Studies have found that deaf children from American families who ident

Oh wow.. Nice question. When i started to break the sentence, only then did I find the actual mistake.

Striking out the modifiers (prep. phrases), we have

Studies have found that deaf children from American families who identify themselves as culturally deaf, and use sign language, are generally on a par with hearing children in terms of reading and writing, because they have been exposed to language since birth.

Simply, the statement says, 'deaf children are generally on par with hearing children, because ....
The construction is of type "subject + linking verb + object ..." which is correct.

A and use sign language, are generally
Sounds good.
B using sign language, are generally
the verb+ing followed by comma modifies the entire phrase preceding it; which is wrong. Also, not parallel.
C use sign language, and are generally
and should introduce an independent clause or introduce the end element of a list. Both are not happening here.
D and using sign language are generally
identify and using are not parallel.
E and use sign language, generally
linking verb / main verb missing.

1) deaf children should have ONE valid VERB
2) Identify and Use should be in parallel

A and use sign language, are generally Correct
B using sign language, are generally not parallel
C use sign language, and are generally due to comma before it , "use sign language" is run on sentence without a conjunction
D and using sign language are generally use and identify not in parallel
E and use sign language, generally deaf children do not have a verb

I have few doubts in A :

1. children who identify themselves as culturally deaf, and use sign language --- why comma is separating parallel verbs identify and use; sentence is not presenting list of more than 3 items also not joining 2 ICs.

2. Why who is not repeated after and. as per MGMAT chapter 4 on parallelism repetition of subordinatior (who/whose etc) is expected to clear any ambiguity. That is why many people selected C.

children who identify themselves as culturally deaf and who use sign language are ...

I think both A and C have minor punctuation errors. Would someone like to clarify this ?

Studies have found that deaf children from American families who identify themselves as culturally deaf, and use sign language, are generally on a par with hearing children in terms of reading and writing, because they have been exposed to language since birth.

You are right. Comma before AND should ideally represent either a list of 3 or more items or a conjunction with independent clause.
Seems like all the choices are incorrect in this question

My 2 cents:
Studies have found that deaf children from American families who identify themselves as culturally deaf, and use sign language, are generally on a par with hearing children in terms of reading and writing, because they have been exposed to language since birth.

Intended meaning:
Studies have found that
--deaf children are generally on a par with hearing children in terms of reading and writing.
How is that so? Because they have been exposed to language since birth.
Deaf children identify themselves as culturally deaf and use sign language.
This is what A convey.
Option C
Studies have found that deaf children use sign language, and are generally on a par with hearing children in terms of reading and writing.
How is that so? Because they have been exposed to language since birth. [Is it explaining why they use sign lang and are on a par... No. It is explaining why they r on a par]

A and use sign language, are generally
B using sign language, are generally
>>comma+ing modifier usage is not clear in meaning or we can say awkward.
C use sign language, and are generally
>>Wrong as stated above
D and using sign language are generally
>> identify and using NOPE.
E and use sign language, generally
>>Missing main verb

Hi PiyushK,
How r u
Regarding point#2, hope below link form MGMAT answers it.I believe, there is an excellent eGmat article also on this but somehow i cant find it right-now.
https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/par ... 12348.html

Ralph likes people who are popular and who are tall.
HOWEVER, this is a different trap where there is ambiguity on whether he likes two different types of people OR people who are two different things. To add clarity, we would distinguish as:
Ralph likes people who are popular and tall. (he likes people who are popular and tall)

Ralph likes people who are popular and people who are tall. (he likes people who are popular and he also likes people who are tall)
Ralph likes people who are popular and who are tall. (ambiguity here... the GMAT might allow this, but if given the preference chose a sentence with a clearer meaning)

As per this by dropping second who both identify and use get linked to the same subject deaf children. Please share your views on this.

the hardest thing to do here is to find that using sign langugae in b can not modify the main clause logically. this is process of meaning/logic analyses which are still more easy than english grammar rules which are also tested on this exam.

I think point number 1 is a very valid point. I did some research and figured out three things
1) Comma + and is used to join two independent clauses
2) Comma + and is used for closing a list of items
3) Since commas are used in pairs to enclose phrases that interrupt a clause , we can place a comma before "and" (or any of the seven coordinating conjunctions) when the conjunction launches such a phrase
example "I told him, and really meant this time, to not abusive language" . (Here two commas are introducing non essential phrases)

Totally agree! why would someone punctuate 'and use sign language' within commas?!

A cannot be correct. Not a GMAT quality question.

I strongly encourage studying mostly from official GMAC material, and take everything (in verbal) from private schools with a grain of salt.

Hi,
First of all,I have the same problem as PiyushK,but through the PEO I could find my choice.
The clue is in the non-underline part "because they have been exposed to language since birth";This is the reason to what the studies have found.
If the intended meaning is to say that the studies have found deaf children doing 2 things:using sign language,being on par,the reasoning cited in the latter part should response to this.
However,that reasoning part is actually explain only why these deaf children are on par with the hearing children.Hence,there is only main verb in this sentence "are"
With this conclusion,option C,D,E are out.
Between A and B,option B has the //ism problem;hence only A survives.
My guess on the comma before "and use sign" is to separate the non-essential information.Also the ellipsis takes "who" from ",and use sign language".

Please comment if anything is wrong
Thanks

A) identify and use are parallel , after language verb is reqd so "are" generally
B) using sign language modifier error = modifying subject studies.
C) ,and are generally is wrong
D) using and identify are not parallel
E) , generally lacks verb

how can A be correct.

who identify ____ and use________
comma is not correct
we cant say
who is X, and Y.

What is wrong with B

Gmat does not always restrict the use of comma before 'and' in a list of two items. What you said above is of course a better practice- to not use comma. B gives an illogical meaning that the children identify themselves as deaf using sign language. How can one use sign language with own self unless lunatic?
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this question wants to check the main meaning -> B & E are out.
"identify" cannot parallel with ""use" -> D is out.
C changes the meaning even though the changng is subtle.

VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

In this confusing sentence, you must understand the modifier following families. It is “American families who identify as this…and use sign language.” After you see that this modifier is correct, you should get rid of it to see the main portion of the sentence: “Studies have found that deaf children…are generally on a par with….” After this analysis you see that answer choice (A) is indeed correct. In (B) the modifier “using sign language” is illogical and incorrect – they do not identify themselves as culturally deaf “using sign language”. “They identify themselves and use sign language” (C) lacks the necessary “and” to link this verb back with identify. In (D) it needs to be the verb “use” not the participle “using” and (E) lacks the necessary “are” before generally. Answer is (A).
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Are the answer choices correct?
I think (A) is not correct.
I mean it I don't think `, and ` should be used to describe a list of two. Right?

Plus there's a lot of debate going on in the page. Can you please clarify this?

I highly doubt whether A is really correct, because of the comma used after 'deaf'.

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