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655-705 Level|   Meaning/Logical Predication|   Modifiers|   Verb Tense/Form|                           
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Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from 22 Jun 2022, 04:44
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sv2023
Hi, can someone explain what is the problem with option D? I understand that "as a result of" sounds wordy but can someone give me a better reason?
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Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from dissipating its acoustic energy as a result of boundaries in the ocean created by water layers of different temperatures and densities.


(C) its acoustic energy prevented from dissipating by

(D) its acoustic energy prevented from being dissipated as a result of

Answer choice (D) is less concise. It's also worth thinking about the use of BEING here. BEING doesn't automatically invalidate an answer choice but what critical value is it bringing to this sentence? BY is also very clearly attributing the cause to BOUNDARIES IN THE OCEAN.
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Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from 22 Jun 2022, 09:21
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In answer B, how does the passive voice construction lead to Redundancy?

I was attempting to find the redundant expressions, but was unable to locate them.

Thank you in advance!

ExpertsGlobal5
Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
Economist
Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from dissipating its acoustic energy as a result of boundaries in the ocean created by water layers of different temperatures and densities.


(A) prevented from dissipating its acoustic energy as a result of

(B) prevented from having its acoustic energy dissipated by

(C) its acoustic energy prevented from dissipating by

(D) its acoustic energy prevented from being dissipated as a result of

(E) preventing its acoustic energy from dissipating by


[spoiler=]https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/27/science/global-thermometer-imperiled-by-dispute.html

Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from dissipating its acoustic energy by boundaries in the ocean created by water layers of differing temperatures and densities. In the final version of the experiment, loudspeakers were installed at two sites: one off the northwest coast of Hawaii's Big Island, and the other near Pioneer Seamount, a volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean 55 miles from San Francisco. The times of arrival of the sound at thousands of underwater microphones spanning the Pacific Ocean were then recorded and interpreted as water temperatures.


Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that sound can travel through water for enormous distances because its acoustic energy is prevented from dissipating by boundaries in the ocean created by water layers of different temperatures and densities.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Modifiers + Verb Forms

• In the “phrase + comma + noun” and “noun + comma + phrase” constructions, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction.
• The introduction of the present participle ("verb+ing"- “preventing” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.

A: This answer choice incorrectly modifies "prevented from dissipating its acoustic energy...", leading to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that sound can travel through water for enormous distances because its acoustic energy is prevented from dissipating by boundaries in the ocean created by water layers of different temperatures and densities; remember, in the “phrase + comma + noun” and “noun + comma + phrase” constructions, the phrase must correctly modify the noun.

B: This answer choice incorrectly modifies "prevented from having its acoustic energy...", leading to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that sound can travel through water for enormous distances because its acoustic energy is prevented from dissipating by boundaries in the ocean created by water layers of different temperatures and densities; remember, in the “phrase + comma + noun” and “noun + comma + phrase” constructions, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Further, Option B uses the passive voice construction "prevented from having its acoustic energy dissipated", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

C: Correct. This answer choice avoids the modifer error seen in Options A and B and the verb form error seen in Option E, as it uses the phrase "its acoustic energy prevented from dissipating", correctly modifying the preceding clause to convey the intended meaning - that sound can travel through water for enormous distances because its acoustic energy is prevented from dissipating by boundaries in the ocean created by water layers of different temperatures and densities. Further, Option C is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

D: This answer choice uses the needlessly wordy phrase "prevented from being dissipated as a result of", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

E: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "preventing its acoustic energy from dissipating"; the use of the "comma + present participle ("verb+ing" - "preventing" in this sentence) incorrectly implies that sound can travel through water for enormous distances and as a result, sound prevents its acoustic energy from dissipating due to boundaries in the ocean created by water layers of different temperatures and densities; the intended meaning is that sound can travel through water for enormous distances because its acoustic energy is prevented from dissipating by boundaries in the ocean created by water layers of different temperatures and densities; remember, the introduction of the present participle ("verb+ing"- “preventing” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Phrase Comma Subject" and "Subject Comma Phrase" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1minute):



To understand the concept of "Comma + Present Participle for Cause-Effect Relationship" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~3 minutes):



All the best!
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Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from Updated on: 23 Jun 2022, 04:41
Originally posted by GMATGuruNY on 22 Jun 2022, 12:22.
Last edited by GMATGuruNY on 23 Jun 2022, 04:41, edited 1 time in total.
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Yesterday, John had his house painted.
Yesterday, a storm prevented John from having his house painted.
The portions in blue both imply that John has AGENCY: that he can DECIDE to have his house painted.

