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Poet laureates once served as courtiers to the royal family, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions like coronations, but now serve as ambassadors-at-large, charged with bringing poetry to the masses.

(A) Poet laureates once served as courtiers to the royal family, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions like

(B) Poet laureates once served as courtiers to the royal family, composing odes to preserve memories of such significant occasions as correct

(C) Royal family courtiers once served as poet laureates who composed odes to preserve memories of significant occasions such as subject changed, meaning changed

(D) Royal families once appointed poet laureates to serve as courtiers, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions such as same as C

(E) Once royal families appointed poet laureates to serve as courtiers, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions like Subject changed and meaning changed
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Poet laureates once served as courtiers to the royal family, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions like[/u] coronations, but now serve as ambassadors-at-large, charged with bringing poetry to the masses.


(A) Poet laureates once served as courtiers to the royal family, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions like
Usage of "like" to give an example is incorrect. Hence OUT.

(B) Poet laureates once served as courtiers to the royal family, composing odes to preserve memories of such significant occasions as
Error in option A has been rectified by using such as inplace of like

(C) Royal family courtiers once served as poet laureates who composed odes to preserve memories of significant occasions such as
Change in meaning ...It was "Poet Laureates" who once served as courtiers to the Royal family. This sentence says it was other way round ...
Rejected..


(D) Royal families once appointed poet laureates to serve as courtiers, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions such as
There is slight difference between this one and option C..
This says "Royal family appointed poet laureates to serve as courtier" which is perfectly fine (unlike Option C).. however, when u go to non-underlined part of the sentence it says "Royal family appointed ....., but now serve as ambassadors...." so it is not clear who now serve as ambassadors ...at the most it gives an impression that Royal families now serve as ambassadors ..whcih is totally unintended..

(E) Once royal families appointed poet laureates to serve as courtiers, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions like
Usage of "like" to give an example is incorrect. Hence OUT.
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Poet laureates once served as courtiers to the royal family, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions like coronations, but now serve as ambassadors-at-large, charged with bringing poetry to the masses.

(A) Poet laureates once served as courtiers to the royal family, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions like

(B) Poet laureates once served as courtiers to the royal family, composing odes to preserve memories of such significant occasions as

(C) Royal family courtiers once served as poet laureates who composed odes to preserve memories of significant occasions such as

(D) Royal families once appointed poet laureates to serve as courtiers, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions such as

(E) Once royal families appointed poet laureates to serve as courtiers, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions like

We can easily eliminate three asnwer choices by looking at non underlined part ...
but now serve as ambassadors-at-large, charged with bringing poetry to the masses
..it require poet laureates as subject ..so C , D , E gone
A and B --like cannot be used for examples ...
B is fine here by POE..
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hazelnut
Poet laureates once served as courtiers to the royal family, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions like coronations, but now serve as ambassadors-at-large, charged with bringing poetry to the masses.

(A) Poet laureates once served as courtiers to the royal family, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions like

(B) Poet laureates once served as courtiers to the royal family, composing odes to preserve memories of such significant occasions as

(C) Royal family courtiers once served as poet laureates who composed odes to preserve memories of significant occasions such as

(D) Royal families once appointed poet laureates to serve as courtiers, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions such as

(E) Once royal families appointed poet laureates to serve as courtiers, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions like


This is a bit tricky but the issue with C and d is that is changes the subject to royal family courtiers- poet laureates could be courtiers to the royal family and "now serve as ambassadors" but we can't necessarily make that generalization about royal family courtiers even though they may include poet laureates.
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1. incorrect usage of like - A E gone
2. meaning different - C and D - read non underline portion - Royal family seems to be ambassador, whereas originally poets are
B correct
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The answer is B
Split 1
We use such as to given an example
Split 2
The verb-ing clause should modify the preceding clause as it is after comma.


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Poet laureates once served as courtiers to the royal family, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions like coronations, but now serve as ambassadors-at-large, charged with bringing poetry to the masses.
This question requires understanding of multiple concepts such as:
1. Use of such as and like--- Always remember that for giving examples we must use 'such as'
2. Comma -ing rule.

