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From the bark of the paper birch tree the Menomini crafted a canoe abo 09 Oct 2020, 10:46
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GMATNinja could you please explain why Option A is incorrect?
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From the bark of the paper birch tree the Menomini crafted a canoe abo 26 Oct 2020, 10:33
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Hello experts,
A prompt question regarding this sc problem, I was wondering about the use of the FANBOY "yet" , should't the second part (the part after the yet) be an independent one with a proper subject?
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From the bark of the paper birch tree the Menomini crafted a canoe abo 26 Oct 2020, 19:05
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UNSTOPPABLE12
Hello experts,
A prompt question regarding this sc problem, I was wondering about the use of the FANBOY "yet" , should't the second part (the part after the yet) be an independent one with a proper subject?
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Some of the FANBOYS conjunctions can connect like things other than clauses.

In this case, "yet" connects two elements of a list in "the canoe could carry ... yet was."
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From the bark of the paper birch tree the Menomini crafted a canoe abo 28 Oct 2020, 00:55
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UNSTOPPABLE12

The logic here is "If want to connect independent clauses, we need a FANBOYS word," not "If we see a FANBOYS word, we are connecting independent clauses." Look at good old "and." We certainly aren't connecting independent clauses every time we say "and"!
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From the bark of the paper birch tree the Menomini crafted a canoe abo 02 Nov 2020, 17:04
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GMATNinja could you please explain why Option A is incorrect?
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(A) is illogical. To see why, consider what the sentence is attempting to communicate: 1) the canoe could carry four people or eight hundred pounds of baggage; 2) the canoe was so light that it could be steered through rapids.

Now look at (A) again:

Quote:
From the bark of the paper birch tree the Menomini crafted a canoe about twenty feet long and two feet wide, with small ribs and rails of cedar, which could carry four persons or eight hundred pounds of baggage so light that a person could easily portage it around impeding rapids.
Show more
Now it sounds as though it's the baggage that's light. But that doesn't make any sense -- the sentence is talking specifically about 800 pounds of baggage. First, that hardly seems light. Second, the notion that 800 pounds isn't a lot of baggage wouldn't really have anything to do with whether a canoe could deal with rapids.

In (E), the verb phrase, "was so light" makes it clear that we're talking about the canoe, rather than the baggage, creating a far more logical meaning.

I hope that helps!
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From the bark of the paper birch tree the Menomini crafted a canoe abo 31 Jan 2021, 10:25
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Let's take a look at some of the other issues in this question:

"being" --> This word is almost always wrong. There's really no reason to ever use it unless you're referring to an "alien being" or a "human being." The reason is that it simply does not add any value to the sentence. The following two sentences mean the same thing:

"Because I was being so cold, I put on a jacket."
"Because I was cold, I put on a jacket."

This is a simple example, but notice how the question above plays with this exact same concept.

"yet" --> When we use the conjunction "yet" or "but" we're indicating a contrast:

"I love cheese, but I hate cream cheese." --> There's a contrast here, so I'd use "but" or "yet."
"I love pizza, and I love lasagna." --> No contrast here, so we use "and."

Notice how the answer choices here play with your ability to decide whether you need to use "yet" or "and."

Just wanted to take this question a bit further. It's always good to dissect an OG problem in as many ways as you possibly can.
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Hi thanks for the explanation. It d really helpful. I have one doubt though. Don't we have to use a comma before using a FANBOYS? Shouldn't it be 'Y, yet x ' ?
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From the bark of the paper birch tree the Menomini crafted a canoe abo 31 Jan 2021, 18:22
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The rule is that if we want to connect two independent clauses with a comma, we also need a FANBOYS word to connect the clauses. This doesn't mean that any time we see one of those words, we need to have a comma. Remember that the most common word on that list is AND, and we certainly wouldn't want to put a comma every time we say AND! Also, we don't have two independent clauses here, so YET is just providing a contrast, just as BUT would. I can say "The film was well-made but depressing" or "The film was well-made but caused some viewers to become depressed," but neither requires a comma.
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From the bark of the paper birch tree the Menomini crafted a canoe abo 07 Feb 2022, 13:03
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DmitryFarber

Struggling a little bit with this question. What are the errors in answer choice D?
When looking at answer choice D, I thought that the parallelism was clear: the root phrase was "Menomini crafted a canoe," and the X and Y elements were adjective phrases describing the canoe - see brackets below:

From the bark of the paper birch tree the Menomini crafted a canoe [about twenty feet long and two feet wide, with small ribs and rails of cedar, which could carry four persons or eight hundred pounds of baggage], and [so light that a person could easily portage it around impeding rapids].

