The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff, hissing and rearing bac

Question

The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff,
hissing and rearing back,
broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does,
feigning repeated strikes,
but having no dangerous fangs and no venom,
eventually, if its pursuer is not cowered by the performance, will fall over and play dead.

(A) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but, having no dangerous fangs and no venom,

(B) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom,

(C) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes, but it has no dangerous fangs and no venom, and

(D) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and

(E) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and

GMATNinja · Accepted Answer

This is a classic case of parallelism, but with some twists. The confusion here usually comes from being unclear about which "verbs" should be verbs, and which should be "-ing" modifiers. (For more on "-ing" words and an explanation of why they're rarely verbs, check out our Topic of the Week: https://gmatclub.com/forum/experts-topi ... the%20week) Let's start with the first underlined word: we have a choice between "broadens" and "broadening." "Broadens" is a verb, and it's parallel with "puts on an impressive bluff" in (A) and (B). "Broadening", on the other hand, is a modifier, giving us extra information about what happens when the snake puts on its bluff -- and that makes much, much more sense. So we can get rid of (A) and (B). (C) strikes me as being unbelievably long and wordy, but so are all five answer choices.

More usefully, the parallelism looks OK: "broadening and feigning" are parallel modifiers, both of which continue to describe the snake's "impressive bluff". The pronoun "it" is fine, too: because it's the subject of a new, dependent clause ("but it has no fangs..."), the subject unambiguously refers back to the subject of the first clause ("the hognose snake"). (If you want to read more about this type of pronoun issue, check out my post in this thread: https://gmatclub.com/forum/china-s-vast ... l#p1838737. We'll also address this in an upcoming Topic of the Week.) (D) is easier to eliminate: the modifier "broadening" and the verb "feigns" are clearly not parallel. (E) replaces the "and" before "feigning" with a comma, and that doesn't seem ideal: the sentence is clearer if the two modifiers are in a parallel structure, but I'm not sure that it's a huge problem. The bigger issue is that we don't have a new clause at the end of the underlined portion, because the "it" has been replaced by "with." That causes a problem down the line: at the end of the sentence, we don't have a subject for the verb phrase "will fall over and play dead." So (E) is gone, too. We're left with (C). In real life, I think it's a wordy, crappy sentence. But that doesn't matter! It's free from egregious errors, so it's the correct answer in GMAT-land.

BKimball · Answer

"Puts on an impressive bluff" is the category or heading into which all of the other actions fall. As a result, all the subsequent verbs that fall into the category of describing the snake's bluff must be parallel. In other words: The snake puts on a bluff BY hissing, rearing, broadening, and feigning.

Another example would be:

I worked at the factory making widgets, getting paid minimum wage, and breathing dirty air.

Here, "making" "getting paid" and "breathing" are all examples of things that fall into the category "things that happened WHILE I was working at the factory." As a result, all three of these things must be parallel to each other, but not to the main verb "worked."

It would also be grammatically correct to say: "I worked at the factory, made widgets, got paid minimum wage, and breathed dirty air." The difference is that in this sentence there is no indication that the last three things occurred WHILE I worked at the factory. Instead, these could be four entirely separate activities that all occurred in sequence.

Does this help?

Financier · Answer

The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff,
hissing and rearing back,
broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does,
feigning repeated strikes,
but having no dangerous fangs and no venom,
eventually, if its pursuer is not cowered by the performance, will fall over and play dead.

- broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but having no dangerous fangs and no venom, 
- broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, 
- broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes, but it has no dangerous fangs and no venom, and 
- broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and 
- broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and

The question has been discussed many times, but one point is unclear for me:
MGMAT instructor said that the meaning of the sentence clearly indicates that the forms of  broaden  and  feign  should be parallel to "hissing and rearing", since all of those things are actions that occur during the "impressive bluff". But why? How these 2 words define parallelism? For me, these 2 words should be paralleled to each other, without influencing other words, which have their own parallelism story... And it's way better to say  broadens ... So, for me structure in B is preferrable... Please anybody explain.

