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The garden of the governor's mansion in the 1950s was mostly made up of perennials—lilies, peonies, foxgloves, and hibiscus, and annuals only planted in the butterfly garden.
(A) and annuals only planted in the butterfly garden
(B) and annuals planted only in the butterfly garden
(C) and annuals were only planted in the butterfly garden
(D) with annuals planted only in the butterfly garden
(E) with annuals in the butterfly garden only planted there
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Updated on: 27 May 2019, 06:45
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Although my initial answer was incorrect, later I found some justification for D from a similar GMAT Prep problem. Let’s learn from the correct answer. Here is Ron’s explanation of how dashes work:” Dashes may substitute commas to set off a modifier that NAMES people or things, especially if there is a LIST of such people or things”. If this list interrupts a sentence than the list should be set off by dashes on both sides, as follows:
The garden was mostly made up of perennials – lilies, peonies, foxgloves, and hibiscus – and annuals planted only in the butterfly garden.
Only in this case a modifier (the list) in between the dashes will give examples of perennials, and perennials themselves stay in parallelism with annuals.
Here is a similar example from Ron: Three of the players – John, Joe, and Sammy – and their wives were absent from the team banquet.
However, if the list is at the end of the sentence and is set off with a single dash as in A, B and C, then annuals also will become a part of this list and be an example of perennials:
B. The garden was mostly made up of perennials – lilies, peonies, foxgloves, and hibiscus, and annuals planted only in the butterfly garden.
Similar example from OG: … wasps that live in a highly cooperative and organized society consisting almost entirely of females — the queen and her sterile female workers. (The queen and her sterile female workers are examples of females constituting that society)
Thus all A, B, and C erroneously mean that annuals are some sort of perennials while they are different types of plants.
As of D, let’s first consider an example dissected for convenience from GMAT Prep:
With the cost of wireless service plummeting, many people are now using their mobile phones.
Here, with-modifier implies that the PLUMMETING COST of wireless service is facilitating (or explaining why) the use of mobile phones (increased). (Explanation from GMATGuruNY). In a similar manner in D, the fact that annuals were planted ONLY in the butterfly garden explains why the garden overall was MOSTLY made of perennials.
The garden was MOSTLY made up of perennials, with annuals planted ONLY in the butterfly garden.
E is a less elegant version of D.
Thus D _________________
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Updated on: 25 May 2019, 09:27
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The way i see it, there can be two splits. First one is b/w "only planted in the butterfly garden" and "planted only in the butterfly garden" and b/w the two "planted only in the butterfly garden" makes more sense as "only" modifies the place where annuals are planted.
so we can eliminate option A and C.
we can easily eliminate option E as it doesn't makes much sense and adding "there" at the end makes it redundant too.
Second one is b/w "and" and "with". After removing most of the modifiers, we get Option B "The garden was mostly made up of perennials and annuals planted only in the butterfly garden." And Option D "The garden was mostly made up of perennials,with annuals planted only in the butterfly garden."
for me, Here Option B makes much more sense as incuding annuals using "with" makes it look like we are adding another subject without any context.
IMO B.
Originally posted by Gagan0009 on 25 May 2019, 02:46.
Last edited by Gagan0009 on 25 May 2019, 09:27, edited 1 time in total.
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25 May 2019, 03:01
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IMO option-C
The garden of the governor's mansion in the 1950s was mostly made up of perennials—lilies, peonies, foxgloves, and hibiscus,, and annuals only planted in the butterfly garden.
A) and annuals only planted in the butterfly garden The sentence following "and" should be an independent clause, here the sentence lacks a verb
B) and annuals planted only in the butterfly garden The sentence following "and" should be an independent clause, here the sentence lacks a verb
C) and annuals were only planted in the butterfly garden the second part of the sentence is an independent clause with proper subject and verb - looks ok
D) with annuals planted only in the butterfly garden This is a prepositional phrase modifying the nearest noun "hibiscus"
E) with annuals in the butterfly garden only planted there.. This is a prepositional phrase modifying the nearest noun "hibiscus"
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25 May 2019, 08:13
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A & B lacks parallelism. C logically distorts the meaning of the sentence (not parallel also). E has modifier error (only) & redundant word also (there). Adverbial modifier, with, modifies entire preceding clause.so ans. D.
