Seeming to be the only organization fighting for the rights of poor

Question

Seeming to be  the only organization fighting for the rights of poor people in the South, Hosea Hudson, a laborer in Alabama, joined the Communist party in 1931.

(A) Seeming to be 
(B) As 
(C) In that they seemed 
(D) Since it seemed 
(E) Because it seemed to be

eswarchethu135 · Answer

Seeming to be  the only organization  fighting for the rights of poor people in the South , Hosea Hudson,  a laborer in Alabama , joined the Communist party  in 1931 .

Reduce the sentence as much as you can and read it. Striked part doesn't make a much difference in the meaning of the sentence. Now read the sentence as:

Seeming to be  the only organization, Hudson, joined the Communist party.

The meaning of the sentence is according to Hudson the organization seemed to be the only one fighting for the rights of poor people in the south. So he joined the communist party.

(A) Seeming to be -- this makes the sentence convey the meaning that the organization is still seeming to be the only one for Hudson. He already joined the party because it seemed like the only one fighting for the rights of poor people. So "seeming to be" changes the meaning of the sentence.   ELIMINATED

(B) As -- this is used to compare actions. Here there are no actions to be compared. So this straight away   ELIMINATED

(C) In that they seemed -- "In that" this is used as an addition to another clause which is already mentioned. Here the sentence is starting with "In that" which cannot be the appropriate one. So   ELIMINATED

(D) Since it seemed -- This is little interesting one. Now we've eliminated 3 choices and we've only 2 left. Out of D & E, D conveys a meaning that the organization is the only one which is fighting for the rights of the poor in the South. But this is not the intended meaning. Hudson joined the party as it seemed to be the only one fighting for the poor, according to him. Here the catch is when the organization seemed to be (____), Hudson joined. This doesn't guarantee that actually, the organization is. As this statement is making the organization actually to be the only one (__), so   ELIMINATED

(E) Because it seemed to be -- this should be the correct one. This preserves the meaning that the organization seemed to be the only one (__) for Hudson, so he joined.  CORRECT

Pasharma1 · Answer

A and B incorrectly modify Hosea Hudson and make it sound like Hosea Hudson was ‘the only organization fighting for the rights of poor people in the South’.

C uses the wrong pronoun. ‘they’ is used to refer to the singular ‘Communist party’. Out of the remaining two E seems to be clearest.

The answer is E.

iamdivs · Answer

In D) I am not sure if we can only use since as a preposition. As far as I remember reading on Magoosh, Since is also a subordinate conjunction. Though it makes sense that it should have been "Since it seemed to be".

Just started preparing a week back so I might be wrong. Can you please confirm the above? Thanks!

Skywalker18 · Answer

Seeming to be  the only organization fighting for the rights of poor people in the South, Hosea Hudson, a laborer in Alabama, joined the Communist party in 1931.

(A) Seeming to be - modifier issue - seeming modifies HH but HH is a person and not an organisation
(B) As - meaning issue- HH is a person and not an organisation
(C) In that they seemed - they has not plural antecedent, usage of 'in that' is incorrect because we need a more direct causal connection
(D) Since it seemed 
(E) Because it seemed to be

Can you please help to eliminate option D?
 AjiteshArun  ,  GMATNinja  ,  MagooshExpert  ,  GMATGuruNY  ,  VeritasPrepBrian  ,  MartyTargetTestPrep  ,  DmitryFarber  ,  VeritasKarishma  ,  generis  ,  EducationAisle  ,  VeritasPrepErika  , other experts - please enlighten

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Here's the version created via the use of (D).

Since it seemed  the only organization fighting for the rights of poor people in the South, Hosea Hudson, a laborer in Alabama, joined the Communist party in 1931.

We can see that "since it seemed" is followed by a noun phrase, "the only organization fighting."

When "seemed" is followed by a noun or noun phrase, "seemed" is generally followed by "to be," and many consider "seemed" without "to be" followed by a noun or noun phrase incorrect.

On the other hand, "seemed" without "to be" can be followed by an adjective without a noun, as in the following example.

The koala seemed friendly.

However, some people take the stance that "seemed" followed by an adjective followed by a noun is correct. So, since "only" is an adjective, I think some people would consider the version created via the use of (D) correct. So, to answer this question correctly, you have to decide to eliminate (D) because (E) is indisputably correct, whereas many people, or even most people, though not all, would consider (D) incorrect.

So the following is always considered correct. ("seemed" followed by adjective)

The rabbit seemed happy.

The following is virtually always considered incorrect. ("seemed" followed by noun only)

The animal seemed an elephant.

The following is always considered correct. ("seemed" followed by "to be" followed by a noun)

The animal seemed to be a wolf-coyote hybrid.

