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655-705 Level|   Comparisons|   Modifiers|   Parallelism|   Pronouns|                  
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Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so 30 Apr 2020, 07:59
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lakshya14
In (E), isn't it "those of" referring to "vocal tracts", and if we replace it in the original sentence, it compares correctly?
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Agree. However, E seems to suggest that the vocal tracts were probably without language, while the intended meaning is that Neanderthals were probably without language (in any case, vocal tracts cannot have a language).
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Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so 30 Apr 2020, 16:02
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Yes, and if we look further, we also see that "they" were supplanted by our species. If we make vocal tracts the subject, then the default interpretation is that "they" means vocal tracts. We want "they" to refer to Neanderthals, so it's best to make them the subject of the sentence rather than part of a modifier.

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lakshya14
In (E), isn't it "those of" referring to "vocal tracts", and if we replace it in the original sentence, it compares correctly?
Agree. However, E seems to suggest that the vocal tracts were probably without language, while the intended meaning is that Neanderthals were probably without language (in any case, vocal tracts cannot have a language).
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Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so 16 Jul 2020, 07:16
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Hello experts, would I be wrong if I said sentence A is incorrect because its comparing a singular vocal tract (of the neanderthal) to multiple Vocal Tracts (Those of the apes).
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Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so 16 Jul 2020, 08:42
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vmadan10
Hello experts, would I be wrong if I said sentence A is incorrect because its comparing a singular vocal tract (of the neanderthal) to multiple Vocal Tracts (Those of the apes).
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Hi vmadan10, there is no rule that a single entity cannot be compared with plural entity. For example, following would be correct:

Peter's house is larger than the houses of his brothers.

Option A is incorrect because those can only refer to plural nouns, while vocal tract is singular.
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Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so 03 Nov 2020, 02:13
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GMATNinja
Also answered on our Ask Me Anything About SC thread, but reposting here in case it helps somebody:

09173140521
Hi Mr.Charles
I would be happy if you answer this question.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/neanderthals ... l#p2335090



Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so were probably without language, a shortcoming that may explain why they were supplanted by our own species.
correct =(B) Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape’s



please explain how "resembling" can modify a thing in the past ??????? I SAW "-ing" modifier only in present tense be correct and many question wrong because of using -ing modifier in past .......BUT in this case it use for past tense !

in other word = "a vocal tract that resemble an ape's" or "a vocal tract that resembled an ape's" which is correct.? :please
tnx in advance.
I think I see the confusion. The key here is that "-ing" words such as "resembling" are usually not verbs at all. (They can be verbs, of course, but that's not the case here.) In this context, "resembling" is an adjective, just modifying "a vocal tract." And adjectives NEVER have a tense, so you really don't have to worry about the timeline at all. It's fine to say "a vocal tract resembling an ape's" -- and it would also be fine to say "a vocal tract that resembled an ape's."

This article on the various uses of "-ing" words might help with this issue. And here's another example of the word "resembling" in a really tough GMATPrep question.

I hope this helps!
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GMATNinja
Thanks for the explanation.
Are you suggesting to use past tense in the highlighted part? What if we use present tense ("a vocal tract that resembles an ape's.")

One more thing:
Sometimes, the use of HAD (past tense) in choice B confused me! The definition of past tense is --there was something in the past but not in the present. If this is the case, how an 'disappeared' thing (vocal tract) resembled 'other things'?

PS-'Neanderthals had a vocal tract' means that 'once upon a time Neanderthals had a vocal tract , but there is no 'vocal tract' of Neanderthals right now, or it could be 'there is no existence of Neanderthals itself'
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Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so 10 Nov 2020, 10:47
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Quote:
Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so were probably without language, a shortcoming that may explain why they were supplanted by our own species.


(A) Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes

(B) Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape’s

(C) The vocal tracts of Neanderthals resembled an ape’s

(D) The Neanderthal’s vocal tracts resembled the apes’

(E) The vocal tracts of the Neanderthals resembled those of the apes
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GMATNinja Can you please explain this one.

