Last visit was: 18 Nov 2025, 17:38 It is currently 18 Nov 2025, 17:38
Home
GMAT
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Rewards
Chat
My Profile
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
Back to Forum
Create Topic
 1   2   3   
555-605 Level|   Grammatical/Rhetorical Construction|   Idioms/Diction/Redundancy|                              
avatar
superfreak
avatar
Joined: 08 Nov 2009
Last visit: 12 Sep 2015
Posts: 5
Own Kudos:
326
 [224]
Given Kudos: 2
Location: Israel
Concentration: Management Consulting
Posts: 5
Kudos: 326
 [224]
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of Updated on: 18 Jun 2021, 01:18
Originally posted by superfreak on 15 Nov 2009, 03:11.
Last edited by Bunuel on 18 Jun 2021, 01:18, edited 6 times in total.
Edited the question.
14
Kudos
Add Kudos
209
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
00:00
Start Timer
Pause Timer
Resume Timer
Show Answer
Hide
Show
History
D
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

Difficulty:

25% (medium)

Question Stats:

73% (01:27) correct 27% (01:41) wrong based on 8474 sessions

History

Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria, later generations lost all but the Iliad and Odyssey among Greek epics, most of the poetry of Pindar and Sappho, and dozens of plays by Aeschylus and Euripides.


(A) resulting from the destruction of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria,

(B) the destroying of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria resulted and

(C) because of the result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,

(D) as a result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,

(E) Alexandria’s largest library of the ancient world was destroyed, and the result was





Show Spoiler
Natural History Vol. 103, No. 2, February 1994
NATURE's INFINITE BOOK Jared Diamond
Stinking Birds and Burning Books
https://archive.org/stream/naturalhistory10301amer/naturalhistory10301amer_djvu.txt
https://discovermagazine.com/1993/feb/speakingwithasin177
Attachment:
12.png
12.png [ 247.43 KiB | Viewed 56601 times ]
Attachment:
NATURE's INFINITE BOOK Jared Diamond.pdf [1.45 MiB]
Downloaded 154 times
ShowHide Answer
Official Answer
D
Most Helpful Reply
User avatar
daagh
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 19 Feb 2007
Last visit: 16 Oct 2020
Posts: 5,264
Own Kudos:
42,417
 [56]
Given Kudos: 422
Status: enjoying
Location: India
WE:Education (Education)
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 5,264
Kudos: 42,417
 [56]
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of 14 Jan 2012, 23:51
36
Kudos
Add Kudos
16
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
I think we should not miss the fine point of the text. Please read the underlined portion yet again and you will find that this is testing a style error i.e. wrong word order.
The question is: where was the library? : It was in Alexandria; it was the largest library of the ancient world; we should not take to think that the ancient world was at Alexandria, giving an absurd meaning

That is the reason A and B are thrown out.
C is wrong because of redundancy, as all have pointed out
D is the right choice
E tends to distort that meaning that there were many libraries in Alexandria and the one that was the largest was destroyed , leaving smaller ones without destruction, This meaning is not what the text intends to convey.

Incidentally, is a B run-on? A run-on is one where the conjugation is wrong. Either a comma is simply used where a conjunction or a different punctuation such as a period or semicolon is required. B is amply conjuncted with a coordinate conjunctiuon ‘and’. The first portion is a full sentence with a subject (the destroying of) and a full verb (resulted) and the second part is a full clause. So how is B a run-on?
User avatar
pqhai
User avatar
Retired Moderator
Joined: 16 Jun 2012
Last visit: 26 Nov 2015
Posts: 867
Own Kudos:
8,883
 [36]
Given Kudos: 123
Location: United States
Posts: 867
Kudos: 8,883
 [36]
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of 25 Oct 2014, 13:56
25
Kudos
Add Kudos
10
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria, later generations lost all but the Iliad and Odyssey among Greek epics, most of the poetry of Pindar and Sappho, and dozens of plays by Aeschylus and Euripides.

(A) resulting from the destruction of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria,
(B) the destroying of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria resulted and
(C) because of the result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,
(D) as a result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,
(E) Alexandria’s largest library of the ancient world was destroyed, and the result was

Let me try.

In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria, later generations lost all but the Iliad and Odyssey among Greek epics, most of the poetry of Pindar and Sappho, and dozens of plays by Aeschylus and Euripides.

