Charles Lindbergh, for his attempt at a solo transatlantic flight, was

Charles Lindbergh, for his attempt at a solo transatlantic flight, was very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane, he therefore refused to carry even a pound of mail, despite being offered $1,000 to do so.

(A) Charles Lindbergh, for his attempt at a solo transatlantic flight, was very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane, he therefore

change in meaning : 'for his attempt at a solo transatlantic flight' means the flight was very 1st transatlantic flight.

(B) When Charles Lindbergh was attempting his solo transatlantic flight, being very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane, he
change in meaning. attempting & being reluctant simultaneously.

(C) Since he was very reluctant to carry any extra weight on his plane when he was attempting his solo transatlantic flight, so Charles Lindbergh
since & so redundant
(D) Being very reluctant to carry any extra weight on his plane when he attempted his solo transatlantic flight was the reason that Charles Lindbergh

Being very reluctant.....was the reason : meaning error

(E) Very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane when he attempted his solo transatlantic flight, Charles Lindbergh
correct

Charles Lindbergh, for his attempt at a solo transatlantic flight, was very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane, he therefore refused to carry even a pound of mail, despite being offered $1,000 to do so.

(A) Charles Lindbergh, for his attempt at a solo transatlantic flight, was very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane, he therefore - Run on sentence
(B) When Charles Lindbergh was attempting his solo transatlantic flight, being very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane, he - "being" is not correctly used as a modifier
(C) Since he was very reluctant to carry any extra weight on his plane when he was attempting his solo transatlantic flight, so Charles Lindbergh - usage of since and so is redundant
(D) Being very reluctant to carry any extra weight on his plane when he attempted his solo transatlantic flight was the reason that Charles Lindbergh - usage of being
(E) Very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane when he attempted his solo transatlantic flight, Charles Lindbergh - Correct

Answer E

One of the very challenging question that I have come across.
Let me try to demystify it.

(A) Charles Lindbergh, for his attempt at a solo transatlantic flight, was very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane, he therefore – WRONG- Run on- Two ICs joined without any coordinating conjunctions
(B) When Charles Lindbergh was attempting his solo transatlantic flight, being very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane, he – WRONG – Meaning Error- Here “Being very reluctant” is modifying the clause preceding it. Ideally, it should modify “he refused to carry even 1 pound of mail”. So whenever we have a modifier separated by two commas, it makes it unclear whether this modifier modifies the preceding noun or the following noun. Here is the scope of ambiguity in modification.
(C) Since he was very reluctant to carry any extra weight on his plane when he was attempting his solo transatlantic flight, so Charles Lindbergh – WRONG – “DC+ (,) + Coordinating Conjunction + IC” construction is wrong. Only IC can be joined with another IC with comma & coordinating conjunction.
(D) Being very reluctant to carry any extra weight on his plane when he attempted his solo transatlantic flight was the reason that Charles Lindbergh – Wrong- “Was the reason that” is not required. Unnecessary wordy. Sentence without that, replaced by comma (,) is much more concise & direct.
(E) Very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane when he attempted his solo transatlantic flight, Charles Lindbergh – Correct – “Very reluctant …….transatlantic flight” is correctly modifying Charles. It’s concise & direct.

Let's break down the whole syntax first.


Charles Lindbergh, for his attempt at a solo transatlantic flight, was very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane,
he therefore refused to carry even a pound of mail, despite being offered $1,000 to do so. (Adverbial Phrases are been crossed out)
> Whats important the most? :
[It is his 'Refusal' of something to do so]
[He = Charles Lindbergh]

> Which part(s) could be grammatically wrong? :
Charles Lindbergh, was very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane, he therefore refused to carry even a pound of mail, despite being offered $1,000 to do so.
[therefore is not a conjunction.]


-----[Jules' Quick Solution]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For all below: (Adverbial Phrases are been crossed out based on importance level)

(A) Charles Lindbergh, for his attempt at a solo transatlantic flight, was very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane, he therefore
> 'CL was reluctant ~~~ he there fore refused ~~~'
= there fore is not a [Conjunction] but a [Conjunctive Adverb]
- Could be one of colloquial sayings.

(B) When Charles Lindbergh was attempting his solo transatlantic flight, being very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane, he
> 'When he was attempting, he refused'
= sounds award: Was CL really in such situation, which could be the real moment of him stepping off his foot, thereby beginning his transatlantic fight?

(C) Since he was very reluctant to carry any extra weight on his plane when he was attempting his solo transatlantic flight, so Charles Lindbergh
> are redundant

(D) Being very reluctant to carry any extra weight on his plane when he attempted his solo transatlantic flight was the reason that Charles Lindbergh
> 'Being very ~~~, was the reason 'that' CL refused ~~~'
= Doesn't sound good to me at all

(E) Very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane when he attempted his solo transatlantic flight, Charles Lindberg
> 'Very reluctant to have any extra weight ~~~, CL refused ~~~'
= 'CL' 'refused' [Subject] [Verb] stay together
= 'CL' is explicitly written as the person who did the main verb (refused)
- Very reluctant to have any extra weight could be the second important information, which tells the reason why the [Main Subject] did [Main Verb] of the sentence.

I still dont understand why A is incorrect. This question has been bothering me for a long time. Is there any grammar topic on this form to tackle the same?

Hi Saarthak, as daagh Sir has mentioned above, option A is a run-on sentence: two Independent clauses connected by just a comma.

For example, it is perhaps easy to see why the following sentence is incorrect:

Saarthak prepared for GMAT, he aced it.

The above sentence is a run-on, because the two Independent clauses (1. Saarthak prepared for GMAT 2. he aced it) are just connected by a comma.

The correct sentence would be:

Saarthak prepared for GMAT, and he aced it.