(A) Poet laureates once served as courtiers to the royal family, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions like// Use of like is wrong for giving examples//

(B) Poet laureates once served as courtiers to the royal family, composing odes to preserve memories of such significant occasions as// Correct: Cause and effect question so correctly using comma -ing rule; Such as is used for giving examples//

(C) Royal family courtiers once served as poet laureates who composed odes to preserve memories of significant occasions such as// meaning is wrong//

(D) Royal families once appointed poet laureates to serve as courtiers, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions such as// It changes the meaning, according to this option royal family is composing odes//

(E) Once royal families appointed poet laureates to serve as courtiers, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions like// wrong: usage of like for giving examples//
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Note that the second main verb "serve" is not underlined. So, poet laureates must be the subject of the whole sentence. Eliminate C D and E.
"like" must not be used to give examples. Eliminate A.
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hazelnut
Poet laureates once served as courtiers to the royal family, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions like coronations, but now serve as ambassadors-at-large, charged with bringing poetry to the masses.

(A) Poet laureates once served as courtiers to the royal family, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions like

(B) Poet laureates once served as courtiers to the royal family, composing odes to preserve memories of such significant occasions as

(C) Royal family courtiers once served as poet laureates who composed odes to preserve memories of significant occasions such as

(D) Royal families once appointed poet laureates to serve as courtiers, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions such as

(E) Once royal families appointed poet laureates to serve as courtiers, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions like

to give example we use such as, we never use like to give an example.
we can also use the constructon Such noun as......

(A) Incorrect Poet laureates once served as courtiers to the royal family, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions like Like is wrongly used as explained above

(B) correct Poet laureates once served as courtiers to the royal family, composing odes to preserve memories of such significant occasions as
This is correct it usessuch noun as construction correctly and the modifer composing .................... is correctly modifyng the preceding clause Poes laureates does the job of composing

(C) Incorrect Royal family courtiers once served as poet laureates who composed odes to preserve memories of significant occasions such as
Meaning change: royal family courties does not serve as poet laureates but poet laureats serve royal families at the same time now royal famaly now doesn't serve as ambassador............... bur the poet laureates does................. this change of meaning is unacceptable

(D) Incorrect Royal families once appointed poet laureates to serve as courtiers, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions such as
same as option C modifier composing.............. is also wrongly modifying the previous clause

(E) Incorrect Once royal families appointed poet laureates to serve as courtiers, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions like
same as C and A
Hence B

Can you please tell how is B correct?
The modifier rule says that the noun which the modifier is modifying should physically be placed next to the modifier. And composing odes.. is the modifier.
And if we answer the question to Who is composing the answer will be poets. So should'nt poets be next to composing?
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Frankly, I don't see the meaning change in C.

Royal family courtiers...but now served as ambassadors.

What's the fuss all about? The courtiers now serve as ambassadors...

Royal family modifies 'courtiers'
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The differences are actually enormous in this case. Two things:

1) A and B say that poet laureates serve as ambassadors for poetry. C says that "royal family courtiers" serve in this role. Only one of those meanings can be the intended one. Which sounds like a person who would be an ambassador for poetry? Clearly a poet laureate. (This fits with the definition of the word "laureate" and the term "poet laureate" in particular.)

2) By switching the order, C now says that all courtiers were poet laureates. A courtier is a much broader category. All poet laureates may have been courtiers, but not all courtiers were poet laureates!

Overall, going with C is kind of like switching from "Spoons are used as eating utensils, but can also be used to measure" to "Eating utensils are used as spoons, but can also be used to measure." Two different big meaning problems in one little switch!
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How is the verb-ing modifier modifying the whole preceding clause and not only "the royal families" in answer B? The verb-ing modifier is not the end of the sentence, it is actually in the middle, and so far I have never seen a case on the GMAT in which a squeezed verb-ing modifier actually modifies the whole preceding clause.
I would appreciate it if somebody could enlighten me regarding my confusion.

Regarding the meaning, I believe that this question presupposes a bit too much knowledge about "poet laurettes" and "royal family courtiers" to make the answer for C very obviously wrong. I think it tests general knowledge more than reasoning in this case.
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Royal families once appointed poet laureates to serve as courtiers, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions such as coronations, but now serve as ambassadors-at-large, charged with bringing poetry to the masses.


