.

D) regulating its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and protecting it
I do not see any meaning and grammar error in this choice SO D is the answer. COMMA-ING perfectly modifies how it is necessary for survival.

E) which are used to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it
Which does not have any proper noun to modify.

ccheryn · Answer

For the Stegosaurus, a dinosaur from the late Jurassic Period, the seventeen bony plates embedded in its back were necessary elements for survival,  to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it  from much larger carnivores.

A) to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it  ( infinitive distorts, this is for purpose.. here its not embedded too protect.. but being there it protects and regulates.. , so this change of meaning is not correct)

B) to regulate their temperature throughout their bus-sized bodies and to protect them ( infinitive distorts, this is for purpose.. here its not embedded too protect.. but being there it protects and regulates.. , so this change of meaning is not correct)

C) for regulating the temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it (for regulating is correct usage, but the parallelism with the other should be a clause which is missed. hence wrong

D) regulating its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and protecting it

Good.

[b]E) which are used to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it

E) which are used to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it ( parallalism issue noun to infinitive is wrong)

ArtVandaley · Answer

For the Stegosaurus, a dinosaur from the late Jurassic Period, the seventeen bony plates embedded in its back were necessary elements for survival, to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it from much larger carnivores.

Parallelism demands the entities to be in the same form.
i) For survival
ii) For regulating...
iii) for protecting

D is the only answer that resembles this construction.

generis · Answer

rishab0507 , I wish I could provide you with a short and sweet list of how to use ___ING words and how to use infinitives. I wince as I write this very general guideline that may have lots of exceptions , but: Infinitives express purpose. They do not tell always us whether the thing actually happened. -- She studied hard to achieve high grades. Participles (verbINGS) express result (or cause) and if they express result, then we know that the thing did happen. -- She studied hard, achieving high grades. gerunds , too. Understand participles (verbINGs) vs. infinitives first. 2) If I link you to a source that confuses you, stop. Try another resource. 3) Check out links in articles, especially if the resources is geared to the GMAT. I have not included more than I think you can handle. The general resources -- especially towson and EF -- are good. Threads with expert replies: • Need help deciding/ to decide whether to use gerunds or infintives : HERE • Infinitives or Participles? : HERE Written by GMAT experts : • GMATNinja , That “-ing” word probably isn’t a verb : HERE • Mike McGarry, The -ING form of a verb : HERE • Id., Infinitive Phrases on the GMAT : HERE • Id., Verbs that require the infinitive on the GMAT : HERE • Jordan Schonig, GMAT Sentence Correction: Present Participle vs. Infinitive : HERE GMAT Club resources • SC Tips & Tricks: VERBALS MUST NOT BE CONFUSED WITH VERBS : HERE scroll down to that heading] General sources (avoid gerunds and past participles - verbEDs) • The -ING forms : HERE • The present participle : here • The infinitive : here • Non-finite verb forms : HERE • Verbals : here • Verb Forms : -ing, Infinitives, and Past Participles : here • Identifying verbals in English grammar: The Difference Between Gerunds, Participles, and Infinitives : here • Infinitive phrases : here • The use of the infinitive : here One last suggestion? Take this question, here along with specific queries about participle vs. infinitive usage to GMATNinja 's Ask Me Anything About SC Thread.

You can find that thread HERE Those resources aren't long: about a page each. Hope that helps.

TarunKumar1234 · Answer

For the Stegosaurus, a dinosaur from the late Jurassic Period, the seventeen bony plates embedded in its back were necessary elements for survival, to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it from much larger carnivores.

A) to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it

B) to regulate their temperature throughout their bus-sized bodies and to protect them

C) for regulating the temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it

D) regulating its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protecting it

E) which are used to regulate its temperature throughout its bus-sized body and to protect it

IMO: A is the correct answer.

Stegosarus, a dinosaur -> must be "it" not "their" -> Eliminate B.

A,C,D is about parallelism. -> Eliminate C and D.

Now we have A and E. This split is about meaning. In E, "Which" can modify survival or elements, however, after "which" we have "are" therefore "Which" must modify "elements". However:
A) bony plates was necessary elements to regulate and to protect
D) elements are used to regulate and to protect ( I dont think this one is correct)

So, A

For the Stegosaurus, a dinosaur from the late Jurassic Period, the sev

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

For the Stegosaurus, a dinosaur from the late Jurassic Period, the sev

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards