Heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved from the previous year, only

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 core meaning of this sentence is that heirloom tomatoes look less appetizing than their round and red supermarket cousins in that they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises, but these tomatoes are more flavorful.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Modifiers + Parallelism

• In a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction.
• Elements in a sentence should only be parallel if they play the same role in the sentence.
• Any elements linked by a conjunction ("but" and “although” in this case) must be parallel.

A: This answer choice incorrectly modifies "their round and red supermarket cousins" with "often green and striped", incorrectly implying that the heirloom tomatoes' round and red supermarket cousins are often green and striped; the intended meaning is that the heirloom tomatoes themselves are often green and striped; remember, in a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Moreover, Option A uses the clause "Heirloom tomatoes...look less appetizing...or have plenty of bumps and bruises"; the parallelism between "look less appetizing" and "have plenty of bumps and bruises" incorrectly implies that heirloom tomatoes either look less appetizing than their round and red supermarket cousins or have plenty of bumps and bruises; the intended meaning is that heirloom tomatoes look less appetizing than their round and red supermarket cousins in that they have plenty of bumps and bruises; remember, elements in a sentence should only be parallel if they play the same role in the sentence. Further, Option A fails to maintain parallelism between "Heirloom tomatoes...look less appetizing..." and "are more powerful"; remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("but" in this case) must be parallel.

B: This answer choice incorrectly modifies "their round and red supermarket cousins" with "often green and striped", incorrectly implying that the heirloom tomatoes' round and red supermarket cousins are often green and striped; the intended meaning is that the heirloom tomatoes themselves are often green and striped; remember, in a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Moreover, Option B uses the phrase "or with plenty of bumps and bruises", leading to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that heirloom tomatoes often have bumps and bruises. Further, Option B fails to maintain parallelism between "Heirloom tomatoes...look less appetizing..." and "more powerful"; remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("although" in this case) must be parallel.

C: This answer choice incorrectly modifies "their round and red supermarket cousins" with "often green and striped", incorrectly implying that the heirloom tomatoes' round and red supermarket cousins are often green and striped; the intended meaning is that the heirloom tomatoes themselves are often green and striped; remember, in a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Moreover, Option C uses the clause "or they have plenty of bumps and bruises"; the parallelism between "Heirloom tomatoes...look less appetizing" and "they have plenty of bumps and bruises" incorrectly implies that heirloom tomatoes either look less appetizing than their round and red supermarket cousins or have plenty of bumps and bruises; the intended meaning is that heirloom tomatoes look less appetizing than their round and red supermarket cousins in that they have plenty of bumps and bruises; remember, elements in a sentence should only be parallel if they play the same role in the sentence.

D: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "or with plenty of bumps and bruises"; the construction of this phrase leads to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that heirloom tomatoes often have bumps and bruises. Further, Option D fails to maintain parallelism between "Heirloom tomatoes...look less appetizing..." and "more flavorful"; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("although" in this sentence) must be parallel.

E: Correct. This answer choice avoids the modifier error seen in Options A, B, C, and D, as it uses the independent clause "they are often green and striped", conveying the intended meaning - that "they" (heirloom tomatoes) are often green and striped. Moreover, Option E uses the phrase "or they have plenty of bumps and bruises", correctly maintaining parallelism between "are often green and striped" and "have plenty of bumps and bruises", conveying the intended meaning - that heirloom tomatoes look less appetizing than their round and red supermarket cousins in that they have plenty of bumps and bruises; parallelism between these two phrases is correct, as both refer to an action taken by "they (heirloom tomatoes)". Further, Option E maintains parallelism between "Heirloom tomatoes...look less appetizing..." and "they are more flavorful".

Hence, E 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 (~1minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

A, B and C clearly are wrong, because they take the information about heirloom tomatoes and put it into a grammatical structure which makes it a postmodifier of the SUPERMARKET tomatoes. (The grammatical structure used, if anyone cares, is a non-restrictive postmodifying adjective phrase. Actually, it is a sequence of two such phrases.)

The difference between D and E is also fairly obvious. In D, the two postmodifying phrases are not parallel in structure (clause with verb and prepositional phrase), while in E, they are both clauses with verbs. So only E can be correct.

The problem, as icandy says, is that "they" in E is still grammatically ambiguous. Maybe this indicates that the question is not an official GMAC question. But from what I have seen, even the GMAC itself is not perfectly consistent about pronoun ambiguity. I think (not quite sure) that sometimes they accept a pronoun ambiguity such as this one in one question, while treating the same thing as wrong in another question.

"Although" cannot be used to introduce phrases. It should be followed with a subordinate clause, which has a subject and verb. (Ref OG 11, explanation for SC 9).

So B and D are out.
C out for using "they have plenty", where I feel "they" is ambiguously used and sentence structure is illogocal.

Out of A and E, E sounds logical, though in this option as well I find "they" used ambiguously.