(A) resulting from the destruction of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria,
Wrong. Be aware of "RESULTING FROM......". This verb-ing modifier is always wrong in GMAT.

(B) the destroying of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria resulted and
Wrong. "resulted and...." does not make any sense. Absolutely wrong.

(C) because of the result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,
Wrong. "Because of the result of" is redundant.

(D) as a result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,
CORRECT.

(E) Alexandria’s largest library of the ancient world was destroyed, and the result was
Wrong. 2 problems.
- Meaning: let read "Alexandria’s largest library of the ancient world". It's very unclear. Let break the phrase into two parts (1) Alexandria (2) the largest library of the ancient world, the structure is Alexandria’s largest library of the ancient world. It means the largest library of the ancient world OF Alexandria. Does it make sense? Nope. Double possessive should be avoided in GMAT.
- Parallelism problem: "and" is a sign of parallel structure. But we have cause and effect, thus "and" is wrong.

Hope it helps.
User avatar
mikemcgarry
User avatar
Magoosh GMAT Instructor
Joined: 28 Dec 2011
Last visit: 06 Aug 2018
Posts: 4,479
Own Kudos:
30,531
 [23]
Given Kudos: 130
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 4,479
Kudos: 30,531
 [23]
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of 28 Dec 2011, 16:25
12
Kudos
Add Kudos
11
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hi there! I'm happy to help. :)

In A.D. 391, __resulting from the destruction of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria__, later generations lost all but the Iliad and Odyssey among Greek epics, most of the poetry of Pindar and Sappho, and dozens of plays by Aeschylus and Euripides.

(A) resulting from the destruction of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria,
(B) the destroying of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria resulted and
(C) because of the result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,
(D) as a result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,
(E) Alexandria's largest library of the ancient world was destroyed, and the result was

Very sad, the destruction of the great library at Alexandra --- that tragedy set Western civilization back several centuries. :(

Notice, first of all, that the clause after the underline forms a bonafide stand-on-its-own sentence by itself --- what is grammar is called an independent clause. Either this will remain an independent clause in the full sentence, or it will become a dependent clause and (this is crucial) something in the underlined part would have to be the independent clause of the sentence. You can turn an independent clause into a dependent clause by putting what is called a subordinating conjunction in front of it; some examples of subordinating conjunctions are: after, although, as, as far as, as if, as long as, as soon as, as though, because, before, if, in order that, since, so, so that, than, though, unless, until, when, whenever, where, whereas, wherever, and while.

In (A), the original prompt, the word "resulting" is a modifier, and makes the whole underlined phrase a modifying phrase. The problem is: it modifies the closest noun, which is "later generations." "Later generations" are not doing the "resulting", so (A) is out.

(B) is unbelievably awkward: the destroying of the library resulted, and . . . This answers is proposing two independent clauses, linked by the word "and" – a perfectly valid grammatical construction, but nobody would say "the destroying of X resulted" as a sentence by itself. We would say "X was destroyed" or "so-and-so destroyed X." Because of this awkward phrase, (B) is out.

(C) has the phrase "because of the result" --- this phrase, in and of itself, is redundant, because both "because" and "result" specify a cause-effect relationship. One would say "P happened because of Q", or "As a result of Q, P happened." C has this awkward phrase, and is out.

(D) is smooth ---- "as a result of", then gives the proper cause (destruction of the library), then gives the result. Dependent clause, then independent clause --- a perfectly valid construction.

(E) has the awkward phrase “Alexandria's largest library of the ancient world was destroyed.” This implies that Alexandria had several ancient libraries, and here we are talking about only the largest of them. This distorts the meaning. It’s not that the library was one of many in Alexandria and happened to be the largest of them; rather, the library, which happened to be in Alexandria, was *the* largest of the entire ancient world. Furthermore, the way the end of this choice meshes with the rest of the sentence is awkward: “ . . , and the result was, later generations lost . . .” (Notice the comma that follows the underlined phrase: that will be there regardless of which answer choice is correct.) (E) is out.

(D) is the only answer choice without a major problem, and it works smoothly.

Does that answer your questions?

