In its journal, the U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced tha

Ugh, there are way too many words here for a weekend QOTD.

For whatever it’s worth, though: sometimes, I meet people who are really intimidated by these long, fully underlined sentences. But think of them as a gift: there are usually plenty of juicy errors in the longer sentences, and it’s just a question of being patient about finding them.


The first things that catch my eye here are the “its” and “it” in the first line (both of which seem to refer to the Minor Planet Center) and the two uses of “which” later in the sentence… both of which seem OK to me. Sure, this thing feels wordy – and it even feels kind of weird to have two “which” phrases so close to each other – but that’s not a crime.

I don’t really like the sentence, but nobody cares what I think. I don’t see any definite errors, so I guess we have to keep (A).


Hm, this garbage is pretty subtle. There’s something wrong about that first part of the sentence: “The MPC announced in its journal that in the international minor planet table that it would officially name…” The word order here doesn’t quite make sense: the second “that” seems to be modifying “minor planet table.” Sure, you could argue that the phrase “that it would officially name” can “reach back” to “in its journal… that it would officially name”, but it’s definitely not as clear as it should be.

I’m also pretty uncomfortable with the parallelism in the last part of the sentence: those two modifiers beginning with “which” are parallel to each other, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen two parallel “which” modifiers in the same sentence on the GMAT – at least not in a correct answer. Again, I’m not CERTAIN that this is wrong, but (A) seems better.

If you want to be conservative and hang onto (B), I wouldn’t blame you one bit. But (A) doesn’t have the parallelism and modifier placement issues that (B) does, and the meaning is better in (A).



There are some funky little things in here. For example, I don’t quite understand the use of the phrase “which is to be officially named… as ‘Muqin Shuijao’…” Seems like a waste of words, and we don’t figure out that the MPC is performing the act of naming the planet until the very end of the sentence. It would be much more direct to say that the MPC “announced that it would name the planet…” – as we see in (A).

More importantly: this thing isn’t even a sentence. It starts with an “-ed” modifier, followed by the subject (“minor planet number 207715…”)… but then the subject never actually “performs” a verb. So (C) is out.


I don’t like that this is so subtle, either. (And again: the GMAT really doesn't care what I like, anyway. If it did, each of the questions would come with a side of French fries, or at least some nice, warm lavash bread or something.) But what the heck is “in its journal” doing at the very end of the sentence? It modifies the phrase “the MPC announced” – which is way back at the beginning of the sentence. As written, (D) sounds like the planet will be named in the journal itself, and that makes no sense: the planet will be named in the international minor planet table – and the announcement will be made in the journal. So (D) is gone, too.


This is a nice, straightforward “-ed” modifier error. (More on “-ed” words here.) Literally, the sentence seems to be saying that the MPC was discovered by scientists, and that definitely doesn’t work. (E) is gone, and we’ll settle for (A).
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Another tough one. I went with "A" finally, hoping that my answer will be correct.

In its journal, the U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced that it would officially name minor planet number 207715, which was discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in the international minor planet table.

(A) In its journal, the U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced that it would officially name minor planet number 207715, which was discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in the international minor planet table.
--Correct.
-- In its journal, the U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced that it would officially name minor planet number 207715, which was discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in the international minor planet table --> If we go through the part that is not striked, the sentence makes sense. All the modifiers are modifying correctly what they should modify.

(B) The U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced in its journal that in the international minor planet table that it would officially name minor planet number 207715 “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English and which was discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007.
--1. The construction is very very awkward.
--2. "that" is wrongly used.
--3. "which" highlighted in red is wrong, since the scientists didn't discover the word "Muqin Shuijao", instead they discovered planet number 207715.

(C) Discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, minor planet number 207715, which is to be officially named in the international minor planet table as “Muqin Shuijao”, or “water cellar for mothers” in English, as announced by the U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) in its journal.
--1.This is not a sentence.

