Pack 12 Q3: Since the last few decades, increasing demands...

Question

Pack 12, Question 3 of 5:

Since the last few decades, increasing demands on sockeye salmon fishing, which occurs largely in Bristol Bay, could alter their population,  which would change the fishing limits, and to make them decrease in size , more unique, and more in demand.

A. which would change the fishing limits, and to make them decrease in size
 
B. and it would change the fishing limits, make them smaller

C. and change the fishing limits, making them decrease in size

D. changing the fishing limits and making them smaller
 
E. changing the fishing limits, and making them decrease in size

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ArunSharma12 · Answer

Ans: D
Since the last few decades, increasing demands on sockeye salmon fishing, which occurs largely in Bristol Bay, could alter their population,  which would change the fishing limits, and to make them decrease in size , more unique, and more in demand.

A.  which would change the fishing limits, and to make them decrease in size;  this option is a run-on sentence. Moreover which can not modify the whole clause before it  could alter their population  
 
 B.  and it would change the fishing limits, make them smaller;  it seems to be parallel to increasing demands but it does not goes well with a plural subject.

C.  and change the fishing limits, making them decrease in size;  change seems to be parallel to  alter . this options says increasing demands could change the fishing limits. This option is different in meaning from option A where change in population would change the finishing limits

D.  changing the fishing limits and making them smaller;  changing modifies the clause  could alter their population . making them smaller, more unique, and more in demand are parallel 
 
 E.  changing the fishing limits, and making them decrease in size;  changing.. is fine. making them decrease is not parallel to more unique, and more in demand.

aniket2045 · Answer

Since the last few decades, increasing demands on sockeye salmon fishing, which occurs largely in Bristol Bay, could alter their population, which would change the fishing limits, and to make them decrease in size, more unique, and more in demand.

A.  which  would change the fishing limits, and to make them decrease in size- modifies population- wrong usage.

B. and  it  would change the fishing limits, make them smaller- No antecedent for IT.

C. and  change  the fishing limits, making them decrease in size- Parallel with alter but 'making' modifies both the parallel clause and changes the meaning.

D. changing the fishing limits and making them smaller - No error..

E. changing the fishing limits, and making them decrease in size- Smaller Vs. Decrease in size-- Smaller is more parallel with rest of the sentence. So E is wrong.

Option D is answer.

Raxit85 · Answer

Since the last few decades, increasing demands on sockeye salmon fishing, which occurs largely in Bristol Bay, could alter their population, which would change the fishing limits, and to make them decrease in size, more unique, and more in demand.

Since the last few decades, increasing demands on SS fishing , which occurs largely in BB,  could alter their population, which would change the fishing limits and to make them decrease in size, more unique and more in demand. right side of and violates parallelism. Can which refer to population? No, i don't think so.

A.  which would  change the fishing limits, and  to make  them decrease in size - Same as above

B.  and it would change the fishing limits, make them smaller  - it is incorrectly used and violates the parallelism.

C.  and change the  fishing limits, making them  decrease in size  - increasing demands could alter their population and change the fishing limits,..... means decrease demands size was due to change fishing limit. decrease in size is wordy structure. This option changes the meaning of original sentence.

D. changing the fishing limits and making them smaller - increasing demands could alter their population, changing fishing limits & making them smaller. Here, changing fishing limits & making them smaller modifies the action of preceding clause, i.e. alteration. That conveys correct meaning and no other error.

E. changing the fishing limits , and making them decrease in size  - decrease in size is wordy and comma before and is suspicious, making comma splice error.

Imo. D

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Official Explanation

Since the last few decades, increasing demands on sockeye salmon fishing, which occurs largely in Bristol Bay, could alter their population,  which would change the fishing limits, and to make them decrease in size , more unique, and more in demand.

