Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous

Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries.

Here "Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago" should modify monasteries not mountain regions. - Modifier error

(A) Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries.
Modifier error as explained
(B) Chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with many hundreds of monasteries.
Modifier error as explained
(C) Hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, are dotting the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia.
Verb Tense - Awkwardly implies dotting as an ongoing activity
(D) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of which are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
Use of first passive is justified , but second is Not -> ..which ARE chiseled.. centuries ago. -> might have worked if it was - WERE chiseled.. centuries ago.
(E) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
E remains ! E is the answer !

However, Them may refer ambiguously - Monasteries OR Mountain regions. Any Experts !

Don't worry about pronoun ambiguity as long as the meaning is clear. It's only a problem when we *really* can't tell, as in this example:

When Kelly and Leena were crossing the street, a loud motorcycle startled her.

I should add that there is no problem with the use of passive voice in any of the answer choices.

Hi,

I have one doubt. Is the use "may of WHICH" is correct in option D, assuming it does not have "are" in it?

Thanx.

Yes, "many of which" would correctly refer to "monasteries."

what level question is this? i found this when i clicked on the 500level SC questions, but when i google this questions i get another post from gmatclub saying this is a 700level question.

Levels are not that scrutinized most of the times and are added by the poster of the question based on what he or she thinks.

Here are my thoughts about the question though

The main difference between the sentences does not lie in the words you marked in bold, but in their locations.

In the 1st sentence, "Many of them ... ago," modifies the mountainous regions, meaning that the mountains were chiseled from solid rock. Since mountains occur naturally and are not usually chiseled from rock (unless chiseled is used figuratively), this modifier seems misplaced. Notice that a modifiers such as this always modifies what follows the comma.

In the 2nd sentence, ",many of which ... ago." is a relative clause that modifies the monasteries, indicating that the monasteries were the ones chiseled from solid rock. This modifier is correctly placed. A relative clause modifies only what comes immediately before it.

"Many of" is a quantifier (indicating quantity), applied to to the modifier (many of them) or the relative clause (many of which).

I think It is a modifier issue. look at Many of them , modifies the monasteries directly. you can review Manhattan . SC book chapter 'Advanced modifiers'. please note that Many of them without helping verb be which is right.
thanks

isnt "which" use to modify only singular pronoun. for that them is appropriate here. right???

The pronoun "which" can be used to refer to plural antecedent. Please refer to the following excerpt from the topic subgroup modifier of Manahattan SC guide:

Right: This model explains all known subatomic particles, SOME OF WHICH WERE only recently discovered.
Right: This model explains all known subatomic particles, SOME OF THEM only recently discovered.

Compare the above with the following answer choices:

(D) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, MANY OF WHICH ARE chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
(E) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, MANY OF THEM chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

Thus both D and E are apparently correct.

Nonetheless the verb "ARE" is wrong in option D.......should be "WERE". Hence we can eliminate option D (although the modifier construction is right).

The source of this topic seems to be the condemned 1000 series. Notwithstanding that, let's see whether we can have any take away from that, especially because MGMAT is has been cited in the discussions on the principles of modification
Following is an excerpt from the Manhattan guide:

1. Right: This model explains all known subatomic particles, SOME OF WHICH WERE only recently discovered.--

The question is whether the second part of this sentence is an IC or just a modifier clause. IMO, \it is an IC since we have a solid subject in 'many of which' and a solid verb in 'were'. The result is that this is rather a comma splice. In addition, the verb 'were' seems to be out of place here, since the first part is in the present tense and a present perfect such as 'have been' would have been better. However, tense may or may not a critical issue here. .

2. Right: This model explains all known subatomic particles, SOME OF THEM only recently discovered.

This seems to be correct since, the second part is a verbless phrase, simply modifying the touching noun 'particles'.

To extrapolate this to the issue at hand,


(D) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, MANY OF WHICH ARE chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
(E) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, MANY OF THEM chiseled from solid rock centuries ago

In this also, the choice D is wrong more because D is a comma splice. Of course, whether they are chiseled or were chiseled may not the prima-facie fact.

A and B: “chiseled from solid rock” in correctly modifies “the mountainous region” instead of “monasteries”.
C: “are dotting” suggests the process of “dotting” is continuing and more and more monasteries are adding to the existing number.
D: “are chiseled from …centuries ago” is incorrect. “were chiseled” must be used instead of “are chiseled” for past tense.
E: Best choice. “many of them chiseled…” correctly modifies “monasteries. Hence, E is the answer.