(D) The U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced that in the international minor planet table, minor planet number 207715, which was discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, will officially be named “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in its journal.
--1. The first "that" should be followed by a noun, but here it is followed by a prepositional phrase. I would prefer a construction such as given in option A "announced that it"
--2. "in its journal" is used very ambiguously. The announcement was made in the journal but from the option it seems as if the table in which the name will be updated is present in the journal.
--3. "in its journal" should modify MPC, but it is very far from "MPC".

(E) Discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, the U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced in its journal that it will officially name minor planet number 207715 as “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in the international minor planet table.
--1. The MPC wasn't discovered by the chinese scientists. This is a case of misplaced modifier.

In its journal, the U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced that it would officially name minor planet number 207715, which was discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in the international minor planet table. -

(A) In its journal, the U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced that it would officially name minor planet number 207715, which was discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in the international minor planet table.
"In the IMP table" has an ambiguous meaning. It can either say that the modification of name is done in the international minor planet table or Muqin Shuijao meant water cellar for mothers in the international minor planet table.Eliminated due to ambiguity in meaning.


(B) The U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced in its journal that in the international minor planet table that it would officially name minor planet number 207715 “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English and which was discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007.
Double usage of 'that' makes the sentence awkward in the first place. Eliminated


(C) Discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, minor planet number 207715, which is to be officially named in the international minor planet table as “Muqin Shuijao”, or “water cellar for mothers” in English, as announced by the U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) in its journal.
Focusing on the sentence structure, we have one similar to - "Discovered by X, planet Z, which is to be ABC,as announced by..... " Planet Z has no verb in the sentence. Eliminated

(D) The U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced that in the international minor planet table, minor planet number 207715, which was discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, will officially be named “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in its journal.
Omititng decorative words, we have a sentence structure as follows -
MPC announced that in the IMP table, the planet 207715,( modifier 1 describing this planet's discovery), will be named "Muqin" (modifier 2 describing the meaning of Muqin),in its journal. Correct

(E) Discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, the U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced in its journal that it will officially name minor planet number 207715 as “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in the international minor planet table.
Minor Planet Center (MPC) was NOT discovered by the scientists; the planet was. Incorrect positioning of modifier.Eliminated
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It's a lengthy one...I think the correct option is "A"

(B) The U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced in its journal that in the international minor planet table that it would officially name minor planet number 207715 “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English and which was discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007.

Eliminated because of Wrong construction of sentence.....makes a mess of the sentence...a disaster

(C) Discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, minor planet number 207715, which is to be officially named in the international minor planet table as “Muqin Shuijao”, or “water cellar for mothers” in English, as announced by the U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) in its journal......??????.

The subject "minor planet number 20771" has a modifier afterwards...but has no verb....a sentence without a subject or verb is a fragment and can not stand alone.

(D) The U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced that in the international minor planet table, minor planet number 207715, which was discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, will officially be named “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in its journal.

in it's journal is wrongly placed here...confuses the reader to assume that planet will be named so and so in the journal...the sentence originally meant that the announcement by MPC was done in it's journal...so in it's journal should come as close as possible to the verb announced

(E) Discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, the U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced in its journal that it will officially name minor planet number 207715 as “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in the international minor planet table.

The U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) was not discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) ...rather it was minor planet number 207715,which was discovered by CAS... a classic case of misplaced modifier....."Discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007" should be followed by minor planet number 207715


Coming to A...

In its journal, the U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced that it would officially name minor planet number 207715, which was discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in the international minor planet table.
Absolutely Correct Construction....

In its journal, the U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced that it would officially name minor planet number 207715, which was discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in the international minor planet table.

(A) In its journal, the U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced that it would officially name minor planet number 207715, which was discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in the international minor planet table.:correct

(B) The U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced in its journal that in the international minor planet table that it would officially name minor planet number 207715 “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English and which was discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007.: that not required and is awkward and giving a which and which parallelism indicates Muqin shijao the name was discovered by scientist and not the planet

(C) Discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, minor planet number 207715, which is to be officially named in the international minor planet table as “Muqin Shuijao”, or “water cellar for mothers” in English, as announced by the U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) in its journal. the passive construction makes a serious meaning issue

(D) The U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced that in the international minor planet table, minor planet number 207715, which was discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, will officially be named “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in its journal.: will must be would

(E) Discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, the U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced in its journal that it will officially name minor planet number 207715 as “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in the international minor planet table.: discovered must modify the planet ,current meaning MPC was discovered

Discovered by the scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, US based minor planet center (MPC) announced in its journal that it will officially name minor planet number 207715 as “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in the international minor planet table.

