GMATBLACKBELT wrote:
In June of 1987, The Bridge of Trinquetaille, Vincent van Gogh's view of an iron bridge over the Rhone sold for $20.2 million and it was the second highest price ever paid for a painting at auction.
(B) Rhone, which sold for $20.2 million, was
(C) Rhone, was sold for $20.2 million,
(D) Rhone[,] was sold for $20.2 million, being
(E) Rhone, sold for $20.2 million, and was
dcummins wrote:
EducationAisle wrote:
dcummins wrote:
Hi,
Can someone please explain why B, D and E are incorrect? I'm having issues retraining my brain to spot this.
I'm a native english speaker.
Both B and E are suggesting that
The Bridge of Trinquetaille was the second highest price ever paid for a painting.
This is an incorrect comparison, since a
painting cannot be a
price.
Thanks, but Is that really the case? The correct answer uses a similar construction, so I don't understand how your explanation works.
generis?
, I agree that native speakers will mentally "override" what appear to be tiny differences about which noun (painting or Rhone) was sold for $20.2 million.
As a native speaker, I do not think about "incorrect comparisons" in this kind of sentence,
although I certainly can do so. Maybe the better phrase would be "incorrect equivalencies." A river is not a painting.
Because of grammar rules, Answers B and E state that the Rhone River sold for $20.2 million.
The sentences do not contain a traditional comparison such as "X is more than Y."
Answers B and E are constructed in ways that make the river the thing that gets sold.
The nouns are not equivalent. The painting was sold, not the Rhone River.
In this case, to see that B, D, and E do not convey the correct meaning,
it may easier to use the modifier rules, namely, rules about
--
which-- appositives, and
-- past participles.
I can eliminate B, D, and E quickly based on these rules.
• Answer C correctly avoids using [comma + which]. -- COMMA + WHICH
As a general rule,
which modifies (refers to) the immediately preceding noun or to a noun that is very close.
Because
which modifies the immediately preceding noun, and because
Rhone immediately precedes
which, in Answer B (top of post), [the river] Rhone was sold for $20.2 million.
Modifiers of nouns usually should "touch" the noun that they modify.
(Exceptions are mentioned below. This construction is not an exception.)
• Appositives -- Nonessential appositives that come in the middle of a sentence must be set off by TWO commas.
-- Answer C correctly contains a second comma after the word
Rhone.-- The second comma sets off the descriptive phrase (the appositive)
from the actual subject of the sentence. The subject is the painting titled
The Bridge of Trinquetaille.-- Without the second comma, we have nonsense. The subject is stranded behind the first comma and is not connected to the verb. Option D lacks the second comma.
-- In addition, Option C does not add the extra and probably incorrect word "being" into the second appositive phrase.
(I say "probably" incorrect because the issue isn't clear; present participles modify the previous clause, but technically no subject exists in the previous clause.)
• Past participles modify the immediately preceding noun-- Option C correctly avoids a construction in which the past participle "sold" refers to "Rhone"
-- RULE for past participles on the GMAT:
If we have [comma + past participle] (verbED/SOLD), then
the past participle modifies only the immediately preceding noun or noun phrase.
Sold cannot "jump back" over a whole phrase to reach its subject, the painting.
In E
sold incorrectly refers to the immediately preceding noun,
Rhone. Below** is a fuller description of the rules.
Option C, inserted into a shortened version of the sentence:
C) In 1987, The ABC Painting, van Gogh's view of XYZ over the Rhone, was sold for $20.2 million, the second highest price ever paid for a painting.Answer (C) is the only option that correctly connects
the verb phrase
was sold for $20.2 million to the subject of the sentence,
The ABC Painting. because C does not use
which, or a poor appositive construction, or a past participle.
I hope that analysis helps.
**More on [comma + which], appositives, and [comma + past participle (verbEd)]
• comma + WHICH
(1) as a general rule, [comma + which] modifies the immediately preceding noun or a noun that is very close
-- which clauses describe nouns (the which refers to that very noun), so we generally follow the "modifier touch" rule. The touch rule holds that the description of the noun should be next to the noun being described.
Correct: He hiked on the path, which cut through a meadow, to revisit the fishing pier at the lake.
The path cut through the meadow.
Wrong: He hiked on the path to revisit the fishing pier at the lake, which cut through a meadow.
The lake did not cut through the meadow.
Not applicable /Exceptions
-- The "which-touch" rule does not apply to OF which, FOR which, TO which, etc.
-- The most common exception to the which-touch rule on the GMAT is a noun followed by a prepositional phrase.
The modifier which can "reach back" over a prepositional phrase to modify another close noun.
Correct: He hiked on the path of hard dirt, which cut through a meadow, to revisit the fishing pier at the lake.
-- In this case, which still refers to path because "of hard dirt" also describes the path.
That prepositional phrase cannot be placed elsewhere in the sentence, so which "reaches back" to the logical noun path.
(2) [comma + which] cannot modify the entire previous clause.
-- [comma + which] also cannot modify (refer to) an idea or action or phenomenon.
When natives speak English, we often use "which" to refer to "the phenomenon I just mentioned," but on the GMAT, doing so is incorrect.
Wrong: Gang activity increased sharply in Japan , which worried members of the police force.
which cannot stand for that whole phenomenon gang activity increased in Japan
Correct: Gang activity increased sharply in Japan, an increase that worried members of the police force.
• Appositives
-- almost always immediately follow a noun, and
-- describe or rename that noun.
-- If the appositive phrase is nonessential, it is set off by commas.
-- Whatever is "fenced in" by one comma (beginning or end) or two commas (middle of sentence) can theoretically be removed.
This site, here has three good examples of the ways in which commas are placed. Scroll down to "Punctuate the Appositive Correctly."
-- Appositive at the beginning of the sentence? ONE comma at the end of the appositive phrase
-- Appositive at the end of the sentence? ONE comma before the beginning of the appositive phrase
-- Appositive in the middle of the sentence? TWO commas. One comma goes before the first word of the phrase. The other comma is placed after the last word of the phrase.
• comma + past participle (verbED)
-- GMAT follows an unusual rule. Most grammarians allow [comma + past participle] to modify the entire previous clause.
GMAT does not.
-- If we have [comma + past participle], the past participle modifies the immediately preceding noun.
Correct Archaeologists were excited to examine the ancient manuscripts, found accidentally by a sheep farmer.
-- Careful (not applicable here): IF the past participle anchors an introductory clause or phrase, then the past participle modifies the subject of the subsequent clause.
Correct: Exhausted by his long trek to the border, the refugee collapsed.
Exhausted modifies the refugee.
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Updated on: 11 Feb 2022, 06:02
25%
(medium)
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wrong 
sometimes i get confused when we must use comma and when not 
