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