A.Discovered by the scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, US based minor planet center (MPC) announced in its journal that it will officially name minor planet number 207715 as “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in the international minor planet table.
As per this option, US based minor planet center (MPC) was discovered by the scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007. This is a wrong modification. As per the intended meaning, minor planet number 207715 was discovered by the scientists. Apart from this modification error, there is error on the usage of the verb - will. As the announcement is done in the past, so use of would is required in this context.


B.US based minor planet center (MPC) announced in its journal that in the international minor planet table it would officially name minor planet number 207715 as “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, and which was discovered by the scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007.
As per this option, “Muqin Shuijao” was discovered by the scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007. This is again a wrong modification as per the intended meaning of the sentence. It was actually minor planet number 207715 which was discovered by the scientists. Also, the placement of the prepositional phrase - in the international minor planet table - is incorrect.

C.Discovered by the scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, minor planet number 207715 will be officially named in the international minor planet table as “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, announced US based minor planet center (MPC) in its journal.
The usage of the verb - will be officially named is incorrect as the announcement made by MPC is in the past, so usage of would instead of will is required. Also, the sentence is in passive voice and the meaning is not very clear from the current structure. The modifiers which and verb-ed at the end of the sentence are not connected properly.

-- “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, announced US based minor planet center (MPC) in its journal. -- the structure is a bit awkward and clumsy. It seems as if “Muqin Shuijao” announced something. The usage of the verb will be is incorrect as explained in option A.

D.US based minor planet center (MPC) announced in its journal that in the international minor planet table, it will officially name minor planet number 207715, which was discovered by the scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English.
This option has multiple errors. Firstly, the two independent clauses are not connected properly. IC1 comma + FANBOYS IC2, is the correct method. Here the 2 ICs, MPC announced and it will officially name are not connected properly. Secondly, the placement of the prepositional phrase - in the international minor planet table - is incorrect as in option B. Thirdly, the usage of the verb will is incorrect as explained in option A.

E.US based minor planet center (MPC) announced in its journal that it would officially name minor planet number 207715, which was discovered by the scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in the international minor planet table
This is the correct answer as it conveys the intended meaning in a very clear and crisp way. All the modifiers are placed at appropriate positions and are modifying the intended logical entity.

I have one query regarding the usage of following, any help regarding that would be really helpful for me,
As per my understanding the usage NAME X AS Y and NAME X Y, both are correct. Is that true?? Can someone elaborate more on these usages.

Yes both are correct, but the usage depends on the meaning of the sentence.

For example:
John was named as manager. --> Here it doesn't mean that John's name was changed to "manager". His position is that of a manager.
John was named black beard. -->Here it means that John actually got a new name "black beard".

In the question at hand the planet will be given a name, so "name X as Y" won't work, since we actually want to name the planet and not give it a "designation".

Hope that helps!
Regards

I care what you think I think your explanation is pretty good - it would be even better if you can help us identify which questions are not official GMAT questions at the beginning of your answers. The reason is I find an increasing number of questions that have very odd answer choices and the explanations don't really satisfy me; thus I suspect they are not really official GMAT questions.

A modifier should be AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE to what it modifies.

OA: In its journal, the U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced that it would officially name minor planet number 207715, which was discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in the international minor planet table.

Here, the prepositional phrase in red seems intended to modify the much earlier verb in blue.
Between the blue verb and the adverb in red are 30 or so words, including two additional verbs (was discovered and means).
This structure does not seem viable.
There is simply too much distance -- as well as too many intervening actions -- between the adverb in red and its intended referent.
For this reason, I question the validity of the OA.
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The tags at the top of the thread will always indicate the source of the question. This one is clearly labeled as coming from the GMAT Club tests. And with all due respect to the wonderful people who produce the GMAT Club tests... well, just like any other non-official verbal questions, any flaws shouldn't be a huge surprise.
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GMATNinja

Besides the errors that you have pointed out for D and E, isn't the use of WILL in those choices incorrect?
Since announced is in past tense, shouldn't it be followed by WOULD officially.. instead of WILL officially..?
Or does that depend on whether September 11, 2007 is in the past?
Hoping you can clarify!