Thanks!

aknine · Answer

Clearly C.

The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff,  hissing  and  rearing  back,_____ eventually, if its pursuer is not cowed by the performance, will fall over and play dead.

(C)  broadening  the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and  feigning  repeated strikes, but it has no dangerous fangs and no venom, and

(E) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and

E is incorrect because Hissing, rearing, broadening the flesh  and  feigning repeated strikes are some of the visible features of the snake. After discussing this group of characteristics, the author moves on to fangs and venom. Since 'feigning repeated strikes' is the snakes last feature in this category, it is separated by 'and' from the rest.

seekmba · Answer

The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff,
hissing and rearing back,
broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does,
feigning repeated strikes,
but having no dangerous fangs and no venom,
eventually, if its pursuer is not cowered by the performance, will fall over and play dead.

A  broadens  the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does,  feigning  repeated strikes, but  having  no dangerous fangs and no venom, - not parallel with "hissing"

B  broadens  the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and  feigns  repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, - not parallel with "hissing"

C  broadening  the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and  feigning  repeated strikes, but  it  has no dangerous fangs and no venom, and - correct

D  broadening  the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and  feigns  repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and - not parallel with "hissing"

E broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes,  but with  no dangerous fangs and no venom, and - missing "and" before feigning

jb2010 · Answer

Here is how I would break the structure of sentence to understand it more. 
  The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff, 
 hissing and rearing back, 
 broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, 
 feigning repeated strikes, 
 but having no dangerous fangs and no venom, 
 eventually, if its pursuer is not cowered by the performance, will fall over and play dead.

as you can see now, second, third and fourth line explain or gives an example of how the snake puts an impressive buff. As you can see, it is the form, "A, B and C" where A, B and C needs to be in parallel, as well as, requires the word "and" before the third one.

now, remove these three lines, and focus on the "snake puts an impressive buff, but ..." here again, you need parallel structure to "snake puts", and it is "it has" (note has is a verb here, and not a helping verb such as "has completed")

I would select "C" for this.

hope this helps.

fozzzy · Answer

The second part of the sentence is a complete clause so you need "and" so that rules out A and B.

Between C, D and E its parallelism ... C wins!

blueseas · Answer

hi,

want to add more...
use of IT is necessary for the option to be correct.
because after BUT..a new independent clause needs a subject.

The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff,
hissing and rearing back,
broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does,
feigning repeated strikes,
but having no dangerous fangs and no venom,
eventually, if its pursuer is not cowered by the performance, will fall over and play dead.

(A) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but, having no dangerous fangs and no venom,
(B) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom,
(C) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes, but  it  has no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
(D) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
(E) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and

maaadhu · Answer

Is "IT" refering to cobra or hognose snake? How can you tell?

pqhai · Answer

Hi maaadhu

The complete C is:

The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff,
hissing and rearing back,
broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does,
feigning repeated strikes,
but having no dangerous fangs and no venom,
eventually, if its pursuer is not cowered by the performance, will fall over and play dead.

I highlighted blue color the second part of the sentence to clarify pronoun "IT". The non-underlined part is " will fall over and play dead " <== "the hognose" cannot fall over and play dead, only the snake does.

Hope it helps.

mvictor · Answer

I like your posts souvik :roll:

this sentence tests parallelism and sentence structure we have the main clause: The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff followed by few ing modifiers. right from the start we can eliminate A and B, because of the parallelism error. We should have broadening... C. broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes, but it has no dangerous fangs and no venom, and i'm ok with this choice, but...shouldn't be there a comma before and? when enumerating the list that has 3 or more entities, before the last entity of the list comma+and is needed, no? but correctly introduces a new clause - IT is the subject, that correctly refers to the snake. comma+and introduces another clause - which is perfectly fine here. D. broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom , and parallelism error clause introduced with "but" doesn't have a subject & verb E. broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom , and list is not properly connected - and is needed before feigning clause introduced with "but" doesn't have a subject & verb

Abhishek009 · Answer

The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff,
hissing and rearing back,
broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does,
feigning repeated strikes,
but having no dangerous fangs and no venom,
eventually, if its pursuer is not cowered by the performance, will fall over and play dead.