Mike :-D
User avatar
ExpertsGlobal5
User avatar
Experts' Global Representative
Joined: 10 Jul 2017
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 5,193
Own Kudos:
4,758
 [4]
Given Kudos: 43
Location: India
GMAT Date: 11-01-2019
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 5,193
Kudos: 4,758
 [4]
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of 11 Mar 2022, 05:09
3
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
superfreak
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria, later generations lost all but the Iliad and Odyssey among Greek epics, most of the poetry of Pindar and Sappho, and dozens of plays by Aeschylus and Euripides.


(A) resulting from the destruction of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria,

(B) the destroying of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria resulted and

(C) because of the result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,

(D) as a result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,

(E) Alexandria’s largest library of the ancient world was destroyed, and the result was

Show more

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning of the sentence is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning is that due to the destruction of the library at Alexandria, which was the largest ancient library, later generations lost a large number of significant literary works.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Awkwardness/Redundancy

A: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "resulting from the destruction"; the construction of this phrase illogically implies that the later generations were the result of the destruction of the library; the intended meaning is that later generations losing a large number of significant literary works was the result of the destruction of the library. Moreover, Option A further alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that later generations lost a large number of significant literary works due to the destruction of the largest of the ancient libraries, specifically, in Alexandria; the intended meaning is that later generations lost a large number of significant literary works due to the destruction of the library at Alexandria, which was the largest library of all ancient libraries.

B: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that later generations lost a large number of significant literary works due to the destruction of the largest of the ancient libraries, specifically, in Alexandria; the intended meaning is that later generations lost a large number of significant literary works due to the destruction of the library at Alexandria, which was the largest library of all ancient libraries. Moreover, Option B further alters the meaning of the sentence through the construction "results and later generations lost"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the destruction of the library occurring and later generations losing a large number of significant literary works were two separate actions; the intended meaning is that later generations lost a large number of significant literary works due to the destruction of the library. Further, Option B uses the passive voice construction "the destroying...resulted", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

C: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "because of the result of the destruction"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that later generations lost a large number of significant literary works due to some unnamed result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria; the intended meaning is that later generations lost a large number of significant literary works due to the destruction of the library at Alexandria, itself.

D: Correct. This answer choice uses the phrases "as a result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria" and modifies the "library at Alexandria" with "the largest of the ancient world", conveying the intended meaning - that later generations losing a large number of significant literary works was the result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, which was the largest of all ancient libraries. Further, Option D is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

E: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "Alexandria’s largest library of the ancient world"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that later generations lost a large number of significant literary works due to the destruction of the largest of the ancient libraries, specifically, in Alexandria; the intended meaning is that later generations lost a large number of significant literary works due to the destruction of the library at Alexandria, which was the largest library of all ancient libraries.

Hence, D is the best answer choice.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team
General Discussion
User avatar
shrouded1
User avatar
Retired Moderator
Joined: 02 Sep 2010
Last visit: 29 Apr 2018
Posts: 609
Own Kudos:
3,191
 [7]
Given Kudos: 25
Location: London
Products:
My Reviews
Posts: 609
Kudos: 3,191
 [7]
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of 04 Oct 2010, 13:08
5
Kudos
Add Kudos
2
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
the "library at Alexandria" is the subject in the sentence, not "Alexandria"
User avatar
rphardu
User avatar
Joined: 23 May 2011
Last visit: 19 Aug 2012
Posts: 70
Own Kudos:
875
 [17]
Given Kudos: 34
Status:Appearing for GMAT
Location: United States (NJ)
Concentration: Finance, General Management
GPA: 3.5
WE:Information Technology (Computer Software)
Posts: 70
Kudos: 875
 [17]
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of 04 Aug 2011, 19:03
13
Kudos
Add Kudos
3
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
superfreak
Hello, not sure why D (the OA) is better than A. Any thoughts?

In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria, later generations lost all but the Iliad and Odyssey among Greek epics, most of the poetry of Pindar and Sappho, and dozens of plays by Aeschylus and Euripides.

(A) resulting from the destruction of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria,
(B) the destroying of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria resulted and
(C) because of the result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,
(D) as a result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,
(E) Alexandria’s largest library of the ancient world was destroyed, and the result was
Show more

elevinty
harikattamudi
Please explain why what is wrong with 'E' and also, what makes 'E' to be correct.