Fdambro294
In answer B, how does the passive voice construction lead to Redundancy?

I was attempting to find the redundant expressions, but was unable to locate them.

Thank you in advance!
Show more

B: Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from having its acoustic energy dissipated by boundaries in the ocean created by water layers of different temperatures and densities.

Semantically, prevented is intended to refer to sound.
As a result of this intention, the portion in red seems to imply that a non-sentient noun -- sound -- has AGENCY and can DECIDE to have its energy dissipated.
This meaning is illogical.
I would not classify the red portion as an error of redundancy.
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Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from 22 Jun 2022, 13:21
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Fdambro294
In answer B, how does the passive voice construction lead to Redundancy?

I was attempting to find the redundant expressions, but was unable to locate them.

Thank you in advance!Posted from my mobile device
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In case you haven't seen it already, here's a more detailed explanation of B vs C -- it's more about meaning than redundant expressions.

sv2023
Hi, can someone explain what is the problem with option D? I understand that "as a result of" sounds wordy but can someone give me a better reason?
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For an explanation of choice (D), check out this post.
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Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from 22 Jun 2022, 18:32
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GMATGuruNY

B: Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from having its acoustic energy dissipated by boundaries in the ocean created by water layers of different temperatures and densities.

Here, prevented grammatically modifies distances but semantically is intended to refer to sound.
As a result of this intention, the portion in red seems to imply that a non-sentient noun -- sound -- has AGENCY and can DECIDE to have its energy dissipated.
This meaning is illogical.
I would not classify the red portion as an error of redundancy.
Show more

Hi GMATGuruNY per above, you imply sound does NOT have an AGENCY and sound cannot DECIDE to have its energy dissipated.

I agree

But doesn't (C) have the same problem then - just not with sound BUT with acoustic energy ?

(C) implies that acoustic energy HAS AGENCY and acoustic energy can decide when to dissipate or not dissipate by itself

That doesn't make sense to me as acoustic energy obviously DOES NOT HAVE AGENCY.

Thus, I chose (D) -- (D) implies that acoustic energy HAS NO AGENCY and some one else (boundaries) has to perform the act of dissipating
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Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from 23 Jun 2022, 03:09
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B: Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from having its acoustic energy dissipated by boundaries in the ocean created by water layers of different temperatures and densities.

Here, prevented grammatically modifies distances but semantically is intended to refer to sound.
As a result of this intention, the portion in red seems to imply that a non-sentient noun -- sound -- has AGENCY and can DECIDE to have its energy dissipated.
This meaning is illogical.
I would not classify the red portion as an error of redundancy.

Hi GMATGuruNY per above, you imply sound does NOT have an AGENCY and sound cannot DECIDE to have its energy dissipated.

I agree

But doesn't (C) have the same problem then - just not with sound BUT with acoustic energy ?

(C) implies that acoustic energy HAS AGENCY and acoustic energy can decide when to dissipate or not dissipate by itself

That doesn't make sense to me as acoustic energy obviously DOES NOT HAVE AGENCY.

Thus, I chose (D) -- (D) implies that acoustic energy HAS NO AGENCY and some one else (boundaries) has to perform the act of dissipating
Show more

Not every action requires agency.
The sun rose.
The building fell.
The car swerved.
None of these actions requires agency.
A car can SWERVE without being capable of conscious thought.

In B, agency seems to be implied by the usage of having.
As discussed here:
To have something done means that we don't do the job ourselves but that we ask someone to do it for us.
For this reason, the phrasing in B -- prevented from having its energy dissipated -- seems to imply that sound is prevented from asking someone to dissipate its energy.
The action in red requires conscious thought and thus cannot be attributed to sound.
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Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from 16 Jul 2022, 10:11
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(C) its acoustic energy prevented from dissipating by
=> Good example of an absolute phrase, a type of modifier that modify the noun, answering the "how" aspect. 2 ways to identify a AP:
1. Usually starts with a possessive form (e.g., his, her, your)
2. You won't find a V in an absolute phrase
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Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from 27 Jul 2022, 02:36
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Economist
Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from dissipating its acoustic energy as a result of boundaries in the ocean created by water layers of different temperatures and densities.


