The Industrial Revolution, making it possible to mass-produce manufact

Question

The Industrial Revolution,  making it possible to mass-produce manufactured goods, was marked by their use of  new machines, new energy sources, and new basic materials.

A) making it possible to mass-produce manufactured goods, was marked by their use of

B) making possible the mass production of manufactured goods, marked by the use of

C) which made it possible that manufactured goods were mass-produced, was marked by their using

D) which made possible the mass-production of manufactured goods, was marked by the use of

E) which made the mass production of manufactured goods possible and was marked by using

MagooshExpert · Accepted Answer

Hi NandishSS ! Carolyn from Magoosh here

I'll jump in and answer this for Mike! This is definitely a big issue in GMAT SC, and one that comes up all the time. So, when we see an '-ed' verb/modifier, how can we tell which one it is? The answer is that we need to look at the context. Specifically, we need to first find the subject of the sentence, and think about the action associated with the '-ed' word. Then we ask ourselves: "Is the subject performing this action?" If the answer is yes, then the '-ed' word is a verb. If the answer is no, then it's a modifier

Let's start with an easy sentence as an example! The candle burned all night. Here, the subject is "candle", and the '-ed' word that we're looking at is "burned". The action associated with this is "to burn". Here, it is clear that the subject (the candle) is doing the burning. So in this case, "burned" is a verb

The tablecloth , burned by the candle, now has a hole. Here, we're still looking at "burned", but the subject is now the "tablecloth". So the question is - is the tablecloth doing the burning here? No - the candle is! So there's a mismatch - the subject of the sentence is not doing the action associated with the '-ed' word. That means that "burned" here is a modifier

Now let's look at our original sentence: The Industrial Revolution , making possible the mass production of manufactured goods, marked by the use of new machines, new energy sources, and new basic materials. The subject here is Industrial Revolution, and the '-ed' word we're looking at is "marked". Now, what's the action associated with "marked"? It would be "to mark" something. Is the Industrial Revolution doing the marking here? No - it is the new machines that are marking the Industrial Revolution. So we can safely conclude that "marked" here is a modifier. Does that help clear this up? Let me know if you still have questions about this! -Carolyn

u2lover · Answer

another one for D

E looks bad because of "using" and "which" part is not set off by commas continuing the sentence... so it's gotta be wrong.

A and C have the pronoun "their" that isn't clear
B has my favorite type of problem... standing gerund by itself... "making"... it implies an action, so it isn't playing a role of a noun! so B is OUT.

abhijit_sen · Answer

A) making it possible to mass-produce manufactured goods, was marked by their use of
"their" has no referent.

B) making possible the mass production of manufactured goods, marked by the use of
"making" is wrong tense. It cannot be taken as subordinate clause, as subordinate refers to verb form and not to the noun.

C) which made it possible that manufactured goods were mass-produced, was marked by their using
"their" has no referent.

D) which made possible the mass-production of manufactured goods, was marked by the use of
Seems OK.

E) which made the mass production of manufactured goods possible and was marked by using
This options creates a sentence fragment.

IMO D.

tarek99 · Answer

I choose D as well. Here is my reasoning:

First of all, our main subject here is "The Industrial Revolution," so naturally, we want to find its main verb as well. So:

A) making it possible to mass-produce manufactured goods, was marked by  their  use of

We have the main verb "was marked," but "their" is incorrectly referring to "The Industrial Revolution", which is singular. Eliminate!

B) making possible the mass production of manufactured goods,  marked  by the use of

"marked" is not even a verb, but rather an adjective describing "The Industrial Revolution," so we don't have a verb in this sentence and so must eliminate.

C) which made it possible that manufactured goods were mass-produced, was marked by  their  using

same issue as option A

D) which made possible the mass-production of manufactured goods, was marked by the use of

This looks fine or at least you're unable to find any obvious problem. So keep it and move on!

E) which made the mass production of manufactured goods possible and was marked by using

The whole remaining sentence is a non-essential modifier. So basically, the main thing mentioned in the sentence is "The Industrial Evolution"???? In order to have a sentence, you must have at least 1 subject and 1 verb. We only have 1 subject in this answer choice!

So our answer should be D!

BDSunDevil · Answer

E becomes: 
 The Industrial Revolution, which made the mass production of manufactured goods possible and was marked by using of new machines, new energy sources, and new basic materials. 
its a fragment, isn't it?
D is better option.

amenon55 · Answer

manufactured goods, was marked by the use of

Isn't ''was marked by the use of'' an appositive modifier? If so, shouldn't it modify the goods and not Industrial revolution?