The sentence has the following issues -

1.  Clause + Comma + Verb-ing ( broadening ) 
2.  Presenting contrast with " But " 
3.  Parallelism ( hissing ...... feigning ....... having ) - Describes how the snake put on an impressive bluff.

(A)  broadens  the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but, having no dangerous fangs and no venom,   - Incorrect  
(B)  broadens  the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom,   - Incorrect

Ignore the common part " broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does " and look forward .......

(C) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes, but  it   has no dangerous fangs and no venom, and

1. It - Correctly refers to the snake 
2. Correct Parallelism maintained ( hissing ...... feigning ....... having )

(D) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and  feigns  repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and   - Incorrect  
(E) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does , feigning repeated strikes,  but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and   - Incorrect

Hence IMHO (C)

LogicGuru1 · Answer

FIRST OF ALL THIS IS NOT A TEST OF PARALLELISM. FORGET ABOUT MAKING PHRASES OR CLAUSES PARALLEL. YOU CANNOT DO IT FROM ANY GIVEN OPTION. EITHER A,B,C,D,E. 
 
 This one is quite a funky one, Checking for parallelism is a forlorn exercise in this sentence. 
The hognose snake  PUTS  on an impressive bluff,  hissing and rearing back ,   BROADENS  the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does,  FEIGNS  repeated strikes, but, having no dangerous fangs and no venom,  eventually, if its pursuer is not cowed by the performance, will fall over and play dead.

Since  hissing and rearing back  is bound by commas on either side therefore it is used to provide extra information, it can be seen as a parenthetical term and can be ignored.
NOW If this was a test of parallelism then PUTS, BROADENS, FEIGNS have better parallelism.
BUT if  hissing and rearing back  are included then in that case PUTS, HISSING, BROADENING, FEIGNING cannot be parallel.  (Correct option C uses these verb forms) 
So  PARALLELISM is NOT BEING TESTED  in this sentence.

In this sentence knowledge of conjunctions and their rules is being tested.
Every option except option C is incorrect because they do not have a clear subject after the conjunction "but"
 
(A) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes,  but , having no dangerous fangs and no venom, eventually, if its pursuer is not cowed by the performance, will fall over and play dead.
 WRONG:- subject missing. 
after "but" there is no subject in the second clause 
 
(B) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes,  but  with no dangerous fangs and no venom, eventually, if its pursuer is not cowed by the performance, will fall over and play dead.
 WRONG:- subject missing. 
after "but" there is no subject in the second clause 
 
(C) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes,  but     it    has no dangerous fangs and no venom, and eventually, if its pursuer is not cowed by the performance, will fall over and play dead.
 CORRECT:-Has a proper subject "it" in the second clause. "it" refers to the hognose snake 
 
(D) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes,  but  with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and eventually, if its pursuer is not cowed by the performance, will fall over and play dead.
 WRONG:- subject missing. 
after "but" there is no subject in the second clause 
 
(E) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes,  but  with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and eventually, if its pursuer is not cowed by the performance, will fall over and play dead.
 WRONG:- subject missing. 
after "but" there is no subject in the second clause

THE CORRECT ANSWER IS C

alwaysnewbie · Answer

Sentence structure  
 noun    verb 
The hognose  snake   puts  on an impressive bluff, 
 hissing and rearing back, 
 broadens     the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does    , 
feigning repeated strikes,   
 but      having     no dangerous fangs and no venom,     
  eventually, if  its pursuer   is not cowered  by the performance,  will fall  over and  play  dead.

