In addition to her work on the Miocene hominid fossil record, Mary Lea

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 meaning of this sentence is that Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology through her work on the Miocene hominid fossil record, her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity, and her painstaking documentation of East African cave paintings.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Modifiers + Parallelism + Idioms + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• In the “phrase + comma + noun” and “noun + comma + phrase” constructions, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction
• Any elements linked by a conjunction (“and” in this sentence) must be parallel.
• For referring to the method by which something is done “verb + though + noun” is the correct idiomatic construction.

A: This answer choice incorrectly uses “In addition to her work on the Miocene hominid fossil record” to modify “Mary Leakey, leading to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology through her work on the Miocene hominid fossil record, her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity, and her painstaking documentation of East African cave paintings; remember, in the “phrase + comma + noun” and “noun + comma + phrase” constructions, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Further, Option A fails to maintain parallelism between “her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity” and “painstakingly documenting East African cave paintings”; remember, any elements linked by a conjunction (“and” in this sentence) must be parallel.

B: This answer choice incorrectly uses “In addition to her work on the Miocene hominid fossil record” to modify “Mary Leakey, leading to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology through her work on the Miocene hominid fossil record, her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity, and her painstaking documentation of East African cave paintings; remember, in the “phrase + comma + noun” and “noun + comma + phrase” constructions, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Further, Option B incorrectly uses the unidiomatic “verb + by + noun” construction to refer to the method by which an action is taken; remember, for referring to the method by which something is done “verb + though + noun” is the correct idiomatic construction.

C: This answer choice incorrectly uses “In addition to her work on the Miocene hominid fossil record” to modify “Mary Leakey, leading to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology through her work on the Miocene hominid fossil record, her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity, and her painstaking documentation of East African cave paintings; remember, in the “phrase + comma + noun” and “noun + comma + phrase” constructions, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Further, Option C uses the passive voice construction “Leakey was a contributor to archaeology”, leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

D: Correct. This answer choice correctly uses “In addition to her work on the Miocene hominid fossil record” to modify “Mary Leakey’s contributions to archaeology”, conveying the intended meaning – that Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology through her work on the Miocene hominid fossil record, her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity, and her painstaking documentation of East African cave paintings. Further, Option D correctly maintains parallelism between “her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity” and “her painstaking documentation of East African cave paintings”. Additionally, Option D avoids the idiomatic error seen in Option B, as it uses the clause “contributions include” rather than the verb “contributed” to refer to the method by which Mary Leaky contributed to archaeology. Besides, Option D is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

E: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between “her discovering the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity” and “painstaking documentation of East African Cave paintings”; remember, any elements linked by a conjunction (“and” in this sentence) must be parallel.

Hence, D is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Phrase Comma Subject" and "Subject Comma Phrase", you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

D for me ..

In addition to her work on the Miocene hominid fossil record, Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology with her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting East African cave paintings.

calls for Leakey's contributions.. thus A,B,C are out

now between D&E

D is the best, E modifies the meaning

A. Leakey contributed to archaeology with her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting

B. Leakey contributed to archaeology by her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and by painstakingly documenting-> by her .. is awkward..

C. Leakey was a contributor to archaeology with her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and with her painstaking documentation of->

D. Leakey’s contributions to archaeology include her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and her painstaking documentation of

E. Leakey’s contributions to archaeology include her discovering the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstaking documentation of-> "her discovering" ?

I came a little late to the party but got D as the answer and here is why.

The sentence starts out 'In addition to'. For this reasons we need to say 'Leakey's contributions to acheology include' because we must include the work on the hominid fossil as one of them.

ex. If we say;

In addition to her work on the Miocene hominid fossil record, Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology with her discovery of ....

This implies that the work on the Miocene hominid fossil is not a contribution.

ex. In addition to X, Mary Leakey contributed to Y..
This sentence structure suggest that X and Y are different.

ex. In addtion to X, Mary Leakey's contributions to Y include..
This sentence structure suggest that X and Y are related.

In addition to her work on the Miocene hominid fossil record, Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology with her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting East African cave paintings.

A and B and E are not parallel with/by her discovery / painstakingly documenting
or her discovering and painstaking documentation in E.

C. Leakey was a contributor to archaeology with her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and with her painstaking documentation of
D. Leakey’s contributions to archaeology include her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and her painstaking documentation of

C and D remain, and they both look fine taken by them self. Look at the initial modifier "In addition to her work": what should complete it?

"In addition to her work" Leakey’s contributions <== correct - in addition to her work there is her contributions to etc...
"In addition to her work" Leakey <=== not correct as it states that "she" is an addition to her work.

Hope it's clear

In addition to her work on the Miocene homicide fossil record, Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology with her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting East African paintings.

Possessive pronoun (her) can have a non-possessive noun (Mary Leaky) as its antecedent. So both Mary Leaky and Mary Leaky's are fine.

Parallelism: her work (noun), her discovery (noun) and her painstaking documentation (noun)

(A) Leakey contributed to archaeology with her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting her work (noun), her discovery (noun) and painstakingly documenting (participle) - not parallel

(B) Leakey contributed to archaeology by her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and by painstakingly documenting Same as A

(C) Leakey was a contributor to archaeology with her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and with her painstaking documentation of was a contributor.. with is incorrect. It should be 'was a contributor through'

(D) Leakey's contributions to archaeology include her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and her painstaking documentation of correct

(E) Leakey's contributions to archaeology include her discovering the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstaking documentation of her work (noun), her discovery (noun) and painstaking documentation (no her) - not parallel


In addition to her work on the Miocene hominid fossil record, Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology through her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and through her painstaking documentation of East African cave paintings.
A. Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology through her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and through her painstaking documentation of
B. Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology by her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting
C. Mary Leakey was a contributor to archaeology by discovering the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and with her painstaking documentation of
D. Mary Leakey's contributions to archaeology include her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting
E. Mary Leakey's contributions to archaeology include her discovering the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstaking documentation of

Same reasons as for the 1st question. A is correct.

Dear Ankur,
I'm happy to respond.

Here's a blog you may find helpful:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-pronoun-traps/

The rule is: a noun in the possessive (such as "Leakey's") cannot be an antecedent of a pronoun unless the pronoun is also in the possessive. A noun in the possessive can be the antecedent for a possessive pronoun. Thus, "Leakey's" can be the antecedent of "her." This appears often on the GMAT SC, and it often trips up the students who believe that a possessive noun can never be an antecedent.

Does all this make sense?
Mike

Hello Mike, in view of this, can you suggest why the following is correct?

Among the objects found in the excavated temple were small terra-cotta effigies left by supplicants who were either asking the goddess Bona Dea's aid in healing physical and mental ills or thanking her for such help.

My understanding is that possessive noun "Bona Dea's aid" is an antecedent of object pronoun "her".

May be I am not interpreting your rule accurately:(.

Dear Mohish,
My friend, I am happy to help. This, of course, is from the OA of OG13 SC#109.

Understand that grammar is not mathematics. The rules are not "absolute right" vs. "absolute wrong." If you think this way about grammar, you will get yourself confused.

The most important thing about a pronoun is that it is unambiguous in its referent. If we cannot discern the antecedent of a pronoun with complete clarity, the pronoun is useless. This is virtually non-negotiable.

The guideline that antecedents should not be in the possessive, unless the pronoun is in the possessive --- this is a stylistic point, not something absolutely necessarily for the sentence to have meaning, but something that tends to indicate elevated style. If the GMAT is testing you on this point, in all likelihood, they will be expecting you to make the "high style" choice. Is this an absolute rule? Technically, no, but this gets into subtleties.

Many folks thing of parallelism as a grammatical structure, but parallelism is primarily a logical structure. The grammar has to align itself with the logic, which is deeper. As a logical structure, parallelism can inform other logical relationships in this sentence. In this sentence, the "her" is unambiguous, because there is only one female entity in the sentence, and the parallelism reinforces this pronoun-antecedent link, making it utterly clear. With such powerful logical links in place, this allows us to relax the stylistic rule a bit. This is what GMAC is doing on its own, and is NOT a matter that it would ask you to apply. Notice that this particular SC question gives the student no choice about the pronoun.

All of this gets into more detail that you need to know. What you need to know is, that when the GMAT is asking you directly and putting the issue on the line for your to choose, stick with the guideline that the antecedent can't be in the possessive unless it's a possessive pronoun. You will be tested on that. You will not be tested on the more sophisticated stuff. Keep in mind that GMAC is aware of all the discussions we have here: they know the rules that students enshrine like mathematical truths, and they write questions such as this one, specifically designed to perplex the students who are too attached to the rules.

You simply cannot achieve SC mastery through memorizing some complete list of rules. You have to read. You have to develop a habit of reading every day, so that you develop an ear for sophisticated language. If you try to reduce grammar to rules, you will miss the forest for the trees.