Help needed!

prasi55 · Answer

"Was marked" is the main verb, not a modifier.

Read the sentence like this:
The Industrial Revolution (subject), which made possible the mass production of manufactured goods (modifier), was marked (verb) by the use of new machines, new energy sources and new basic materials (object).

How do you recognise the modifier? Appositive modifiers occur immediately after the subject: these moderns are typically surrounded by a pair of commas. That's why they are named as such -- they occur beside (and not "o"pposite) the noun they modify. For example: Federer, the best tennis player the world has ever seen, lost the Wimbledon this year.
In the correct sentence (option D), the presence of "which" is a further hint that the text that follows it (until the comma) is a modifier.

--Prasad

NandishSS · Answer

The Industrial Revolution,  making it possible to mass-produce manufactured goods, was marked by their use of  new machines, new energy sources, and new basic materials.

A) making it possible to mass-produce manufactured goods, was marked by their use of
B) making possible the mass production of manufactured goods, marked by the use of
C) which made it possible that manufactured goods were mass-produced, was marked by their using
D) which made possible the mass-production of manufactured goods, was marked by the use of 
E) which made the mass production of manufactured goods possible and was marked by using

Hi  GMATNinja ,  mikemcgarry ,

What is wrong in B? Is it not  making  modifying  Industrial Revolution ? It is Industrial Revolution , which made mass production of manufactured goods.
 Is  marked  -ed modifier or verb?

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear NandishSS , I'm happy to respond.

My friend, choice (B) makes that most famous of mistakes, the missing-verb mistake . In your analysis, you were looking locally, but the problem was global. In version (B), there are modifiers all over, but there's no main verb. Here's (B) The Industrial Revolution, = noun, main subject making possible the mass production of manufactured goods, = modifier marked by the use of new machines, new energy sources, and new basic materials. = modifier No full verb every happens in that sentence. If there's no full verb, the entire thing does not qualify as a legitimate sentence. Every bonafide sentence needs at least one full verb. It can be a tricky thing for non-native speakers to appreciate, the difference between a full verb and a participle. We need to add an auxiliary verb (i.e. a "helping" verb) to a participle to transform it into a full verb. making = present participle, an active participle was making = past progressive tense verb, a full verb marked = past participle, a passive participle was marked = past tense verb, a full verb Does all this make sense? Mike

NandishSS · Answer

HI  mikemcgarry ,

Completely agree with your explanation. +1

One quick question sometimes (marked = past participle, a passive participle) act as a modifier and in some problem, it will act as the verb as well.

How to differentiate -ed modifier and a verb?

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

This question is based on Modifiers.

The plural pronoun ‘their’ cannot refer to the singular antecedent “Industrial Revolution”. So, Option A can be ruled out.

Option B is made up of two participle modifiers placed one after the other -  making possible the mass production of manufactured goods ,  marked by the use of  There is no verb to complete the idea of the subject “The Industrial Revolution”. So, Option B can be ruled out.

Option C contains the same pronoun reference error as in Option A. So, Option C can be ruled out.

Option D contains the modifier “which made possible the mass-production of manufactured goods” that appropriately describes “The Industrial Revolution”. The modifier is followed by the verb ‘was marked’ that completes the idea. So, D is the best of all the options.

Option E is just a modifier. There is no verb to complete the idea. So, Option E can be ruled out.

Therefore, D is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.

Tarungaur · Answer

CrackVerbal  can you please explain the answer options D and E. The last bit in D says was marked by the use of ....
whereas in option E it says  and was marked by using . The use of conjunction in option E also causes a problem as the subject IR should be followed by a verb?

If you could please explain the use of conjunction "and", and if the same changes the meaning of the sentence and how.

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

Hi Tarun, You are correct! The conjunction "and" joins two independent clauses. The first part in option E contains a subject- Industrial Revolution and a modifier "which..." There is no verb in the first clause, making it a sentence fragment. Hence the use of the conjunction "and" is incorrect. It is not meaning but grammar that makes option E incorrect. We could say- Industrial Revolution made mass-production possible .... and was ... (both the clauses are independent) or IR which made possible the mass-production of ... was marked by (subject- modifier- verb) Please let us know if you have further queries

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The Industrial Revolution, making it possible to mass-produce manufact

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The Industrial Revolution, making it possible to mass-produce manufact

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