IMO

The first thing to remember here is that this is a test of list //ism. That said, we must decide how many lists are there and what their corresponding arms are?

Is it one list that contains five arms?

Or

Are there two lists, one containing one arm and the other containing four arms?

Further elaborated, the two issues are whether

A. Mini vans is the plural subject followed by one simple long list comprising 1)carry four passengers 2. Compared to SUVS cost less 3) gets better gas mileage and 4) allow passengers to get in and get out easily and 5 have a smoother ride

Or

B. Mini vans is the plural subject followed by list 1. Carry seven passengers and list no 2, compared to SUVS (1 cost less, 2 get better gas mileage 3 allow passengers to get in and get out easily and 4. have a smoother ride)

If we say it is one long, long list with five arms, then the structure will be subject + arm1, arm2, arm3, arm4 and arm 5. It may be noted none of the choices has this structure.

If it is a question of two lists, then the structure will be subject + list 1 and list 2 containing arm 1, arm 2, arm 3 and arm 4.

This is the typical structure in choice A. That is why it is the right answer.

Finally in D, the act of the participial phase “carrying as many as seven passengers, compared with most SUVs,” totally distorts the meaning of the original text by shifting the comparison to carrying capacity, rather than to other factors such as cost, mileage, ease and smoother ride between the two types of automobiles involved.
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Consider options: B, C, and E.
Each of these sentences have "they" in it.
Option B:
A pronoun preceeded with a ',' always refers to the subject before the ','.
Therefore 'they' in "sports utility vechicles, they" refers to 'vechicles'.
But as per our original statement the author meant minivans to be cheaper.

So, eliminate option B.

Option C:
As already discussed for option B, a pronoun preceeded with a ',' always refers to the subject before the ',' .
Therefore 'they' in "have a lower cost, they" refers to 'lower cost' which according to autho should refer to minivans.

So, eliminate option C.

Option E:
Are you sure that 'they' in this statement is referring to 'minivans'? No, it may be referring to 'sports utility vechicles'.
There is an ambiguity as to whom 'they' is referring to.

Note that, in GMAT the option we choose shouldn't end up in ambiguity.

So, eliminate option E.

Now, we are left out only with options: A and D.

Consider option D :
Minivans, carrying as many as seven passengers,................, cost less.
What if these minivans carry just 6 passengers ? Are they going to cost more ??? Ruled out since it has changed the meaning.

We are left with just one option. Whether you agree or don't agree the left out option will be the answer.
And, the correct answer is option: A.

oops i took the Question otherways
anyways why cant be the comparison be of general minivans?

here there are two cases :
(1) general minivans
(2)minivas loaded with 7 and more people
Again in the question stem we are comparing minivans with other utility vehicles hence it makes sense if we compare minivans in general ,their capacity and cost efficiency etc. with other vehicles

I would like to know how we will decide among above two ,that is actual intent in the statement

The problem with A) is "and" so sentence becomes X has A and B, C and D which is wrong

D clearly suggests that minivans which has same capacity as most SUVs cost less, B and C .... which is right.

Is the and, creating a punctuation error? I've never seen it like this before.

A. Minivans carry as many as seven passengers and, compared with most sport utility vehicles, cost less,

No its no error.
As someone stated above, difference b/w A and D is:

A) compares a Minivan with 7 passengers on board.
D) compares a Minivan, which can seat as many as 7 passengers.

in D, the 7 passengers is just another characteristic, not part of the comparison.

I selected A for obvious reasons and got it wrong.

D. Minivans, carrying as many as seven [passengers, {compared with most sport utility vehicles}], cost less,

Here, if you look in the brackets, the inner phrase{} improperly qualify passengers. Isn't it?

Agreed it could be a prepositional phrase or an appositive, but even then it should be touching to the object it is referring to, either from the front or back ends of the phrase.
Manhatan SC Guide

B,c, E - has misplaced pronouns 'they'

Between A and D,

idiom compared should be X compared with Y, So "Minivans carry as many as seven passengers" cannot be compared with sport vehicles.

So D

Also A could be correct by introducing " relative pronoun" which by

Minivans which carry as many as seven passengers when compared with most sport utility vehicles, cost less, get better gas mileage, allow passengers to get in and out more easily, and have a smoother ride.

I agree with D that it could be OA but has also flaws. I am between A and D but unsure whay D is OA.

A. Minivans carry as many as seven passengers and, compared with most sport utility vehicles, cost less, get better gas mileage, allow passengers to get in and out more easily, and have a smoother ride.

The problem with A is that it has two "and". "compared with most sport utility vehicles" modifies minivans not the whole clause "Minivans carry as many as seven passengers and" preceding it because there is "and" to make the seperation.

Subject (Minivans) + verb (carry) + (as many as seven passengers) and, modifying phrase (compared with most sport utility vehicles), verb (cost) less, verb (get) better gas mileage, verb (allow) passengers to get in and out more easily, and verb (have) a smoother ride.




D. Minivans, carrying as many as seven passengers, compared with most sport utility vehicles, cost less,get better gas mileage, allow passengers to get in and out more easily, and have a smoother ride.

D has two modifiers one after the other.

subject (Minivans), modifying phrase (carrying as many as seven passengers), modifying phrase (compared with most sport utility vehicles), verb (cost) less, verb (get) better gas mileage, verb (allow) passengers to get in and out more easily, and verb (have) a smoother ride.


Minivans carry as many as seven passengers and, compared with most sport utility vehicles, cost less, get better gas mileage, allow passengers to get in and out more easily, and have a smoother ride.

A. Minivans carry as many as seven passengers and, compared with most sport utility vehicles, cost less,
B. Minivans, which carry as many as seven passengers, compared with most sport utility vehicles, they cost less,
C. Minivans carry as many as seven passengers, in comparison with most sport utility vehicles, and have a lower cost, they
D. Minivans, carrying as many as seven passengers, compared with most sport utility vehicles, cost less,
E. Minivans, which carry as many as seven passengers, compared with most sport utility vehicles the cost is lower, and they[/quote]

Seems the question is havily disputed!
What is the source? Does anybody has OE whatsoever?

Minivans carry as many as seven passengers and, compared with most sport utility vehicles, cost less, get better gas mileage, allow passengers to get in and out more easily, and have a smoother ride.

A. Minivans carry as many as seven passengers and, compared with most sport utility vehicles, cost less, --> the correct way of using and is "...., and...."
B. Minivans, which carry as many as seven passengers, compared with most sport utility vehicles, they cost less, --> 'they' can refer to 'sport utility vehicles' or 'Minivans'
C. Minivans carry as many as seven passengers, in comparison with most sport utility vehicles, and have a lower cost, they --> awkward
D. Minivans, carrying as many as seven passengers, compared with most sport utility vehicles, cost less, --> 'carrying as many as seven passengers' is correctly modifying Minivans and 'cost less' is parallel with 'get better gas mileage, allow passengers to get in and out more easily, and have a smoother ride'E. Minivans, which carry as many as seven passengers, compared with most sport utility vehicles the cost is lower, and they --> awkawrd

Thanks for the link.

I did answer A and then tried to figure out why D was right.

D sounded as if all the other qualities are true only when minivan is carrying seven passengers.

I thought that 'and' after seven passengers was awkward in A, but an instructor in MGMAT forum explains why it is ok.

OA is A according to manahattan GMAT forum, so you should check the OA once again studen26.

A.

D -> If you remove adjectival phrase that starts with carrying, the sentence becomes

Minivans compared with most sport utility vehicles, cost less,..

Here comma starts even before the list.. wrong choice?

A -> If you remove phrase that starts with compared, the sentence becomes

Minivans carry as many as seven passengers and cost less,...

Here if you think of phrase 'compared with most sport utility vehicles' as an adverbial phrase modifying the sentence then 'and' before the phrase makes sense.

For those of you who picked A you are the winners (also picked A and was upset when saw that people were claiming that OA is D )

nicely explained by Ron Purewal (im big fan of him )

http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/min ... t6094.html

Actually, D is wrong, because the phrase "carrying as many as seven passengers" becomes a squinting modifier and it's not clear whether it should refer to "minivans" or "compared with most sport utility vehicles." Be careful with those flexible phrases...

B, if you delete those nasty long modifying phrases, doubles the subject ("Minivans they cost less...").