(A) prevented from dissipating its acoustic energy as a result of

(B) prevented from having its acoustic energy dissipated by

(C) its acoustic energy prevented from dissipating by

(D) its acoustic energy prevented from being dissipated as a result of

(E) preventing its acoustic energy from dissipating by


Show Spoiler
https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/27/science/global-thermometer-imperiled-by-dispute.html

Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from dissipating its acoustic energy by boundaries in the ocean created by water layers of differing temperatures and densities. In the final version of the experiment, loudspeakers were installed at two sites: one off the northwest coast of Hawaii's Big Island, and the other near Pioneer Seamount, a volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean 55 miles from San Francisco. The times of arrival of the sound at thousands of underwater microphones spanning the Pacific Ocean were then recorded and interpreted as water temperatures.

Logical predication; Rhetorical construction

This sentence opens with a statement that sound can travel long distances through water and then explains why that is so: water layers in the ocean prevent acoustic energy from dissipating. Because dissipating is an intransitive verb, acoustic energy cannot be its object.

(A) Dissipating is not a transitive verb, so acoustic energy cannot function as its object.

(B) This version of the sentence is wordy, awkward, and indirect; from having…by erroneously suggests that the boundaries in the ocean are attempting to dissipate sound energy.

(C) Correct. Here, acoustic energy is effectively modified by the participial prevented from dissipating.…

(D) This version of the sentence is wordy, awkward, and indirect; being dissipated as a result of makes it unclear whether the boundaries contribute to energy loss or prevent it.

(E) This version of the sentence nonsensically explains that sound prevents the dissipation of its own energy.
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First, let’s understand the meaning of this sentence – it tells us that sound can travel through water for enormous distances. Why? Because its acoustic energy is prevented from dissipating. By what/whom? By the boundaries in the ocean.
Note that ‘sound’ does not dissipate its acoustic energy. The acoustic energy of sound dissipates on its own. ‘Dissipates’ means ‘disperses’ e.g. ‘the mist dissipated.’

So, the boundaries prevent the acoustic energy from dissipating. They do not prevent sound from dissipating its acoustic energy. Sound is not trying to dissipate its acoustic energy; its acoustic energy dissipates on its own. Hence, sound is not prevented from dissipating its acoustic energy. So, options (A) and (B) are eliminated. In both these options, ‘prevented …’ is past participle modifier modifying ‘sound.’ Recall that normally past participle with a comma modifies the noun right before it but we cannot eliminate an option based on that. It is possible that the past participle modifier occurs at the end of the sentence and modifies the previous subject.

Also note that in (B), it seems that sound is prevented from having its acoustic energy dissipated by boundaries. So, it looks like boundaries dissipate its acoustic energy but sound is prevented from letting that happen by someone/something. The meaning is incorrect.

Option (D) uses the passive gerund ‘being dissipated’ as if the action of dissipating was performed on the acoustic energy. But the acoustic energy dissipates. No one or nothing makes it dissipate. Hence it is incorrect too.

In option (E), ‘comma + present participle’ at the end of the sentence is used. It modifies the subject/verb of the previous clause. But sound is not preventing its acoustic energy from dissipating. Hence, this option is eliminated too.

Also note that the use of ‘by’ is more natural than ‘as a result of’ when talking about an agent.

We would normally say:
He was prevented from running by his mother.
and not:
He was prevented from running as a result of his mother.

Hence, it sounds better when we say ‘its acoustic energy prevented from dissipating by boundaries in the ocean.’

On the other hand, if it were the result of an action, we would have preferred to use ‘as a result of’ e.g. its acoustic energy prevented from dissipating as a result of the creation of boundaries in the ocean…’ Hence, options (A) and (D) are inferior in this regard too.

Option (C) correctly uses an absolute phrase ‘its acoustic energy prevented from dissipating by …’ to tell us more about a part of the whole (sound). It is of the form ‘noun + past participle’ where ‘acoustic energy’ is the noun and ‘prevented’ is the past participle.

‘prevented’ is correctly modifying ‘acoustic energy.’ The acoustic energy was prevented from dissipating by boundaries. Recall here that past participle phrases are used with passive meaning. Acoustic energy did not prevent. It was prevented (from dissipating) by boundaries. The action of prevention was done by boundaries.

Everything is correct here.

Answer (C)
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Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from 31 Jul 2022, 04:20
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GMATNinja could you please help with POE between B and C.