The garden of the governor's mansion in the 1950s was mostly made up of perennials—lilies, peonies, foxgloves, and hibiscus, and annuals only planted in the butterfly garden.
Meaning analysis:
Attachment:
Meaning.JPG [ 59.71 KiB | Viewed 1614 times ]
To get the meaning correctly we have to be careful with "and" //ism marker. We have to make sure that a list logically and grammatically consistent.
The garden was mostly made up of - 2 types of plants: 1. perennials 2. annuals
1. Perennials - mostly consists of lilies, peonies, foxgloves, and hibiscus 2. Annuals - planted in the butterfly garden (we discuss later the placement of "only")
Error analysis:
We have two "and".
1. First 'and' connects the list of 4 items - that included into perennials class lilies, peonies, foxgloves, and hibiscus it is clear and there is no concern.
2. Second 'and' connects what items? As first 'and' is in non-underlined part we have to make entities after second 'and' parallel to entities before. Logically lilies, peonies, foxgloves, and hibiscus types of flowers, whereas 'annuals' is related to the life cycle of the plant. So this entities cannot make logical list. But 'perennial' is also related to the life cycle of the plant. Here we can make 'annuals' parallel to 'perennials' - it will be parallel both logical and grammatical.
So far original sentence structure conveys intended meaning but we have one issue with 'only'
Let's ask some questions, what else 'annuals' can do in garden? Grow? Bloom? Yes, this is the natual 'annuals' life cycle steps: was planted --> grow --> bloom --> die after one year. Only here modifies 'verb'
annuals only was planted in the butterfly garden annuals only grow in the butterfly garden annuals only bloom in the butterfly garden annuals only die in the butterfly garden
All this versions don't make much sense. They say that annuals do only one action but this is not the case.
"Only" can have a strong presence in a sentence and can change the meaning of the sentence if it's used in the wrong place. To create a clear sentence, you should place "only" next to the noun, verb, or phrase you are trying to modify.
If we try to place only somewhere else:
annuals was planted only in the butterfly garden annuals grow only in the butterfly garden annuals bloom only in the butterfly garden annuals die only in the butterfly garden
All this sentences saying that annuals don't grow (are planted) anywhere ONLY in the butterfly garden - in this particular place. And this make perfect sense.
POE
The difference between A and B is placement of 'only'. And B makes much more sense. A is out.
(A) and annuals only planted in the butterfly garden (B) and annuals planted only in the butterfly garden
(C) and annuals were only planted in the butterfly garden (comma + and = full new clause, SV pairs are in place, verb tense is good, but this IC is not logically in line with the first clause. Annuals - is like perennials - type of plant's lifecycle, it will be better where 'annuals' is parallel to 'perennials, rather than stand out as a full IC. In comparison with (B) is not good enough)
The garden of the governor's mansion in the 1950s was mostly made up of perennials—lilies, peonies, foxgloves, and hibiscus, and annuals only planted in the butterfly garden.
(A) and annuals only planted in the butterfly garden
(B) and annuals planted only in the butterfly garden
(C) and annuals were only planted in the butterfly garden
(D) with annuals planted only in the butterfly garden
(E) with annuals in the butterfly garden only planted there
The OA will be announced on Sunday, May 27, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time
The structure is :- The garden was mostly made up of X & Y, (X:-perennials), so eliminate D & E.
A & C say only planted:-which means annuals were the only thing planted in the garden but we have perennials as well, so eliminate A &C.