IMO E

The word "although" kicks of a dependent CLAUSE and needs a cleear subject.

Examples:

Although they had no umbrellas, the excited children ran outside to enjoy the summer rainstorm. -- Logical and Correct.
Although had no umbrellas, the excited children ran outside to enjoy the summer rainstorm - Illogical without the subject "they".

In option D [although are more flavorful], "although" does not have an explicit (or even clearly implied) subject, therefore it is incorrect.

KW

Sanjay I think you mean subject of the first sentence.

I think Heirloom tomatoes in the first half of the sentence is the subject.

I think the they/it refers to the subject of the first part of the sentence.

And am I correct in thinking that:

D. cousins; they are often green and striped (verb clause), or with plenty of bumps and bruises (prepositional phrase) although ---Hence NOT CORRECT
E. cousins; they are often green and striped (verb clause), or have plenty of bumps and bruises (verb clause), but they are ----Hence CORRECT

So it doesnt have anything to do with the usage of Although? D is not wrong coz of although?

Dear Kinjal,
I am happy to respond. This questions is quite curious, because it's almost identical in topic to OG13, SC #132, and uses many of the same phrases, though in a different order. I would think that GMAC might be a position to sue a company for having a question so blatantly similar to its own. That does give me a bit of concern about the question and its authors.

In (A) - (C), among other problems, there's modifier ambiguity. We know logically that "often green and striped" should apply to heirloom tomatoes, but it touches "their round and red supermarket cousins." That's less than ideal.

Also, in (A), if we remove the modifying detail, the logic is wonky: "Heirloom tomatoes ... only look less appetizing ... or have plenty of bumps and bruises" ??? Why is that a choice, to "look less appetizing" vs. "to have bumps and bruises"? Joining these two verbs with "or" makes no sense. That's why (A) is definitively wrong.

The semicolon divide is a very clean, clear way to delineate the logic of the sentence. The parallelism removes any ambiguity about the pronoun: the pronoun "they" is subject of the second clause, so it is obviously in parallel to the subject of the first clause, and that first subject, "Heirloom tomatoes," is the antecedent. This is why (E) is the best answer.

Does all this make sense?
Mike

Dear sleepynut,

I'm happy to respond.

Here's (D):
Heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved from the previous year, only look less appetizing than their round and red supermarket cousins; they are often green and striped, or (they are) with plenty of bumps and bruises, although (they are) more flavorful.
A few things to notice about (D).
1) It demands the implied subject-verb "they are" twice, two clauses in a row. Not grammatically wrong, but not exactly the most elegant and compelling structure.
2) Think about the phrasing: "they are with plenty of bumps and bruises." That's 100% grammatically correct, but extremely awkward. The natural thing to say would be "they [color=#00a651]have plenty of bumps and bruises[/color]." That is what a native speaker would say. Consider similar examples:
My friend is with a new car. = awkward
My friend has a new car. = natural
Company X is with 5000 employees. = awkward
Company X has 5000 employees. = natural
Again, the "with" examples here are 100% grammatically correct, but they are terribly "off" in a way that would sound jarring to a native ear. By contrast, the "has" construction sounds direct and clear: despite the simplicity, it has a kind of no-nonsense power that the "with" version dismally lacks.

Notice that (E) gets both of these things correct: (E) looks stellar where (D) falls in the mud. (E) is the best answer.

Mike

Hello firsttimenoob,

Although your question is not addressed to me, here is a little usage nuance on although.


It is a general belief that the connector although must be followed by a clause. But that is not the case always. The word although may not be followed by a clause if the SV pair in the clause following although and the SV pair in the main clause are the same. For example,


Although (the room is) small, the room looks spacious.


Takeaway: Do not reject an answer choice because there is no clause after the word although.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

"Although" ideally introduces a clause. However there are official questions, in which the phrase "Although+ adjective" is constructed to be used as a modifier - in such case the modifier should touch the noun it modifies. Here "although more flavorful" should touch "they".

Heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved from the previous year, only look less appetizing than their round and red supermarket cousins, often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises, but are more flavorful.

(A) cousins, often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises, but are :green and stripped must modify H tomatoes and must be placed next to H tomatoes
(B) cousins, often green and striped, or with plenty of bumps and bruises, although :green and stripped must modify H tomatoes and must be placed next to H tomatoes
(C) cousins, often green and striped, or they have plenty of bumps and bruises, although they are :green and stripped must modify H tomatoes and must be placed next to H tomatoes
(D) cousins; they are often green and striped, or with plenty of bumps and bruises, although :parallelism error ,verb are so or must be followed by verb and not preposition
(E) cousins; they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises, but they are

Dear oldest,
I'm happy to respond.