Debo1988 You're right that "would" serves as the past tense of "will"; however, we can use "will" when describing past predictions if the prediction is still expected to happen. For instance, I might say "A government spokesperson said that we will receive checks by next week." We're more likely to use "would" if the result has already expected or was already expected to happen: "They said the check would be here, but I haven't received mine."

In any case, the use of will/would doesn't depend on how far we are from 9/11/07, since the sentence cites that date as when the minor planet was discovered. This is already in the past.
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I had marked D only due to the fact that the international minor planet table was pretty far from the number. Any insights on whether the two modifiers can be THAT far? I literally marked choice A out because of that. I feel stupid having went with my gut :/

ravigupta2912 There is no limit on distance as long as the structure makes the meaning clear. And technically, "in the international minor planet table" isn't modifying the number. It's modifying the preceding clause: 'it would name minor planet number 207715 “Muqin Shuijao."' We're saying that the MPC will name the planet MS, and they are saying which planet will be so named by identifying its number.
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I am confused about a sentence start with verb-ed modifier. As I can see in [C], the sentence starts with “discovered”, but the subject minor planet don’t perform the verb, so the answer is wrong, I agree.
However, like “Judged by ordinary standards, he was reliable.” The sentence is make sense, however the subject don’t perform the verb. Why?

Posted from my mobile device

Remember that a modifier is just describing some entity. It could be giving information about an action that entity is performing. But it could also provide a general characteristic or give info about something being done to the entity. It all depends on context. For instance:

Running from the bear, Tim began to have second thoughts about the wisdom of pelting it with pine cones.

In this case, "running" is describing "Tim." This is likely the type of scenario you had in mind. But I could easily have used a different type of opening modifier:

Judged by his friends to be a coward, Tim remained defiant, insisting that the small dog chasing him around the block was, in fact, a bear.

Now, "judged" is referring to an something the friends are doing to Tim, not an action Tim is performing himself. (This isn't a rule, but it's often how "-ed" modifiers operate.) This is fine too. It's a different construction with a different meaning.

The takeaway: modifiers can do lots of things! Don't go in with a preconceived notion of what's supposed to happen in a sentence. Instead, simply evaluate the logic of what you're given.

I hope that helps!
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(A) In its journal, the U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced that it would officially name minor planet number 207715, which was discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in the international minor planet table.
The meaning is perfect therefore let us hang on to it


(B) The U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced in its journal that in the international minor planet table that it would officially name minor planet number 207715 “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English and which was discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007.
which in the last half is distorting the meaning since we don't know whether which is refering to the plant or English therefore out

(C) Discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, minor planet number 207715, which is to be officially named in the international minor planet table as “Muqin Shuijao”, or “water cellar for mothers” in English, as announced by the U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) in its journal.
First there is a meaning issue the setence tells us as though the scientists found the plant number than the plant itself , another flaw being is that we are not able to deduce whether name of the plant or the meaning of the plant will be stated in the international table therefore out


(D) The U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced that in the international minor planet table, minor planet number 207715, which was discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, will officially be named “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in its journal.
The final half gives the meaning as though the naming will done in the journal than the international table therefore out

(E) Discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on September 11, 2007, the U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced in its journal that it will officially name minor planet number 207715 as “Muqin Shuijao”, which means “water cellar for mothers” in English, in the international minor planet table.
Similar reasoning as D

Therefore IMO E

In option A - the pronoun (its) comes before the antecedent (MPC), is it correct? I thought Antecedent comes before the pronoun. please help.

Hello nonomoneysingh,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, there is no rule mandating that pronouns always be introduced after their referent; doing so is generally preferred in formal English, but this is not a concept that the GMAT tests.

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