JulieLama
GMATNinja can you please explain what is the problem in Option E in terms of meaning ?
After eliminating all the options we are left with option C and E . I chose C because it follows the past perfect tense rule and is better than E in terms of meaning and grammar . Still want to very clear on what grounds are we eliminating E . Would really appreciate your help.
Thanks in Advance!
(C) and (E) are disturbingly similar, and neither of those options have any clear-cut "errors", unfortunately. So all we can do is compare the differences between those two options, and see if we can spot enough meaning issues to prefer one over the other.
Here they are again:
Quote:
The first detailed study of magpie attacks in Australia indicates that...
(C) by the time they reached adulthood, 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women born in the country had been attacked by the birds
(E) 98 percent of men and 75 percent of women who were born in the country, by the time they reached adulthood had been attacked by the birds
Difference #1: placement of "by the time they reached adulthood"In (C), this modifier appears at the beginning of the "that" clause, making it pretty clear that it modifies the entire ensuing clause ("98 percent of men and 75 percent of women born in the country had been attacked by the birds").
In (E), things are a little fuzzier. First of all, why is there no comma after "adulthood"? The omission of a second comma makes it look as though "had been attacked by the birds" is part of the "by the time they..." modifier. Sure, the reader can figure out the intended meaning, but a second comma would make things a bit more clear. That gives us one tiny vote against (E).
More significantly, a reader might mistakenly think that the "by the time they..." modifier describes the preceding "who" clause ("who were born in the country"). Again, the reader can figure out the logical meaning, but that meaning is more clearly expressed in (C).
Does that make (E) absolutely WRONG? Maybe, maybe not -- but in terms of this particular difference, (C) is a little better.
Difference #2: "born in the country" vs "who were born in the country"Both options are probably acceptable. But if so, why go with the wordier one? "Wordiness" is rarely a reliable decision point, but in this case it might give us a very tiny vote in favor of (C). Like, really tiny -- but it's one of the few differences between the two options, so it's worth mentioning.
And that's all we have to work with! Based mainly on the first difference discussed above, (C) is a slightly better option.
Remember, GMAT SC is not about finding four WRONG sentences (with definitive errors) and one RIGHT sentence (with no definitive errors). Instead, it's about choosing the BEST option out the five available.
In this case, (C) wins -- but admittedly not by much.
I hope that helps!