Thanks
-H
you have an idiom problem here, if you are going to say (the result was) you have to add (that) after was, and in E it's omitted.
Show more

Hi Elevinty,

Buddy, We don't have any idiom like "result was that". The idiom for result are below :
as a result (of something)
because of something that has happened. As a result of the accident, Tom couldn't walk for six months. We couldn't afford to borrow money for a house as a result of the rise in interest rates.

result from something
to emerge from something; to be the outcome of something. It will be interesting to see what results from your efforts. Nothing resulted from all that work.

result in something
to achieve something; to bring about something; to cause something to happen. I hope that this will result in the police finding your car. All my effort resulted in nothing at all.

Hi superfreak,
Let's analyze original sentence after removing all middlemen (prepositional phrases).

In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction [strike]of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria[/strike], later generations lost all [strike]all but[/strike] (just using "except" for idiom "all but") the Iliad and Odyssey among Greek epics, most of the poetry[strike]of Pindarand Sappho[/strike] , and dozens of plays [strike]by Aeschylus and Euripides[/strike].
so sentence is :
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction, later generations lost all except the Iliad and Odyssey among Greek epics,most of the poetry and dozens of plays.
Now we can see clearly that "resulting from the destruction" is modifying "Later Generation" which is wrong. The meaning of sentence is more or less that later generation which is resulting from the destruciton.
So A is wrong.

(B) the destroying [strike]of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria[/strike] resulted and
Here looks like, "destroying resulted" and "later generation" both lost something.
(C) because of the result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,
"because of the result of" comes many time in GMAT and this construction is wrong because of redundancy.
(D) as a result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,
Correct and concise. as a result of destruction, later generation lost something.
(E) Alexandria’s largest library of the ancient world was destroyed, and the result was[/quote]
"Alexandria’s largest library of the ancient world was destroyed" is a complete sentence so can not be followed with "and the result was",
moreover for coordinating conjunction "and", both part should be parallel which is not the case here.

If any question, please revert.


I hope my explanation helped, If indeed please give me Kudos.
User avatar
daagh
User avatar
Major Poster
Joined: 19 Feb 2007
Last visit: 16 Oct 2020
Posts: 5,264
Own Kudos:
42,417
 [8]
Given Kudos: 422
Status: enjoying
Location: India
WE:Education (Education)
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 5,264
Kudos: 42,417
 [8]
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of 23 Aug 2011, 07:27
6
Kudos
Add Kudos
2
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
As usual, let me give a forthright and simple pathway to this topic, which can get complicated by the way one looks at it.

Do not please bother for a moment about any other thing.
it is the library at Alexandria that is an issue. Any choice that separates library and at Alexandria is essentially therefore uses a wrong word-order. You can kick out A, B and E in one stroke. Between C and D, C is wrong because of the redundancy ‘of because of the result of’

Then make merry with D, the remainder.
avatar
WarriorGmat
avatar
Joined: 09 May 2013
Last visit: 13 Dec 2013
Posts: 35
Own Kudos:
29
Given Kudos: 12
Posts: 35
Kudos: 29
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of 13 Jun 2013, 06:35
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
in 'C' and 'D'
why option choice is incorrect what are the main difference
because of the result of 'X', later generations lost
As a result of the 'X',later generations lost

both convey same meaning that because of result of destruction of ....
later generations lost....some stuff.

can some one help me to resolve these ambiguity in my reasoning?
User avatar
ankurgupta03
User avatar
Retired Moderator
Joined: 24 Aug 2011
Last visit: 07 Nov 2023
Posts: 1,372
Own Kudos:
1,849
 [3]
Given Kudos: 833
Location: India
Concentration: Technology, Strategy
Schools: Tepper '18 (A) Kenan-Flagler '18 (M$)
GMAT 1: 760 Q50 V42
GPA: 3.35
WE:Consulting (Computer Software)
Products:
My Reviews
Schools: Tepper '18 (A) Kenan-Flagler '18 (M$)
GMAT 1: 760 Q50 V42
Posts: 1,372
Kudos: 1,849
 [3]
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of 14 Jun 2013, 02:52
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
2
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
WarriorGmat
in 'C' and 'D'
why option choice is incorrect what are the main difference
because of the result of 'X', later generations lost
As a result of the 'X',later generations lost

both convey same meaning that because of result of destruction of ....
later generations lost....some stuff.

can some one help me to resolve these ambiguity in my reasoning?
Show more

Let me try

(C) because of the result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,
This changes the meaning, it seems that the result was something else and because of that result, later generation lost acces
(D) as a result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,
This correctly states that the access was lost due to destruction.

