If a single strain of plant is used for a given crop over a wide area

Question

If a single strain of plant is used for a given crop over a wide area, a practice fostered by modern seed-marketing methods, it  increases the likelihood that the impact of a single crop disease or pest will be disastrous.

(A) If a single strain of plant is used for a given crop over a wide area, a practice fostered by modern seed-marketing methods, it

(B) If a single strain of plant is used for a given crop over a wide area, as is fostered by modern seed-marketing methods, it

(C) A practice fostered by modern seed-marketing methods, a single strain of plant used for a given crop over a wide area

(D) A single strain of plant used for a given crop over a wide area, a practice fostered by modern seed-marketing methods,

(E) The use of a single strain of plant for a given crop over a wide area, a practice fostered by modern seed-marketing methods,

generis · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION • Choice A is faulty because the pronoun it and the appositive a practice each lack a noun referent. • Nor are there logical referents in choice B for as is and it . • Choice C entails a false appositive: the sentence now says that the single strain of plant is itself a practice fostered by modern seed-marketing methods, not that the use of a single strain is such a practice. • Choice D reverses the order of the constructions, but the appositive remains illogical. • Choice E is the best answer: use is the proper subject for the verb increases and a governing noun for the appositive practice . COMMENTS on the OE This OE is both correct and hard to understand. Typically, if parts of official explanations are obscure, I address and try to clarify them. I have decided that we should all take advantage of this forum and this topic. Understanding when to ignore parts of OEs is important, for example, the word "wordy" without explanation or comparison. It is just as important to be able to interpret a correct but tersely written OE. I see an opportunity to address increasingly common subjects in SC, to "unpack" the OE, and to give kudos. I will post followup challenge questions on this thread — "challenge" in the sense of "more in depth," though not necessarily in the sense of "really difficult." COMMENTS on the topic thread Welcome to GMAT Club, Username8 !

None of these answers is as complete as I would like. Here is a detail that I like because its author understands how the sentence works: Wonderwoman31 wrote: Here is a detail that I like because its author is correct about Option E's superior rhetorical construction : caljwill wrote: And here is the detail that I like best because although meaning is not spelled out, it IS captured. sucal000 wrote: Best answer is sucal000 - kudos!

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

If a single strain of plant is used for a given crop over a wide area, a practice fostered by modern seed-marketing methods, it  increases the likelihood that the impact of a single crop disease or pest will be disastrous.

A. If a single strain of plant is used for a given crop over a wide area, a practice fostered by modern seed-marketing methods, it  The “it” used here makes it seem like “it” is referring to a single strain.

B. If a single strain of plant is used for a given crop over a wide area, as is fostered by modern seed-marketing methods, it  Same as A

C. A practice fostered by modern seed-marketing methods, a single strain of plant used for a given crop over a wide area  This option makes it seem like a single strain of plant is a practice fostered by modern seed-marketing methods.

D. A single strain of plant used for a given crop over a wide area, a practice fostered by modern seed-marketing methods,  Same as C

E. The use of a single strain of plant for a given crop over a wide area, a practice fostered by modern seed-marketing methods,   Correct answer