Have read a lot of comments but still confused.
How is the subject of second part 'and so' - Neanderthals? Didn't understand this. Why is E wrong?
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Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so 21 Dec 2020, 12:35
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TheUltimateWinner
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Also answered on our Ask Me Anything About SC thread, but reposting here in case it helps somebody:

09173140521
Hi Mr.Charles
I would be happy if you answer this question.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/neanderthals ... l#p2335090



Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so were probably without language, a shortcoming that may explain why they were supplanted by our own species.
correct =(B) Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape’s



please explain how "resembling" can modify a thing in the past ??????? I SAW "-ing" modifier only in present tense be correct and many question wrong because of using -ing modifier in past .......BUT in this case it use for past tense !

in other word = "a vocal tract that resemble an ape's" or "a vocal tract that resembled an ape's" which is correct.? :please
tnx in advance.
I think I see the confusion. The key here is that "-ing" words such as "resembling" are usually not verbs at all. (They can be verbs, of course, but that's not the case here.) In this context, "resembling" is an adjective, just modifying "a vocal tract." And adjectives NEVER have a tense, so you really don't have to worry about the timeline at all. It's fine to say "a vocal tract resembling an ape's" -- and it would also be fine to say "a vocal tract that resembled an ape's."

This article on the various uses of "-ing" words might help with this issue. And here's another example of the word "resembling" in a really tough GMATPrep question.

I hope this helps!
GMATNinja
Thanks for the explanation.
Are you suggesting to use past tense in the highlighted part? What if we use present tense ("a vocal tract that resembles an ape's.")

One more thing:
Sometimes, the use of HAD (past tense) in choice B confused me! The definition of past tense is --there was something in the past but not in the present. If this is the case, how an 'disappeared' thing (vocal tract) resembled 'other things'?

PS-'Neanderthals had a vocal tract' means that 'once upon a time Neanderthals had a vocal tract , but there is no 'vocal tract' of Neanderthals right now, or it could be 'there is no existence of Neanderthals itself'
Show more
I wouldn't overthink this. When you see a past tense action, it could mean a number of things. For example, "Tim was a doctor," could mean that Tim used to be a doctor, but has retired. It could mean that Tim used to practice medicine but has since died. Or that he worked as doctor for a day, but as soon as he discovered his distaste for the human body, he switched careers. So long as it makes sense that his time as a physician was in the past, the usage is perfectly logical.

Same deal here. Neanderthals are no longer around. When they were around -- in the past -- they had a vocal tract. Seems okay.

More importantly, in the non-underlined portion we have the verb phrase, "were probably without language," and we need a subject that makes sense here. The only available noun that works as a subject is "Neanderthals." ("Vocal tracts" can produce sound, but they can't have a language of their own.) Right off the bat, that leaves us with only (A) and (B) as options. Both of these contain the phrase "had a vocal tract," so even if you had doubts about this phrase, you're suck with it.

There's no need to burn brain cells working out the logic of a construction that we can't avoid. It's going to end up in the right answer, so clearly, it must be okay.

I hope that clears things up!
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Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so 01 Jan 2021, 21:46
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Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so were probably without language, a shortcoming that may explain why they were supplanted by our own species. (700)

(A) Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes

Illogical, the sentence conveys the idea that a single vocal tract belonged to the apes

(B) Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape’s Correct

(C) The vocal tracts of Neanderthals resembled an ape’s

(D) The Neanderthal’s vocal tracts resembled the apes’

(E) The vocal tracts of the Neanderthals resembled those of the apes

This is a great meaning based question. Choices C through E all make the mistake of suggesting that the vocal tract of Neanderthals were probably without language. That makes no sense. It's the Neanderthals that were probably without language.

I do have reservations about the past perfect tense though. Why suggest that Neanderthals at one point had in their possession, but no longer have, a vocal tract resembling an ape's. Isn't this a characteristic of Neanderthals?

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Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so 15 Jan 2021, 04:13
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reply2spg
Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so were probably without language, a shortcoming that may explain why they were supplanted by our own species.
(A) Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes
(B) Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape’s
(C) The vocal tracts of Neanderthals resembled an ape’s
(D) The Neanderthal’s vocal tracts resembled the apes’
(E) The vocal tracts of the Neanderthals resembled those of the apes

Answer = B

Two Independent clauses connected by co-ordinating conjunction ('AND' in this case) should have a parallel structure.