Many comments mark B incorrect on grounds that it is not modifying the subject, but Manhattan's thread on the same sentence claims that this cannot be grounds for elimination. Really confused here.
{...}
As explained in this post, if something "dissipates", it disperses on its own, and it makes more sense to say that the acoustic energy disperses on its own than to say that something else disperses the acoustic energy. The acoustic energy wants to dissipate (like steam), but something (the boundaries) prevents the acoustic energy from dissipating. As a result, the sound is able to travel through water for enormous distances.

This is the perfectly logical meaning suggested by choice (C) -- the boundaries are doing the preventing, but the acoustic energy itself is the thing that would do the dissipating:

Quote:
(C) its acoustic energy prevented from dissipating by boundaries in the ocean...
Now look at (B):

Quote:
(B) prevented from having its acoustic energy dissipated by boundaries in the ocean...
Here the boundaries are preventing the sound from "having its acoustic energy dissipated" -- but having its acoustic energy dissipated by what? This passive construction suggests that there is some external thing that dissipates the energy, and that's not quite right.

You could also argue that, in (B), the boundaries are the thing that would dissipate the acoustic energy, but then we have the same issue: it makes more sense to say that the acoustic energy dissipates on its own. This interpretation would create another problem: if the boundaries are doing the dissipating, what's doing the preventing? We have no idea.

In (B), the meaning is open to interpretation, and neither interpretation works very well. In (C), the meaning is clear and makes perfect sense, so that's our winner.

I hope that helps!
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Is modifier not an issue in B? I eliminated B because "prevented" modifies "enormous distances" which is wrong - is this understanding correct?
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Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from 31 Jul 2022, 05:02
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GMATNinja could you please help with POE between B and C.

Many comments mark B incorrect on grounds that it is not modifying the subject, but Manhattan's thread on the same sentence claims that this cannot be grounds for elimination. Really confused here.
{...}
As explained in this post, if something "dissipates", it disperses on its own, and it makes more sense to say that the acoustic energy disperses on its own than to say that something else disperses the acoustic energy. The acoustic energy wants to dissipate (like steam), but something (the boundaries) prevents the acoustic energy from dissipating. As a result, the sound is able to travel through water for enormous distances.

This is the perfectly logical meaning suggested by choice (C) -- the boundaries are doing the preventing, but the acoustic energy itself is the thing that would do the dissipating:

Quote:
(C) its acoustic energy prevented from dissipating by boundaries in the ocean...
Now look at (B):

Quote:
(B) prevented from having its acoustic energy dissipated by boundaries in the ocean...
Here the boundaries are preventing the sound from "having its acoustic energy dissipated" -- but having its acoustic energy dissipated by what? This passive construction suggests that there is some external thing that dissipates the energy, and that's not quite right.

You could also argue that, in (B), the boundaries are the thing that would dissipate the acoustic energy, but then we have the same issue: it makes more sense to say that the acoustic energy dissipates on its own. This interpretation would create another problem: if the boundaries are doing the dissipating, what's doing the preventing? We have no idea.

In (B), the meaning is open to interpretation, and neither interpretation works very well. In (C), the meaning is clear and makes perfect sense, so that's our winner.

I hope that helps!


Is modifier not an issue in B? I eliminated B because "prevented" modifies "enormous distances" which is wrong - is this understanding correct?
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Hello Mbagoal123,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, the "comma+ past participle ("prevented" in this case)" construction can also be used as an adverbial modifier to modify the entirety of the preceding clause; thus, here "prevented" refers to "Sound", the subject of the preceding clause.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from 03 Aug 2022, 11:37
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GMATNinja chiranjeev AnishPassi KarishmaB

Could you please provide some clarification to the other comments on this thread? I'm struggling to understand why the correct answer is C over E.

1. In both the options, 'its' and 'preventing' are both modifying the preceding sentence before the comma, as preventing is a verb-ing modifier.
2. 'its acoustic energy prevented from dissipating by' vs 'preventing its acoustic energy being dissipated by' - Isn't it conveying the same meaning?
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Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from 03 Aug 2022, 13:37
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GMATNinja could you please help with POE between B and C.

Many comments mark B incorrect on grounds that it is not modifying the subject, but Manhattan's thread on the same sentence claims that this cannot be grounds for elimination. Really confused here.
{...}
As explained in this post, if something "dissipates", it disperses on its own, and it makes more sense to say that the acoustic energy disperses on its own than to say that something else disperses the acoustic energy. The acoustic energy wants to dissipate (like steam), but something (the boundaries) prevents the acoustic energy from dissipating. As a result, the sound is able to travel through water for enormous distances.

