WoundedTiger wrote:
Hi Mike,
In the above we can clearly rule out A,B and C. In option D, If the sentence was
" and Electroweak in 1961 being the other, as " could we pick D then over E as " being" is continuous verb form of "to be" indicating that it is still true.
Normally I don't select ans choice with being but it does make sense here. Please correct me if I am wrong
In
OG, do we have Questions with this kind of structure.
Thanks
Dear
Wounded Tiger,
I'm happy to respond.
You're correct that while "
being" is usually not correct, it can appear in some correct answers. There are a couple problems with
(D) though.
Problem #1 is that we have the form
[noun][verb]"and"[noun][participle]That structure is wrong 100% of the time on the GMAT. Without the word "
and", it could be correct ----
Maxwell’s theory of Electromagnetism in 1865 was the first “unified field theory”, Electroweak in 1961 being the only other, ...
although even there, the word "
being" is not necessary. That would be an
absolute phrase: see:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/absolute-p ... -the-gmat/Once we stick the "
and" in, though, the structure becomes incorrect, a violation of parallelism. We can't put an independent clause in parallel with an absolute phrase.
Problem #2: consider this split:
(1)
Electromagnetism in 1865 was the first, Electroweak in 1961 being the only other, ... (2)
Electromagnetism in 1865 was the first, Electroweak in 1961 only being the other, ... The first correctly place the word "
only" to indicate what is limited is that there aren't any more of these theories --- besides the first, there was just one more. The second awkwardly misplaces the word "
only" --- by putting it in front of the participle "
being", it seems to imply that there should be another action, another participle, more exalted or more powerful than "
being." That's crazy --- that's not what the sentence is trying to say! The word "
only" is suppose to indicate that there are just two of this kind of theory, so it properly belongs before the word "
other."
Those are the two lethal problems with
(D). This is why
(E) is the best answer. Does this make sense?
Mike