Hope it helps!
avatar
LoudGuardian
avatar
Joined: 24 Apr 2017
Last visit: 13 Dec 2017
Posts: 3
Given Kudos: 33
Posts: 3
Kudos: 0
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of 30 Aug 2017, 10:12
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
How is there a modifier error in A? verb-ing modifier followed by a comma & a clause can modify either the subject of the clause or the entire clause. So, isn't 'resulting from the destruction' modifying 'later generations lost...', and not the just the later generation
User avatar
ApplicantX
User avatar
Joined: 28 Sep 2017
Last visit: 11 Nov 2025
Posts: 87
Own Kudos:
89
Given Kudos: 54
Location: India
Concentration: General Management
Schools: Stern '20 (A) Darden '20 (S) NUS '20 ISB '19 (II) Schulich Sept 18 Intake (S)
GMAT 1: 740 Q49 V42
GPA: 3.92
Schools: Stern '20 (A) Darden '20 (S) NUS '20 ISB '19 (II) Schulich Sept 18 Intake (S)
GMAT 1: 740 Q49 V42
Posts: 87
Kudos: 89
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of 29 Sep 2017, 09:56
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
I have 2 general doubts in this question.
When and when not a comma is used before 'and'. ?
and can in any question a comma before 'and' be grounds enough to reject the option ?
User avatar
egmat
User avatar
e-GMAT Representative
Joined: 02 Nov 2011
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 5,108
Own Kudos:
32,883
 [4]
Given Kudos: 700
GMAT Date: 08-19-2020
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 5,108
Kudos: 32,883
 [4]
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of 29 Sep 2017, 12:39
4
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
LoudGuardian
How is there a modifier error in A? verb-ing modifier followed by a comma & a clause can modify either the subject of the clause or the entire clause. So, isn't 'resulting from the destruction' modifying 'later generations lost...', and not the just the later generation
Show more


Hello LoudGuardian,

I am not sure if you still have this doubt. Nonetheless, here is the explanation in case someone else has the same doubt. :-)

It is true that when a verb-ing modifier starts a clause, it can modify either the subject or the entire clause.

Even if the opening verb-ing modifier modifies the entire clause, it must make sense with the subject of the modified action.

In this official sentence, the opening verb-ing modifiers seems to modify the clause later generations lost all....

So, the modified action is lost. Now who is the subject of the action lost? Later generations.

So does the modifier resulting from the destruction... make sense with the subject? Did later generations result from the destruction? Most definitely not.

This is the reason why use of the opening verb-ing modifier in this official sentence is incorrect.


We cover in excruciating details the correct usage of Verb-ing Modifiers with ample examples. In fact, the concepts dealing with these modifiers is part of our Free Trial course. You can just register yourself at e-gmat.com for free and learn about these modifiers.


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha
User avatar
egmat
User avatar
e-GMAT Representative
Joined: 02 Nov 2011
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 5,108
Own Kudos:
32,883
 [1]
Given Kudos: 700
GMAT Date: 08-19-2020
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 5,108
Kudos: 32,883
 [1]
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of 29 Sep 2017, 13:38
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
cubs
I have 2 general doubts in this question.
When and when not a comma is used before 'and'. ?
and can in any question a comma before 'and' be grounds enough to reject the option ?
Show more


Hello cubs,

I will be glad to help you out with this one. :-)

1. Usage of comma + and is very common in the following two situations across GMAT SC:

i. It is used to join two independent clauses.

The 19-year-old pianist and composer performed his most recent work all over Europe, Asia, and North America last year, winning prestigious awards in both London and Tokyo for his achievement at such a young age, and he hopes to continue composing now that he has returned to Chicago.


ii. It joins more than two parallel elements in a list.

Doctors generally agree that such factors as cigarette smoking, eating rich foods high in fats, and alcohol consumption not only do damage by themselves but also aggravate genetic predispositions toward certain diseases.



2. The answer to your second question is no. Never reject or select any answer choice only on the basis of presence or absence of a punctuation mark. Look for at least one deterministic error to reject an answer choice.




Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha
User avatar
zoezhuyan
User avatar
Joined: 17 Sep 2016
Last visit: 11 Nov 2024
Posts: 418
Own Kudos:
94
Given Kudos: 147
Posts: 418
Kudos: 94
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of 28 Mar 2018, 04:13
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Quote:
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria, later generations lost all but the Iliad and Odyssey among Greek epics, most of the poetry of Pindar and Sappho, and dozens of plays by Aeschylus and Euripides.
A. resulting from the destruction of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria,
B. the destroying of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria resulted and
C. because of the result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,
D. as a result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,
E. Alexandria’s largest library of the ancient world was destroyed, and the result was
Show more

Hi mikemcgarry, GMATNinjaTwo, GMATNinja, MagooshExpert Carolyn, sayantanc2k,
I start to doubt that my interpretation about participle modifier is incorrect after reading a correct example.

One correct example:
i dropped the groceries onto the floor, scaring the baby.
this is a "modifying the entire action" type of modifier.
what scared the baby? well, my dropping the groceries onto the floor did.
did *i* directly scare the baby? no.

similary,
the original sentence
resulting from the destruction of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria, later generations lost all but the Iliad and Odyssey among Greek epics,
anyone think this is another "modifying the entire action" type of modifier.
what resulted the loss? the destruction of the largest library.
Did "later generation" directly result from the destruction? no, their lost result from detruciton

Any expert help to clarify what's the difference between above two sentences?
Please point out my fault.

Thanks in advance
Have a nice day
>_~
User avatar
MagooshExpert
User avatar
Magoosh GMAT Instructor
Joined: 30 Oct 2017
Last visit: 15 Jan 2020
Posts: 231
Own Kudos:
436
 [3]
Given Kudos: 20
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 231
Kudos: 436
 [3]
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of 29 Mar 2018, 21:08
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
zoezhuyan
Quote:
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria, later generations lost all but the Iliad and Odyssey among Greek epics, most of the poetry of Pindar and Sappho, and dozens of plays by Aeschylus and Euripides.
A. resulting from the destruction of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria,
B. the destroying of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria resulted and
C. because of the result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,
D. as a result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,
E. Alexandria’s largest library of the ancient world was destroyed, and the result was

Hi mikemcgarry, GMATNinjaTwo, GMATNinja, MagooshExpert Carolyn, sayantanc2k,
I start to doubt that my interpretation about participle modifier is incorrect after reading a correct example.

One correct example:
i dropped the groceries onto the floor, scaring the baby.
this is a "modifying the entire action" type of modifier.
what scared the baby? well, my dropping the groceries onto the floor did.
did *i* directly scare the baby? no.

similary,
the original sentence
resulting from the destruction of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria, later generations lost all but the Iliad and Odyssey among Greek epics,
anyone think this is another "modifying the entire action" type of modifier.
what resulted the loss? the destruction of the largest library.
Did "later generation" directly result from the destruction? no, their lost result from detruciton

Any expert help to clarify what's the difference between above two sentences?
Please point out my fault.

Thanks in advance
Have a nice day
>_~
Show more

Hi zoezhuyan!

I think your understanding is generally correct -- in general, it's perfectly fine to have a modifier which modifies the entire action, not just a noun. However, the problem here is resulting from. When we use "resulting from", it must always modify a noun or a noun phrase. If we instead use "as a result...", then that can modify an entire phrase/clause/action. For example,

CORRECT: Our bags got wet, as a result of the rain.
INCORRECT: Our bags got wet, resulting from the rain.

In both cases, we are modifying the entire action (our bags getting wet). However, we can't use "resulting from" to describe the whole action. This would be a correct use of "resulting from":

CORRECT: The damage to the house resulting from the rain was extensive.

Here, "resulting from the rain" is modifying "damage", which is a noun.

I hope that helps! :-)
User avatar
zoezhuyan
User avatar
Joined: 17 Sep 2016
Last visit: 11 Nov 2024
Posts: 418
Own Kudos:
94
 [1]
Given Kudos: 147
Posts: 418
Kudos: 94
 [1]
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of 29 Mar 2018, 23:18
Kudos
Add Kudos
1
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
MagooshExpert
zoezhuyan
Quote:
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria, later generations lost all but the Iliad and Odyssey among Greek epics, most of the poetry of Pindar and Sappho, and dozens of plays by Aeschylus and Euripides.
A. resulting from the destruction of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria,
B. the destroying of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria resulted and
C. because of the result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,
D. as a result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,
E. Alexandria’s largest library of the ancient world was destroyed, and the result was

Hi mikemcgarry, GMATNinjaTwo, GMATNinja, MagooshExpert Carolyn, sayantanc2k,
I start to doubt that my interpretation about participle modifier is incorrect after reading a correct example.