A.  which would change  the fishing limits,  and to make them decrease in size  
 
 B.  and it would change  the fishing limits,  make them smaller

C.  and change  the fishing limits,  making them decrease in size

D.  changing  the fishing limits and  making them smaller  
 
 E.  changing  the fishing limits, and  making them decrease in size

After a quick glance over the options, we have a few key differences we can focus on:

1. which would change / and it would change / and change / changing (Parallelism/Verb Choice)
2. to make / make / making (Parallelism/Verb Choice)
3. decrease in size / smaller (Wordiness)

This question has to do with two main grammar issues:  parallelism & wordiness .  Since #3 on our list is an easy “either/or” split, let’s start with wordiness.  The phrase “decrease in size” means the same thing as “smaller,” so why say three words when one word will do? You don’t! Let’s eliminate any options that use the overly wordy phrase “decrease in size.”

A. which would change the fishing limits, and to make them  decrease in size 
 
B. and it would change the fishing limits, make them  smaller

C. and change the fishing limits, making them  decrease in size

D. changing the fishing limits and making them  smaller 
 
E. changing the fishing limits, and making them  decrease in size

We can eliminate options A, C, & E because the phrase “decrease in size” is overly wordy.  Now that we have it narrowed down to only two options, let’s tackle #1 & #2 on our list: parallelism. We need to make sure that the verbs and phrases are worded similarly, use the same verbs, and follow the same general structure. To make problems easier to spot, we’ve added in the non-underlined portions. 
 
B. Since the last few decades, increasing demands on sockeye salmon fishing, which occurs largely in Bristol Bay, could alter their population,  and  it  would  change the fishing limits, make them smaller, more unique, and more in demand.

This is  INCORRECT  for two reasons. First, we have a vague “it” pronoun, which could be referring to demands, sockeye salmon fishing, Bristol Bay, or population. Second, by starting the list with “change the fishing limits, make them smaller,” you are changing what list we need to make parallel. Here’s a quick breakdown:

What the list  should  be: 
changing the fishing limits
making them smaller, more unique, and more in demand

What the list actually is in option B: 
change the fishing limits
make them smaller
more unique
more in demand

For this to be parallel, the non-underlined portion would have to match the underlined portion by saying “make them more unique, and make them more in demand.” Since you cannot change the non-underlined portion, we must eliminate this option.

D. Since the last few decades, increasing demands on sockeye salmon fishing, which occurs largely in Bristol Bay, could alter their population,   changing  the fishing limits and  making  them  smaller, more unique, and more in demand.

This is  CORRECT ! The phrases and lists are grouped together properly, everything is parallel, and it’s concise!

There you have it - option D is our choice!  By focusing on easy “either/or” splits in the beginning, we can eliminate several options before getting into more complex issues!

Don’t study for the GMAT. Train for it.

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done,  ArunSharma12 ! You cracked the code on this one! Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done,  aniket2045 ! You cracked the code on this one! Kudos to you!

EMPOWERgmatVerbal · Answer

Well done,  Raxit85 ! You cracked the code on this one! Kudos to you!

Namangupta1997 · Answer

Hi  EMPOWERgmatVerbal

The only reason I eliminated D was because "them" seemed to be modifying "fishing limits" and hence altering the meaning of the sentence. What am I missing ?

rishabhg2712 · Answer

Hi  EMPOWERgmatVerbal ,

I am not clear about the meaning that this sentence is trying to convey.

As per the OA "increasing demands on sockeye salmon fishing could alter  their  population, making  them  smaller ". This sentence suggests that because of increasing demands, the size (absolute shape & size) of sockeye salmon is reducing. How can increased demands result in smaller size of fish?

Using the structure as per OA certainly makes the sentence more concise, but the meaning is lost.

Furthermore, the items in the list (more unique, and more in demand), suggest that as the population decreases and the demand increases.

Since we are looking at effect of increase in demand by using verb-ing modifer, a more appropriate OA, as per my understanding, should be " changing the fishing limits and making their population smaller "

Please let me know, where am I faltering here.

Thanks in advance!

Regards,
Rishabh

PS : I found a similar question " https://gmatclub.com/forum/over-the-next-few-years-increasing-demands-on-the-chattahoochee-river-35177.html#p241982 "

In this question the effect of "increasing demands on the Chattahoochee River" is directly related to the "decrease in size of the oysters" because "the salinity of river changes". Hence, the structure makes more sense.

Pack 12 Q3: Since the last few decades, increasing demands...

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Pack 12 Q3: Since the last few decades, increasing demands...

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615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

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