This is the perfectly logical meaning suggested by choice (C) -- the boundaries are doing the preventing, but the acoustic energy itself is the thing that would do the dissipating:

Quote:
(C) its acoustic energy prevented from dissipating by boundaries in the ocean...
Now look at (B):

Quote:
(B) prevented from having its acoustic energy dissipated by boundaries in the ocean...
Here the boundaries are preventing the sound from "having its acoustic energy dissipated" -- but having its acoustic energy dissipated by what? This passive construction suggests that there is some external thing that dissipates the energy, and that's not quite right.

You could also argue that, in (B), the boundaries are the thing that would dissipate the acoustic energy, but then we have the same issue: it makes more sense to say that the acoustic energy dissipates on its own. This interpretation would create another problem: if the boundaries are doing the dissipating, what's doing the preventing? We have no idea.

In (B), the meaning is open to interpretation, and neither interpretation works very well. In (C), the meaning is clear and makes perfect sense, so that's our winner.

I hope that helps!


Is modifier not an issue in B? I eliminated B because "prevented" modifies "enormous distances" which is wrong - is this understanding correct?
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You're correct: there's definitely a problem with the modifier. We don't know what "prevented" is describing in (B), because no interpretation makes sense.

As you noted, it wouldn't make much sense to write that the "distances" were prevented, so "prevented" isn't a noun modifier.

But it doesn't make sense for "prevented" to modify the entire previous clause either. If it did modify the whole previous clause, it would be describing the "sound" itself. Now it sounds as though the sound wants to dissipate its energy, but some external force is preventing this from happening. That's also illogical.

Put another way, the modifier issue is connected to the meaning problem we described.

I hope that clears things up!
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Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from 03 Aug 2022, 21:33
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GMATNinja chiranjeev AnishPassi KarishmaB

Could you please provide some clarification to the other comments on this thread? I'm struggling to understand why the correct answer is C over E.

1. In both the options, 'its' and 'preventing' are both modifying the preceding sentence before the comma, as preventing is a verb-ing modifier.
2. 'its acoustic energy prevented from dissipating by' vs 'preventing its acoustic energy being dissipated by' - Isn't it conveying the same meaning?
Show more


Option (E) uses 'comma + present participle' structure.

Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, preventing its acoustic energy from dissipating by boundaries in the ocean...

'preventing its ...' will modify the subject of the previous clause 'sound.' But does 'sound' prevent the energy from dissipating? No. The energy is prevented from dissipating by the boundaries. So we cannot use a 'comma + present participle' here.

For example,
He sat there for an hour, sipping coffee and reading a book.

Who was sipping and reading? He.
Similarly, who was preventing? The sentence implies that 'sound' was preventing. But we know that that is not correct.

Hence (E) is not correct.

On the other hand, option (C) uses an absolute phrase. An absolute phrase can be used to talk about one specific part/characteristic of a whole.

For example,
He walked alone, his hands jammed in his pockets.

Similarly, in (C), we talk about 'sound' in the main phrase and about its one specific characteristic in the absolute phrase.

Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, its acoustic energy prevented from dissipating by boundaries in the ocean...
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Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from 21 Aug 2022, 02:21
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had the sentence been:

Sound TRAVEL through water for enormous distances, preventing its acoustic energy from dissipating by boundaries of the ocean


can we say its a cause-effect relationship?
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Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from 21 Aug 2022, 22:38
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himanshu0123
had the sentence been:

Sound TRAVEL through water for enormous distances, preventing its acoustic energy from dissipating by boundaries of the ocean


can we say its a cause-effect relationship?
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This would be incorrect (even after you change 'travel' to 'travels').
The cause is that its acoustic energy does not dissipate because of boundaries. That is why sound is able to travel enormous distances (this is the effect). Sound itself doesn't prevent its acoustic energy from dissipating (which is what your sentence seems to imply)
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Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from 21 Aug 2022, 23:09
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(A) prevented from dissipating its acoustic energy as a result of Incorrect as it modifies the previous noun i.e. distances and distances cannot prevent sound from dissipating its acoustic energy.

(B) prevented from having its acoustic energy dissipated by Incorrect as it modifies the previous noun i.e. distances and distances cannot prevent sound from dissipating its acoustic energy.

(C) its acoustic energy prevented from dissipating by Correct as it uses Noun Phrase or Absolute modifier i.e. Acoustic Energy of sound prevented from dissipating.

(D) its acoustic energy prevented from being dissipated as a result of Incorrect as acoustic energy of sound is prevented from being dissipated as a result of boundaries in ocean.