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26 May 2019, 10:56
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION TAKEN FROM THE SOURCE PowerScore GMAT Verbal Bible
Quote:
The garden of the governor's mansion in the 1950s was mostly made up of perennials—lilies, peonies, foxgloves, and hibiscus, and annuals only planted in the butterfly garden.
(A) and annuals only planted in the butterfly garden (B) and annuals planted only in the butterfly garden (C) and annuals were only planted in the butterfly garden (D) with annuals planted only in the butterfly garden (E) with annuals in the butterfly garden only planted there
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
• [In option A,] the list following the dash is made up of perennial flowers; the use of AND before annuals includes annuals in this list, but annuals are not perennials
• The purpose of this phrase [the phrase that follows the em dash] is to further explain that the garden was mostly (but not entirely) made up of perennials
• Choice (D) is grammatically correct and idiomatic.
• Choice (E) also changes and to with, but it becomes ambiguous—were annuals only planted in the governor's mansion or the butterfly garden?
***************** Please take note:
• I am aware that this sentence is not from an official source. I would not automatically dismiss this question.
• this question involves COMMA + WITH This construction is difficult for many people because very often, the meaning of an official question determines whether comma + with is correct. (Yes, a few strong preferences exist; for example, GMAC does not like "with" to express causality. But prepositional modifiers are versatile, and with-modifiers are among the most versatile of this group.)
• When an OE is not for an official question, typically I paraphrase, supplement, or rewrite the explanation. In this instance, I am reproducing the explanation nearly verbatim; I use brackets only to add clarifying information.
***************** Kudos to everyone who posted.
Writing and posting answers in Verbal typically is much harder than doing so in Quant. This question itself is hard. I think it snares a gray area that can be answered only by appeal to meaning.
I invite civilized and polite discussion of this question and this source's official explanation. (That emphasis is preemptive and not directed at anyone who has posted here. I will delete answers that condescend, that deploy snotty or rude language or tone, or that are dismissive in any way.)
The posts above are very good. Please read the whole thread.
WE: Brand Management (Pharmaceuticals and Biotech)
Re: The garden of the governor's mansion in the 1950s was mostly made up
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27 May 2019, 04:07
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Here is my view on this question:
The garden of the governor's mansion in the 1950s was mostly made up of perennials—lilies, peonies, foxgloves, and hibiscus, and annuals only planted in the butterfly garden.
The sentence intends to tell the reader that the garden was made up of a specific type of flowers called perennials. It goes on to list the examples of perennials. The latter part of the sentence intends to say that there were other types also which were planted only in a garden called butterfly garden.
IMO in latter part of the sentence we need something that subordinates this clause with the first one. Use of and will create parallelism at equal levels and is hence wrong. The only option is to go with "with". Between choice D & E, D is correct as it correctly mentions that annuals were planted only in the butterfly garden.
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28 May 2019, 18:07
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Quote:
B) The garden of the governor's mansion in the 1950s was mostly made up of perennials—lilies, peonies, foxgloves, and hibiscus, and annuals planted only in the butterfly garden.
akash7gupta11 wrote:
I get why D is correct. I think B is wrong as the second clause is missing a verb?
Please correct me if my understanding is wrong here
Hi akash7gupta11 , no, there is only one clause in this sentence: The garden was mostly made up of perennials . . .
The rest, after the em dash, is composed of descriptors (in the correct answer, the descriptors include a list of four perennials and a "with" phrase that describes annuals).
The problem with B is that annuals get clumped together with the four specific kinds of perennials because of the comma + AND -- In B it appears that four kinds of perennials (lilies, peonies, foxgloves, and hibiscus) are planted throughout the garden, AND [a fifth kind of perennial,] an annual, is planted only in the butterfly garden.
Annuals are not perennials.
You may think that the second set of words should be a clause because you see the word planted. -- the simple past tense and the past participle of the verb plant are the same word: planted -- in this instance, planted is a participle (a verbED) that modifies annuals.