The following is considered correct by some people. ("seemed" followed by an adjective followed by a noun)

London seems a nice city.

I guess we could analyze this further and say the following.

"London seems nice," is correct.

"London seems only," is incorrect.

So, does the above mean the following?

"London seems a nice city," is correct.

"London seems the only city to have this type of culture," is incorrect.

Perhaps, or perhaps that analysis is attempting to find logic where no such logic exists.

Anyway, this question is not the greatest, since probably some English speakers would consider (D) correct, and also since, even if we consider (D) incorrect, the difference between (D) and (E) is purely idiomatic. So, this question does not test much of value.

Camach700 · Answer

generis   daagh  could you please help me with my doubt?

I think the question is a bit flawed as the modifier  Because it seemed to be  should be strictly followed by the object that it modifies, like an absolute phrase.

So the more correct version of the answer would be:

Because it seemed to be / Seeming to be /  whatever ... the only organization fighting for the rights of poor people in the South, the Communist party was joined in 1931 by Hosea Hudson, a laborer in Alabama.

This is why I excluded E, preferring A against logic.

daagh · Answer

Camach wrote

I think the question is a bit flawed as the modifier Because it seemed to be should be strictly followed by the object that it modifies, like an absolute phrase.

So the more correct version of the answer would be:

Because it seemed to be / Seeming to be / whatever... the only organization fighting for the rights of poor people in the South, the Communist party was joined in 1931 by Hosea Hudson, a laborer in Alabama.

This is why I excluded E, preferring A against logic

Camach

1. The clause you have mentioned is not a modifier. It is a subordinate clause with, because as a subordinate conjunction and seemed to be is the verb. The modification rules that apply to an adjectival modifier phrase do not apply to complex sentences.

2. When you use a passive voice main clause as in your sentences, it tends to mean that Hosea joined the CP with some other party such as the Conservative party.

Can you get why E is much better?

Camach700 · Answer

daagh

So you are saying that one should look for meaning first and then understand if modifier rules (or whatever other rule) can be applied accordingly to the complexity of the sentence.. right?

Deciding when a rule might be slightly violeted to privilege meaning does not seem an easy task though.. any advices?

dcummins · Answer

Seeming to be  the only organization fighting for the rights of poor people in the South, Hosea Hudson, a laborer in Alabama, joined the Communist party in 1931.

Lets look at the opening statement and analyse the logic behind it. It looks to be modifying whatever proceeds the first comma, so we need to ensure that whatever preceeds the first comma can logically flow with 'Hosea Hudson' who is clearly a person i.e. a laborer in Alabama

A, B, C, and D are clearly illogically describing Hosea Hudson as the organisation itself. Also, 'they' is plural and doesn't agree to the collective noun 'communist party' unless it is referring to the individuals within that party, which, it is clearly not..

(A) Seeming to be
(B) As
(C) In that they seemed
(D) Since it seemed

(E) Because it seemed to be

E makes the first clause dependent to the remainder of the sentence and we have a clear logical thought. Because X, Hudson became a commie...

CRACKGMATNUT · Answer

EducationAisle  Can we use "it" in option E?

MBAB123 · Answer

Hey  Mayank221133 , I'm no expert but there is only one logical antecedent to "it", i.e, the communist party. So yes,  it  is correct here.

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi  Mayank221133 , I agree with what you are suggesting here. Since the sentence has an introductory modifier  Because it seemed....in the South , I would have ideally expected  Communist party  (the antecedent of "it") to  immediately  follow this introductory modifier.

p.s This seems to be a very  dated  official question (the tag says "pre 2000"). Haven't come across this issue in any of the more recent official publications.

CRACKGMATNUT · Answer

Got it! Thanks

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CRACKGMATNUT · Answer

Makes sense. Thanks!

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Stanindaw · Answer

I didn’t get the point D, can somebody help?

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AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  Stanindaw ,

Unfortunately,  daagh  was almost certainly wrong about this.  Since   can  be used as a subordinating conjunction to introduce the reason for something (that is, it can be used to mean  because ).

gmatimothy · Answer

Seeming to be  the only organization fighting for the rights of poor people in the South, Hosea Hudson, a laborer in Alabama, joined the Communist party in 1931.

(A) Seeming to be 
(B) As

"As the only organization.. Hosea Hudson" - Hosea is NOT an organization. OUT
 
(C) In that they seemed 
(D) Since it seemed 
(E) Because it seemed to be

Best answer choice. "it" refers to the "Communist party" and "seemed to be" is the correct idiom.

Stanindaw · Answer

Thanks a lot for helping me out!

Posted from my mobile device

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Seeming to be the only organization fighting for the rights of poor

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Seeming to be the only organization fighting for the rights of poor

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