The doctor observed the butterfly rash on her patient's arm

Question

The doctor observed the butterfly rash on her patient's arm and the patient's evident fatigue,  which was consistent with the symptoms  of Lupus.

(A) which was consistent with the symptoms
(B) which were consistent with the symptoms
(C) that were consistent with those
(D) which symptoms were consistent with symptoms
(E) symptoms which were consistent with those

eybrj2 · Answer

In the explanation in the book, " it's not clear what "which" refers to ( the observation or the symptoms)."

I don't understand this explanation.
 Doesn't "which" modify only preceding words?  (In this Q, "which" modifies only "fatigue"

Can disagreement in number between fatigue and symptoms be a problem?  --> I meant choice A.

gmatdog · Answer

E is correct.

'Which' and 'that' modify only fatigue in choices A thru D. 
Only E has the right parallel structure - 'symptoms' with 'those of Lupus'.

tuanquang269 · Answer

WHICH will refers to EVIDENT FATIGUE. This is the singular nouns, but not proper in term of meaning with the symptoms of the Lupus. THAT is also wrong because it stand behind the comma ",".

Only choice E makes sense in term of meaning, modifier, and parallelism rules.

shreygupta3192 · Answer

hello every1..
in case if there would have been .."that were" in place of "which was"(with "comma" removed before "which")..
would it have been right to say.."that were" ..

DmitryFarber · Answer

No, "that were" wouldn't work. "That" is only used for essential modifiers--modifiers that narrow down the intended subject.

The car that I wanted to buy just got recalled. 
This is the movie that I was telling you about.
A marriage that begins with dishonesty is not going to end well.

Notice that in each case, the "that" modifier narrows down what we're talking about? Which car? What movie? What kind of marriage? In this sentence, we're not narrowing down and saying "this was specifically the kind of butterfly rash that is associated with lupus." Does that help?

vijaykumar1299 · Answer

what's wrong with option " b " ?

ankurgupta03 · Answer

which points only to fatigue, whereas both the symptoms were consistent with the disease.

Bunuel · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

The largest problem in the original sentence is which because, as the sentence originally stands, it's not clear what which refers to (the observation or the symptoms). It more likely refers to the symptoms, but symptoms haven't even been discussed yet at this point in the sentence. Thus, for a few reasons, which on its own is an unclear pronoun. Eliminate (A), (B), and (C). Notice that that in (C) makes the situation no better. Which symptoms in (D) is not a common idiom and the rest of the choice is too wordy, so (E) it is.

Kavya2024 · Answer

Which is supposed to be used only with a comma right ?
How is it getting used after symptoms.Plus can someone share rules for using 'which' .

EducationAisle · Answer

Would agree with you Kavya; haven't come across such usage in any  official  question.

The doctor observed the butterfly rash on her patient's arm

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

The doctor observed the butterfly rash on her patient's arm

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