mikemcgarry wrote:
The United States has the largest trade deficit of any country on Earth, other nations, such as China and Japan, holding stores of US dollars that increase each year.
(A) other nations, such as China and Japan, holding
(B) and other nations, like China and Japan, holding
(C) with other nations, like China and Japan, holding
(D) other nations, like China and Japan, hold
(E) other nations, such as China and Japan, hold
OFFICIAL SOLUTION
Split #1: listing examples. Suppose we have a category C and examples in this category P and Q. It is grammatically incorrect to say “…. C, like P and Q.” Choices (B) & (C) & (D) make this mistake. This mistake is woefully common in colloquial English, but entirely unacceptable on the GMAT. The correct way to say this is ” …. C, such as P and Q.”
Split #2: The section of the sentence before the first comma is a full independent clause: this could stand on its own as a complete sentence. What happens after the first comma, at the very beginning of the underline section, varies wildly. Each choices requires its own analysis.
(A) “other nations … holding” —-
[noun] + [participle]: this has the form of an
absolute clause, which is perfectly correct.
(B) “and other nations … holding” —- the “and” implies another independent clause is coming, parallel to the first, but instead we get
[noun] + [participle], which doesn’t fit the pattern. This choice is incorrect.
(C) “with other nations … holding” —- this structure is common in colloquial speech, but the GMAT doesn’t like this at all: “
with” +
[noun] + [participle]. The prepositions “with” is designed to hold a noun, maybe even a modified noun, but not an entire action. This choice is incorrect.
(D) & (E) “other nations … hold” —- This is
[noun] + [verb], another full independent clause. By itself, everything after the first comma in these choices could stand as a complete sentence. The problem is — we have [independent clause], [independent clause] — that’s the structure of a run-on sentence. We always need some kind of conjunction (and, or, but, therefore, etc.) joining two independent clause: they can’t just sit next to each other separated by a comma — that’s the classic run-on pattern. Both of these choices are incorrect.
The only possible answer is (A), with the absolute phrase.
_________________
"Be challenged at EVERY MOMENT."“Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t.”"Each stage of the journey is crucial to attaining new heights of knowledge."Rules for posting in verbal forum | Please DO NOT post short answer in your post!
Advanced Search : https://gmatclub.com/forum/advanced-search/