Clause 1 :- Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of apes ------> Subject - InTransitive Verb - Predicate
Clause 2 :- so were probably without language --------> Subject - InTransitive Verb - Predicate

The logical antecedent of 'So', which is the Subject of second clause, is 'Neanderthals'. Hence 'Neanderthals' should be a subject of the First clause.

Only Choice A and B have their subject as 'The Neanderthal'. So C, D, E are out.

In Choice A has the Pronoun Agreement Error. 'Those of Apes'(plural) can not refer to the 'Vocal Tract of Neanderthals'(Singular)

Choice B Wins.
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Hi Narenn
Pronoun as a subject in second clause requires its antecedent as the subject of the First Clause!! Is it true all the time?
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Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so 15 Jan 2021, 05:24
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tndvekas760
Pronoun as a subject in second clause requires its antecedent as the subject of the First Clause!! Is it true all the time?
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Hi tndvekas760, you might be applying a different rule here.

In C, D, and E, the second clause ("were probably without language") does not have any subject (neither any noun or pronoun) explicitly mentioned. So, the implied subject of this second clause is the same as the subject of the first clause - vocal tracts.

Hence, C, D, and E are erroneously suggesting that vocal tracts were without language. The intent of the original sentence however, is to depict that Neanderthals were without language.

It's as simple as this:

Teacher arrived and taught.

Again, since there is no subject explicitly mentioned for the second verb (taught), the implied subject of this second verb is the same as the subject of the first clause - Teacher.
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Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so 15 Jan 2021, 21:46
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tndvekas760
Pronoun as a subject in second clause requires its antecedent as the subject of the First Clause!! Is it true all the time?
Hi tndvekas760, you might be applying a different rule here.

In C, D, and E, the second clause ("were probably without language") does not have any subject (neither any noun or pronoun) explicitly mentioned. So, the implied subject of this second clause is the same as the subject of the first clause - vocal tracts.

Hence, C, D, and E are erroneously suggesting that vocal tracts were without language. The intent of the original sentence however, is to depict that Neanderthals were without language.

It's as simple as this:

Teacher arrived and taught.

Again, since there is no subject explicitly mentioned for the second verb (taught), the implied subject of this second verb is the same as the subject of the first clause - Teacher.
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Hi EducationAisle,
Thank you for giving confidence.
I have one more doubt. Is not there a chance that 'so' in the second clause can refer back to the apes in the first clause, in choice E? Is is not possible because the meaning issue or what?
Thank You!
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Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so 16 Jan 2021, 08:35
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Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so were probably without language, a shortcoming that may explain why they were supplanted by our own species. (700)

(A) Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes

Illogical, the sentence conveys the idea that a single vocal tract belonged to the apes

(B) Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape’s Correct

(C) The vocal tracts of Neanderthals resembled an ape’s

(D) The Neanderthal’s vocal tracts resembled the apes’

(E) The vocal tracts of the Neanderthals resembled those of the apes

This is a great meaning based question. Choices C through E all make the mistake of suggesting that the vocal tract of Neanderthals were probably without language. That makes no sense. It's the Neanderthals that were probably without language.

I do have reservations about the past perfect tense though. Why suggest that Neanderthals at one point had in their possession, but no longer have, a vocal tract resembling an ape's. Isn't this a characteristic of Neanderthals?

GMATNinja?
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(B) does not use the past perfect at all! "Had" is just the simple past form of "to have":

  • "Tim has a shiny new car." - Simple present
  • "Tim had a shiny new car." - Simple past

(B) uses the simple past: "Neanderthals had a vocal tract...".
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Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so 16 Jan 2021, 09:57
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tndvekas760
I have one more doubt. Is not there a chance that 'so' in the second clause can refer back to the apes in the first clause, in choice E? Is is not possible because the meaning issue or what?
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Hi tndvekas760, so is used as a conjunction here (used in the sense of hence).

