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One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undert

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Bunuel
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One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undert [#permalink] One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undert   29 Oct 2021, 11:00
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Question Stats:

37% (01:27) correct 63% (01:30) wrong based on 213 sessions
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One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal cut the 14,000 mile trip from New York to San Francisco by sea to only 6,000 miles.


A. the Panama Canal cut the 14,000 mile trip from New York to San Francisco by sea to only 6,000 miles

B. the Panama Canal cuts the 14,000 mile trip from New York to San Francisco by sea down to only 6,000 miles

C. the construction of the Panama Canal allows ships to cut the 14,000 mile trip from New York to San Francisco down to only 6,000 miles

D. the construction of the Panama Canal cut down the trip by sea from New York to San Francisco from 14,000 to 6,000 miles

E. the Panama Canal has cut from 14,000 miles down to 6,000 miles the trip by sea to San Francisco from New York
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C
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Bunuel
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Re: One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undert [#permalink] One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undert   06 Nov 2021, 07:15
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Bunuel wrote:
One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal cut the 14,000 mile trip from New York to San Francisco by sea to only 6,000 miles.


A. the Panama Canal cut the 14,000 mile trip from New York to San Francisco by sea to only 6,000 miles

B. the Panama Canal cuts the 14,000 mile trip from New York to San Francisco by sea down to only 6,000 miles

C. the construction of the Panama Canal allows ships to cut the 14,000 mile trip from New York to San Francisco down to only 6,000 miles

D. the construction of the Panama Canal cut down the trip by sea from New York to San Francisco from 14,000 to 6,000 miles

E. the Panama Canal has cut from 14,000 miles down to 6,000 miles the trip by sea to San Francisco from New York


OFFICIAL EXPLANATION



Answer: C.

This one is a bit tricky. Technically, you can’t say the “Panama Canal” is one of the “largest and most difficult engineering projects,” so there is a misplaced modifier. Instead, the “construction of the Panama Canal” is appropriate. That leaves choices C and D. Choice D is wrong because the “construction” isn’t what “cut down” the trip. Choice C is clear in that the construction allowed ships “to cut down” the trip.
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Re: One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undert [#permalink] One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undert   06 Nov 2021, 05:26
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It is correct that "One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken" modifies "the construction of the Panama Canal" and not "the Panama Canal"?

Based on this eliminated A,B,E.

Further between C and D, eliminated D on the basis of meaning (cut down the trip in D).

Answer: C
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Re: One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undert [#permalink] One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undert   31 Dec 2021, 08:46
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Bunuel wrote:
One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal cut the 14,000 mile trip from New York to San Francisco by sea to only 6,000 miles.

A. the Panama Canal cut the 14,000 mile trip from New York to San Francisco by sea to only 6,000 miles

C. the construction of the Panama Canal allows ships to cut the 14,000 mile trip from New York to San Francisco down to only 6,000 miles



This seems to be a near-duplicate of the question posted here:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/one-of-the-l ... l?fl=homea

but it seems as I was replying there, that thread was "temporarily locked", not sure the reason that happens. And I don't know the source of this question, but the "OA", and the explanation of it, seem very problematic to me. First, there's nothing at all wrong with calling the Panama Canal an "engineering project", so the OE's justification for eliminating answer A is wrong. If you then ask what "cut" the length of the trip, it was the Canal that did that, not the ships, so A conveys the right meaning and C the wrong one. And C is wrong for another reason; it's not the "construction of the Canal" that makes trips shorter; it's the Canal itself that makes trips shorter. Answer A gets all of those important things right, and C gets them wrong, so A is a much better answer (despite a couple of smaller issues) than C, as far as I can tell.
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Re: One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undert [#permalink] One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undert   06 Aug 2023, 04:15
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Re: One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undert [#permalink]
06 Aug 2023, 04:15
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