- Nitha Jay

generis · Answer

FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS are below The OFFICIAL EXPLANATION : • Choice A is faulty because the pronoun it and the appositive a practice each lack a noun referent. • Nor are there logical referents in choice B for as is and it . • Choice C entails a false appositive: the sentence now says that the single strain of plant is itself a practice fostered by modern seed-marketing methods, not that the use of a single strain is such a practice. • Choice D reverses the order of the constructions, but the appositive remains illogical. • Choice E is the best answer: use is the proper subject for the verb increases and a governing noun for the appositive practice . FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS - kudos for correct and well-explained answers! Questions are welcome, too. This material is important. In some part of every followup question is material that test takers need to learn but that hasn't been addressed or addressed thoroughly here. PLEASE CHOOSE a question or questions and post an answer. I PREFER THAT PEOPLE GO IN NUMERICAL ORDER. No limit. Easiest way to answer : 1) BEFORE you click on quote to reply, copy the text of the question 2) click on "quote" to reply 3) move the text of this post down a little bit using the cursor and "enter" 4) paste the question at the top 5) delete everything except the question you are answering, and post an answer. (if you want the question in a quote box, select the text and click on the letter "q" in the menu above the post). (1) ANSWERED ALREADY in THIS POST • What is an appositive? Please give an example that is similar to the one in this question. • In this question, what is the appositive, and what is or should be its noun? (2) The OE states, "Choice A is faulty because the pronoun it and the appositive a practice each lack a noun referent." ANSWERED ALREADY in THIS POST • Why did I put a word in red typeface? Be specific. Shorthand for a rule doesn't help those who don't know the rule. • What does the author of the OE mean when (s)he writes that the pronoun it and the appositive lack a noun referent? (3) The OE states, "Nor are there logical referents in choice B for as is and it ." • If there were logical referents, what would they or it be? • As a subject, this phrasing works: If a single strain of plant is used for a given crop over a wide area. However, this similar phrasing does not work as a subject: A practice fostered by modern seed-marketing methods. Explain why. (4) In plain English • What does the phrase "a practice fostered by modern seed-marketing methods" mean ? You don't have to Google anything. In fact, please don't. In context, what does "modern seed-marketing methods" refer to? • What is the relationship between "methods" and "practice"? (5) The OE states, "Choice C entails a false appositive: the sentence now says that the single strain of plant is itself a practice fostered by modern seed-marketing methods, not that the use of a single strain is such a practice." • Rewrite this explanation in plainer English that spells out details. The OE states, "Choice D reverses the order of the constructions, but the appositive remains illogical." • What "constructions" does D reverse, and why is the appositive illogical? (6) Distillation of meaning. (Look up "distillation" if it is unfamiliar. It may be for many. Great word.) • What is the connection between (a) the appositive and the subject, and (b) the appositive and the result? HINT: Why would farmers be inclined to court disaster? HINT: There are "bad guys" in the picture. Who or what are they? • Given these connections, what, in plain English, does this sentence mean? Pretend I am not an agrarian expert. Pretend I look like this

or this

when you use words whose meanings are not self-evident.

soapbolt · Answer

(1) 
• an appositive is a noun or noun phrase that can be used to modify or to give details of another close-by noun.
E.g. Frightened mouse ,black in colour, is chased by cat. Here Black in colour is appositive 
• In this Question the appositive is "a practice fostered by modern seed-marketing methods" and it is referring to a plant which is wrong because a practice cannot be plant.

(2)
• There is no Antecedent for the pronoun it , even if pronoun It refer backs to the Single Strain or the plant , meaning is ambiguous. Similarly the appositive should modify or give details of some noun and it is not making sense with either single strain or plant. That is the reason you used the word lack.
• Author means there is no referent for both and need a clear noun referent. Hence option a is incorrect

generis · Answer

soapbolt - nice work! You correctly highlight two facts about appositives: 1) all appositives give us extra information about the noun they modify (the frightened mouse is black in color) 2) appositives vary in length -- your example was a short phrase -- the appositive in the question is fairly long -- appositives can be one word: My friend, Aarav , hopes to become a writer. P.S. Appositives can be essential and non-essential. For an excellent post about appositives , please see mikemcgarry in THIS post on GMAT Club. I will rephrase my confusing question. Question: Although there is no suitable candidate in option A, to what noun or pronoun should the appositive refer? Answer: To a noun like the one in option E, because a practice is synonymous with the use of . Regarding the OE, "the pronoun it and the appositive a practice each lack a noun referent" . . . . . . as you note, no antecedent makes sense as an antecedent of "practice" or "it." Kudos!

Go to THIS POST for more follow-up questions whose correct answers get kudos.

shinichikudo · Answer

Hello,

The underlined phrase is actually using IF, which is incorrect.

Look at the verb ''increases'', this verb has no subject yet, so we need to find a subject for this verb.

Be careful, we don't know what ''it'' modifies for, so we can eliminate A, B.

