Plants are more efficient at acquiring carbon than are fungi, in the

You could drive yourself absolutely nuts on this one if you get tunnel-vision, and obsess over the comparison in the underlined portion, as discussed in last Wednesday's verbal chat (transcript is available here). But the action is mostly in the non-underlined portion in this sentence. Two things you should ideally notice:

• "Plants are more efficient at acquiring carbon than are fungi, in the form of carbon dioxide..." --> this is going to make a whole lot more sense if "in the form of carbon dioxide" is right next to "carbon", not "fungi."
• Plants are more efficient at acquiring carbon than are fungi, in the form of carbon dioxide, and converting it to energy-rich sugars. --> looks like some parallelism needs to happen here, so we'll need to keep an eye on that, too

"...fungi, in the form of carbon dioxide..." really doesn't work. Eliminate A.


Same mistake as in (A). Plus, I'd argue that the underlined portion is a little bit confusing, even if we ignore the rest of the sentence: it seems like this could be saying that the plants acquire carbon more efficiently than plants acquire fungi. And that doesn't make sense, obviously. (For more on meaning issues in SC, check out our long-winded Topic of the Week.) Either way, eliminate (B).


Looks good! Keep (C).


This isn't a sentence at all, since the subject "plants" never actually performs an action. Eliminate (D).


Arguably the same meaning issue as in (B). Plus, the parallelism doesn't work: something has to be parallel to "converting", since that's the word that follows "and" in the non-underlined portion... and we really don't have any options at all. Eliminate (E).

(C) is correct.
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What really makes this sentence clearer is the "in the form of carbon dioxide". This modifies carbon not fungi and hence should be placed as close as possible to its noun, carbon.

Hello Everyone!

Let's take a closer look at this question to determine the best way to tackle it! First, here is the original question, with the major differences between the options highlighted in orange:

Plants are more efficient at acquiring carbon than are fungi, in the form of carbon dioxide, and converting it to energy-rich sugars.

(A) Plants are more efficient at acquiring carbon than are fungi
(B) Plants are more efficient at acquiring carbon than fungi
(C) Plants are more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon
(D) Plants, more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon
(E) Plants acquire carbon more efficiently than fungi

After a quick glance over the question and available options, it's clear that this is a comparison sentence! Whenever we see items being compared, there are a few things we can focus on to help us find the right option:

1. Parallelism (both items need to be written using similar wording, verb tenses, structure, etc.)
2. Comparing like with like (both items need to be the same in kind...such as comparing apples to apples...not apples to apple trees)
3. Check for modifiers to indicate what order things should be in

If you look closely, there IS a modifier right after the underlined part of this sentence: "...in the form of carbon dioxide...." What is in the form of carbon dioxide? The fungi, or the carbon? The carbon! This means that the word "carbon" MUST come directly before the modifier "in the form of carbon dioxide" for it to make sense! Let's see how our options stack up:

(A) Plants are more efficient at acquiring carbon than are fungi
(B) Plants are more efficient at acquiring carbon than fungi
(C) Plants are more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon
(D) Plants, more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon
(E) Plants acquire carbon more efficiently than fungi

We can eliminate options A, B, and E because they don't place the antecedent directly before/after the modifier!

Now that we're only left with 2 options, let's take a closer look at each. To make this easier, I've gone ahead and added the rest of the sentence to each option.

(C) Plants are more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon, in the form of carbon dioxide, and converting it to energy-rich sugars.

This is CORRECT! There is a clear subject and verb, and there is no question that the modifier phrase "in the form of carbon dioxide" is clearly referring to carbon!

(D) Plants, more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon, in the form of carbon dioxide, and converting it to energy-rich sugars.

While this sentence correctly places carbon before the modifier phrase, it's still INCORRECT because it's missing a verb! If you were to pair up the subject (Plants) with any of these clauses, NONE of them would create a complete sentence! That's a clear indication that there is no verb to connect the subject to all of these other phrases!

There you have it - option C is our answer! By knowing the common problems with comparison sentences, we can quickly spot problems and get to the right answer quickly!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
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Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of this sentence is that plants are more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon, and the carbon involved in this process is in the form of carbon dioxide.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Modifiers + Grammatical Construction + Parallelism + Comparison

• In a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction.
• A comparison must always be made between similar things.
• Any elements linked by conjunction ("and" in this case) must be parallel.

A: This answer choice incorrectly modifies "fungi" with "in the form of carbon dioxide", illogically implying that plants are more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon, and the fungi involved in this process is in the form of carbon dioxide; the intended meaning is that plants are more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon, and the carbon involved in this process is in the form of carbon dioxide; remember, in a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun.