Official Explanation

Logical predication; Verb form

This sentence should indicate that hundreds of monasteries were chiseled from solid rock. As written, however, the phrase at the beginning of the sentence modifies the noun that immediately follows the comma: therefore, as worded, the sentence states that the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia were what was chiseled from solid rock.

A. This choice is incorrect for the reasons described above.

B. This choice, like A, has an incorrect placement of its modifying phrase. As a result, it too says that the mountainous regions are what were chiseled from solid rock. The regions themselves were not chiseled; it was the monasteries.

C. The present continuous are dotting suggests that the dotting is something that is actively occurring at this moment. It would be more idiomatically appropriate to use the present tense dot.

D. The chiseling took place centuries ago. This requires the past were chiseled rather than the present tense are chiseled.

E. Correct. This version of the sentence clearly states the intended meaning: many of the monasteries that dot the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia were chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

The correct answer is E.

Hi,

Can we also eliminate between options C, D & E basis that and which?

DmitryFarber GMATNinja EducationAisle VeritasKarishma

According to MGMAT:
Right: ", some of which <verb>"
Wrong: ", some of which <past participle>"

Right: ", some of them <past participle>"
Wrong: ", some of them <verb>"

Could someone please explain why there's a discrepancy between "some of which" and "some of them"? MGMAT SC just lists those examples as wrong or right but doesn't really explain the reason behind it. I would really appreciate if someone could throw some light on it.

Personally, I agree with daagh. I feel that ", some of which <verb>" should be wrong since it doesn't appear to be an absolute phrase (i.e. Noun + Noun Modifier).

There is no problem with "some of which <verb>" or "many of which <verb>" etc.
"some of" and "many of" are just quantifiers used with the relative pronoun "which" in the relative clause. The problem with (D) is the use of "are" for something that was done centuries ago. You need to use "were".

On the other hand, "many of them chiselled ..." is an absolute phrase using the past participle "chiselled". If you use a verb here, you will get an independent clause connected with just a comma (a comma splice).

Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one thing at a time, and narrow down our options quickly so we know how to answer questions like this when they pop up on the GMAT! To begin, let's take a quick look at the question and highlight any major differences between the options in orange:

Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries.

(A) Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries.
(B) Chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with many hundreds of monasteries.
(C) Hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, are dotting the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia.
(D) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of which are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
(E) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

After a quick glance over the options, there are a few things we can focus on:

1. Modifier Placement/Agreement
2. Verb Tense & Meaning: are dotted / are dotting ; chiseled / are chiseled
3. hundreds / many hundreds

Whenever you see an entire sentence underlined, it's a good sign that modifiers are one of the major problems! Let's make sure the modifier is placed next to its antecedent. To start, we need to ask ourselves the following question:

WHAT was chiseled out of solid rock centuries ago? --> Monasteries

Let's see how our options stack up:

(A) Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries.
(B) Chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with many hundreds of monasteries.
(C) Hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, are dotting the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia.
(D) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of which are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
(E) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

We can eliminate options A & B because the modifier is modifying "the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia" rather than the monasteries.

Now that we have it down to 3 options, let's tackle #2 on our list, which focuses mainly on verb tense/usage:

(C) Hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, are dotting the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia.
This is INCORRECT because "are dotting" means that monasteries are still being built today, which isn't true.

(D) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of which are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
This is also INCORRECT because the present tense "are chiseled" doesn't work when talking about something that happened centuries ago!

(E) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.
This is CORRECT because it's okay to say that Ethiopia is still dotted with monasteries, and it also clearly shows that they were "chiseled" in the past.


There you have it - option E is the correct choice! By focusing on common problems you find on the GMAT when the entire sentence is underlined, we were able to eliminate problematic options quickly and get to the correct one even quicker!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.

Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries.

+1 E

(A) Many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries.

Modifier error chiseled must modify monasteries not the mountainous regions

(B) Chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with many hundreds of monasteries.

Same error as in B

(C) Hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago, are dotting the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia.

"are dotting the mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia"----------------Tense error.

(D) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of which are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago.

"are chiseled from solid rock centuries ago."-----------------------Tense error.

(E) The mountainous regions of northern Ethiopia are dotted with hundreds of monasteries, many of them chiseled from solid rock centuries ago

Looks good and by PoE best option of the lot.