On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are believed

Hi all, here is my analysis.

On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are believed to be the rate that trees grow, as seen in the rings visible in the cross sections of their trunks.

A. On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are believed to be the rate that trees grow

B. On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are, it is believed, the rate of tree growth

C. On Earth, the rate at which trees grow is believed to be among the surest indications of sunspot cycles

D. Among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles, believed to be the tree growth rate

E. Among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles is believed to be the rate at which trees grow

Reverse Construction:

_On the table there is one pen. This sentence is equivalent to:

_One pen is on the table.

Subject = one pen

Verb = is

Note that: The prepositional phrase = "on the table" CANNOT be the SUBJECT of the sentence.

The reverse construction is applied to A, B, C, & E.

_Prepositional phrase = [Among........] CANNOT be the Subject

_Subject = the rate

_Verb = is

Hence, A & B are out since Subject & Verb do not agree.

We are down to C, D, & E.

_D is a FRAGMENT because D has NO MAIN VERB.

Now, between C & E, which of of them is correct?

Lets observe the portion that is NOT underlined:

_[as seen in the rings.....]= a MODIFIER

_What does it modify?

_It modifies THE RATE.

_In (E) THE RATE is close to its MODIFIER = [as seen......], while in (C) those two are FAR AWAY from each other --> E is better than C, and thus E is the correct choice.

In addition, "On Earth" is moved around in C & E. Once gain, the same question: What does " On Earth" modify?

_It modifies "Indications".

_As seen in E, "On Earth" is right next to "Indications", whereas in C those two are FAR AWAY from each other. Once again, E is better than C.

Is this really a Gmat Prep question?

I am still not convinced about why C is not the answer.

Close call between C and E.

What exactly does "as seen in the rings" modify?- Sunspot cycles or rate at which trees grow?

In E isn't it modifying the "rate" at which trees grow, which is nonsensical IMO. Ugh I'm indeed confused !

Your query 1:
The following post explains why C is incorrect:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/on-earth-amo ... l#p1808827

Your query 2:
The part "as seen in the rings" modifies neither "sunspot cycles" nor "rate at which trees grow" - it is a prepositional phrase referring to the entire previous clause (recollect the use of comma + present participle - comma +prepositional phrases can also be used in the same way, i.e., to refer to an entire previous clause.)

daagh

"is believed" in E does not cause SVA error?

(E) Among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles is believed to be the rate at which trees grow

Akshay

Why not?

The actual sentence is --- The rate at which trees grow is believed to be among the surest indications of sunspot cycles on earth.
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Hi prgmatbiz, as daagh sir has suggested, this sentence is (what's called) an inverted sentence, wherein the verb (is) comes before the subject (rate), thereby creating bit of a confusion.

Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses inverted sentences. Have attached the corresponding section of the book, for your reference.

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Hi,

I had eliminated E thinking "Among the surest things" should be accompanied with 'are' and not 'is' in E. Is this not similar to the subject verb agreement with "One of the most important thing" etc.? Please let me know the grammar rules here.

Hi NydhruvKashyap, option E is (what's called) an inverted sentence.

Option E reads:

Among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles is believed to be the rate at which trees grow.

The normal non-inverted sentence is:

The rate at which trees grow is believed to be among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles.

Now it is very clear that the rate is the singular subject, and hence, requires a singular verb is.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses inverted sentences, their application and examples. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.
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Hi, I don’t agree with the explanation provided above.
Pronoun ambiguity isn’t an absolute crime on the GMAT.

in “their trunks”, “their” can ONLY refer to trees. There is no way it can refer to anything else.

Can you please provide another reason for eliminating (C)?

Hi D4kshGargas, there is a modifier issue in C:

What is seen in the rings visible in the cross sections of their trunks?
Most logical answer: rate at which trees grow

Now, let's look at C:

the rate at which trees grow is believed to be among the surest indications of sunspot cycles, as seen in the rings visible in the cross sections of their trunks.

Notice how C changes the meaning by stating: surest indications of sunspot cycles, as seen in the rings visible in the cross sections of their trunks

So, C seems to nonsensically suggest that surest indications of sunspot cycles are seen in the rings visible in the cross sections of their trunks.
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(A) On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are believed to be the rate that trees grow
This sentence gives us the meaning as the rates are grown by the trees

(B) On Earth, among the surest indications of sunspot cycles are, it is believed, the rate of tree growth
it has too many commas which is unecessary and doesn't make much sense

(C) On Earth, the rate at which trees grow is believed to be among the surest indications of sunspot cycles
This feels as though the only indication of identifying sunspot cycles

(D) Among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles, believed to be the tree growth rate
this has got a ambigious usage of words

(E) Among the surest indications on Earth of sunspot cycles is believed to be the rate at which trees grow
THis nails the argument hence IMO E

Hi! had a doubt that whether the placement of sunspot cycles at the end of the underlined portion can be a reason to eliminate it? What is "as seen in the ring ---" modifying??is it acting as a noun modifier or adverbial ? IanStewart GMATNinja

Yes, answer C for example seems to suggest that "the rings visible..." are in the sunspot cycles, when the sentence means to say they're in the trees. But you don't even need to consider that to rule out A, B and C. In the first three answer choices, "On Earth" describes where tree growth is believed to be an indication of sunspot cycles. Well of course that's believed "on Earth"; where else could it be believed? On Mars? You could cut the phrase "On earth" from A, B or C without changing the meaning of the sentence at all, so the phrase is superfluous. Answers D and E are different; in those choices, the phrase "on earth" describes where the "indications" are found. And that makes sense, because there will also be indications of sunspot cycles found in places other than Earth, for example on the sun itself.

I only skimmed the most recent posts, which didn't mention this issue, but maybe it was discussed earlier.
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Look at the non underline part of the sentence (at the end). their trunks. Only one object mentioned in the sentence has / have trunks and that object is plural (their). Obviously only one object i.e. Trees should be as near to "their trunks".

Option E does exactly same.

Ans : E

Kudos plz...

By definite grammer rules, I quickly eliminated Options A, B and D. Now coming to options C and E. I think the major issue of meaning. What C says is that ''the rate of tree growth'' is ''among the surest indications''. One cannot be equal to many. One can only be ''one among the many''. I cannot equate ''rate of tree growth'' with ''among''. It has to be one among them. Option C is equating one with many, which is incorrect.

Thus, Option C without any other definite meaning or grammar issues wins.

Thank You
Vighnesh

Hello VIGHNESHKAMATH,

We hope this finds you well.

To provide some clarity, here, the use of "among" is not incorrect in Option C, as it refers to the plural noun "indications", conveying that the rate at which trees grow is one of the many indications of sunspot cycles.

The error in Option C is that the phrase "as seen in the rings visible in the cross sections of their trunks" modifies "the surest indications of sunspot cycles", illogically implying that all of the surest indications of sunspot cycles are seen in the rings visible in the cross sections of the tree trunks.

Option E correctly modifies "the rate at which trees grow" with "as seen in the rings visible in the cross sections of their trunks", conveying the intended meaning - that the rate of tree growth is seen in the rings visible in the cross sections of the tree trunks.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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I was confused between C and E. I omitted E because because of the presence of the prepositional phrase 'Earth of sunspot cycle' Isn't this prepositional phrase modifying earth instead of indication?

GMATNinja sir can you please help me here.

Hello Jayantalawadhi,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, here "on Earth" and "of sunspot cycles" are both prepositional phrases that act upon the noun "indications".

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