In the southern outskirts of Dar es Salaam, a towering, two-million-sq

Hi,
In my 2 cents,a towering is a factory which manufactures shoes and handbags.
Thus,we need a pair of comma to set off long modifier--"two-million.....labels".
Did I miss anything?

Thanks

Hi ,
I got a doubt in option A

A. In the southern outskirts of Dar es Salaam, a towering, two-million-square-meter factory compound jointly owned by several top European fashion labels, manufactures ...

Why this option is wrong . The 2nd red clause is modifying "a towering" .
Am i missing anything in the meaning or grammar can you please guide me.

I don't understand why A is wrong, even though i agree D is right.

towering is an adjective. So the sentence should be like this
A. In the southern outskirts of Dar es Salaam, a towering, two-million-square-meter factory compound jointly owned by several top European fashion labels, manufactures ...

Can anyone explain why D is correct?

I think A is better.

Sent from my KIW-L22 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

I think when a modifier is placed between two "," ( commas ) its a non-essential modifier. therefore per sentence A - a towering.... manufactures which is illogical.

Can anyone please tell why B is wrong?

Hi Prashant10692, couple of issues with B:

i) B needlessly uses an inverted sentence structure (verb is used before the subject)

ii) which modifies Dar es Salaam, while it is intended to modify factory compound

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses modifier issues of "which", its application and examples in significant detail. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL SOLUTION:

What looks here at first to be a subject-verb agreement problem (note the last-word differences between "manufacture" and "manufactures") is actually a modifier problem. Only one of the answer choices (choice C) specifically botches a subject-verb agreement, but you might notice that as you search for the subjects in answer choices A and E, you actually cannot find a direct subject for that verb. Each of those answer choices places the verb manufacture(s) right after a comma, meaning that you'll need to look back before a modifier to find the subject. And when you get to the opposite side of the modifier, you'll notice in both cases that the only thing there is another modifier. So choices A and E are incorrect, and you should turn your attention to modifier errors in this problem as your next decision point.

Choice B, then, can be eliminated given the restrictive "which" relative pronoun. That would suggest that it is Dar es Salaam (the city) doing the manufacturing, and not the factory compound.

Only choice D is left standing, and you should notice that its only difference from choice A is that D does not include a comma before "manufactures." This means that you're not dealing with a modifier separating the "manufactures" from its subject. As you work back you'll find that the subject is "factory compound," a singular subject, so "manufactures" is the correct verb and D is the correct answer.

I was confused between B and D.
after the explanation I have understood it.

EducationAisle

Hi,

I agree that B uses the inverted sentence, but is that a reason enough to discard option B?

And can you please explain, why 'Which' should be a problem?

" towering-two-million-square-meter factory compound in the southern outskirts of Dar es Salaam, which manufactures"

"in the southern outskirts of Dar es Salaam" is basically modifying "factory compound", "which" is a noun modifier, and a noun modifier can jump through other modifiers.

Hi sid0791, which almost always modifies the nearest grammatically eligible word, in this case Dar es Salaam, thereby making the sentence nonsensical.

This is an important concept. I am providing few official examples (along with official explanations) that will illustrate this point further.

Official example #1:

Correct sentence:

There are several ways to build solid walls using just mud or clay, but the most extensively used method has been to form the mud or clay into bricks, and, after some preliminary air drying or sun drying, to lay them in the wall in mud mortar.

Incorrect sentence (option E):

There are several ways to build solid walls using just mud or clay, but the most extensively used method has been that bricks were formed from mud or clay, which, after some preliminary air drying or sun drying, were laid in the wall in mud mortar.

Official Explanation for incorrect option E: The relative clause beginning with which apparently (but nonsensically) describes the closest nouns mud or clay, rather than bricks.

Official example #2:

Correct sentence:

Marconi conceived of the radio as a tool for private conversation that could substitute for the telephone; instead, it has become precisely the opposite, a tool for communicating with a large, public audience.

Incorrect sentence (option D):

Marconi conceived of the radio to be a tool for private conversation, a substitute for the telephone, which has become precisely the opposite, a tool for communicating with a large, public audience.

Official Explanation for incorrect option D: Versions of the sentence that use the relative pronoun which indicate that the telephone has become a mass medium.

Official example #3:

Correct sentence:

Though called a sea, the landlocked Caspian is actually the largest lake on Earth, covering more than four times the surface area of its closest rival in size, North America's Lake Superior.

Incorrect sentence (option A):

It is called a sea, but the landlocked Caspian is actually the largest lake on Earth, which covers more than four times the surface area of its closest rival in size, North America's Lake Superior.

Official Explanation for incorrect option A: - Because Earth immediately preceded which, the sentence appears to say, illogically, that Earth covers more than four times the surface area of Lake Superior.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses modifier issues of "which", their application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

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