shabuzen102 wrote:
Dear
GMATNinja,
I've just learned about appositive modifier and the construction noun + noun modifier today. It led me to thinking, how about "him talking" is a noun + noun modifier? What about this sentence: "I can't imagine him talking to me" then "him" is a noun, and "talking to me" is a Verb-ing modifier?
"One automobile manufacturer has announced plans to increase the average fuel efficiency of its sport utility vehicles by 25 percent over the next five years,
an increase amounting to roughly five miles per gallon, and representing the first significant change in the fuel efficiency of any class of passenger vehicle in almost two decades."
"an increase + amounting" to can be similar to "him + talking to me", no?
Another example would be "The list containing only two sets of names surprises me." In this sentence, "containing only two sets of names" is a modifier that modifies "the list"
I guess my question is then, how is that sentence different from "Bob barking is keeping me awake." Can "barking" be a modifier that modifies "Bob"?
Thank you! I appreciate your patience!
It's a question of what exactly is keeping you awake:
- "The dog's barking is keeping me awake" - Here, the BARKING is the thing that is keeping you awake. So "barking" is the subject, and "dog's" essentially modifies that subject.
- "The barking dog is keeping me awake." - In this case, DOG is the subject, and "barking" modifies "dog". Which dog? The barking dog.
And notice that the modifier "barking" comes before "dog" in the last example (you wouldn't say "the dog brown is keeping me awake", right?). If you want "barking" to modify "dog" but want "barking" to come
after "dog", you'd probably have to do something this: "The dog, barking at the top of his lungs, is keeping me awake." In this case, we're saying what the dog is DOING. You certainly wouldn't say, "The barking at the top of his lungs dog is keeping me awake."
Similarly, you would say, "... a shocking increase in price...", not "... an increase shocking in price...".
Back to choice (C): if we wanted "rising" to modify moon, we'd probably need to say something like "...mistook the moon, rising over the ocean, AS a massive missile attack..." Also, notice that this changes the meaning: now it isn't the RISING of the moon that is being mistook for a missile attack. Instead, it's the MOON ITSELF that is mistaken for a missile attack.
The takeaway: there is no point in trying to memorize constructions and blindly apply them to new problems. You have to think really hard about each individual sentence: what's the noun? What's the modifier? Do they make any sense? Is the logical meaning clearer in another option?
This is what makes GMAT SC so hard, and unfortunately the only way to become GREAT at it is to think really literally and methodically about meaning in each specific case. Broad grammar rules are valuable, but they won't get you all that far by themselves.
For more on that, check out the
our SC guide for beginners or
this rant about how to improve from great (760) to incredible (780!) on SC.
I hope that helps a bit!