Stylistically, I can see why E is the better answer choice, but does this sentence really need to depict contrast? Why can't it be that Menomini crafted a canoe having a certain size and having a certain property for navigation in waters?
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From the bark of the paper birch tree the Menomini crafted a canoe abo 08 Feb 2022, 05:59
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DmitryFarber

Struggling a little bit with this question. What are the errors in answer choice D?
When looking at answer choice D, I thought that the parallelism was clear: the root phrase was "Menomini crafted a canoe," and the X and Y elements were adjective phrases describing the canoe - see brackets below:

From the bark of the paper birch tree the Menomini crafted a canoe [about twenty feet long and two feet wide, with small ribs and rails of cedar, which could carry four persons or eight hundred pounds of baggage], and [so light that a person could easily portage it around impeding rapids].

Stylistically, I can see why E is the better answer choice, but does this sentence really need to depict contrast? Why can't it be that Menomini crafted a canoe having a certain size and having a certain property for navigation in waters?
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Hello Sambon,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, in this sentence, the underlined portion is part of the "comma + which" construction, so it must maintain parallelism with "could carry four persons or eight hundred pounds of baggage"; thus, Option E is correct, as it uses the verb "was", which parallels the verb "could".

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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From the bark of the paper birch tree the Menomini crafted a canoe abo 18 Feb 2022, 16:09
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DmitryFarber

Struggling a little bit with this question. What are the errors in answer choice D?
When looking at answer choice D, I thought that the parallelism was clear: the root phrase was "Menomini crafted a canoe," and the X and Y elements were adjective phrases describing the canoe - see brackets below:

From the bark of the paper birch tree the Menomini crafted a canoe [about twenty feet long and two feet wide, with small ribs and rails of cedar, which could carry four persons or eight hundred pounds of baggage], and [so light that a person could easily portage it around impeding rapids].

Stylistically, I can see why E is the better answer choice, but does this sentence really need to depict contrast? Why can't it be that Menomini crafted a canoe having a certain size and having a certain property for navigation in waters?

Hello Sambon,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, in this sentence, the underlined portion is part of the "comma + which" construction, so it must maintain parallelism with "could carry four persons or eight hundred pounds of baggage"; thus, Option E is correct, as it uses the verb "was", which parallels the verb "could".

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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Thank you for the response! I am not sure that this resolves my initial question. In answer choice D, "and so light..." is not part of the "comma + which construction." My point is that answer choice D flows just fine with the root phrase "the Menomini crafted a canoe". You can interpret D to mean "the Menomini crafted a canoe [about twenty feet long and two feet wide] AND [so light that...]"

What's the flaw in my thinking?
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From the bark of the paper birch tree the Menomini crafted a canoe abo 18 Jun 2022, 20:35
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Sambon
In answer choice D, "and so light..." is not part of the "comma + which construction." My point is that answer choice D flows just fine with the root phrase "the Menomini crafted a canoe". You can interpret D to mean "the Menomini crafted a canoe [about twenty feet long and two feet wide] AND [so light that...]"

What's the flaw in my thinking?
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Hi Sambon,

The length of the sentence makes that hard. This is the full sentence with D:

1. From the bark of the paper birch tree the Menomini crafted a canoe about twenty feet long and two feet wide, with small ribs and rails of cedar, which could carry four persons or eight hundred pounds of baggage, and so light that a person could easily portage it around impeding rapids.

Because the two elements are quite far from each other, this sentence is very hard to read. The main problem with D, however, is that it doesn't convey the expected meaning.

2. ... the Menomini crafted a canoe about twenty feet long and two feet wide, and so light that a person could easily portage it...

There's a natural contrast between "which could carry four persons or eight hundred pounds of baggage" and "(which was) so light that a person could easily portage it around impeding rapids". That is, it makes sense to say that the canoe was {strong} yet {light}. Option D takes the {light} portion away from the {strong} bit and connects it to the information about the {dimensions} of the canoe instead. That's possible, but it really doesn't make sense from a meaning perspective.
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From the bark of the paper birch tree the Menomini crafted a canoe abo 07 Nov 2022, 04:14
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Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
prasannar
From the bark of the paper birch tree the Menomini crafted a canoe about twenty feet long and two feet wide, with small ribs and rails of cedar, which could carry four persons or eight hundred pounds of baggage so light that a person could easily portage it around impeding rapids.