broadens should be in parallel with hissing and feigning. Note: hissing is in the non-underlined portion
  parallel elements in a list should be connected properly (and is appropriate here)
  subject missing for independent clause starting with "but"
  having - present continuous tense is not required. "having" should be in simple present tense to match with "puts" and "is"
  clause starting with "eventually" should be connected properly

A) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but having no dangerous fangs and no venom,
B) broadens the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom,
C) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigning repeated strikes, but it has no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
D) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does and feigns repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and
E) broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes, but with no dangerous fangs and no venom, and

Correct answer   C

Thanks

umg · Answer

I understand everything that you have mentioned here but it would be great if you would throw some light on whether we need a Comma before  and feigning  because this is an end of a 3 item list..

egmat · Answer

Hello umg , I am not sure if you still have this doubt. Here is the explanation, nonetheless.

It is true that when a list in a sentence contains more than two parallel elements the last element is preceded by comma + connector. However, we do not see the and before feigning... preceded by a comma. It is so because the sentence in anyway uses a lot of commas at various places for various reasons. Omission of comma before and makes it absolutely clear that the it is hissing..., broadening ..., and feigning ... that are meant to be parallel in the sentence. Just a word of caution here. Never reject or select any answer choice solely on the presence or absence of a punctuation mark. Reject an answer choice only after you have identified at least one solid/deterministic error. Hope this helps.

Thanks. Shraddha

GMATGuruNY · Answer

A and B:  The hognose snake  puts on an impressive bluff ... broadens the flesh behind its head  
Here, usage of  broadens  implies that the red action is DISTINCT from the blue action.
Not so.
The intention is for the red action to express HOW the blue action is performed.
Question: HOW does the snake put on a bluff?
Answer: It puts on a bluff by BROADENING the flesh behind its head.
For this meaning to be conveyed, the red action should be expressed as a VERBing modifier, as in the OA:
 The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff, broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does .
Eliminate A and B.

D:  hissing and rearing back, broadening...and feigns 
Here,  hissing ,  rearing  and  broadening  are all modifiers, whereas  feigns  is a verb.
The result is a lack of parallelism.
Eliminate D.

The referent for a modifier must be crystal clear.
E:  The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff, broadening the flesh behind its head the way a cobra does, feigning repeated strikes. 
Here, it is unclear whether  feigning  serves to modify  a cobra  (implying that a COBRA is feigning) or to  the hognose snake  (implying that the HOGNOSE SNAKE is feigning).
Eliminate E.

C

SonGoku · Answer

Hi  GMATGuruNY ,
Here In option E verbing modifier "feigning repeated strikes" is modifying the previous clause or the closest noun?

i thought verbing modifiers modify the noun only when comma is not present.
please clarify ...

GMATGuruNY · Answer

Generally, COMMA + VERBing serves to modify the nearest preceding action and the agent of that action.
SC66 in the OG13:  The Army Corps of Engineers proposed building a breakwater of rocks that would...act as a buffer, absorbing the energy of crashing waves .
Here, COMMA +  absorbing  refers not to  the Army Corps of Engineers  (the main subject of the preceding clause) but to A BREAKWATERS OF ROCKS, the agent of the nearest preceding action ( would act ).
Conveyed meaning:
When a breakwater of rocks WOULD ACT as a buffer, it would at the same time be ABSORBING the energy of crashing waves.

E:   The hognose snake puts  on an impressive bluff, hissing and rearing back, broadening the flesh behind its head the way  a cobra does , feigning repeated strikes. 
Here, COMMA +  feigning  should refer to  a cobra does  -- the nearest preceding action and the agent of that action -- conveying that A COBRA is feigning repeated strikes.
But the meaning of the sentence suggests that COMMA +  feigning  is INTENDED to refer to the clause in blue, conveying that THE HOGNOSE SNAKE is feigning repeated strikes when it PUTS on an impressive bluff.
As a result, the referent for  feigning  becomes unclear.
Since it must be crystal clear what a modifier is modifying, eliminate E.

The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff, hissing and rearing bac

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

The hognose snake puts on an impressive bluff, hissing and rearing bac

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