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555-605 Level|   Idioms/Diction/Redundancy|   Parallelism|                                 
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to Updated on: 11 Jun 2021, 09:35
Originally posted by marine on 26 Aug 2004, 03:42.
Last edited by Bunuel on 11 Jun 2021, 09:35, edited 10 times in total.
Renamed the topic and edited the question.
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to whales and in fact include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is famous for its aggressive hunting pods.


(A) include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is

(B) include the animal known as the killer whale, growing as big as 30 feet long and

(C) include the animal known as the killer whale, growing up to 30 feet long and being

(D) includes the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow as big as 30 feet long and is

(E) includes the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and it is




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https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/06/health/evidence-puts-dolphins-in-new-light-as-killers.html

Closely related to whales, the 32 species that make up the dolphin family (Delphinidae in scientific nomenclature) include killer whales, which grow up to 30 feet long and are famous for their aggressive hunting pods. But the rest are smaller. The common dolphin is up to 7 feet long, and the bottlenose, up to 12 feet. Many dolphins have a pronounced beak and all have a central dorsal fin and sharp teeth for feeding, mainly on squid and fish.
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to 15 Oct 2016, 07:17
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I just wondered why it is mentioned in OG that as big as is incorrect here and here I feel is the satisfying reason.

word big relates to size of the whale.

see the below sentences:

  • The biggest recorded blue whale was a female in the Antarctic Ocean
    that was 30.5 m long
      (more than 3.5 times the length of a double-decker bus and
      as long as a Boeing 737 plane)
    with an estimated weight of 144 tonnes (almost the same as 2,000 men).
  • The tongue alone of a blue whale can weigh as much as an elephant and an entire football team could stand on it!
  • The heart of a blue whale is about the size of a VW Beetle car and weighs up to 450kg.

Hence we cannot say killer whale can grow as big as 30 feet since it clearly indicates only length. we can only say it is 30 feet long.
we can also say killer whale is as big as size of VW beetle car.(as above)
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to 03 May 2017, 18:46
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marine
The Official Guide for GMAT Review 2017

Practice Question
Question No.: 750
Page: 699

The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to whales and in fact include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is famous for its aggressive hunting pods.

A. include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is
B. include the animal known as the killer whale, growing as big as 30 feet long and
C. include the animal known as the killer whale, growing up to 30 feet long and being
D. includes the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow as big as 30 feet long and is
E. includes the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and it is
Show more

First Glance

The underline includes a comma followed by which, indicating possible Modifier or Meaning issues.

Issues

(1) Meaning: growing

Three answer choices contain the comma followed by which, the other two change to "comma -ing". Does the sentence require a noun modifier or an adverbial modifier?

What can grow or is growing? The killer whale. Because the noun killer whale already appears right before the comma, the sentence should use a noun modifier (which) after the comma. The adverbial modifier, growing, would modify the verb include, implying that the killer whale is growing as a result of the fact that the 32 species include them. This is illogical. Eliminate answers (B) and (C).

(2) Meaning: as big as

The five answers differ in their description of the whale's possible length:

(A) can grow to be 30 feet long
(B) growing as big as 30 feet long
(C) growing up to 30 feet long
(D) can grow as big as 30 feet long
(E) can grow to be 30 feet long

It is acceptable to say that something grows to be 30 feet long or up to 30 feet long. The third variation, however, is the wrong word choice (and redundant besides). It's incorrect to use as big as for a length; rather use as long as. However, even if the correct idiom had been used, this would make the full phrase as long as 30 feet long, which is redundant. Eliminate answers (B) and (D).

(3) Subject-Verb: includes

Answers (A), (B), and (C) start with the plural verb include; answers (D) and (E) begin with the singular includes. Which is correct?

Find the subject. The subject is not whales, nor is it the dolphin family. The subject is all the way at the beginning: species. This word is a little tricky, because the singular and plural versions are identical. Two clues indicate that species is plural in this sentence: the number 32 and the double-verb structure. The sentence reads: The 32 species are X and include Y. Eliminate answers (D) and (E) for using a singular verb.

The Correct Answer

Correct answer (A) uses a plural verb to match the plural subject. It also correctly employs a noun modifier structure (comma followed by which) to provide additional information about the killer whales.
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to 10 Sep 2017, 10:33
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to whales and in fact include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is famous for its aggressive hunting pods.

A. include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is
B. include the animal known as the killer whale, growing as big as 30 feet long and
C. include the animal known as the killer whale, growing up to 30 feet long and being
D. includes the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow as big as 30 feet long and is
E. includes the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and it is[/quote]
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to 30 Jan 2018, 22:30
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to whales and in fact include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is famous for its aggressive hunting pods.

(D) includes the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow as big as 30 feet long and is
(E) includes the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and it is
The subject here is "The 32 species", a plural subject.
Therefore, (D) & (E) are out, on the basis that they both use "includes", which refers to a singular noun.

