Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
Jp27
While digging in the Egyptian desert,
huge fossil bones have been found by paleontologists, which appears to have been the second most massive dinosaur that ever lived.
A. huge fossil bones have been found by paleontologists, which appears to have been
B. huge fossil bones have been found by paleontologists, which appear to be from
C. it appears that paleontologists have found huge fossil bones that are from
D. paleontologists have found huge fossil bones from what appears to be
E. paleontologists have found huge fossil bones, which are from what appear to be
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that paleontologists were digging in the Egyptian desert, and while doing so they found huge fossil bones from what appears to be the second most massive dinosaur that ever lived.
Concepts tested here: Subject-Verb Agreement + Meaning + Modifiers• In a “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction.
• "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma.
A: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun "paleontologists" with the singular verb "appears". Further, Option A incorrectly uses the phrase "While digging in the Egyptian desert" to modify the noun phrase "huge fossil bones", illogically implying that the
fossil bones were digging in the Egyptian desert; the intended meaning is that
the paleontologists were digging in the Egyptian desert; remember, in a “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Moreover, the sentence formed by Option A incorrectly modifies "paleontologists" with "which appears to have been the second most massive dinosaur that ever lived"; this modification and the construction of this phrase illogically imply that the
paleontologists appear to
have been the second most massive dinosaur that ever lived; the intended meaning is that the huge
fossil bones appear to have been
from the second most massive dinosaur that ever lived; remember, "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma. Additionally, Option A uses the passive voice construction "huge fossil bones have been found", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
B: This answer choice incorrectly uses the phrase "While digging in the Egyptian desert" to modify the noun phrase "huge fossil bones", illogically implying that the
fossil bones were digging in the Egyptian desert; the intended meaning is that
the paleontologists were digging in the Egyptian desert; remember, in a “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Further, the sentence formed by Option B incorrectly modifies "paleontologists" with "which appear to be from the second most massive dinosaur that ever lived", illogically implying that the
paleontologists appear to have been from the second most massive dinosaur that ever lived; the intended meaning is that the huge
fossil bones appear to have been from the second most massive dinosaur that ever lived; remember, "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma. Additionally, Option B uses the passive voice construction "huge fossil bones have been found", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
C: THis answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the clause "it appears that paleontologists have found huge fossil bones that are from"; the placement of "appears" within this clause incorrectly implies that the paleontologists
appear to have found huge fossil bones that are
definitely from the second most massive dinosaur that ever lived; the intended meaning is that the paleontologists have
definitely found huge fossil bones that
appear to be from the second most massive dinosaur that ever lived. Further, Option C uses the passive voice construction "it appears that", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
D: This answer choice correctly uses the singular verb "appears" to refer to the singular pronoun "what". Further, Option D correctly uses the phrase "While digging in the Egyptian desert" to modify "paleontologists", conveying the intended meaning - that
the paleontologists were digging in the Egyptian desert. Moreover, the sentence formed by Option D modifies the "huge fossil bones" with "from what appears to be the second most massive dinosaur that ever lived", avoiding the "comma + which" error seen in Options A and B and conveying the intended meaning - that paleontologists have
definitely found huge
fossil bones that
appear to be
from the second most massive dinosaur that ever lived. Additionally, Option D is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.
E: This answer choice incorrectly uses the plural verb "appear" to refer to the singular pronoun "what". Further, Option E uses the needlessly wordy phrase "which are from what appear to be", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
Hence, D is the best answer choice.To understand the concept of "Phrase Comma Subject" and "Subject Comma Phrase" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):
To understand the concept of "Which, Who, Whose, and Where" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
_________________
25%
(medium)
32%
(01:05)
wrong 