(E) preventing its acoustic energy from dissipating by Incorrect as the modifier preventing incorrectly modifies sound. Sound does not prevent its acoustic energy from dissipating.
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Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from 22 Aug 2022, 01:54
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himanshu0123
had the sentence been:

Sound TRAVEL through water for enormous distances, preventing its acoustic energy from dissipating by boundaries of the ocean


can we say its a cause-effect relationship?
Show more

KarishmaB has already explained why the answer is no.

More generally, though, these sentences are going to have a certain intended meaning, which will be a function ONLY of...
• /1/ the ideas that appear in the sentence—which stay the same throughout the choices, although there's variation in the specific words used to express those ideas—
and
• /2/ ordinary real-world common sense.

If an answer choice that's wrong for X reason were substituted for one that's wrong for Y reason, that would have no effect on the properly intended meaning.
Similarly, it makes no difference which choice is selected to be choice A (the one that appears in the 'original' sentence).
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Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from 09 Nov 2022, 10:24
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egmat

Hi fameatop,

This is in response to your PM. :)

Let's analyze the structure of Choice C: Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, its acoustic energy prevented from dissipating by boundaries in the ocean created by water layers of different temperatures and densities.

There is no doubt that the portion before the comma is an Independent Clause with "Sound" as a Subject and "can travel" as a Verb.
Now let's look at the latter portion of the sentence.

its acoustic energy prevented from dissipating by boundaries in the ocean created by water layers of different temperatures and densities.

This structure is actually Noun + Noun Modifier that modifies the preceding clause.
Noun = its acoustic energy
Noun Modifier = prevented from dissipating...
(For more on this topic, please read the article in this link: https://gmatclub.com/forum/noun-noun-mod ... 37292.html)

What does this portions says? It says that its (sounds) acoustic energy prevented. Now does it make sense that the sound itself prevents its acoustic energy? No, it does. Now read further. "its acoustic energy prevented... by water layers of different temperatures and densities." Now, does this make sense? Yes, it does. This structure actually provided the characteristic of the acoustic energy in that it says that this acoustic energy is prevented from dissipating by water layers of different temperatures and densities.

In original Choice C, "prevented" CANNOT be a passive voice also because it is not preceded by a helping verb such as is/am/are/was/were etc. So, prevented here id just a verb-ed modifier, a Noun Modifier that modifies the preceding noun entity "its acoustic energy". Together this modified noun + noun modifier modifies the preceding clause by presenting the reason for the main action in the sentence.

Remember, we are talking about the CORRCT OFFICIAL answer choice. It cannot have a grave error of fragment.

Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha
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egmat
Is there a preference for using "as a result of" vs. "by" in this question? "By" is obviously simpler/in the correct answer choice but wanted to see if this was a non-issue.
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Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from 10 Nov 2022, 01:48
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woohoo921

Is there a preference for using "as a result of" vs. "by" in this question? "By" is obviously simpler/in the correct answer choice but wanted to see if this was a non-issue.
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Hey woohoo921

There's certainly a difference and an important one.

"By" is a preposition that denotes 'agency'.

    This cake was baked by my mother.

    The acoustic energy of sound is prevented from dissipating by boundaries between the layers of water.


"As a result of" indicates the cause of/reason for an event/occurrence.

    Fukuyama refers to high rates of crime and juvenile delinquency as a result of the lack of trust associated with social capital.

    There will be no additional burden at all on taxpayers as a result of this change.


It is wrong to use "as a result of" to indicate the agent of an action.

I hope this helps improve your understanding.


Happy Learning!

Abhishek
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Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from 10 Nov 2022, 06:01
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woohoo921

Is there a preference for using "as a result of" vs. "by" in this question? "By" is obviously simpler/in the correct answer choice but wanted to see if this was a non-issue.

Hey woohoo921

There's certainly a difference and an important one.

"By" is a preposition that denotes 'agency'.

    This cake was baked by my mother.

    The acoustic energy of sound is prevented from dissipating by boundaries between the layers of water.


"As a result of" indicates the cause of/reason for an event/occurrence.

    Fukuyama refers to high rates of crime and juvenile delinquency as a result of the lack of trust associated with social capital.

    There will be no additional burden at all on taxpayers as a result of this change.


It is wrong to use "as a result of" to indicate the agent of an action.

I hope this helps improve your understanding.


Happy Learning!

Abhishek
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egmat

You are so incredible... a true rockstar :) Thank you for all of your help.
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