Observing an apple fall from a tree, Newton came up with the assertion

Question

Observing an apple fall from a tree, Newton came up with the assertion for  a force in the earth that attracted objects towards it; he named this force gravity.

(A) Observing an apple fall from a tree, Newton came up with the assertion for

(B) Observing an apple fall from a tree is what made Newton come up with the assertion that

(C) Observing an apple fall from a tree, Newton came up with the assertion that

(D) Newton, observing an apple fall from a tree, came up with the assertion of

(E) Observing an apple fall down from a tree, Newton was able to come up with the assertion that

AndrewN · Accepted Answer

If you find the OA unconvincing,  MPRS22 , you have good reason: the answer cannot be (C) as it appears above. My take on the answer choices:

As a general rule, I do not like to eliminate answers based on idioms unless I  know  the idiom is off. Could Newton have come up with an assertion  for  a force? It kind of sounds as though he made the assertion  on behalf of  the force, and that interpretation would, of course, be ridiculous. We have nothing else to conjure up to justify  for , though. That is, I could make an assertion for (on behalf of) someone else, as strange as that may sound, but I could not make an assertion for an idea.

What I like about this answer choice is that the opening phrase clearly modifies  Newton , and the main clause flows seamlessly: Newton +   +  . In my first pass of the answer choices, I would leave this one alone.

This is an easy elimination. Nothing  made  Newton come up with an  assertion . Rather, Newton thought of an idea upon observing nature. There is no need to turn the  observing  phrase into a gerund and follow it up with this sloppy clause construct in  what made...  I will save  that  for my discussion of (C) below. This one should already be out of the running.

To be clear, an  assertion  that   something is perfectly idiomatic. The problem, however, lies in the grammatical quagmire we find ourselves stuck in as soon as we hit the semicolon.

Newton came up with the assertion that a force in the earth that attracted objects towards it

The line above is NOT an independent clause. There are two ways to make it one:

1) Place some additional information either before or after  a force :

BEFORE the noun— there was  a force    there existed  a force

AFTER the noun—a force  existed    a force  was present

2) Remove the second  that  to allow  attracted  to act as a verb within the subordinated clause:

Newton came up with the assertion that a force in the earth  that  attracted objects towards it

In the absence of one of these alterations,  choice (C) must be incorrect . I would eliminate it.

The placement of the phrase as an interrupter of the main clause is grammatically acceptable, albeit less preferred than what we saw in the original sentence. It is simply easier to follow a modifying phrase followed by a main clause than it is to start the main clause, put that thought on hold for a moment to deliver additional information, and then pop back into the sentence. Apart from that peccadillo, though, there is nothing to argue against here:  the assertion of  something works idiomatically, and, most importantly, we get an independent clause ahead of the semicolon. Essentially, Newton came up with an assertion of a force that did something. Yes, that sentence checks out. Put this one on hold and look for an easier elimination if you can find it.

Now this is more like it.  Fall down  is commonly heard, but in the sentence,  down  is not necessary to convey the image of what Newton saw. The same can be said of  was able to . It is not exactly incorrect, but there is nothing wrong with the earlier, more direct iterations that use the simple past (i.e.  came ) instead. Finally,  that  at the end of the underlined portion is flat-out wrong, as discussed above.

After the first cut, between (A) and (D), the latter is the safer option. Rather than chase an answer that may sound better in (A), we should look to get behind the one that is harder to argue against. The idiom  assertion for  is incorrect in (A), while (D) has a slightly awkward placement of a phrase in the beginning, but not one that is wrong. For this reason,   the best answer is (D)  .

I have noticed a few irregularities with Aristotle questions. Solver beware. (And, as much as possible, stick to official questions for Verbal.)

- Andrew

sonalgmat123 · Answer

It seems A ..

B--Tense issue -- Come up , No verb for " that a force in the earth"

C - Same as B

D- observing an apple fall from a tree - Should not be put in between comma's as it is essential modifier

E - Same as B

BAP007 · Answer

D seems to be the answer.
As in A "assertion for" seems incorrect

Posted from my mobile device

Bunuel · Answer

Official Explanation:

Answer: C

Assertion  is the same thing as a  claim  and must be followed by  that . Thus, options A and D can be eliminated. The use of  is what made  in B makes it unnecessarily wordy and cumbersome. Similarly, the use of the redundant  fall down  and  was able to  makes E unnecessarily wordy.  C states the same thing in fewer words and is the correct answer.

rocky620 · Answer

Hi  Bunuel

(C) Observing an apple fall from a tree, Newton came up with the assertion that

Isn't the sentence incomplete without   "there is"  : Observing an apple fall from a tree, Newton came up with the assertion that there is

If we plug choice C in the sentence : Observing an apple fall from a tree,  Newton came up with the assertion that a force in the earth that attracted objects towards it ; he named this force gravity.

It looks like a fragment. This was the main reason I eliminated this choice and selected D instead.

Kindly help.

MPRS22 · Answer

AndrewN  can you have a shot at this

Thanks

I don't find the OA convincing

gauranggarg · Answer

Hi Andrew,
I have a question, would it also be right to reject A on the basis of incorrect cause and effect in the verbing modifier.

What i beleive is the, the verbing is usually the cause and the noun+verb part is the effect.
Eg: the bird flew away, flapping its wings. 
In this case the flapping its wings is the cause and thr flying away is the effect.

Is my reasoning correct?

Thanks in advance.

Posted from my mobile device

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  gauranggarg . I think the causal relationship you outlined is fine; your conclusion based on it, regarding (A), is off the mark. The same cause-and-effect relationship exists:

CAUSE : Observing an apple fall from a tree
 EFFECT : Newton came up with

If we wanted to map the sentence onto your bird one and add "by" to clearly delineate the causal relationship, we could do so:

1)  Newton came up with    by  observing an apple fall from a tree .
2)  The bird flew away  by  flapping its wings .

In short, there is no problem with the modifier in (A). I hope the issue makes sense now.

- Andrew

SriTamDas · Answer

The OA is wrong .  It should be D. 
 
In the non-underlined part, a semi-colon is used, the use of whose suggests that the two are independent clauses.
Hold on to me, observe the  that  in the non-underlined portion. "That" is used to define the "force" and not to act as a modifier.

e.g. 
GMAT, a test  that  attracts many MBA aspirants. (Not Independent)
and not: 
GMAT-a test  that  attracts many MBA aspirants,  is  conducted throughout the year. (Independent)

So the correct answer is D. 
   Simply put, he asserted the presence of such a force.

C would be correct, if the sentence were something like this: 
   Basically, giving the force an action!

Thanks
 I would love to hear from Experts if anything is wrong in my logic above.

Bunuel · Answer

Official Explanation from Aristotle:

Answer: C

Assertion  is the same thing as a  claim  and must be followed by  that . Thus, options A and D can be eliminated. The use of  is what made  in B makes it unnecessarily wordy and cumbersome. Similarly, the use of the redundant  fall down  and  was able to  makes E unnecessarily wordy. C states the same thing in fewer words and is the correct answer

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

Observing an apple fall from a tree, Newton came up with the assertion

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Observing an apple fall from a tree, Newton came up with the assertion

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards