Let’s dissect the sentence. --Does not make-- is the verb of the clause and we need a subject for the verb. What can act as a subject here? --Because it is genetically engineered-- is already a subordinate clause, waiting for a main clause to fall back on. Hence, it cannot act as the subject. Therefore, B is out. What we need is a noun, a noun phrase or a gerund. That is the reason, choice D with - being genetically engineered- , which is indeed a gerund fits the bill appropriately.

It may be noted that being as part of a subject is an accepted use in GMAT as with the use of being as a part of a passive voice verb.
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Hi quiet888,

Simply is an adverb and as you know adverbs modifies verbs or other adverbs.

In this question, we have two choices:

Simply because or Simply being

"because" acts as conjunction and "being" functions as verb.

So 3-2 split choice narrowed C,D and E.

Hope this helps.

Thanks

D it is. A,C have SV issues and E is awkward.

Between B and D "because it is genetically engineered" vs "being genetically engineered" I am leaning towards D here after relying on my ear .. +1 for a good question.

Ditto.."they" plants are plural..but we have singular weed..A and C and E are out..

B is just very wordy..D is concise

Simply because they are genetically engineered does not make it any more likely for plants to become an invasive or persistent weed, according to a decade-long study published in the journal Nature.

A. because they are genetically engineered does not make it any more likely for plants to
B. because it is genetically engineered does not make a plant any more likely to
C. being genetically engineered does not make it any more likely that plants will
D. being genetically engineered does not make a plant any more likely to
E. being genetically engineered does not make a plant any more likely that it will become

Format of the sentence - Independent clause, dependent clause

A - they, it , plants -- awkward
B - sounds OK
C - pronoun issue - it and plants
D - sounds OK
E - wordy and awkward

On exam day I would have picked up B.
But I remember reading that GMAT folks generally doesnt like to use pronoun first for the subject of the sentence before introducing the actual noun. This is the case in B.

I think the answer here is D.

IMO 'D'

The usage of 'being' is perfectly fine here. Being is usually redundant in the following cases:

being + noun
being+ verb

'being' + adverb is the correct usage.

Answer should be D.

B. because it is genetically engineered does not make a plant any more likely to
D. being genetically engineered does not make a plant any more likely to

D makes a better choice because in B, the pronoun is used first(before the actual noun).

the use of being is not wrong, but it is usually not preferred. In this case, choice D is a better than choice B.

I dont agree with that.
An adverb can modify almost everything except nouns.

Adverbs are words that modify:

*a whole clause.
*a verb (He drove slowly. — How did he drive?)
*an adjective (He drove a very fast car. — How fast was his car?)
*another adverb (She moved quite slowly down the aisle. — How slowly did she move?)
As we will see, adverbs often tell when, where, why, or under what conditions something happens or happened. Adverbs frequently end in -ly; however, many words and phrases not ending in -ly serve an adverbial function and an -ly ending is not a guarantee that a word is an adverb. The words lovely, lonely, motherly, friendly, neighborly, for instance, are adjectives.
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More about adverbs.

ADVERB OF MANNER

Adverbs of manner modify a verb to describe the way the action is done.

EG: She did the work carefully.

('Carefully' modifies the verb to describe the way the work was done, as opposed to quickly, carelessly, etc..)

ADVERB OF PLACE or LOCATION

Adverbs of place show where the action is done.

EG: They live locally.

ADVERB OF TIME

Adverbs of time show when an action is done, or the duration or frequency.

EG: He did it yesterday. (When)

They are permanently busy. (Duration)

She never does it. (Frequency)

ADVERB OF DEGREE

Adverbs of degree increase or decrease the effect of the verb.

EG: I completely agree with you. (This increases the effect of the verb, whereas 'partially' would decrease it.)

ADVERBS MODIFYING ADJECTIVES

An adjective can be modified by an adverb, which precedes the adjective, except 'enough' which comes after.

EG: That's really good.

It was a terribly difficult time for all of us.

It wasn't good enough. ('Enough' comes after the adjective.)

ADVERBS MODIFYING ADVERBS

An adverb can modify another. As with adjectives, the adverb precedes the one it is modifying with 'enough' being the exception again.

EG: She did it really well.

He didn't come last night, funnily enough.

ADVERBS MODIFYING NOUNS

Adverbs can modify nouns to indicate time or place.

EG: The concert tomorrow

EG: The room upstairs

ADVERBS MODIFYING NOUN PHRASES

Some adverbs of degree can modify noun phrases.

EG: We had quite a good time.

They're such good friends.

Quite; rather; such; what (What a day!) can be used in this way.

ADVERBS MODIFYING DETERMINERS, NUMERALS & PRONOUNS

Adverbs such as almost; nearly; hardly; about, etc., can be used:

EG: Almost everybody came in the end.

source: http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/adverb.html

I do not believe that adverbs modify nouns, but this is what the source stated, so I would be cautious about this.
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This one really vexed me especially B Vs D.
Below if what I figured out, after some Google.Sharing it with the fraternity:
Regards.

Simply because they are genetically engineered does not make it any more likely for plants to become an invasive or persistent weed, according to a decade-long study published in the journal Nature.

1: The non underlined part "an invasive or persistent weed" need to refer a singular noun => a plant.

A) because they are genetically engineered does not make it any more likely for plants to
B) because it is genetically engineered does not make a plant any more likely to
>> Out.Read the below notes:
C) being genetically engineered does not make it any more likely that plants will
D) being genetically engineered does not make a plant any more likely to
>>Correct. Being used here as a Gerund.
E) being genetically engineered does not make a plant any more likely that it will

Quick Notes from Manhattan forum:
#1
Basically, there are 3 things in the world that can be subjects of a verb:
1/ nouns,
2/ pronouns, and
3/ clauses with "that" in front of them.

I'll assume #1 and #2 are self-explanatory.
An example of #3 is "That you were on time was a surprise to everyone". In that sentence, the entire italicized thing is the subject.

#2:
you can't say "because SUBJECT VERB ... is ...". this sentence is trying to use "(simply) because it is genetically engineered" as a subject.
in fact, you cannot use ANY clause starting with a conjunction (either a coordinating or subordinating conjunction -- look these up if you need to refresh yourself on what they are) as a subject.

I chose B, despite noticing the ambiguity of 'it' in the sentence.
Only for the reason of BEi ng.

'being' is strongly abhorrent word in GMAT.

So why the OA is D???
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My friend, beware of such rules as the one highlighted above.

Read this article. It may help you understand when to use being.

https://e-gmat.com/blog/gmat-verbal/sen ... -questions
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Simply because they are genetically engineered does not make it any more likely for plants to become an invasive or persistent weed, according to a decade-long study published in the journal Nature.

(A) because they are genetically engineered does not make it any more likely for plants to - many plants become "an invasive or persistent weed" (singular) ; 'it' is a pronoun that refers to the idea of "because the plants are genetically engineered" usage is incorrect
(B) because it is genetically engineered does not make a plant any more likely to - because it is genetically engineered" as a subject CAN'T be the subject --in fact, you cannot use ANY clause starting with a conjunction (either a coordinating or subordinating conjunction -- look these up if you need to refresh yourself on what they are) as a subject. ever.
(C) being genetically engineered does not make it any more likely that plants will - "plants" (plural) can become "an invasive or persistent weed" (singular). since multiple plants can't become one weed, that's incorrect.
(D) being genetically engineered does not make a plant any more likely to - Correct
(E) being genetically engineered does not make a plant any more likely that it will -- more likely that is undiomatic

(B) is also wrong for a much more tangible reason: it doesn't have a subject. Same problem with (A).

Choices A and B are trying to use "Simply because xxxxx" as a subject.

Basically, there are 3 things in the world that can be subjects of a verb:
1. nouns,
2. pronouns, and
3. clauses with "that" in front of them.

An example of #3 is "That you were on time was a surprise to everyone". In that sentence, the entire italicized thing is the subject.

Answer D
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I came down to last 2 options as B and D. I chose B as usually 'being' is wrong in GMAT. Moreover, being refers to temporary state. How can something genetically engineered stuff can be temporary? Is my analysis wrong? please explain.
If my analysis is wrong, then is the reason for B to be wrong is only that a pronoun cannot be used before the actual noun? Is this a rule?

Let's remove the simply, so that we can focus on the subject-verb pair:

B. Because it is genetically engineered does not make a plant any more likely to...

D. Being genetically engineered does not make a plant any more likely to...

The problem with B is that we can't use an entire because clause as the subject of the sentence (option D uses the gerund being as the subject of does make).

1. Because he is talented is not enough to win him a medal. ← This is wrong.
2. Being talented is not enough to win him a medal. ← This is okay.

This being is used to describe him generally (this is not "temporary").
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yes its a better answer

Simply better explains being as verb and

D Choice is more meaninful than C & E

the pronoun 'it' had to be corrected and the usage 'likely to become' than 'likely that it will'

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-



Choice A: This answer choice incorrectly uses the phrase "because they are genetically engineered..." as the subject of the sentence; only nouns, pronouns, noun phrases, pronoun phrases, and gerunds can be subjects, as a subject must be capable of taking action or having action taken upon it. Additionally, there is a logical disconnect here because the answer choice refers to multiple plants becoming "an invasive or persistent weed". Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice B: This answer choice suffers from the same subject related error found in Option A. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice C: This answer choice suffers from the same logical inconsistency, describing "plants" becoming the singular "weed", found in Options A and B. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice D: This answer choice correctly employes the gerund "being genetically engineered..." as the subject of the sentence, is quite concise, and avoids logical inconsistencies. Thus, this answer choice is correct.

Choice E: This answer choice is wordy and awkward due to the use of the phrase "likely that it will become", as the phrase "likely to" can convey the same information much more concisely. Thus, this is not a very good answer choice.

Hence, D is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Use of Being on GMAT", you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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