Motive of the crime decides whether the guilty, after the legal

Raj30 The article "the" doesn't really make much of a difference here...in my opinion - at least in comparison to what the sentence seems to be testing.

Thought I'd chime in here since I didn't find the Experts Global explanation satisfying (even though it is the creator of the question). Plus, this question has been in my error log for weeks....so clearly something wasn't clicking.

Quote:

Motive of the crime decides whether the guilty, after the legal proceedings end, is awarded maximum sentence, less than maximum sentence, or minimum sentence

A.Motive of the crime decides whether the guilty, after the legal proceedings end, is awarded maximum sentence, less than maximum sentence, or minimum sentence.

There's really nothing glaringly wrong at first glance. Let's hold it and look onwards for more certainty.

Quote:

B. After the legal proceedings end, depending on the motive of the crime, the guilty is awarded maximum sentence, less than maximum sentence, or minimum sentence.

"Depending on the motive of the crime" is set off by commas and is therefore used in the answer choice sentence as an inessential clause. From the original sentence, however, we know that the guilty individual's sentence is dependent on the crime....meaning that the "motive of the crime" clause is essential to the intended meaning of the sentence. Another reason for elimination is that "the guilty" cannot be the doer of the "depending on the motive of the crime". Verb-ing modifiers must make sense with the doer of the action.

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C. The guilty is awarded maximum sentence, less than maximum sentence, or minimum sentence after the legal proceedings end, depending on motive of the crime.

Reason for elimination is that "the guilty" cannot be the doer of the "depending on the motive of the crime". Verb-ing modifiers must make sense with the doer of the action. The proper sentence would require "depending on the motive" to be adjacent to a noun or the "sentence" being awarded...and without the preceding comma. Verb-ing modifiers NOT preceded by commas modifies the preceding noun only. A proper usage would be: The guilty is awarded maximum sentence depending on the motive of the crime.

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D. The guilty is awarded, depending on motive of the crime, maximum sentence, less than maximum sentence, or minimum sentence after the legal proceedings end.

Comma verb-ing modifiers modify the whole entire preceding clause and either provide additional information or a result. In this case, the "depending....crime" clause is incorrectly set off as inessential.

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E. Depending on motive of the crime, the guilty is awarded maximum sentence, less than maximum sentence, or minimum sentence after the legal proceedings end.

This is probably the easiest split to eliminate. "The guilty" cannot be modified by "depending on the motive of the crime." It doesn't make sense.

Therefore, A remains the best answer choice.

I think its a...whether used correctly in A...

Sent from my BND-AL10 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

D and E out becuase the guilty is not depending!
narrowed down to A and C but i think A should be the answer becuase choice is berween 3 so whether required

Hello pushpitkc bro,

Can you please provide official explanation for this question?

Regards

I eliminated options C, D and E just because they didn't have a 'the' before motive..Is it right?

Need some help in explanation for E
" Depending on motive of the crime, the guilty is awarded maximum sentence, less than maximum sentence, or minimum sentence after the legal proceedings end"
Isnt E in the passive voice and presence " the guilty " at the completion of modifier makes it correct.

C and D changes the meaning of the sentence

B is wrong because an important sentence(depending on the motive of crime) is placed between comas making it unimportant/sentence used to add additional information

E is wrong because the cause(After legal proceed) and effect(The guilty is awarded) are distanced too much making it an ineffective way to express.

Hence A is the best answer choice

E is incorrect because :
"Depending on motive of the crime, the guilty..." conveys a wrong meaning. It implies that the guilty depends on the motive of the crime, a construction that conveys wrong meaning.

How can motive decide something. It seems this question have no correct answer. Any expert comment on this.

Posted from my mobile device

Let's split the three phrases separated by comma -
1. Motive of the crime decides whether the guilty
2. after the legal proceedings end
3. is awarded maximum sentence, less than maximum sentence, or minimum sentence

All these three phrases provide the main information and hence neither of these phrases should be used as "extra information". This means that we need to be mindful of the positioning of the commas and the sequence in which these three phrases occur. Also, one more important concept tested here is that the central phrase could modify the preceding or the succeeding phrase
The best approach to solving these types of questions is to exclude the part that is between the two commas that separate the middle phrase and see if it makes sense.

A.Motive of the crime decides whether the guilty, after the legal proceedings end, is awarded maximum sentence, less than maximum sentence, or minimum sentence.
Excluding the central phrase - Motive of the crime decides whether the guilty, after the legal proceedings end, is awarded maximum sentence, less than maximum sentence, or minimum sentence.- Makes sense

B. After the legal proceedings end, depending on the motive of the crime, the guilty is awarded maximum sentence, less than maximum sentence, or minimum sentence.
After the legal proceedings end, depending on the motive of the crime, the guilty is awarded maximum sentence, less than maximum sentence, or minimum sentence.
Trap answer choice. The phrase "depending on the motive of the crime" modifies "the guilty", which is illogical because the guilty is not dependent on the motive of the crime. It is the severity of the punishment that is dependent on the motive of the crime
Note: This is a generic mistake that we see, but ignore to notice in difficult GMAT questions where the central phrase modifies the phrases that precede and succeed it

C. The guilty is awarded maximum sentence, less than maximum sentence, or minimum sentence after the legal proceedings end, depending on motive of the crime.
Here, the use of comma indicates a list that contains -
maximum sentence
less than maximum sentence
minimum sentence after the legal proceedings end
depending on the motive of the crime

This completely destroys the meaning of the sentence

D. The guilty is awarded, depending on motive of the crime, maximum sentence, less than maximum sentence, or minimum sentence after the legal proceedings end.
Here, exclude the central part
The guilty is awarded, depending on motive of the crime, maximum sentence, less than maximum sentence, or minimum sentence after the legal proceedings end.
The use of comma makes the "depending on motive of the crime" a non-essential part.

E. Depending on motive of the crime, the guilty is awarded maximum sentence, less than maximum sentence, or minimum sentence after the legal proceedings end.
Here, too, "Depending on the motive of the crime" is modifying "the guilty", which is not the intended meaning

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