In 1974 a large area of the surface of Mercury was photographed from

RenB

Sure, the main problem in E is the use of THAT. It creates an inappropriate noun modifier, and it also sets that modifier off with a comma that messes things up. If E didn't have this flaw, I don't know that I could definitively eliminate it from a meaning standpoint. However, as I mentioned in my comments on the first page of this thread, there is a difference in meaning between C and E, and C is clearer. Also, while I caution against ruling out an answer because it "changes the meaning" (who says A conveys the correct meaning?), since A-C all show the same meaning and there doesn't seem to be any problem with that meaning, I wouldn't bet on the meaning conveyed in D/E. I try to use all 5 answer choices to infer the author's intended meaning, and the author seems to be saying that it's the DEGREE of cratering, not the cratering itself, that was revealed.

Having said all that, in the problem that is written, I wouldn't go through all that heartbreak. D and E can each be eliminated from the first 2 words alone, so I wouldn't waste any time considering the very subtle difference in meaning.

Could someone please explain why the use of "which" is correct. The official answer says the following, which is new to me:

"This sentence's second clause, expressing what the imaging of Mercury showed, must be linked to the first clause in a grammatically correct way. This is best done either by an appositive relative clause (requiring the relative marker which), or by a clause starting with a nonfinite verb (to reveal or revealing). Also, whatever is said to be similar to a degree of cratering (on Mercury) should also be a degree of cratering (on the Moon); this must be expressed clearly. The use of which is correct"

The answer choice with WHICH is not correct for this question.

GmatTutorKnight Indeed, I know the answer with which is not correct. But I am trying to understand why the USE of which in that option is correct. This explanation comes directly from the official guide problems from GMAC, and their official solution states what I wrote above: "This sentence's second clause, expressing what the imaging of Mercury showed, must be linked to the first clause in a grammatically correct way. This is best done either by an appositive relative clause (requiring the relative marker which), or by a clause starting with a nonfinite verb (to reveal or revealing). Also, whatever is said to be similar to a degree of cratering (on Mercury) should also be a degree of cratering (on the Moon); this must be expressed clearly. The use of which is correct"

You might have heard us say this before, but your job on SC is to pick the BEST choice out of the 5 available options, not to label individual sentences or phrases as unambiguously wrong or right. In this case, you don't need to know whether the "which" is WRONG or RIGHT in choice (A). You just have to understand why (C) is a better option than (A).

I agree with your instincts here: the "which" in (A) certainly seems to modify "distances", and I don't love that. Does that make it WRONG, exactly? Maybe not, but (C) expresses the logical meaning in a much clearer way, making it our winner.

One huge caveat: keep in mind that Official Guide explanations are generally written by contractors hired by Wiley Publishing, not the people who actually write the questions themselves. Often those official explanations aren't great, and they don't necessarily reflect GMAC's thinking. So take them with a huge grain of salt.

I hope that helps!

Hi MartyTargetTestPrep DmitryFarber GMATNinja

OG says that the use of ''To reveal'' is correct in the below sentence. But there is a comma between 1st independent sentence and ''to reveal'' ,
will not ''comma without the conjunction'' make it a run-on??

''In 1974 a large area of the surface of Mercury was photographed from varying distances, to reveal a degree of cratering similar to the Moon's''

Thanks

Hi Ashutosh.

Notice that "to reveal a degree of cratering similar to the Moon's" is not a clause with a subject and a verb. Rather, it's an infinitive phrase based on the infinitive "to reveal."

Since "to reveal a degree of cratering similar to the Moon's" is not a clause, no conjunction is needed for connecting it to the clause that precedes it.

GMATNinja could you please comment on Marty’s response? I’m very confused because he’s saying that C is incorrect, but only the better answer choice of the 5

Hi MartyTargetTestPrep. I’m not familiar with the usage of the comma before “to reveal”. Is the comma necessary/Can we remove the comma? Does it change the meaning of the sentence by removing the comma?