Categorized as a “red” volcano as a result of the lava that periodical

Categorized as a “red” volcano as a result of the lava that periodically spews from its crater, a depression measuring 2,100 feet across and 750 feet deep, many cataclysmic explosions have been associated with Mt. Vesuvius since the volcano’s most famous eruption in 79 A.D.

What is categorized as a "red" Volcano? -> Mt. Vesuvius -> Hence We can drop options ABC easily

Now between D and E
Mt. Vesuvius has erupted cataclysmically many times since its most famous one in 79 A.D -> How is one referring to eruption? -> Hence wrong

Drop E as well

D is the correct answer

Sentence Structure:
Subject - Verb - Modifier

Categorized as a “red” volcano as a result of the lava

that( lava ) periodically spews from its crater,
a depression( its crater ) measuring 2,100 feet across and 750 feet deep,
Mt. Vesuvius has exploded cataclysmically many times since its most famous eruption in 79 A.D.

Issues:

What MUST be categorised as red volcano? ------> Mt. Vesuvius.
A, B and C: Modifier issue. OUT!

Answer choice analysis:

(A) many cataclysmic explosions have been associated with Mt. Vesuvius since the volcano’s most famous eruption in 79 A.D.

Modifier issue. OUT!

(B) they have associated many cataclysmic explosions with Mt. Vesuvius since its most famous eruption in 79 A.D.

Modifier issue. OUT!

(C) many cataclysmic explosions were associated with Mt. Vesuvius since its most famous eruption in 79 A.D.

Modifier issue. OUT!

(D) Mt. Vesuvius has exploded cataclysmically many times since its most famous eruption in 79 A.D.

Better than the rest. D is the champ!

(E) Mt. Vesuvius has erupted cataclysmically many times since its most famous one in 79 A.D.

its most famous ONE ---referes to a NOUN---> eruption or explosion.
However, the term "has erupted" is in form of verb, NOT noun. Thus, Option-E lacks the term that "one" can coin to.
OUT!

Learning - Go REAL slow with the last 2 options in SC.

IMO D

Categorized as a “red” volcano as a result of the lava that periodically spews from its crater, a depression measuring 2,100 feet across and 750 feet deep -- this is modifying the mountain not anything else so A,B,C are out

Coming to D and E

(D) Mt. Vesuvius has exploded cataclysmically many times since its most famous eruption in 79 A.D. -- correct

(E) Mt. Vesuvius has erupted cataclysmically many times since its most famous one in 79 A.D.-- last famous one refers to what?? Hence E incorrect

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Categorized as a “red” volcano as a result of the lava that periodically spews from its crater, a depression measuring 2,100 feet across and 750 feet deep, many cataclysmic explosions have been associated with Mt. Vesuvius since the volcano’s most famous eruption in 79 A.D.


(A) many cataclysmic explosions have been associated with Mt. Vesuvius since the volcano’s most famous eruption in 79 A.D. - Subject for the modifier should be Mt. Vesuvius. Incorrect.

(B) they have associated many cataclysmic explosions with Mt. Vesuvius since its most famous eruption in 79 A.D. - Subject for the modifier should be Mt. Vesuvius. Incorrect.

(C) many cataclysmic explosions were associated with Mt. Vesuvius since its most famous eruption in 79 A.D. - Subject for the modifier should be Mt. Vesuvius. Incorrect.

(D) Mt. Vesuvius has exploded cataclysmically many times since its most famous eruption in 79 A.D. - Concise. The subject for the modifier is Mt. Vesuvius. Correct.

(E) Mt. Vesuvius has erupted cataclysmically many times since its most famous one in 79 A.D. - 'one' is the problem here. One should refer to the eruption but it's not clear. Incorrect.

Hence, the answer is Option (D).

(A) many cataclysmic explosions have been associated with Mt. Vesuvius since the volcano’s most famous eruption in 79 A.D.
-- Incorrect: Modifier error "Categorized as a “red” volcano" should modify "Mt. Vesuvius".

(B) they have associated many cataclysmic explosions with Mt. Vesuvius since its most famous eruption in 79 A.D.
-- Incorrect: Same as A

(C) many cataclysmic explosions were associated with Mt. Vesuvius since its most famous eruption in 79 A.D.
-- Incorrect: Same as A

(D) Mt. Vesuvius has exploded cataclysmically many times since its most famous eruption in 79 A.D.
-- Correct: "Categorized as a “red” volcano" is modifying "Mt. Vesuvius" and antecedent for its is Mt. Vesuvius.

