Sunspots, vortices of gas associated with strong electromagnetic

I chose option C
appear on the surface of the Sun as dark spots although never sighted at
But the second part of option C is suspicious .
The second part of the sentence tells a universal fact , but the original sense of the sentence is not a universal fact .
Also what will come at the end of the sentence at or on?

Can 'have' and 'are' be parallel? They are brilliant but have never practiced the sport. Seems funny.

Hello GMATNinja - I solved this question for the second time and unfortunately got it wrong both the times. Your detailed analysis on this question would be highly appreciated.

(A) are visible as dark spots on the surface of the Sun but have never been sighted on

(B) are visible as dark spots that never have been sighted on the surface of the Sun

(C) appear on the surface of the Sun as dark spots although never sighted at

(D) appear as dark spots on the surface of the Sun, although never having been sighted at

(E) appear as dark spots on the Sun's surface, which have never been sighted on

Sunspots, vortices of gas associated with strong electromagnetic activity, are visible as dark spots on the surface of the Sun but have never been sighted on the Sun’s poles or equator.

(A) are visible as dark spots on the surface of the Sun but have never been sighted on
(B) are visible as dark spots that never have been sighted on the surface of the Sun
(C) appear on the surface of the Sun as dark spots although never sighted at
(D) appear as dark spots on the surface of the Sun, although never having been sighted at
(E) appear as dark spots on the Sun's surface, which have never been sighted on

(B) are visible as dark spots that never have been sighted on the surface of the Sun

(C) appear on the surface of the Sun as dark spots although never sighted at

(D) appear as dark spots on the surface of the Sun, although never having been sighted at

(E) appear as dark spots on the Sun's surface, which have never been sighted on

This is indeed not a test of //ism; rather it is about meaning and grammar. If you are thinking about the verb //ism here, there is only one // marker, namely, the fanboy conjunction but. The verbs on either sides of the ‘but’ are in present and present perfect tenses, which is acceptable.

(A) are visible as dark spots on the surface of the Sun but have never been sighted on ---- correct choice.
(B) are visible as dark spots that never have been sighted on the surface of the Sun ----- the vortices have been sighted on the surface; Choice says they never have been sighted; total reversal of the original meaning
(C) appear on the surface of the Sun as dark spots although never sighted at ---- although never have been is a fragment; The subordinate conjunction’ although’ requires a subject and verb or minimum a verb’
(D) appear as dark spots on the surface of the Sun, although never having been sighted at – ‘although never having been sighted at’ is not a sub-clause; same problem as in C
(E) appear as dark spots on the Sun's surface, which have never been sighted on – which flouts the relative pronoun touch rule

A is the choice

Hi
Do we need a comma before the FANBOYS?

Hello Everyone!

Let's take a closer look at this question, one issue at a time, and narrow it down to the correct choice! Before we dive in, here is the original question, with any major differences between each option highlighted in orange:

Sunspots, vortices of gas associated with strong electromagnetic activity, are visible as dark spots on the surface of the Sun but have never been sighted on the Sun’s poles or equator.

(A) are visible as dark spots on the surface of the Sun but have never been sighted on
(B) are visible as dark spots that never have been sighted on the surface of the Sun
(C) appear on the surface of the Sun as dark spots although never sighted at
(D) appear as dark spots on the surface of the Sun, although never having been sighted at
(E) appear as dark spots on the Sun's surface, which have never been sighted on

After a quick glance over the options, a couple major differences jump out:

1. How they begin: visible as / appear as
2. Verb tense: have been sighted / sighted / having been sighted

It's always a good idea to start with any issue that will eliminate 2-3 options at once. Let's start with #1 on our list because it'll eliminate the most options to get us started!

While it may seem that appear and visible are interchangeable terms, they do mean slightly different things:

Visible = The object already exists, is not moving, and you are able to see it. (The stop sign is visible from a distance of 200 yards.)
Appear = The object is created as you're looking, or it moves into your path of vision. (My dog appears at my feet when he's ready to go for a walk.)

