TheUltimateWinner wrote:
Sir, why do we think that the essential modifier is necessary here? If the sentence is something below which one should we choose?
Although some had accused Smith, the firm’s network manager, of negligence when the crucial data went missing, the CEO defused
B. a situation that was quite tense, by publicly stating that the debacle was not Smith’s fault
B1. a situation, which was quite tense, by publicly stating that the debacle was not Smith’s fault
if we choose choice B1 that means we are ignoring the 'diffused' part. But, why do we think that we need the part that is being diffused?
An analogy:
Children feared John because he had a face that never smiled.If we omit the modifier in blue, we get:
Children feared John because he had a face.The sentence is red does not tell the whole story.
Children did not fear John because he had face; all people have faces.
Rather, children feared John because he had a particular TYPE of face:
a face THAT NEVER SMILEDFor this reason, the modifier in blue is considered ESSENTIAL to the meaning.
A similar line of reasoning can be applied to the SC above.
The CEO did not simply defuse a situation.
Rather, the CEO defused a particular TYPE of situation:
a situation THAT WAS QUITE TENSESince the modifier in green is essential to the meaning, it cannot be rephrased in B1 as a nonessential modifier.
Quote:
What if the choice B is replaced with B1 in the original SC? Should we choose that option (B1) as a correct choice then?
The GMAT would not replace B with B1, so this question is moot.
Quote:
= how do you sort out the parts of speech from the combination of so many words (not to have been Smith's fault). We saw the parts of speech could be just a single word (not combination of so many words).
Question:
What is considered
not to have been Smith's fault?
Answer:
The DEBACLE.
Since only an adjective can modify a noun such as
debacle, the phrase in red must be serving as an adjective.
Thanks you very much. Learned a different things!