(E) Mt. Vesuvius has erupted cataclysmically many times since its most famous one in 79 A.D.
-- Incorrect: S-V agreement error with one.

(A) many cataclysmic explosions have been associated with Mt. Vesuvius since the volcano’s most famous eruption in 79 A.D.
- The underlined portion here is modifier for 'categorized as Red Volcano'. Now you should be thinking what could be categorized as Red Volcano? Can many cataclysmic explosions be the correct choice? No.

(B) they have associated many cataclysmic explosions with Mt. Vesuvius since its most famous eruption in 79 A.D.
- Same as A.

(C) many cataclysmic explosions were associated with Mt. Vesuvius since its most famous eruption in 79 A.D.
- Same as A and B.

(D) Mt. Vesuvius has exploded cataclysmically many times since its most famous eruption in 79 A.D.
- Correct. The portion of the sentence after the sentence has been modified correctly. There is no pronoun ambiguity.

(E) Mt. Vesuvius has erupted cataclysmically many times since its most famous one in 79 A.D.
- What does 'one' refer to here? Logically, it refers to eruption but do we have eruption anywhere in the sentence? Hence, incorrect option.

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION



THE PROMPT

• Split #1: Dangling modifier

The beginning of the sentence consists of a long noun modifier:
Categorized as a “red” volcano as a result of the lava that periodically spews from its crater, ...

(That long noun modifier is followed by an appositive that begins with "a depression that").

Try to isolate the important part of long modifiers. The appositive is set off by commas, a fact that almost always means it is not essential. We can eliminate it.

Similarly, "as a result of" simply describes why this noun is named as it is. We can strike most of the beginning this way:

Categorized as a “red” volcano as a result of the lava that periodically spews from its crater, a depression measuring 2,100 feet across and 750 feet deep,

Noun modifiers should be as close as possible to what they modify.

If a modifier is far away from its noun, we have a "dangling" or "misplaced" modifier.

What is "categorized as a 'red' volcano'"? Mt. Vesuvius!

Not many cataclysmic explosions or and many cataclysmic explosions, which options A and C use respectively.
Not they (whatever they means), which option B uses.

Mt. Vesuvius should be placed at the beginning of the clause that follows 750 feet deep.
Eliminate A, B, and C

-- Eliminate B also because they has no antecedent. Who are they?
-- Eliminate C also because
(1) and turns the sentence into babble. And implies that the first part is an independent clause with a working verb. The first part is not an independent clause; and
(2) the word "since" is a verb tense marker that requires present perfect have been associated.
-- "Since" means "from that time in the past until now."
-- The present perfect verb tense bridges the past and the present, indicating an event that started in the past and that continues into the present.

• Split #2: pronoun reference

In option E, the pronoun one should logically refer to the noun eruption.
No such noun exists. Only the verb erupted appears in the sentence.
A pronoun cannot refer to a verb.
(Jargon: A verb cannot act as an antecedent of a pronoun.)

Eliminate E

The answer is D.

Option D is correct because it places Mt. Vesuvius after the second comma and all the words that describe Mt. Vesuvius) and uses the singular pronoun [i]its[/] to refer to Vesuvius.

COMMENTS

On the GMAT, you will run into a question similar to this one—that is, a question that contains a hellishly long modifier.

Just remember (as did all the posters here) that your job is (1) to find the "core" of the modifier and (2) to find the option in which the noun is right after that modifier.

I am glad to see veterans, semi-veterans, and newish or new people posting.
Speaking of, ArindamLucky , welcome to SC Butler.

These answers range from very good to exceptional. Nicely done.

Hi there,

What changes do we need to make the option E correct.

Haardy7007


That's not generally an approach we want to take. The wrong answers are wrong for specific reasons, so if we can identify those, I suppose that tells us what to fix. At the same time, we can see what the right answer does that the wrong ones do not. In this case, the use of "one" in E has no clear antecedent. In other words, we could ask "one what?" D solves that by using a clear noun ("eruption") in place of "one." So the simplest answer is that we can improve E by making it more like D, specifically by replacing "one" with "eruption." Still, sometimes there are additional problems with the wrong answers, so it's better to focus on identifying errors than on repairing the incorrect choices.

Thanks so much. I always pick up 2nd best answer though there isn’t one, it’s one correct choice and 4 wrong choices. I get bogged down by commas and ICS and DCs.