It makes more sense in this context to say that sunspots are visible on the surface of the Sun. They already exist, and they aren't moving into your vision path - they are stationary. The sentence is merely stating that you are able to see them, not that they move around or are created in front of your very eyes.

Therefore, we can eliminate options C, D, and E because they use the more vague "appear," rather than the clearer term "visible."

Now that we have it narrowed down to only 2 options, let's take a closer look at the remaining options:

(A) are visible as dark spots on the surface of the Sun but have never been sighted on

This option is CORRECT! It uses the clear term "visible" to describe sunspots, and it makes logical sense to use "have never been sighted" to refer only to the poles and equator.

(B) are visible as dark spots that never have been sighted on the surface of the Sun

This is INCORRECT because it drastically changes the original meaning of the sentence! The original sentence states that we can see sunspots on the surface of the Sun, with the exception of the poles and equator. This sentence says they have never been sighted on the surface, which isn't true!


There you go - option A is the correct choice! It uses clear terminology and makes logical sense!

**************************************************************************************************************

Now, I'm sure you're wondering what would happen if we tackled #2 on the list instead. Here is how we could break down this question based on verb tenses:


(A) are visible as dark spots on the surface of the Sun but have never been sighted on

This is CORRECT because it uses the correct verb tense (present perfect) to show that they weren't found in the past, and haven't been found in the present too.

(B) are visible as dark spots that never have been sighted on the surface of the Sun

While this sentence uses the correct verb tense, the location of the verb is wrong! In this case, it's referring to the surface of the Sun, which doesn't make sense - we CAN see sunspots on the surface! This is INCORRECT because it drastically changes the intended meaning, which is a big no-no on the GMAT!

(C) appear on the surface of the Sun as dark spots although never sighted at

This is INCORRECT because it uses past tense to show that the sunspots were not visible in the past, but says nothing about the present. The original sentence suggests that the sunspots are still not visible on the poles or equator today, so we need to use present perfect tense to show that.

(D) appear as dark spots on the surface of the Sun, although never having been sighted at

This option is INCORRECT for a couple reasons. First, it doesn't make sense to say that sunspots aren't visible AT the poles or equator - it's clearer to say they aren't visible ON those areas. Second, it uses the wrong verb tense (past perfect) in passive voice, which changes the meaning somewhat. This states that sunspots were not visible on the poles and equator in the past, but doesn't say anything about the present!

(E) appear as dark spots on the Sun's surface, which have never been sighted on

This option does use the correct verb tense, but it is still INCORRECT because it uses the term "appear" rather than "visible," which is much clearer.

As you can see, starting your process with #2 on our list is much more complicated and doesn't help you eliminate large chunks of options easily. You can certainly answer a question this way, but it may take you MUCH longer to arrive at the correct answer!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.

You mentioned A is correct by using have never been sighted on (past perfect) but said D is wrong because of that as well?

Why is choice E. wrong?
I see no grammatical error in it since grammatically and logically "which" must logically modify "dark spotS", not "surface" (The singular "surface" doesn't agree with plural verb after "which". Also, its meaning is completely logical.).

If choice A. and E. are both logical, am I forced to choice A. by default?

Why is choice E. wrong?

When John cooks, splattered bits of grease invariably appear as dark spots on his shirt, which have never been sighted on his left sleeve.
Here, the portion in red conveys superfluous information and thus is unwarranted.
Common sense tells us the following:
The dark spots in blue must be found on a particular portion of John's shirt, perhaps the collar.
Clearly, these spots on the collar could not also have been sighted on the left sleeve.
Any spots on John's left sleeve would have to be DIFFERENT from those on his collar.
Thus, there is no justification for the portion in red.

Option E makes a similar error.

why is the portion in red superfluous or redundant?

Consider the following case:
At 10am today, sunspots appear as dark spots on the surface of the sun.
Let's call these dark spots A, B and C.
Since A, B and C have ONLY JUST APPEARED, they DID NOT EXIST before their appearance at 10am.
Moreover -- since A, B and C did not exist before 10am -- they clearly have never been sighted on the Sun's poles.
For this reason, the information conveyed by the red modifier seems superfluous.