So, so will not really refer back to anything here :) .
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Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so 28 Sep 2021, 17:01
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reply2spg
Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so were probably without language, a shortcoming that may explain why they were supplanted by our own species.


(A) Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes

(B) Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape’s

(C) The vocal tracts of Neanderthals resembled an ape’s

(D) The Neanderthal’s vocal tracts resembled the apes’

(E) The vocal tracts of the Neanderthals resembled those of the apes
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The were outside of the underlined portion is using Neanderthals as subject. So eliminate C,D,E.
No logical referent for 'those' in A. Vocal tract is singular. Eliminate A
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Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so 10 Feb 2022, 01:14
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Quote:
Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so were probably without language, a shortcoming that may explain why they were supplanted by our own species.


(A) Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes

(B) Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape’s

(C) The vocal tracts of Neanderthals resembled an ape’s

(D) The Neanderthal’s vocal tracts resembled the apes’

(E) The vocal tracts of the Neanderthals resembled those of the apes

GMATNinja Can you please explain this one.

Have read a lot of comments but still confused.
How is the subject of second part 'and so' - Neanderthals? Didn't understand this. Why is E wrong?

Quote:
(A) Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes
First, check out the parallelism: "Neanderthals (1) had a vocal tract {...} and (so) (2) were probably without language..." - we have a parallel list of verbs, and both verbs make sense with the subject "Neanderthals". No issue there.

But notice that the comparison is between ONE vocal tract (“a vocal tract”) and MULTIPLE ape vocal tracts (“those of the apes”). Comparing a singular vocal tract to plural vocal tracts isn't ideal here.

In addition, the use of “the” in front of "apes" makes it seem like the vocal tracts of the Neanderthals are like those of SPECIFIC apes, not apes in general. Is that grammatically wrong? Probably not... but it doesn't fit with the context, which suggests that the author wants to compare the vocal tracts of Neanderthals to those of apes in general. The use of "the" leaves the reader wondering, "WHICH specific apes are we talking about?".

Admittedly, these aren't particularly solid reasons to eliminate (A), so let's hang on to it for now and check out the other options.

Quote:
(B) Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape’s
Again, the parallelism checks out: "Neanderthals (1) had a vocal tract {...} and (so) (2) were probably without language..." - We have two parallel verbs, and both work with the subject "Neanderthals".

In (B), we are comparing a SINGULAR body part (the vocal tract of Neanderthals) to another SINGULAR body part (the vocal tract of an ape), so the comparison works a little better than the one in (A).

Also, (B) compares the vocal tract of a general ape (AN ape) to the Neanderthals’ tract. If that's not clear, consider of these two examples:

    1) "The ape has five fingers on each hand." - The article "the" suggests that we are talking about ONE specific ape.
    2) "An ape has five fingers on each hand." - The article "an" suggests that we are talking about a non-specific ape--pick an ape, any ape, and that ape ought to have five fingers.

That's probably enough to go with (B) over (A), so let's keep this one.

Quote:
(C) The vocal tracts of Neanderthals resembled an ape’s
There are two main problems here.

First, the comparison isn’t great... the issue is similar to what we saw in (A), only now we have MANY Neanderthal vocal tracts compared to only ONE ape vocal tract.

More importantly, there's a meaning issue with the parallelism: “The vocal tracts of Neanderthals (1) resembled an ape’s and (so) (2) were probably without language...”.

  • We have a parallel list of verbs, but notice that both verbs can be tied back to the subject "vocal tracts"--that gives us, "The vocal tracts … were probably without language.”
  • That doesn't make much sense. As explained in this post, "vocal tracts" can produce sound, but they can't have a language of their own--parts of the body usually can’t speak on their own (unless we're talking about Osmosis Jones--then maybe!).

We can get rid of (C).

Quote:
(D) The Neanderthal’s vocal tracts resembled the apes’
Here the sentence is comparing ONE Neanderthal’s vocal tracts to MULTIPLE apes’ vocal tracts. My knowledge of biology isn’t great, but I’m pretty sure Neanderthals (and humans) only have ONE vocal tract, so this doesn’t make much sense.

