Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet duri

Question

The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 10th Edition, 2003

Practice Question  
Question No.: SC 86
Page: 666 
 Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War , Horace Pippin, a Black American painter, worked by holding the brush in his right hand and guiding its movements with his left.

(A) Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War
(B) In spite of his right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War
(C) Because there had been a sniper’s bullet during the First World War that crippled his right hand and arm
(D) The right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War
(E) His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War

https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/31/books/in-the-whirl-and-muddle-of-war.html

Sometime in the late 1920's, Horace Pippin, a black American veteran of World War I, began to write his memories of his war. It must have been difficult: Pippin was not a writer and was not very well educated. Even the physical act of writing was hard for him, for  his right hand and arm had been crippled by a sniper's bullet  and he could scarcely hold a pen. Yet he tried several drafts of a war narrative before he gave the writing up and turned to drawing and finally to painting. That, too, was a struggle; he had to hold the brush in his crippled right hand and  guide its movements with his left . He worked at one painting for three years, giving it, he reckoned, a hundred coats of paint. It was called ''The End of the War: Starting Home,'' and it hangs now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art - a strange and powerful image of the violence that he remembered.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/download/file.php?mode=view&id=41670

nusmavrik · Accepted Answer

GMAT is guiding you in this example. B has "being". being is used for a process. Thanks for the question :-D

Here is a tip (from Master Sarai :wink:

) TIP: "BEING" IS CORRECT WHEN DESCRIBING A PROCESS. SO IF YOU CAN INSERT "IN THE PROCESS OF" BEFORE THE "BEING" AND WIND UP WITH A SENSIBLE SENTENCE, THE "BEING" IS CORRECT! (B) In spite of his right hand and arm (is in the process of ) being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War ---> B means "his right hand and arm" is in the process of being crippled during the First World War - this is not possible unless someone revisits the World War now.

daagh · Answer

Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War,  Horace Pippin, a Black American painter, worked by holding the brush in his right hand and guiding its movements with his left.

(A) Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War
(B) In spite of his right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War
(C) Because there had been a sniper’s bullet during the First World War that crippled his right hand and arm
(D) The right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War
(E) His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War

This is a topic in which one can remove a good three choices if he or she is aware that 'being' used in a modifier phrase is an instant discard in GMAT. 
Being, however, is not incorrect all the times. In some cases when 'being' is used in a substantive phrase, a suitable verb will follow 'the phrase to indicate that the substantive phrase taken as a unit is acting as the subject. The other such instance when 'being' will be correct is when the word is used in a passive voice clause, in which case it will be preceded by a verb. In all other instances, use of 'being', at least in the wonderland of GMAT, will be redundant and incorrect. 
Therefore we can discard A, B, and D instantly. C is saying that it is the first world war that crippled his arm and hand, a wrong allusion. 
Finally, E remains. 
How much more quickly can one get to the winning post?

jeeteshsingh · Answer

330.  Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War,  Horace Pippin, a Black American painter, worked by holding the brush in his right hand and guiding its movements with his left.
(A) Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War
(B) In spite of his right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War
(C) Because there had been a sniper’s bullet during the First World War that crippled his right hand and arm
(D) The right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War
(E) His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War

E is a clear winner...

Explanation:
being crippled... is not correct as this signifies that the arm and hand is still crippling and thats not correct.... Hence A,B,D is out.. (also remember GMAT never prefers being but thats not a thumb rule)

Between C and E.... C is too wordy starting with Because there had been .... and also makes little sense.....

Hence E is the right option... with correct verb tense crippled matched to worked in the later part of the sentence...!

bhushan252 · Answer

Being is wrongly used; hence option A,B,D are out. 
option C  Because....right hand and arm,Horace Pippin, a Black American  doesn't make sense...
Option E is an inverted arrengement with His introduced before noun...but still valid

(A) Having the right hand and arm  being crippled   by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War
(B) In spite of his right hand and arm  being crippled   by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War
(C)  Because there had been a sniper’s bullet  during the First World War that crippled his right hand and arm
(D) The right hand and arm  being crippled  by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War
(E) His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War

adalfu · Answer

E works fine here.

The starting modifer is an absolute phrase (His right arm crippled by bullet...) modifying the noun Horace.

All the other choices just seem so wordy... with "there had been" or "being crippled."

metallicafan · Answer

How does this phrase modify the noun Horace? If you don't add a word to show the contrast (i.e. Despite or In spite of); there wouldn't be a logical link between the phrase and the main clause.

Please your comments.

nusmavrik · Answer

Hey metallicafan :wink:

It does. I am fan of PP See this link : https://gmat-grammar.blogspot.com/2006/0 ... rases.html Peace ! :band

GMATPill · Answer

Good points.