(A) baggage so light
(B) baggage being so light
(C) baggage, yet being so light
(D) baggage, and so light
(E) baggage yet was so light
Show more

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
The intended meaning of the crucial part of this sentence is that although the canoe could carry four persons or eight hundred pounds of baggage, it was also so light that a person could easily portage it around impeding rapids.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Parallelism + Redundancy/Awkwardness

• “being” is only to be used when it is part of a noun phrase or represents the passive continuous verb tense; the use of passive continuous must be justified in the context.
• Any elements linked by a conjunction (“yet” in this sentence) must be parallel.

A:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly modifies “baggage” with “so light that a person could easily portage it around impeding rapids", illogically implying that the canoe could carry eight hundred pounds of baggage that was so light that a person could easily portage it around impeding rapids; the intended meaning that although the canoe could carry eight hundred pounds of baggage, the canoe was also so light that a person could easily portage it around impeding rapids.

B:
1/ This answer choice incorrectly modifies “baggage” with “being so light that a person could easily portage it around impeding rapids", illogically implying that the canoe could carry eight hundred pounds of baggage that was so light that a person could easily portage it around impeding rapids; the intended meaning that although the canoe could carry eight hundred pounds of baggage, the canoe was also so light that a person could easily portage it around impeding rapids.
2/ Option B incorrectly utilizes the word “being”, leading to redundancy; “being” is only to be used when it is part of a noun phrase or represents the passive continuous verb tense.

C: Trap.
1/ This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between “could carry four persons or eight hundred pounds of baggage” and “being so light that a person could easily portage it around impeding rapids”; please remember, all elements linked by a conjunction (“yet” in this sentence) must be parallel.

D: Trap.
1/ This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “and so light that a person could easily portage it around impeding rapids”; the incorrect use of the conjunction “and” fails to convey the sense of contrast needed in this sentence; the intended meaning of the sentence is that although the canoe could carry four persons or eight hundred pounds of baggage, it was also so light that a person could easily portage it around impeding rapids.


E: Correct.
1/ This answer choice correctly uses “yet was so light” to modify “canoe”, introducing the sense of contrast needed here and conveying the intended meaning - that , although the canoe could carry four persons or eight hundred pounds of baggage, the canoe, was also so light that a person could easily portage it around impeding rapids.
2/ Option E maintains parallelism between “could carry four persons or eight hundred pounds of baggage” and “was so light that a person could easily portage it around impeding rapids”.
3/ Option E is free of awkwardness and redundancy.

Hence, E is the best answer choice.

To understand the use of "Being" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



All the best!
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From the bark of the paper birch tree the Menomini crafted a canoe abo 10 Dec 2022, 00:45
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Is "Yet" a parallelism marker in the sentense?
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From the bark of the paper birch tree the Menomini crafted a canoe abo 15 Dec 2023, 05:07
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From the bark of the paper birch tree the Menomini crafted a canoe about twenty feet long and two feet wide, with small ribs and rails of cedar, which could carry four persons or eight hundred pounds of baggage so light that a person could easily portage it around impeding rapids.

(A) baggage so light
(B) baggage being so light
(C) baggage, yet being so light
(D) baggage, and so light
(E) baggage yet was so light
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This was a hard one. As someone already said, the hard ones rely in meaning. Let's examine each answer choice:

prasannar
(A) baggage so light
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Wrong meaning. It kind of implies that the baggage is so light that a person could easily portage it around impeding rapids. This is nonsense. It is the canopy the light object.

prasannar
(B) baggage being so light
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Wrong meaning. Same issue as letter A

prasannar
(C) baggage, yet being so light
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I chose this one. Mainly based on the "comma FANBOYs" rule. However, there is no need for a comma as what follows "yet" is not a clause but a verb. Also, the "being" here is unnecessary. (I was super close though =/)

prasannar
(D) baggage, and so light
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Wrong meaning. We need a contrast. We do not need additional information. The meaning is as follows: there is a light canopy that can carry some weight, BUT it is easy to maneuver in the rapids.

prasannar
(E) baggage yet was so light
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As already stated, we do not need a comma. So, this option is better than letter C and is our winner.
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From the bark of the paper birch tree the Menomini crafted a canoe abo 06 Jan 2024, 01:21
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We need to show a contrast here. So usage of "yet" is OK.

Correct idiom is "So X, that Y"

Hence,Option E
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