Mathematicians joke that a coffee mug is indistinguishable

Question

Mathematicians  joke that a coffee mug is indistinguishable from a bagel, referring to the fact that these two items are topologically equivalent.

a. joke that a coffee mug is indistinguishable from a bagel, referring to the fact that these two items are topologically equivalent
 b. referring to their topological equivalence, joke that a coffee mug is indistinguishable from a bagel.
 c. have a joke according to which a coffee mug is indistinguishable for its topological equivalence to a bagel.
 d. who are referring to their topological equivalence joke that a coffee mug is indistinguishable from a bagel.
 e. joke that a coffee mug is indistinguishable from a bagel, which refers to the fact that these two items are topologically equivalent

nishantd88 · Answer

Mathematicians  joke that a coffee mug is indistinguishable from a bagel, referring to the fact that these two items are topologically equivalent.

There's nothing wrong with the original sentence. We can also eliminate the other options as follows.

a. joke that a coffee mug is indistinguishable from a bagel, referring to the fact that these two items are topologically equivalent  Correct Option 
 b. referring to their topological equivalence, joke that a coffee mug is indistinguishable from a bagel.  The reference of the pronoun their is not clear. 'Their' can refer to mathematicians or to coffee mug and bagel  
 c. have a joke according to which a coffee mug is indistinguishable for its topological equivalence to a bagel.  Indistinguishable should always be followed by 'from'. Hence, usage of indistinguishable is incorrect.  
 d. who are referring to their topological equivalence joke that a coffee mug is indistinguishable from a bagel.  The pronoun their refers to mathematicians and not to coffee mug and bagel  
 e. joke that a coffee mug is indistinguishable from a bagel, which refers to the fact that these two items are topologically equivalent  Usage of which is incorrect as here, which is referring to 'bagel'

jafy · Answer

hi expert 
can some one plz explain how option A is correct .
which is the verb for main subject .
i reject A on the subject verb missing base .

Bismarck · Answer

jafy joke is verb for main subject i.e Mathematicians. joke.PNG

Nikhil · Answer

jafy

The three clauses in the sentence are

Mathematicians joke that ("Mathematicians" is the subject and "joke" is the verb)
a coffee mug is indistinguishable from a bagel, referring to the fact that ("coffee mug" is the subject and "is" is the verb)
these two items are topologically equivalent ("items" is the subject and "are" is the verb)

There is no subject verb missing error. Each clause has its own subject verb pair.

NandishSS · Answer

Official Solution   :

Choice (A) clearly expresses the meaning the meaning of the sentence, and “referring” successfully modifies the subject “Mathematicians” with a participial modifier. (Remember, this is the only modifier that can be separated from what it modifies.) (B) and (D) employ “their” ambiguously (it could refer to “mathematicians”). (C) is wordy and contains a diction error (“indistinguishable for”). (E) uses the relative pronoun “which” incorrectly: as placed, it can only modify “bagel,” but the bagel itself certainly doesn’t “refer to the fact that....”

kamalTheFriend · Answer

Is mathematician a noun or an adjective in the first part of the sentence? If it is a noun, then why referring is not close to mathematicians? If adjective, then is it possible to have an adjective as a subject in the sentence?

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acegmat20 · Answer

Mathematicians here is a noun and also the subject of the sentence. Referring modifies the subject of the sentence as it is a verb-ing word which can modify the subject of the sentence even when it is not placed right next to it.

Mathematicians joke that a coffee mug is indistinguishable

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Mathematicians joke that a coffee mug is indistinguishable

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