Also, as we saw above, it’s a bit weird to compare the tract(s) of SPECIFIC (“the”) Neanderthal’s to the tract(s) of SPECIFIC ("the") apes.

More importantly, we have the same meaning issue that we saw in (C): “the Neanderthal’s vocal tracts … were probably without language.” It’s the Neanderthals who were probably without language, not their vocal tracts.

We can say goodbye to (D).

Quote:
(E) The vocal tracts of the Neanderthals resembled those of the apes
The comparison is okay here, but, again, the articles aren't ideal: we have "the" (specific) Neanderthals and "the" (specific) apes.

But we have the same glaring meaning issue that we saw in (C) and (D), so (E) is out.

(B) is the best one!

Disclaimer: If you aren't convinced that (B) is better than (A), don't stress over it too much. Most of these are pretty subtle arguments, and that might be why this question was retired from the official guides before 2009. :)
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HI GMATNinja

I got the explanation. I just have a further doubt. Can you please explain??

In option D it says The Neanderthal’s vocal tracts resembled the apes’
So it should be The Neanderthal’s vocal tracts resembled the apes’ vocal tracts right?? i mean vocal tracts should be plural here right ?
How these apostrophe somewhere is opening in singular but somewhere in singular
can you please explain this...its troubling me a lot

thanks in advance!
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Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so 11 Feb 2022, 06:20
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pratishtha1210


HI GMATNinja

I got the explanation. I just have a further doubt. Can you please explain??

In option D it says The Neanderthal’s vocal tracts resembled the apes’
So it should be The Neanderthal’s vocal tracts resembled the apes’ vocal tracts right?? i mean vocal tracts should be plural here right ?
How these apostrophe somewhere is opening in singular but somewhere in singular
can you please explain this...its troubling me a lot

thanks in advance!
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Hello pratishtha1210,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, the apostrophe will open in singular wherever it is preceded by the singular "vocal tract" and in the plural wherever preceded by the plural "vocal tracts".

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so 16 Feb 2022, 11:34
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Quote:
I got the explanation. I just have a further doubt. Can you please explain??

In option D it says The Neanderthal’s vocal tracts resembled the apes’
So it should be The Neanderthal’s vocal tracts resembled the apes’ vocal tracts right?? i mean vocal tracts should be plural here right ?
How these apostrophe somewhere is opening in singular but somewhere in singular
can you please explain this...its troubling me a lot

thanks in advance!
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I feel your pain here -- there's no official rule that tells us how to interpret whether a possessive implies a singular or plural for an unstated noun, but as Experts Global notes, it usually makes sense to use the previously stated noun to steer you.

So if I see "Tim's kids are more unruly than Amy's," I'd assume that Amy has more than one kid. Otherwise, it's an odd choice by the writer not to state "Amy's kid" explicitly.

Similarly, if I see "Tim's kid is more unruly than Amy's," I'd assume Amy has one child. That's certainly not a rule, though -- outside of the GMAT, there's always a broader context for whatever we're reading, so it's possible that another sentence would clarify that Amy has one child or several, but for SC purposes, it seems logical to rely on the previously stated noun.

For (D), there's no need to agonize over whether we're talking about one vocal tract or more than one. It has a logical error, making it sound as though the vocal tracts themselves don't possess language. And that doesn't make sense -- Neanderthals could possess language, but a body part couldn't. That's enough to kick (D) to the curb.

I hope that helps!
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Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so 19 Feb 2022, 13:17
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Answer B is correct.

"Vocal tract" is singular, so it cannot be described as "those" - A is incorrect.
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Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so 13 Mar 2022, 08:19
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solving this question using meaning makes it much more easier

resembled - is wrong as it is a fact and it still resembles
A,C,D and E are out
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Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so 16 Apr 2022, 02:10
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Hi AndrewN

Couple of questions (as I keep getting this question wrong) :

1. In the correct answer, isn't a bit illogical to say "the Neanderthals had a vocal track " ? It seems like it is saying that all
Neanderthals shared a common vocal track.
2. Why is option E incorrect ? Is it because it makes "vocal tracks" as the subject , and hence it does not logically connects to the clause after "and" ?
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