International loans that are extensive and in some cases exceeding the

International loans that are extensive and in some cases exceeding the total equity of the lending bank have exposed them to insolvency, since borrowers, hard pressed by changes in interest rates and oil prices, have found repayment impossible.


A. International loans that are extensive and in some cases exceeding the total equity of the lending bank have exposed them -- "them" has no specific unambiguous referent

B. International loans that are extensive in size and exceeding in some cases the total equity of the lending banks expose the lenders -- "that are extensive and that are exceeding" is wrong parallelism

C. International loans, extensive in size and in some cases exceeding the total equity of the lending bank, expose them -- same as A

D. Extensive international loans, exceeding in some cases the total equity of the lending banks, have exposed the lenders -- CORRECT, parallelism issue in B is fixed and converted to adjective and participial modifiers

E. Extensive international loans, in some cases exceeding the total equity of the lending bank, have exposed them -- same as A

So, the answer is D

International loans that are extensive and in some cases exceeding the total equity of the lending bank have exposed them to insolvency, since borrowers, hard pressed by changes in interest rates and oil prices, have found repayment impossible.


A. International loans that are extensive and in some cases exceeding the total equity of the lending bank have exposed them
C. International loans, extensive in size and in some cases exceeding the total equity of the lending bank, expose them
E. Extensive international loans, in some cases exceeding the total equity of the lending bank, have exposed them

A,C,E: No clear antecedent for 'them' - could be loans, or banks. Clearly its referring to the banks, but we only have singular 'bank' in A,C,and E, so in any case its wrong.
C Only: International loans..expose. C also, with the use of the commas, makes as if International loans in general expose 'them' to insolvency...although that might just be the way i see it.

B. International loans that are extensive in size and exceeding in some cases the total equity of the lending banks expose the lenders

International loans that are extensive in size and (that are) exceeding in some cases the total equity

Either way you look at B it restricts the international loans to those that are extensive in size and those that are either currently exceeding total equity or that exceed total equity.

The meaning of the present progressive 'exceeding' is unclear in the current parallel form its in as it could be interpreted two ways.

D. Extensive international loans, exceeding in some cases the total equity of the lending banks, have exposed the lenders

Correct.

Exceeding is quarantined off by commas, and the finite verb 'have' makes it clear that the international loans are what have exposed the lenders.

Removal of 'them' clears any ambiguity with pronoun agreement/ illogical interpretations caused by 'them'.

Why not Option E .

Please clarify @e-gmat

Between B and D, one of the glaring issues in B is that B has tense incompatibility between underlined portion (present) and non-underlined portion (past).

International loans that are extensive and in some cases exceeding the total equity of the lending bank have exposed them to insolvency, since borrowers, hard pressed by changes in interest rates and oil prices, have found repayment impossible.

* Subject verb pair [ "International loans have exposed" ; "that are extensive"; " borrowers have found" ] - this seems okay but [ " in some cases exceeding" ]- not used appropriately. Thus Subject verb error is there
* Tense form [ Present & Past ] - conveys intended meaning
* If-then condition - Not used
* Subjunctive Verb - Not used
* Pronoun [ "them" has ambiguity in terms of antecedent; them refers to whom its not clear ,whether is refers to international loans or bank ] - Incorrect
* Modifier [ "that are extensive and in some cases exceeding the total equity of the lending bank" correctly modifies "International loans" ; "hard pressed by changes in interest rates and oil prices" correctly modifies "borrowers" ] - correct
* Parallelism [ that are extensive "and" in some cases exceeding ] - parallelism error
* Comparison - not used
* Idioms - not used

Now lets check each & every option for more further clarification.

A. International loans that are extensive and in some cases exceeding the total equity of the lending bank have exposed them


1. parallelism error
2. "them" has ambiguity in terms of antecedent

- Incorrect

B. International loans that are extensive in size and exceeding in some cases the total equity of the lending banks expose the lenders

- It removes the pronoun error while using "lenders" but still have parallel issues. Hence incorrect


C. International loans, extensive in size and in some cases exceeding the total equity of the lending bank, expose them

1. "extensive in size and in some cases exceeding" not parallel
2. "them" has ambiguity in terms of antecedent

- Incorrect

D. Extensive international loans, exceeding in some cases the total equity of the lending banks, have exposed the lenders

- Removes the parallelism & pronoun error. Hence correct

E. Extensive international loans, in some cases exceeding the total equity of the lending bank, have exposed them

- "them" has ambiguity in terms of antecedent. Hence incorrect.


Hope it helps

The real struggle here is between option B and D.
Both sentence structure are absolutely fine.
In option B, there is no parallelism issue.
International loans that are
extensive in size-adjective
exceeding in some cases the total equity of the lending banks-adjective

What's the real issue with B ?
exceeding in some cases the total equity of the lending banks expose the lenders
It seems exceeding the total equity of lending banks expose the lenders.
But that's not the case.
Extensive international loans have exposed the lenders.
This option D is correct.
Hope it helps

Experts, is there any parallelism issue with B here? what is the reason to eliminate B?

International loans that are extensive and in some cases exceeding the total equity of the lending bank have exposed them to insolvency, since borrowers, hard pressed by changes in interest rates and oil prices, have found repayment impossible.

* Subject verb pair [ "International loans have exposed" ; "that are extensive"; " borrowers have found" ] - this seems okay but [ " in some cases exceeding" ]- not used appropriately. Thus Subject verb error is there
* Tense form [ Present & Past ] - conveys intended meaning
* If-then condition - Not used
* Subjunctive Verb - Not used
* Pronoun [ "them" has ambiguity in terms of antecedent; them refers to whom its not clear ,whether is refers to international loans or bank ] - Incorrect
* Modifier [ "that are extensive and in some cases exceeding the total equity of the lending bank" correctly modifies "International loans" ; "hard pressed by changes in interest rates and oil prices" correctly modifies "borrowers" ] - correct
* Parallelism [ that are extensive "and" in some cases exceeding ] - parallelism error
* Comparison - not used
* Idioms - not used

Now lets check each & every option for more further clarification.