(B) include the animal known as the killer whale, growing as big as 30 feet long and
In (B), growing is not modifying whales, instead it is modifying the preceding clause

(C) include the animal known as the killer whale, growing up to 30 feet long and being
Same error as in (B) "Correct me if I'm wrong"

(A) include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is
include (correct verb usage)
, which can (correctly modify the killer whale)
can grow ... and is (parallelism)
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to 31 Jan 2018, 22:40
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to whales and in fact include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is famous for its aggressive hunting pods.

(D) includes the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow as big as 30 feet long and is
(E) includes the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and it is
The subject here is "The 32 species", a plural subject.
Therefore, (D) & (E) are out, on the basis that they both use "includes", which refers to a singular noun.

(B) include the animal known as the killer whale, growing as big as 30 feet long and
In (B), growing is not modifying whales, instead it is modifying the preceding clause

(C) include the animal known as the killer whale, growing up to 30 feet long and being
Same error as in (B) "Correct me if I'm wrong"

(A) include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is
include (correct verb usage)
, which can (correctly modify the killer whale)
can grow ... and is (parallelism)
Show more



Hello lary301254M7,

I must say your analysis is very thorough. You talk about very precise errors in the sentence and explain them very thoroughly in a simple way.

You have done a great job with the analysis of this question as well. Your reason to reject choices B and C is absolutely correct.

Keep the good job. :thumbup:


Thanks. :-)
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to 23 Nov 2018, 23:54
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I was between A & B, unable to understand why is B incorrect.
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to 24 Nov 2018, 00:57
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Quote:
The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to whales and in fact include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is famous for its aggressive hunting pods.

(A) include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is

(B) include the animal known as the killer whale, growing as big as 30 feet long and
Show more
deddex
I was between A & B, unable to understand why is B incorrect.
Show more
Hi deddex , have you read the thread?

(B) leads to ambiguity.
(A) keeps the focus on the killer whale.

Some people call comma + which (grows) a "noun modifier." It is.

In (B):comma + participle
(comma + ___ING)
modifiers generally modify the entire previous clause, At the least "growing" would have to modify "species." Neither construction accords with the intended meaning.

We have ambiguity: what is growing? The species? The dolphin family?

By contrast, in (A)
comma + which
("which grows) can
modify only the immediately preceding noun, in this case, "the killer whale."

That reference is in accordance with the intended meaning.

Hope that helps.
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to 24 Nov 2018, 01:29
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Another problem in B is with ' as big as 30 feet long. One can call it either " as big as 30 feet" or just 30 feet long, but not a combination of both big and long.
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to 09 Jan 2019, 15:49
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Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one issue at a time, and narrow it down to the correct choice! First, here is the original question with any major differences highlighted in orange:

The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to whales and in fact include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is famous for its aggressive hunting pods.

(A) include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is
(B) include the animal known as the killer whale, growing as big as 30 feet long and
(C) include the animal known as the killer whale, growing up to 30 feet long and being
(D) includes the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow as big as 30 feet long and is
(E) includes the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and it is

After a quick glance over the options, a few key differences jump out:

1. include vs. includes
2. which can grow vs. growing
3. and / and is / and being / and it is

Let's tackle #1 on our list first: include vs. includes. No matter which one we choose, we'll eliminate 2-3 options rather quickly. To start, we need to figure out what the verb "include/includes" is referring to:

The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to whales and in fact include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is famous for its aggressive hunting pods.

Since the subject of the sentence is plural, and we also see that the writer used the plural verb "are" earlier on, we need to make sure that all verbs referring to it are also plural:

(A) include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is
(B) include the animal known as the killer whale, growing as big as 30 feet long and
(C) include the animal known as the killer whale, growing up to 30 feet long and being
(D) includes the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow as big as 30 feet long and is
(E) includes the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and it is

There you go - we can eliminate options D and E because they use a singular verb, which doesn't agree with the plural subject!

Now that we have it narrowed down to only 3 options, let's tackle #2 on our list: which can grow vs. growing. This is a case of making sure that we use the proper type of modifier to match up with its antecedent. Here is how that works:

Noun modifier = modifies a noun; must start with "which" or "that"
Adverbial modifier = modifies any phrase or word except a noun; starts with -ing verb

In this case, the modifier is supposed to modify the noun "the killer whale." Therefore, we MUST choose the options that use a noun modifier to match the antecedent (a noun). Here is how they break down:

(A) include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is
(B) include the animal known as the killer whale, growing as big as 30 feet long and
(C) include the animal known as the killer whale, growing up to 30 feet long and being

We're in luck - only one option used a noun modifier here! We can eliminate options B and C because they use adverbial modifiers to modify a noun, which doesn't match.

Option A is our correct choice because it uses the proper subject-verb agreement with "include," and it uses the correct form of modifier to modify the noun "the killer whale." We don't even need to tackle #3 on our list because we already narrowed it down to the correct choice.


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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to 15 Apr 2019, 13:17
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I understood why B, C, D and E are incorrect, but in " which can grow" is modifying killer whale which is singular, so shouldn't it be "which can grows".
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to 15 Apr 2019, 18:26
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VishalGoyal
I understood why B, C, D and E are incorrect, but in " which can grow" is modifying killer whale which is singular, so shouldn't it be "which can grows".
Show more
We'll have to keep in mind that there is a can there.