How can we tell the difference between a past participle and a simple past tense verb? -- First, look for a subject to do the action that the verb suggests. IF there is a subject, and IF the subject is doing the action, then the word is a verb. -- In this case, no subject exists. Flowers such as annuals do not plant themselves. -- thus planted is a past participle (verbED). Participles are not working verbs.
A clause needs two things: a subject and a working verb. Both are missing from the right side of the em dash. Hope that helps.
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Re: The garden of the governor's mansion in the 1950s was mostly made up
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30 May 2019, 10:43
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Will add my two cents.
I believe option C) would be acceptable (correct) if it included THAT, i.e. "... and annuals THAT were only planted in the butterfly garden".
In other words, the sentence would consist of two independent clauses connected by AND: "The garden ... was ... made up of perennials ... and annuals THAT were planted ... ."
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30 May 2019, 12:55
Quote:
(A) and annuals only planted in the butterfly garden
(B) and annuals planted only in the butterfly garden
(C) and annuals were only planted in the butterfly garden
mykrasovski wrote:
Will add my two cents.
I believe option C) would be acceptable (correct) if it included THAT, i.e. "... and annuals THAT were only planted in the butterfly garden".
In other words, the sentence would consist of two independent clauses connected by AND: "The garden ... was ... made up of perennials ... and annuals THAT were planted ... ."
mykrasovski , I'm glad to have your comment. This issue came up in another topic.
What I said in that case applies here: others will benefit from your question.
The sentence with your revision:
The garden of the governor's mansion in the 1950s was mostly made up of perennials—lilies, peonies, foxgloves, and hibiscus, and annuals THAT were only planted in the butterfly garden.
I do not follow your sentence with ellipses explaining how there are two independent clauses.
Try writing out the independent clauses you see and for each one state the subject, verb, object (if applicable), but please do so on separate lines.
One issue is created by THAT. Another independent clause issue already exists.
Again, I'm glad you asked the question. I've seen quite a bit of confusion recently about independent clauses and that-clauses.
See whether you can pull out two ICs (and write them on separate lines).
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The garden of the governor's mansion in the 1950s was mostly made up
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30 May 2019, 14:15
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Hey generis, thanks for your quick reply. My apologies, I messed up a little bit. Of course, my version (see below) does not have two Independent Clauses. I tried to say that if "that", a pronoun that modifies plural noun annuals, is added to the option C, then the structure becomes grammatically correct because it puts "perennials" and "annuals" in parallel.
In other words, we get "The garden was made up of PERENNIALS - {list}, and ANNUALS".
While comma before "and" may not be the best choice, perhaps, an em dash could be used to "close" the list of perennials.
The garden of the governor's mansion in the 1950s was mostly made up of perennials—lilies, peonies, foxgloves, and hibiscus — and annuals THAT WERE only planted in the butterfly garden.
The garden of the governor's mansion in the 1950s was mostly made up
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30 May 2019, 15:04
mykrasovski wrote:
Hey generis, thanks for your quick reply. My apologies, I messed up a little bit. Of course, my version (see below) does not have two Independent Clauses. I tried to say that if "that", a pronoun that modifies plural noun annuals, is added to the option C, then the structure becomes grammatically correct because it puts "perennials" and "annuals" in parallel.
In other words, we get "The garden was made up of PERENNIALS - {list}, and ANNUALS".
While comma before "and" may not be the best choice, perhaps, an em dash could be used to "close" the list of perennials.
The garden of the governor's mansion in the 1950s was mostly made up of perennials—lilies, peonies, foxgloves, and hibiscus — and annuals THAT WERE only planted in the butterfly garden.
Yes, the better construction is the one with two em dashes. In that case, the first AND is "stuck" inside the list because the AND cannot "jump outside" the right em dash. We know, in other words, that the second AND joins the two nouns perennials and annuals. Nice work.
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