A. International loans that are extensive and in some cases exceeding the total equity of the lending bank have exposed them


1. parallelism error
2. "them" has ambiguity in terms of antecedent

- Incorrect

B. International loans that are extensive in size and exceeding in some cases the total equity of the lending banks expose the lenders

- It removes the pronoun error while using "lenders" but still have parallel issues. Hence incorrect


C. International loans, extensive in size and in some cases exceeding the total equity of the lending bank, expose them

1. "extensive in size and in some cases exceeding" not parallel
2. "them" has ambiguity in terms of antecedent

- Incorrect

D. Extensive international loans, exceeding in some cases the total equity of the lending banks, have exposed the lenders

- Removes the parallelism & pronoun error. Hence correct

E. Extensive international loans, in some cases exceeding the total equity of the lending bank, have exposed them

- "them" has ambiguity in terms of antecedent. Hence incorrect.

[quote="Bunuel"]International loans that are extensive and in some cases exceeding the total equity of the lending bank have exposed them to insolvency, since borrowers, hard pressed by changes in interest rates and oil prices, have found repayment impossible.


A. International loans that are extensive and in some cases exceeding the total equity of the lending bank have exposed them

B. International loans that are extensive in size and exceeding in some cases the total equity of the lending banks expose the lenders

C. International loans, extensive in size and in some cases exceeding the total equity of the lending bank, expose them

D. Extensive international loans, exceeding in some cases the total equity of the lending banks, have exposed the lenders

E. Extensive international loans, in some cases exceeding the total equity of the lending bank, have exposed them

the bad things in choice B
why do we use progressive here. "exceeding" is progressive. if we want to say some action is happening at a period or point of time, we use progressive. where is period and point of time. we dont have.
"expose " in choice B is not fit with "have found". we are talking about a past action relevant to present. so, "have done" should be used. present simple is used to say about condition which exist indefinitely.

bad thing about choice D.
comma+exceeding show an adverbial modifying clause. there is no relation between exceeding and "have exposed", so "comma+exceeding " is not good.

so, I dont see the correct answer.

What does them refer to?

Dear Expert,

I don't see any parallelism issue with option B. only tense issue.
Can you please confirm why B is wrong?

Hi Experts, Here I am not clear in option D exceeding(ing modifier) modifying the pharse "Extensive international loans" . What we have learned that "Participle modifier" after clause should modify the entire clause in front of it (also apply on subject) . Please help

D. Extensive international loans, exceeding in some cases the total equity of the lending banks, have exposed the lenders

In option D, the -ing modifier after the comma is providing additional information about the Noun entity.The modifying entity is enclosed in comma ( shows it's a additional information) .
In cases,if it modifies the entire preceding clause to show the result and should modify the verb.

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CrackVerbalGMAT GMATNinja

I know it's a modifier and modifier is basically the additional information , But my concern over here this Participle modifier modifying Noun Phrase instead of a clause . I have doubt in option D

Here I am not clear in option D exceeding(ing modifier) modifying the pharse "Extensive international loans" . What we have learned that "Participle modifier" after clause should modify the entire clause in front of it (also apply on subject) . Please help

D. Extensive international loans, exceeding in some cases the total equity of the lending banks, have exposed the lenders

Hi,
Can u please explain that we have used present perfect tense over here?
Thanks

As described in this article (part 4), "-ing" words can absolutely function as nice, boring adjectives that modify nouns (or noun phrases):

"The company, expanding at an impressive pace, has opened its first overseas office." - "expanding" modifies "company," and that's perfectly acceptable.

Similarly, it's okay for "exceeding" to modify the subject "loans."

I hope that helps!

Great posts by AndrewN and dcummins! A few additional thoughts...

The parallelism in (B) is problematic:

• "International loans that are (1) extensive in size and (2) exceeding."
• Notice that "are exceeding" is a verb (present perfect tense).
• It's one thing if we have multiple present perfect verbs sharing the same helping verb (is or are). For example, "Tim is working, helping his kids with homework, making breakfast, and pouring himself a cocktail." - "is" has a single function: it is a helping verb shared by four -ing verbs.
• However, in choice (B), the "are" works differently with each item in the list. First, it acts as a standalone verb (not a helping verb), linking the modifier "extensive" back to the thing it modifies. Then, it acts as a helping verb to form the present perfect tense with "exceeding." So the parallelism isn't quite right.

Even if we accept the parallelism, the use of the present perfect ("are exceeding") with "in some cases" doesn't really make sense:

• The verb tense suggests that we have an ongoing present action.
• But the phrase "in some cases" suggests that the action only happens sometimes.
• Choice (D) avoids this problem by using an "-ing" modifier ("exceeding") instead of the present perfect tense ("are exceeding").

And then we have the meaning issue discussed in this post:

• In choice (D), we are talking about extensive international loans. SOME of those loans exceed the total equity of the lending banks. So the subject includes both loans that DO exceed the total equity and loans that DO not exceed the total equity.
• In choice (B), however, we are talking only about extensive international loans that sometimes exceed the total equity of the lending banks.
• So, which makes more sense? Are we talking only about those extensive loans whose value is sometimes higher than the total equity of the lending banks and sometimes lower? Or are we talking about extensive loans in general... some of which exceed the total equity of the lending banks?
• The latter interpretation is more logical.

Finally, as explained here, "in size" is unnecessary.

So I think we have plenty of votes in favor of (D) over (B)!