Have a look at the above question. Is this correct? Is this outrightly wrong? Or Is this ambiguous?

These -ing modifiers have been eating me up ever since I started my preparation.
Do these -ing modifiers refer to the main subject of the previous clause ("Royal families" in this case)? or they refer to the subject of the nearest verb ("serve" in this case is the nearest verb and hence the subject would be "poet laureates" with this logic)?

Also, if there are 2 subjects present, does that make the sentence ambiguous?

Going through many answers here, I realized that even some of the experts seem to have differing opinions on this. I would be grateful if anyone can clarify this.


Thank you.
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Jarvis07
Royal families once appointed poet laureates to serve as courtiers, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions such as coronations, but now serve as ambassadors-at-large, charged with bringing poetry to the masses.


Have a look at the above question. Is this correct? Is this outrightly wrong? Or Is this ambiguous?

These -ing modifiers have been eating me up ever since I started my preparation.
Do these -ing modifiers refer to the main subject of the previous clause ("Royal families" in this case)? or they refer to the subject of the nearest verb ("serve" in this case is the nearest verb and hence the subject would be "poet laureates" with this logic)?

Also, if there are 2 subjects present, does that make the sentence ambiguous?

Going through many answers here, I realized that even some of the experts seem to have differing opinions on this. I would be grateful if anyone can clarify this.


Thank you.

Hello Jarvis07,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, if the "comma + present participle ("verb+ing")" construction is used to modify a clause, it modifies the main verb performed by the subject of the clause; thus, the action referred to by the participle must be one the subject can logically do.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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Jarvis07
Royal families once appointed poet laureates to serve as courtiers, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions such as coronations, but now serve as ambassadors-at-large, charged with bringing poetry to the masses.


Have a look at the above question. Is this correct? Is this outrightly wrong? Or Is this ambiguous?

These -ing modifiers have been eating me up ever since I started my preparation.
Do these -ing modifiers refer to the main subject of the previous clause ("Royal families" in this case)? or they refer to the subject of the nearest verb ("serve" in this case is the nearest verb and hence the subject would be "poet laureates" with this logic)?

Also, if there are 2 subjects present, does that make the sentence ambiguous?

Going through many answers here, I realized that even some of the experts seem to have differing opinions on this. I would be grateful if anyone can clarify this.


Thank you.

Hello Jarvis07,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, if the "comma + present participle ("verb+ing")" construction is used to modify a clause, it modifies the main verb performed by the subject of the clause; thus, the action referred to by the participle must be one the subject can logically do.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team


ExpertsGlobal5, thank you a lot for the response.
Just a follow-up query:
I understand that we need to logically find the referent for the "comma + present participle". But in cases where there are, let's say, 2 referents and either of two could work, should we treat the option as ambiguous or we should try to find the main subject of the sentence and assign the participle to it?
Also, would I be correct if I say that in the example given ("Royal families... masses"), the referent of "composing" is "poet laureates" because it logically sounds correct?
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Jarvis07
Royal families once appointed poet laureates to serve as courtiers, composing odes to preserve memories of significant occasions such as coronations, but now serve as ambassadors-at-large, charged with bringing poetry to the masses.

Have a look at the above question. Is this correct? Is this outrightly wrong? Or Is this ambiguous?

These -ing modifiers have been eating me up ever since I started my preparation.

Do these -ing modifiers refer to the main subject of the previous clause ("Royal families" in this case)? or they refer to the subject of the nearest verb ("serve" in this case is the nearest verb and hence the subject would be "poet laureates" with this logic)?

Also, if there are 2 subjects present, does that make the sentence ambiguous?

Going through many answers here, I realized that even some of the experts seem to have differing opinions on this. I would be grateful if anyone can clarify this.

Thank you.
Remember that GMAT SC is about choosing the BEST option out of the five available options. Is (D) wrong because it violates some strict grammar rule? No... but at best, the meaning in (D) is open to interpretation, as illustrated by your question and the confusion even among experts.

By using "poet laureates" as the subject, (B) eliminates that confusion, making it a much better option.

I hope that helps a bit!
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Although I got this one correct, I have a doubt.
I have read somewhere that "ing participle" refers back to the nearest logical noun. So in Option B, the nearest noun is royal families.

Pls help
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