Similarly, in the sentence under consideration, the following two Independent clauses are just connected by a comma:

1. Charles Lindbergh was very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane
2. he therefore refused to carry even a pound of mail, despite being offered $1,000 to do so.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses run-on sentences, their application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

regarding choice D
"reason that..." is wrong. "reason for which" is idiomatic.
good gmat score is the reason for which I get into havard.

the second error is
"being very reluctant" can not refer to "he" grammatically. this means "being very reluctant " is "being reluctant " of someone else. this makes no sense. th

the illogical meaning is " someone else's being reluctant ... when he attempted". this is meaningless.

if we want doing to refer to the subject of the following sentence, we need a main clause and doing phrase

learning english well, I pass gmat.

Charles Lindbergh, for his attempt at a solo transatlantic flight, was very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane, he therefore refused to carry even a pound of mail, despite being offered $1,000 to do so.

Meaning Analysis: Charles made an attempt at flying solo across the Atlantic. He did not want to add any unwanted weight to his flight. Hence, despite being offered $1000, he refused to carry a mail that weighed just one pound.

Sentence Structure
Charles Lindbergh (Subject)
, for his attempt at a solo transatlantic flight, (Prepositional phrase in a COMMA PAIR modifying the previous subject)
was very reluctant (Verb) ("very" is modifying "reluctant")
to have any extra weight on his plane (Object of the sentence)
, he (Subject) (non-possessive pronoun referring to the noun "Charles Lindbergh")
therefore (Key word that indicates the result)
refused (Verb of subject "he")
to carry even a pound of mail (object of the sentence)
, despite being offered $1,000 to do so. (Additional information of the previous clause)



The placement of the prepositional phrase makes this sentence sound a bit off. But SC is not about what "sounds" correct. So we cannot reject this choice based on the placement of this modifier, since this modifier correctly modifies the noun "Charles". However, we have a deterministic error w.r.t the structure of the sentence. The two ICs are connect by a COMMA and that is not acceptable. We need "COMMA + FANBOYS" to connect two ICs.

FANBOYS - for, and, not, but, or, yet, so
E.g. Ron played the guitar, and Hoozan sang the song - Correct
E.g. Ron played the guitar, Hoozan sang the song - Incorrect

Usage of Being - "Being" is just a regular modifier and it seems to correctly modify the previous clause. This sentence is a great example to show that "being" does not make an answer choice incorrect.


I don't believe that "being" is correctly used out here. It doesn't make sense to say that "Charles", being very reluctant, did not carry the mail.

Note - The DC "when CL was attempting..." is correctly connected to the IC "he refused to carry..." by a COMMA. anairamitch1804 has given a great explanation



The "so" out here makes this entire choice incorrect. "Since" and "so" basically perform the same function. Thus the usage of "so" is not only redundant but it also makes this choice lack an IC. And as we all know, a sentence must have at least one subject and one verb - IC, to convey the intended meaning.


"Being" is correctly used out here and this modifier modifies the subject "he". However, the phrase "was the reason that" makes this choice inferior.


All the subject and verb make sense. The DC "Very reluctant..." is correctly connected by the IC "Charles..." by a COMMA. The intended meaning is conveyed without any ambiguity.

Correct Choice: (E)

EducationAisle

Dear Ashish Sir, in (A), for his attempt at a solo transatlantic flight, is wrong because it distorts the meaning that he was reluctant for his attempts, whereas my understanding is that it should be "In his attempt " instead of for his attempts,

is my understanding is correct, Please clarify.

Thank you

Hi PrashantK0099, as mentioned in this post, the main issue with A is that it is a run-on sentence: two Independent clauses, connected by just a comma.

Okay Sir, which is correct, for his attempt or in his attempt. Or both are correct idiomatically?

Hi Prashant, in his attempt is more idiomatic, though we don't have this available in any option.

However, it's better to look for grammatical/meaning related errors as well (for example, A is a run-on sentence).

In E part, is the use of When appropriate? I read somewhere that when has to refer to a specific time period. Please help.

Hi

You are correct in that "when" must refer to a specific point or period in time. However, in conventional English usage, such a point or period of time need not always be specified in absolute terms (by a date or a day) but also in relative terms ie; relative to some other event or occurrence.

That is exactly what is happening here.

"When" was he very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane? At the point in time when he attempted his solo transatlantic flight.

Therefore, the use of "when" is perfectly appropriate.

Hope this clarifies.

A was eliminated because two independent clause, isn't E is also same? comma is connecting two independent clause as well

Hi svasan05 EducationAisle ExpertsGlobal5 GMATinsight MartyTargetTestPrep

If A option were:
Charles Lindbergh, for his attempt at a solo transatlantic flight, was very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane, therefore, He refused to carry even a pound of mail, despite being offered $1,000 to do so.

Would it still be incorrect?
Therefore is usually used as conclusion.
One part: premises -soemthing happens
2nd part: Therefore, xxx

Please clarify.

If wrong, why is it so? What could be the word inplace of therefore that the sentence is correct?
Charles Lindbergh, for his attempt at a solo transatlantic flight, was very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plan[b]e, SO, He [/b] refused to carry even a pound of mail, despite being offered $1,000 to do so.



2.
(C) Since he was very reluctant to carry any extra weight on his plane when he was attempting his solo transatlantic flight, so Charles Lindbergh

In C, Since and so are both used
Both can be used together- think yes. Please confirm
Even if one of them is absent then also sentence should be correct?
Please confirm
(C1) Since he was very reluctant to carry any extra weight on his plane when he was attempting his solo transatlantic flight, so Charles Lindbergh
(C2) Since he was very reluctant to carry any extra weight on his plane when he was attempting his solo transatlantic flight, so Charles Lindbergh

"therefore" is an adverb, not a conjunction