My friend, many factors contribute to establishing the relationship of a pronoun to its antecedent. Here's the OA, version (E):
Heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved from the previous year, only look less appetizing than their round and red supermarket cousins; they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises, but they are more flavorful.
What contributes to our understanding that the highlighted pronoun "they" refers back to "heirloom tomatoes"?
1) As you suggest, just a single pronoun is used, with consistent antecedent, throughout the sentence
2) Parallelism. When we have two independent clauses in parallel, and a pronoun is the subject of the second, the parallelism strongly suggests that the subject of the first should be the antecedent.
3) Rhetoric. Think about it: what is the subject and focus of the entire sentence? Of course, "heirloom tomatoes." The fact that the entire sentence focuses on this single topic strongly suggests that any pronoun would be referring back to this focus.
In this well-crafted sentence, all three of these elements work in concert to reinforce one another. This makes 100% clear the antecedent of the pronoun.

Do not take the pronoun-antecedent relationship for granted. There are always many different elements of the sentence, at many different levels, contributing this relationship.

Does all this make sense?
Mike

Hi All,

As already pointed out by GMATNinja, for option D, Trouble is, we have that little problem with “although more flavorful” at the end of the sentence. In this situation, we’d need a clause following “although”, not just a random adjective.

I always miss on that part, whether although should be followed by a complete clause or only a modifier. So, I just wanted to share an excellent explanation by RON Purewal on the correct usage of the same. Please follow this url.

https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/forums/although-subordinate-clause-must-have-a-subject-and-verb-t31750.html

Hope this will help to several others as it had helped me.

Thanks.
-Varun

Heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved from the previous year, only look less appetizing than their round and red supermarket cousins, often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises, but are more flavorful.

(A) cousins, often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises, but are
(B) cousins, often green and striped, or with plenty of bumps and bruises, although
(C) cousins, often green and striped, or they have plenty of bumps and bruises, although they are
(D) cousins; they are often green and striped, or with plenty of bumps and bruises, although
(E) cousins; they are often green and striped or have plenty of bumps and bruises, but they are

A, B and C are plain wrong because of their using the past participle modifier green and striped, which can only refer to the noun front but not the distant subject noun Heirlooms.
Between D and E, the thumb rule is that, when although is used at the end of a sentence, it should be used only in a verbed clause and not in a modifier phrase. Therefore, E is the eventual choice.

However, here is a more interesting and twisted version of the same topic appearing in several official editions.
https://gmatclub.com/forum/although-app ... 32487.html

OG16 SC118
OG17 SC784

Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year—they are often green and striped, or have plenty of bumps and bruises—heirlooms are more flavorful and thus in increasing demand.

(A) Although appearing less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year
(B) Although heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year, appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins
(C) Although they appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins, heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year
(D) Grown from seeds saved during the previous year, heirloom tomatoes appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins
(E) Heirloom tomatoes, grown from seeds saved during the previous year, although they appear less appetizing than most of their round and red supermarket cousins

One might follow the discussions thereof and learn concepts that are more complicated.

Yes, “have plenty of bumps and bruises” and “are often green and striped” are parallel verb phrases.

And, no, there are no concrete rules when it comes to what should follow "although". Unfortunately you just have to line up the options side by side and think about the clarity of the meaning. I certainly wouldn't immediately eliminate something just because of the presence/absence of a clause after "although".

I hope that helps!

This is a meaning/modifier/parallelism SC so I would rate it at the 650 level

First three are incorrect answer choices. The clause often green and striped is meant to refer to Heirloom tomatoes not their cousins. Next, semi-colon is appropiate to separate both ideas.
Now between D and E, 'E' might look a little longer but its fine! It expresses the idea clearly in the last part after the comma showing //ism too (they are....but they are)

Looking good

E is our best choice

Hope it helps!
Cheers
J

Between D & E,
Although should always be followed by a bonafide noun-verb. In D, there is no noun after although. So the usage is wrong.
In E, comma + but is the co-ordinating conjunction which is properly connecting the independent clauses.

Well, yes... as discussed in this video, pronoun ambiguity is not an absolute rule.

But you could also argue that the "they" in choice (D) and in choice (E) is not actually ambiguous. The GMAT is weirdly consistent about this: if a sentence contains two clauses (either one dependent and one independent, or two independent clauses) and the second clause starts with a pronoun, then the pronoun can refer unambiguously to the subject of the first clause.

But the second we start trying to fit GMAT errors into nice little boxes, GMAC throws us a curveball that blows up the little "rule" we've created! So a better approach, as you suggested, is to use POE. If you have an answer choice that's better than the others in every way but that has some potential pronoun ambiguity, you've probably found your winner.

As for your second question ("if in option E. The first "they" was replaced by heirloom tomatoes - would that be better?") -- maybe? You could argue that repeating "heirloom tomatoes" is unnecessary and redundant. But rather than trying to analyzing tweaked versions of the answer choices (something you'll NEVER have to do on test day), just make sure you understand why (E) is the best choice here.

I hope that helps!