B: This answer choice incorrectly modifies "fungi" with "in the form of carbon dioxide", illogically implying that plants are more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon, and the fungi involved in this process is in the form of carbon dioxide; the intended meaning is that plants are more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon, and the carbon involved in this process is in the form of carbon dioxide; remember, in a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Further, Option B incorrectly compares "carbon" to "fungi"; please remember, a comparison must always be made between similar things.

C: Correct.This answer choice acts upon the independent subject "Plants" with the independent verb phrase "are more efficient" to form a complete thought, leading to a complete sentence. Further, Option C correctly modifies "carbon" with "in the form of carbon dioxide", conveying the intended meaning - that plants are more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon, and the carbon involved in this process is in the form of carbon dioxide. Additionally, Option C correctly compares "Plants" and "fungi". Besides, Option C correctly maintains parallelism between "acquiring" and "converting".

D: This answer choice fails to form a complete sentence; as "more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon" and "converting it to energy-rich sugars" are modifiers, there is no active verb to act upon the subject "Plants".

E: This answer choice incorrectly modifies "fungi" with "in the form of carbon dioxide", illogically implying that plants are more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon, and the fungi involved in this process is in the form of carbon dioxide; the intended meaning is that plants are more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon, and the carbon involved in this process is in the form of carbon dioxide; remember, in a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Further, Option E fails to maintain parallelism between "acquire" and "converting"; please remember, any elements linked by conjunction ("and" in this case) must be parallel.

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Phrase Comma Subject" and "Subject Comma Phrase" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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C simply makes the sentence easiest to read;
grouping plants and fungi in the beginning of the sentence allows "acquiring carbon, in the form of carbon dioxide".
No other option does the same.

You need to look at the modifier following the underlined sentence, ... in refers to carbon and not fungi so the end of the main clause should be carbon.

Let us clarify a few things first. ‘fungi’ are also a kind of lower level plants. It is plural and its singular form is ‘fungus’.

The real comparison is between plants and fungi, two different nouns.

The prepositional modifier ‘in the form of carbon dioxide’ must be close to its noun modifier ‘carbon’ , probably it is best to posit them next to next.

IMO, When you say ‘plants are’, then ther is no need to say ‘than are fungi’, since the comparison is straight between two nouns, rather than between what they do. However when you say ‘plants acquire’, then you have to also say ‘fungi acquire’ or ‘fungi do’ or some such appropriate form since, the comparison moves on to a dynamic action done by the two arms of comparison

A. Plants are more efficient at acquiring carbon than are fungi---- two errors, wrong word order of carbon and use of ‘are fungi’
B. Plants are more efficient at acquiring carbon than fungi – wrong word order of carbon
C. Plants are more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon- correct word order and comparison
D. Plants, more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon – this is not a sentence but a fragment
E. Plants acquire carbon more efficiently than fungi --- two errors; one of wrong word order and not using the action word for fungi.
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the more I study og question, the more I see that og question is great.

regarding oa c.

we do not need "fungi are" because there is ambiguity here. before "than" there is only one agent "plants" so, there is no ambiguity

if there are 2 agents before "than" , there is ambiguity and we have to add "do/dose" to avoid ambiguity. consider

plants like water more than fungi do.

there are 2 agents "plant" and "water" before "than" , so there is ambiguity. "do" clear the ambiguity.

Plants are more efficient at acquiring carbon than are fungi, in the form of carbon dioxide, and converting it to energy-rich sugars.

A. Plants are more efficient at acquiring carbon than are fungi
B. Plants are more efficient at acquiring carbon than fungi
C. Plants are more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon
D. Plants, more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon --> lacks a VERB
E. Plants acquire carbon more efficiently than fungi

A,B,E are at the first sight out MODIFIER -in the form of carbon dioxide- MUST modify CARBON and not Fungi. D lacks a VERB - OUT. We are left with choice C.

The plants and fungi are two types of organisms that absorb Carbon from the atmpospheric carbon-di-oxide. The essential factor is that the modifier ‘in the form of CO2’ must be placed just next to the word carbon, in order to avoid the absurd meaning of fungi being absorbed in the form of CO2. So confidently dump, A, B and E.

Left with C and D: D is an outright fragment. C wins.