Does all this make sense?
Mike

My answer: D (Awaiting OA)

In addition to her work on the Miocene hominid fossil record, Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology with her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting East African cave paintings.

(A) Leakey contributed to archaeology with her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting -Both the parts are not parallel.

(B) Leakey contributed to archaeology by her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and by painstakingly documenting -Both the parts are not parallel.

(C) Leakey was a contributor to archaeology with her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and with her painstaking documentation of -We need present tense

(D) Leakey’s contributions to archaeology include her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and her painstaking documentation of -Correct. Both the parts are parallel. Also, I have seen quiet a few official questions that use a pronoun to refer back to noun+'s form. In this case "her" is referring to Mary Leakey.

(E) Leakey’s contributions to archaeology include her discovering the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstaking documentation of -Both the parts are not parallel.

IMO C

Phrase :- In addition to her work. Her demands a noun, hence Mary Leaky is required
Eliminate D and E

(A) Leakey contributed to archaeology with her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting Not parallel

(B) Leakey contributed to archaeology by her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and by painstakingly documenting Not parallel

(C) Leakey was a contributor to archaeology with her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and with her painstaking documentation of Parallel yay!!

I choose D.

- "In addition to" is an appositive phrase, describes someone's work. A,B and C out because her work is not the same with the person itself.
- Now between D and E : E seems strange in "her discovering". What is the function of V-ing here?
- On the other hand, choice D seems parallel between "her discovery" and "her painstaking documentation".

Waiting for OA and wonderful explanation from GMATNinja !

There are two versions of the same sentence with different OAs. .Both are from GMAT prep...


The first version

In addition to her work on the Miocene hominid fossil, Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology through her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and through her painstaking documentation of East African cave paintings.

A) Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology through her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and through her painstaking documentation of -- Parallelism ok

B) Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology by her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting --- discovery and documenting not parallel

C) Mary Leakey was a contributor to archaeology by discovering the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and with her painstaking documentation of ----discovering and documentation not parallel

D) Mary Leakey's contributions to archaeology include her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting discovery and documenting not parallel

E) Mary Leakey's contributions to archaeology include her discovering the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstaking documentation of --- discovering and documentation not parallel


OA is A

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Another official version of the same topic,

In addition to her work on the Miocene hominid fossil record, Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology with her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting East African cave paintings.

A) Leakey contributed to archaeology with her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting --- discovery and documenting not parallel

B) Leakey contributed to archaeology by her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and by painstakingly documenting---- discovery and documenting not parallel

C) Leakey was a contributor to archaeology with her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and with her painstaking documentation of -- was a contributor is unidiomtic

D) Leakey's contributions to archaeology include her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and her painstaking documentation of --- parallelism is ok

E) Leakey's contributions to archaeology include discovering the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstaking documentation of --- discovering and documentation is not ok



OA is D

Hi GmatNinja,

The sentence is talking about "her" but we have Micky Haley's contributions in OA. Is it not a pronoun issue. I eliminated D and E because I thought both the sentences have pronoun issue.

Can you help me on understanding this.

I'm not quite sure what you mean, but in (D) and (E), "her work" is properly compared with "Leakey's contributions", as explained here. (And by "Micky Haley", I assume that you mean "Mary Leakey"?) And there's no ambiguity problem with the pronoun at all in (D) or (E): the possessive pronoun "her" refers to "Leakey's" -- a possessive (female) noun.

Are you maybe thinking that the word "her" has to refer to "Mary Leakey", instead of "Mary Leakey's"? It's not a problem for a possessive pronoun to refer to a possessive noun.

I'm not sure if I'm on the right track, but I hope this helps!

It seems that there are 2 different questions with different OAs, one of which violates the above principle.

AjiteshArun , GMATNinja , mikemcgarry , egmat , sayantanc2k, RonPurewal , DmitryFarber , MagooshExpert , ccooley , GMATNinjaTwo , other experts -- please enlighten.

AjiteshArun is correct here -- it might not be ideal, but it's not strictly incorrect to say something like "In addition to her work on X, she contributed to the field with her work on Y". Here, there is correct parallelism between "her work on X" and "her work on Y", so it's acceptable to use with "in addition to". To really see that this works, imagine flipping the sentence:

She contributed to the field with her work on Y in addition to her work on X.

This clearly is correct parallel structure.


-Carolyn

Doesn't the absence of a noun to which her refers to make the options D & E incorrect ?
Please reply .