One correct example:
i dropped the groceries onto the floor, scaring the baby.
this is a "modifying the entire action" type of modifier.
what scared the baby? well, my dropping the groceries onto the floor did.
did *i* directly scare the baby? no.

similary,
the original sentence
resulting from the destruction of the largest library of the ancient world at Alexandria, later generations lost all but the Iliad and Odyssey among Greek epics,
anyone think this is another "modifying the entire action" type of modifier.
what resulted the loss? the destruction of the largest library.
Did "later generation" directly result from the destruction? no, their lost result from detruciton

Any expert help to clarify what's the difference between above two sentences?
Please point out my fault.

Thanks in advance
Have a nice day
>_~

Hi zoezhuyan!

I think your understanding is generally correct -- in general, it's perfectly fine to have a modifier which modifies the entire action, not just a noun. However, the problem here is resulting from. When we use "resulting from", it must always modify a noun or a noun phrase. If we instead use "as a result...", then that can modify an entire phrase/clause/action. For example,

CORRECT: Our bags got wet, as a result of the rain.
INCORRECT: Our bags got wet, resulting from the rain.

In both cases, we are modifying the entire action (our bags getting wet). However, we can't use "resulting from" to describe the whole action. This would be a correct use of "resulting from":

CORRECT: The damage to the house resulting from the rain was extensive.

Here, "resulting from the rain" is modifying "damage", which is a noun.

I hope that helps! :-)
Show more

MagooshExpert
Thanks Carolyn,
would you please list more words like "result", which only modify noun or noun phrases?

In case of I make the same mistake

Have a nice day
>_~
User avatar
MagooshExpert
User avatar
Magoosh GMAT Instructor
Joined: 30 Oct 2017
Last visit: 15 Jan 2020
Posts: 231
Own Kudos:
436
Given Kudos: 20
Expert
Expert reply
Posts: 231
Kudos: 436
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of 30 Mar 2018, 19:49
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
zoezhuyan

MagooshExpert
Thanks Carolyn,
would you please list more words like "result", which only modify noun or noun phrases?

In case of I make the same mistake

Have a nice day
>_~
Show more

Hi zoezhuyan!

Here are some similar phrases which can only modify nouns or noun phrases:

due to
attributable to
caused by

I believe those are the most common ones :-)
-Carolyn
User avatar
tejyr
User avatar
Joined: 26 Dec 2017
Last visit: 24 Dec 2021
Posts: 113
Own Kudos:
90
 [1]
Given Kudos: 109
Products:
My Reviews
Posts: 113
Kudos: 90
 [1]
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of 24 Apr 2018, 19:29
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
D) as a result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,
Isn't "the largest of the ancient world" wrongly modifying Alexandria?

Can some one please explain this .
User avatar
EducationAisle
User avatar
Joined: 27 Mar 2010
Last visit: 18 Nov 2025
Posts: 3,891
Own Kudos:
3,579
Given Kudos: 159
Location: India
Schools: ISB
GPA: 3.31
Expert
Expert reply
Schools: ISB
Posts: 3,891
Kudos: 3,579
In A.D. 391, resulting from the destruction of the largest library of 24 Apr 2018, 21:42
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
tejyr
D) as a result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria, the largest of the ancient world,
Isn't "the largest of the ancient world" wrongly modifying Alexandria?

Can some one please explain this .
Show more
Hi tejyr, the largest of the ancient world is called an appositive modifier, describing library at Alexandria.

It's like this:

Donald Trump, the US President, has had a bumpy ride in office till now.

Again, the US President is an appositive modifier, modifying Donald Trump.

as a result of the destruction of the library at Alexandria is actually a prepositional phrase. Such Prepositional phrases are Adverbial modifiers and so, don't modify Nouns (such as the largest of the ancient world in this case).

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses Appositives, their application and examples in significant detail. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.
 1   2   3   
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7445 posts
GMATNinjaTwo
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
234 posts
miag
188 posts