Another way to look at answer (E)--to make yourself feel more comfortable about choosing (E) would be to flip the sentence like so:

"His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War, Horace Pippin worked by holding the brush..."

to

"Horace Pippin, his right hand and arm crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War, worked by holding the brush...."

pqhai · Answer

Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War,  Horace Pippin, a Black American painter, worked by holding the brush in his right hand and guiding its movements with his left.

(A) Having the right hand and arm  being crippled  by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War
 Wrong.  "being crippled" is incorrect, because "crippled by a sniper's bullet" modifies "hand and arm" ==> Verb+ed is correct, not "being Verb+ed".
I don't think "having" is a problem here. For example: having a car towed yesterday, Harry comes to school late today.

(B) In spite of his right hand and arm  being crippled  by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War
 Wrong.  Same as A. "being crippled" is incorrect modifier.

(C) Because there had been a sniper’s bullet during the First World War  that  crippled his right hand and arm
 Wrong.  "that" seems to modify "first world war". In addition, the structure is very awkward "there had been.....that crippled.....".

(D) The right hand and arm  being crippled  by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War
 Wrong.  Same as A. "being crippled" is incorrect modifier.

(E) His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War
  Correct.   "his" refers to Horace Pippin, "crippled" modifies "hand and arm".

Hope it helps.

leanhdung · Answer

Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War,  Horace Pippin, a Black American painter, worked by holding the brush in his right hand and guiding its movements with his left.

(A)  Having the right hand and arm being crippled by  a sniper’s bullet during the First World War

(B)  In spite of  his right hand and arm  being crippled  by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War

(C)  Because there had been  a sniper’s bullet during the First World War that crippled his right hand and arm

(D) The right hand and arm  being  crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War

(E) His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War
--> correct.

artisood17 · Answer

Hello Friends

I think E is the right one but i am wondering whether a ',' should be there in the end of the option E. The underlined portion includes comma which is not given in any of the option choices.

Thanks for your comments

Posted from my mobile device

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi  artisood17 , welcome to the forum!

In GMAT Sentence correction, option A is always the same as the underlined portion of the original sentence.

Since there is no comma at the end of option A, it basically tells me that the underlined portion (in the original sentence) should not include a comma (underlined portion should get over at  war ).

janeyeo · Answer

daagh  
Hello, I cannot agree more that from A to D are wrong answers. But I was just thinking that if the option (E) had "with", it would be better for me to choose. (With his right hand and ~ ). In this case, 
"His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War"

this part is independent modifier phrase? (sorry I don't know the exact grammatical term, what I want to say is the phrase which is added to explain independently)

daagh · Answer

True; that noun phrase is given to explain why he resorted to the characteristic way of his painting.

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

The intent here is to say that even though Pippin’s right hand and arm were crippled by a bullet, he could paint by guiding his right hand with his left.

In some of the options, ‘being’ is used incorrectly.

In  Option A , the use of ‘crippled’ is correct. But it is incorrect to say ‘having… being crippled’.

Same goes for  Option B  – ‘being crippled’ is not the correct way to modify ‘hand and arm’

Option D  also incorrectly uses ‘being’.

Eliminate Options A, B and D.

Option C  uses ‘that’ to modify what comes right before it. In this case, ‘that’ modifies First W War. 
This changes the meaning entirely. 
 
Eliminate Option C 
 
  Option E  is the best choice.

Hope this helps!

UChisb · Answer

Hi, could you please help how we can eliminate options A and B without saying that B is incorrect in GMAT?

UChisb · Answer

Hi  Gmat  Ninja, could you please help how we can eliminate options A and B without saying that being is incorrect on GMAT?

peanuts · Answer

Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War , Horace Pippin, a Black American painter, worked by holding the brush in his right hand and guiding its movements with his left.

Meaning: HP's hand was crippled by sniper's bullet. So, he worked by holding the brush in his right hand and guiding its movement with his left hand

(A) Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War  HP had his hand crippled --> no way it could work 
(B) In spite of his right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War  being shows a status, so, it should not be used freely. Also, no contrast between his arm and HP 
(C) Because there had been a sniper’s bullet during the First World War that crippled his right hand and arm  there is no cause and effect here 
(D) The right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War  no reason to use being here 
(E) His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper’s bullet during the First World War  Good enough. This is an absolute phrase

ProfChaos · Answer

Hello  GMATNinja   egmat   mikemcgarry  
I like this trick about how to check if the use of 'being' is correct, though would love some more information and examples about it, if you consider this trick to be correct.

TIA!

Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet duri

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper’s bullet duri

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