C splits to independent clauses with nothing but a comma (right before "they").

E has an odd juxtaposition. If you mentally delete the modifier about the carrying capacity, the first clause becomes "Minivans, compared with most sport utility vehicles the cost is lower." Hard to justify grammatically!

A is 100% Correct

Minivans, carrying as many as seven passengers - cost less

This statement means that when minivans are carrying as many as seven people hold the following attributes and implies that they might not when not carrying these people

Statement A says Minivans carry as many as seven passengers and compared with - . This is simply a statement of fact

Minivans carry as many as seven passengers and, compared with most sport utility vehicles, cost less, get better gas mileage, allow passengers to get in and out more easily, and have a smoother ride.
A. Minivans carry as many as seven passengers and, compared with most sport utility vehicles, cost less,
B. Minivans, which carry as many as seven passengers, compared with most sport utility vehicles, they cost less,
C. Minivans carry as many as seven passengers, in comparison with most sport utility vehicles, and have a lower cost, they
D. Minivans, carrying as many as seven passengers, compared with most sport utility vehicles, cost less,
E. Minivans, which carry as many as seven passengers, compared with most sport utility vehicles the cost is lower, and they

I will give it a try....Option B,C and E are ruled out
I Chose D while solving it under timed condition but I think A is the Answer.
So now Lets look at Sentence Structure of A

Clearly Subject is : Minivans
Verb: Consider Sentence Structure
" Compared with most sport utility vehicles,Minivans carry as many as seven passengers and cost less, get better gas mileage, allow passengers to get in and out more easily, and have a smoother ride.
In this structure verbs are Carry and List of others verbs having structure V2,V3,v4 and v5

Here Compared with most sport utilitiy vehicles is a Verb-ed modifier and it is the placement of this modifier which creates a confusion.

Now let's look at Sentence Structure D
"Minivans, carrying as many as seven passengers, compared with most sport utility vehicles, cost less,

Carry is converted to Carrying (Verb-ing modifier). Verbing modifier after comma does one of the 2 things
1. present result of the preceding clause or
2. Present additional information about the clause.

In this sentence structure, we only have a Subject which is Minivans and not a complete clause and hence the placement of this modifier does not look appropriate.
Moreover this construction also changes the meaning of the sentence.
Note that Noun modifier should be close to the noun entity being modified. In this Sentence Structure, we have Noun, Modifier 1(verb-ing), Modifier 2(Verb-ed).
Modifier 2 could have been better placed

Clearly A looks better

Comments welcome!!
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Great analysis I would like to add if we change the structure a bit the sentence makes more sense and then you can see the comparison properly...

Original

Minivans carry as many as seven passengers and, compared with most sport utility vehicles, cost less, get better gas mileage, allow passengers to get in and out more easily, and have a smoother ride.

Modified

compared with most sport utility vehicles,Minivans carry as many as seven passengers and,cost less, get better gas mileage, allow passengers to get in and out more easily, and have a smoother ride.

Good question definitely on the higher side in terms of difficulty..

The reason we are tested on sentence correction is to ensure that we are able to express ourselves clearly (in terms of meaning and grammar). This said, I have noticed that some of the hardest questions test us primarily on meaning. Anyways, let's analyze the sentence.


Minivans carry as many as seven passengers and, compared with most sport utility vehicles, cost less, get better gas mileage, allow passengers to get in and out more easily, and have a smoother ride.

A. Minivans carry as many as seven passengers and, compared with most sport utility vehicles, cost less,
This is the correct answer
D. Minivans, carrying as many as seven passengers, compared with most sport utility vehicles, cost less,
In general when an -ing modifier is preceded by a comma it either presents the result or describes the preceding clause. In this case we have a noun preceding the comma, thus the use of -ing results un-necessary.

I ruled out D for this reason.
Hope it helps.
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Why elements in A are not considered forming a run on sentence.

Minivans carry as many as seven passengers and, compared with most sport utility vehicles, cost less, get better gas mileage, allow passengers to get in and out more easily, and have a smoother ride.

whereas in other question a-recent-poll-indicates-that-many-people-in-the-united-18679.html
following option is considered run on.
C) they denounce big government, say that government is doing too much and it has become too powerful, while they support at the same time