P.S: fungi is plural; fungus is the singular form of fungi
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Check for the middle clause "in the form of carbon dioxide". This middle clause should modify carbon. Also check for the third clause "converting it to energy-rich sugars", this should refer to carbon. So carbon should end the first clause. Also if we eliminate the middle clause then sentence should make sense. Given these premises option C seems the best fit --> "Plants are more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon and converting it to energy-rich sugars."

source: Manhattan GMAT SC Navigator Explanation.

Split 1. Modifier: "in the form of carbon dioxide" is a prepositional phrase. Prepositional phrases can modify nouns or the main clause of the preceding sentence. In this case, the prepositional phrase is saying "in the form of carbon dioxide". What can be "in the form of carbon dioxide"? Logically, the answer is carbon. ...Let's take a look at the previous sentence, it says "Plants are more efficient at acquiring carbon than are fungi," .... there are 3 items: Plants, Carbon and Fungi. Plants and Fungi are the same species or the same type of subject while carbon is not. Logically, using the lego pieces you have, to be clear you need to compare Plants with Fungi and have carbon close to the noun modifier (the prepositional phrase). Following this logic you can eliminate A, B and E.

Split 2. Structure - Sentence Fragment. "Plants, more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon," No verb exist for the subject Plants. "more efficient..." and "in the form..." are modifiers. A verb would have to come before ",and converting" D is out.

Split3. Comparison. "X than Y" In B and E the comparison is illogical, ambiguous at best. B and E are in the form of "Cats hate dogs more than mice", this could mean that "cats hate dogs more than cats hate mice" or "cats hate dogs more than mice do". B and E are out.

Split4. Parallelism. "and converting it" at the end of the sentence must be in parallel to the prior parts. E does not follow parallelism because it misses an "ing" such as A, B, C and D have: "acquiring...and converting it" E is out.

Plants are more efficient at acquiring carbon than are fungi, in the form of carbon dioxide, and converting it to energy-rich sugars.

Point to remember: ALWAYS read the complete sentence. Here the author has used "and". Thus we must always be looking for parallel structures. Since "converting" is in verb+ing form "acquiring" must also be in verb+ing form.

(A) Plants are more efficient at acquiring carbon than are fungi -The 2 things which are being compared should be close to each other
(B) Plants are more efficient at acquiring carbon than fungi -This sentence means that plants acquire carbon more efficiently than they acquire fungi. The comparison/meaning is absurd.
(C) Plants are more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon -CORRECT
(D) Plants, more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon -The structure of the sentence is very awkward.
(E) Plants acquire carbon more efficiently than fungi -Out because of the aforesaid reasoning.

Plants are more efficient at acquiring carbon than are fungi, in the form of carbon dioxide, and converting it to energy-rich sugars.

The original sentence places the modifier 'in the form of carbon dioxide' next to the noun fungi. This does not make sense. Hence eliminate A, B and E

Between C and D, option D the modifier 'more efficient than fungi at acquiring carbon' modifies plants and ignoring that makes the sentence awkward.

Answer is C

Hello sasyaharry,

You have presented a very to-the-point analysis. Great job. Keep it up.

I just want to add that Choice D is plain incorrect because there is no verb for the subject Plant. Because of this missing verb, we cannot even call this structure a sentence.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha


P.S.: I simply adore your tagline. Very creative and amusing I must say.
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in the form of carbon dioxide - Is it an adverbial modifier or adjectival modifier?

When I ask question "How do plants acquire carbon?" - in the form of carbon dioxide - seems like adverbial modifier

And from my understanding adverbial modifier doesn't need to be close to carbon.

Can someone please explain the flaw in my above understanding?
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To solve this quickly, we need to understand two things:

1. What are the two nouns compared here?
2. What is the correct word order?

Plants and fungi are the two things under consideration. The correct structure here is X are more efficient than Y.

Keeping this in mind, we can eliminate Options A, B and E right off the bat.

Option D is a fragment and can be eliminated.

Option C is the right answer.

Hope this helps!

Hello shameekv1989,

I am not sure if you still have this doubt. Nonetheless, here is the reply.

In this official sentence, the prepositional phrase modifier in the form of carbon dioxide is meant to modify the noun carbon. What in the form of carbon dioxide? Carbon in this form. The information is specific to carbon and not the action of taking because "something" has to be in the form of carbon dioxide. And per the context of the sentence, only carbon can be that "something". Hence, this modifier must be placed next to carbon.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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A. 'in the form of carbon dioxide' modifies fungi instead of the carbon.
B. Same as A
C. Correct.
D. This sentence implies that 'Plants are in the form of carbon dioxide'.(remove the portion offset
by the commas)
E. Same as A.