Answer C and D contain 2 subjects '' a practice '', ''a single strain'', so the verb ''increases'' doesn't have a correct subject yet, that's why C&D out.

Answer E uses the subject ''the use of a single strain'' ... ''increases'' --> this is correct. ''a practice fostered by modern seed-marketing methods'' modifies for the whole phrase '' The use of a single strain of plant for a given crop over a wide area ''.

So E is correct .

Skywalker18 · Answer

I chose the correct answer based on the meaning- the use of strain increases...

Appositive modifiers-

1. The plover gets its food by cleaning the mouth of the crocodile,  a reptile  that could eat the bird at any time - here reptile (appositive) modifies crocodile. This is a concrete appositive
2. The plover gets its food by cleaning the mouth of the crocodile,  a relationship  that benefits both animals - here relationship (appositive) refers to the entire preceding clause. This is an abstract appositive

But as per OE, "Choice A is faulty because the pronoun it and the appositive a practice each lack a noun referent."
 Do we ALWAYS need a noun referent for an appositive  ?
Because I have read that appositive can either describe a preceding noun(Concrete appositive) or modify the whole idea of the preceding clause(Abstract appositive).

AjiteshArun  ,  GMATNinja  ,  MagooshExpert  ,  GMATGuruNY  ,  VeritasKarishma  ,  VeritasPrepBrian  ,  MartyMurray  ,  ccooley ,  RonPurewal  ,  DmitryFarber  other experts - please enlighten

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Whether we consider the phrase in A a phrase that modifies the preceding clause or an appositive that should modify a single noun, clearly the structure you have brought up is acceptable.

In other words, I believe that the following makes sense:

A single strain of plant is used for a given crop over a wide area, a practice fostered by modern seed-marketing methods.

However, in A, we have "if". So the beginning of A is not a statement, but rather, a condition. So, perhaps the issue with the modifier in A is that it is not in apposition to a statement. Let's consider another example.

The number of women attending law school is increasing every year, a trend that bodes well for the coffers of law schools.

OK, that makes sense. The closing phrase modifies the preceding statement.

What about this?

If the number of women attending law school is increasing every year, a trend that bodes well for the coffers of law schools, then ...

The beginning of the sentence does not actually state that there is such a trend. So, my take is that the use of the modifying phrase does not make sense.

By the way, my understanding is that the people who write OEs are not the people who write questions. So, it could be that the person who wrote that OE did not really understand what the issue is.

egmat · Answer

Hello all, Here is the meaning of the sentence. The sentence talks about a practice or a process that is encouraged by modern seed-marketing methods. The practice = using a single strain of plant for any crop over a vast area. The sentence then presents the effect or a drawback of this practice. This practice increases the chances that the effect of the single crop disease or pest will be devastating. Hope this helps.

Thanks. Shraddha

faat99 · Answer

between D&E there are no confusions regarding the noun modifier imo, "a practice" clearly modifies the whole clause described before it.

The issue is that in D, while not incomprehensible, "used for a given crop" can be mistaken as modifier, and the sentence is read as "a single strain of plant.... increases..."

This is improved by E

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

faat99 
That interpretation of D wouldn't be a mistake. "Used for a given crop" is a modifier, creating the exact subject-verb problem you describe. "Used" can't be the verb for "a single strain," since the strain can't use anything. Also, if the strain is not being used, then "used" has no object at all and we have two verbs in a row! Our sentence core would then be "A strain  used increases  the likelihood."

DesiMozart · Answer

Can someone please specify how this question tests SVA?

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

This question barely tests subject-verb agreement.

The only aspect of it that's clearly related to subject-verb agreement is that, in the correct version, the plural "methods" appears right before the main verb "increases," which is singular. So, if a test-taker were to perceive the plural "methods" to be the subject of "increases," the sentence could appear to have a subject-verb agreement issue.

VerbalBot · Answer

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If a single strain of plant is used for a given crop over a wide area

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If a single strain of plant is used for a given crop over a wide area

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