Nothing quite like this Broadway production has ever been ma

Responding to a pm:

One decision point is:
"20 different countries around the world"

Note that this is the correct structure. The show was broadcast in 20 different countries - the countries are around the world, some in Africa, some in Europe, some in Asia etc.

So a structure such as following does not make sense:
"20 different countries and around the world."
"around the world in 20 different countries"

This only leaves us with (D) and (E)

D Nothing quite like this Broadway show had ever been made before, and it proved to be a huge hit, broadcast in 20 different countries around the world.
E Nothing quite like this Broadway show was made before, and it had proved to be a huge hit, broadcast in 20 different countries around the world.

Note the tenses now.
Nothing had been made before - happened first in the past so will use past perfect as done in (D)
This show proved to be a huge hit - happened later in the past so will use simple past as done in (D)

Hence the correct answer is (D)

A past participle separated by a comma and placed at the end of the sentence does not necessarily have to modify the noun before. As a noun modifier, it can modify its logical suitor rather than the proximate one. .
Look at this sentence: (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/627/02/)
Tom nervously watched the woman, alarmed by her silence.
(The phrase modifies Tom, not woman.)
Here is another classic OG case;
Diabetes, together with its serious complications, ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death, surpassed only by heart disease and cancer
Can we argue in the above sentence that surpassed only modifies death, though technically correct? Logically doesn’t it modify Diabetes? That is the correct choice. (diabetes-together-with-its-serious-complications-ranks-21132.html)
So, a formulaic and mathematical approach to GMAT SC may sometimes mislead.

In this case, the past participle ‘broadcast’ refers to the show and not the hit. After all, one can broadcast material things such as a show, but not an abstract thing such as a hit, unless the hit happens to be a physical hit.

Why C is not correct: The adverbial modifier phrase, 'broadcasting' implies that the Broadway production itself did the broadcasting job and not the broadcasters.

I will vote D

HTH
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I don't quite like the construct of the sentence.

Nothing quite like this Broadway show had ever been made before, and it proved to be a huge hit, broadcast in 20 different countries around the world.

The first one "this Broadway show" and second "it" introduce 2 parallel clauses. But, I am not sure of how the following portion " broadcast in 20 different countries around the world" works in the entire context of this sentence. "broadcast" I believe is a verb, and not a modifier, should technically create a sentence fragment in this case.

Experts please help.

Hello Karishma

broadcast in 20 different countries around the world.

Is the usage of broadcast correct in the option D ?
Is this a noun phrase or a modifier ?

Please Clarify

Thank you !

First of all, since all options use the term "broadcast" so it is not a decision point. Also, the show was probably telecast on TV in 20 different countries (with local language subtitles). The term broadcast can be used for both radio and TV transmissions.

It is a modifier modifying the broadway show. It tells us more about the broadway show - that it was broadcast in 20 different countries - hence providing support to 'proved to be a huge hit'.

Hi Karishma,

Although "broadcast" is not a decision point. I think "and" should be added prior to "broadcast" to make the structure parallel.
--> Nothing quite like this Broadway show had ever been made before, and it proved to be a huge hit and broadcast in 20 different countries around the world.

How do you think?

No, "broadcast in 20 ..." is explaining how the Broadway show proved to be a huge hit. It acts as a modifier and hence the use of 'and' is incorrect.

Hello experts,

Some more explanation is required for D to be correct. I am also not sure what is phrase" broadcast in 20 different countries".. Is it a modifier. If so, then technical it will modify hit.

Why C is incorrect. Here broadcasting clearly refers to "The Broadway"

Regards.

The only crucial part to know here is that past participle of broadcast is same as its verb form. Whenever we see ing or ed modifier we are able to logically find out what it modifies to. See, it will sound familiar and correct if ''broadcasted in 20...'' was used. I marked C only because of this confusion.

There's an easy way to eliminate both A and C. "Broadcasting in twenty different countries and around the world" doesn't make any sense because those countries are obviously included within the world. E is out because of a tense error illogically implying that the production was a hit before it was even made. B is a sentence fragment. D seems a little awkward at first blush because of the unusual sentence structure, but it's the best among the answer choices.

Q: Nothing quite like this Broadway production has ever been made before, and it proved to be a huge hit, broadcast in 20 different countries and around the world.

A. Nothing quite like this Broadway production has ever been made before, and it proved to be a huge hit, broadcast in 20 different countries and around the world. – illogical: “and” is not needed

B. This Broadway production, something which has never been made before, proved to be a huge hit, broadcast around the world in 20 different countries. – “broadcast around the world in 20 different countries” is illogical and should be “broadcast in 20 different countries around the world”

C. Unlike anything that had ever been made before, this Broadway production proved to be a huge hit, broadcasting in 20 different countries and around the world. – illogical: “and” is not needed

D. Nothing quite like this Broadway show had ever been made before, and it proved to be a huge hit, broadcast in 20 different countries around the world. [Correct]

E. Nothing quite like this Broadway show was made before, and it had proved to be a huge hit, broadcast in 20 different countries around the world. – Order of timeline is incorrect. The Broadway show was made BEFORE it proved to be a huge hit.

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

This question is primarily testing tense and proper timelines. An initial scan of the answer choices shows a choice between “has been”, “had been”, and “was” - a clear hint that tense is in play. In A, you have an illogical timeline of the present perfect “has been” combined with the past tense “proved”. Also it is illogical to say broadcast in “20 different countries” AND “around the world”. It should be simply “20 different countries around the world.” (B) contains the same tense error and also gets the order wrong in the expression at the end. It was not broadcast “around the world in 20 countries”. In (C), the comparison is confusing and illogical. The present participle “broadcasting” is also illogical because it suggests that the production was doing the broadcasting. “Broadcast” is essential because it shows that someone else broadcast the production in other countries. (C) also contains the error at the end referenced previously. In (E), the timeline is illogical as it gets the order of events backwards. Only (D) gets the timeline correct and uses the logical and correct “broadcast in 20 different countries around the world” at the end. Answer is (D).
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Can anyone explain why Option B is wrong

Hello Ayushi2399Agarwal,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, the construction of the modifier "something which has never been made before" is such that it implies no "Broadway production" has ever been made before; the intended meaning is that no Broadway production like this one has ever been made before.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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