A plant can grow. ← Plant is singular, but that doesn't affect the verb.
Plants can grow. ← With a can, the verb will remain the same whether the subject is singular or plural.

A plant can grows.
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to 30 Apr 2019, 23:27
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AjiteshArun , daagh and generis

Dear experts,

Don't we need which twice ?

which can grow to be 30 feet long and which is famous for its aggressive hunting pods.

As per my understanding, can grow || is famous.

Please provide your suggestion.

Regards,
Arup
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to 30 Apr 2019, 23:49
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Arup

The inclusion of 'which' in the second arm is not part of any of the choices and therefore is out of scope for us. We must limit our analysis to end up with the best of the choices. That is the essence of GMAT.

Even academically, we are permitted to skip the subject for the second arm, if the subject of the first arm can be also the subject of the second arm.

Per se, the way to parse this part is ---
Quote:
Which( can grow to be 30 feet long) and (is famous for its aggressive hunting pods.);
Show more
the 'which stands as the common subject for both the phrases.
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to 01 May 2019, 00:03
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daagh
Arup

The inclusion of 'which' in the second arm is not part of any of the choices and therefore is out of scope for us. We must limit our analysis to end up with the best of the choices. That is the essence of GMAT.

Even academically, we are permitted to skip the subject for the second arm, if the subject of the first arm can be also the subject of the second arm.

Per se, the way to parse this part is ---
Quote:
Which( can grow to be 30 feet long) and (is famous for its aggressive hunting pods.);
the 'which stands as the common subject for both the phrases.
Show more

Thanks for the explanation. My understanding was that if we use a relative pronoun in one arm, for sake of parallelism and of conveying clear meaning we should use relative pronoun in second arm as well.

Regards,
Arup
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to 01 May 2019, 09:44
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ArupRS
My understanding was that if we use a relative pronoun in one arm, for sake of parallelism and of conveying clear meaning we should use relative pronoun in second arm as well.
Show more
ArupRS , I am not sure whether the highlighted words are a followup question. I think that they are.

As daagh explained nicely, grammatically, no, the second pronoun is not required.

Although repetition is not required, if the first subordinate clause ([which] can grow to be 30 feet long)
were really long or complicated, we might need a second "which" for the sake of clarity. That choice is stylistic.

Finally, you may be thinking of the situation in which we have a verb followed by that
and the "second arm" needs to be tied back to the verb by repeating that.

The two sentences below are taken from an excellent post by GMATNinja that you can find here.
He discusses a circumstance in which we need to repeat the word that. He writes:

I believe that Santa Claus is real and that the Knicks will win the 2018 NBA title. :)
(Correct. The subordinate clauses are parallel and express the meaning properly.)

I believe that Santa Claus is real and the Knicks will win the 2018 NBA title. :(
(Not correct. Meaning is distorted. We need a second that. See the post for an explanation.)
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to 06 Jun 2019, 19:51
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Isn't "grow to be" - weird ? The correct sentence should be "grow up to" right? I am really confused how A can be correct? Is it just because other options are more wrong?
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to 07 Jun 2019, 07:33
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rashwiniyer
Isn't "grow to be" - weird ? The correct sentence should be "grow up to" right? I am really confused how A can be correct? Is it just because other options are more wrong?
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rashwiniyer , no, "grow to be" is not weird, though if you are not a native speaker you might have heard only "grow up to be."

The phrase "grow up to be" typically is used to describe children.

She may grow up to be the first woman president of the United States.
He should grow up to be as athletic and well-proportioned as his father is.

This question is official. The answer is correct.
The sentence discusses what physical length a killer whale can be → can grow to be.

The prose in (A) is both correct and well-written.

You probably hit an unusual mental road bump.

Hope that helps.
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to 14 Oct 2019, 07:30
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Hello,

I get why A) is correct but can someone explain to me how do spot the parallelism in this problem correct?

The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to whales and in fact include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long [b]and is famous for[/b ]its aggressive hunting pods.

I was instantly looking for something similar to "to be ..." because I thought "grow to be" and ... have to have some kind of similarity.
"Famous" - is certainly an adjective, but to what is it parallel?
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to 14 Oct 2019, 10:41
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chrtpmdr
Hello,

I get why A) is correct but can someone explain to me how do spot the parallelism in this problem correct?

The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to whales and in fact include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long [b]and is famous for[/b ]its aggressive hunting pods.

I was instantly looking for something similar to "to be ..." because I thought "grow to be" and ... have to have some kind of similarity.
"Famous" - is certainly an adjective, but to what is it parallel?
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Hi, parallelism is:

which
i) can grow....
and
ii) is....

Both are verbs.

In parallelism, don't look for word-on-word similarity.
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The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to 31 Oct 2019, 20:31
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" The 32 species " is followed by that...just wondering is use of that right here coz if its a relative pronoun than the 32 species must be singular..

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