A. being one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, had turned cotton cloth into an affordable commodity; it was costly before that. ------ Being used as a modifier is incorrect usage in GMAT; Going by the tense, sequence of events is not in order.

B. having been one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, turned cotton cloth into an affordable commodity, costly previously.--- sequence is inappropriate. The simple past tense for the costliness implies that was a later event, whereas it was the earlier event.


C. one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, turned cotton cloth into an affordable, however costly previously, commodity.--- the sandwiching of the th limiting modifier --however costly previously - between affordable and commodity is unstylistic.

D. one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, turned cotton cloth into an affordable commodity, whereas it had previously been costly. --- seems fair enough. We can take this as the best among the lot.

E. being one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, turned cotton cloth from a previously costly commodity to an affordable one. --- Being used as a modifier is incorrect usage in GMAT.
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The invention of the cotton gin, being one of the most
significant developments of the nineteenth century, had turned
cotton cloth into an affordable commodity even though it was
expensive before that.

A being one of the most significant developments of the
nineteenth century, had turned cotton cloth into an
affordable commodity even though it was expensive before
that - "expensive before that" is awkward

B having been one of the most significant developments of
the nineteenth century, turned cotton cloth into an
affordable commodity even though it had previously been
expensive - "having been" is incorrect.

C one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth
century, turned cotton cloth into an affordable commodity
despite its previous expense - "despite its previous expense" is incorrect

D one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth
century, turned cotton cloth into an affordable commodity
despite the fact that it had previously been expensive - "one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century" correctly modifies "The invention of coitton gin". correct tense usage. "had previously been expensive" and then invention "turned cotton cloth into an affordable commodity"

E being one of the most significant developments of the
nineteenth century, turned cotton cloth from a previously
expensive commodity to an affordable one - "to an affordable one" is awkward

A being one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, had turned cotton cloth into an affordable commodity even though it was expensive before that

B having been one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, turned cotton cloth into an
affordable commodity even though it had previously been expensive

C one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, turned cotton cloth into an affordable commodity despite its previous expense

D one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, turned cotton cloth into an affordable commodity despite the fact that it had previously been expensive

E being one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, turned cotton cloth from a previously expensive commodity to an affordable one

D for me too. I eliminate all choice contain "being" in this sentence. What's the OA? Moreover, I can assume that if 'being' can be used here, 'being' will modify the invention, not the 'cotton bin' (the intended target need modifying). The phrase between two comma will take the role of 'mission critical' modifier, according to MGMAT SC page 234

Hope that helps.
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This is a MGMAT problem and they say that the OA is D. However, they agree that the problem is not perfect.

Check out this link: http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/the ... t3207.html

The invention of the cotton gin, being one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, had turned cotton cloth into an affordable commodity; it was costly before that.
a. being one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, had turned cotton cloth into an affordable commodity; it was costly before that - Use of being & HAD is incorrect. Moreover, use of IT is ambiguous.

b. having been one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, turned cotton cloth into an affordable commodity, costly previously - The original intent does not allows for any Cause & Effect, thus use of "Having been" is incorrect

c. one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, turned cotton cloth into an affordable, however costly previously, commodity - CORRECT

d. one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, turned cotton cloth into an affordable commodity, whereas it had previously been costly - Use of IT is ambiguous as it can refer either to CLOTH or to COMMODITY. WHEREAS does not make any sense at all.

e. being one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, turned cotton cloth from a previously costly commodity to an affordable one - Same error as in A; moreover use of TO is incorrect.

So IMO answer has to be option C.

Fame

This is from MGMAT and the OA is D and not B.

OA is D because -

If we pick D and say B for discussion sake then,

having been one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, turned cotton cloth into an affordable commodity even though it had previously been expensive - Tries to state that since it was a significant development, it could make the cotton cloth an affordable commodity. The reason why the cotton cloth became affordable is not mentioned in the question.

In D, the sentence clearly puts the modifier as non-essential. The modifier probably modifies "invention of the cotton gin" rather than cotton gin itself. cotton gin is within a prepositional phrase "of the cotton gin".

So, D says that the invention of the cotton gin, <modifier>, <rest of the sentence>.

Another example -

It was only after Katharine Graham became publisher of The Washington Post in 1963 that it moved into the first rank of American newspapers, and it was under her command that the paper won high praise for its unrelenting reporting of the Watergate scandal.

Let me give it a shot.
Option D seems to be the best answer.

Option A -
"being" is redundant. Removing "being" does not alter the meaning of the sentence.
the usage of past perfect is unnecessary in the first clause -
"The invention of the cotton gin had turned cotton cloth into an affordable commodity" - simple past tense will suffice.
"before that" - the usage of the demonstrative adjective "that" is incorrect. It must always be used with a noun.

Option B -
"having been" is redundant. Removing "having been" does not alter the meaning of the sentence.
"costly previously" seems to modify "affordable commodity".

Option C -
"however costly previously" seems to refer to "affordable"

Option D -
"whereas" is used to indicate contrast. (it was costly earlier; now it is affordable).
Also note that pronoun ambiguity is not tested on the GMAT. (see what can logically stand for the pronoun. If such a noun exists, then there is no pronoun ambiguity).

Option E -
"being" is redundant.
if we say X turned Y from A to B. this implies that A was the previous state.
"turned cotton cloth from a previously costly commodity to an affordable one" - "previously" seems to be redundant.
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I chose D.

I'll give my 2 cents for approaching.

The invention of the cotton gin, being one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, had turned cotton cloth into an affordable commodity; it was costly before that.

<The sentence talks about cotton gin. Initially, cloth was costly, but after invention of cotton gin, it became affordable>

A. being one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, had turned cotton cloth into an affordable commodity; it was costly before that
=> Wrong. The phrase "being one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century" should modify "cotton gin". Therefore, "one of the most significant developments..." is enough; usage of "being" is wrong.
Also, past perfect tense "had turned cotton..." is wrong. Because the 2nd clause "it was costly before that" is in simple past tense, and the invention happened after that; therefore, invention's impact cannot take past perfect tense.

B. having been one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, turned cotton cloth into an affordable commodity, costly previously
=> Wrong. Similar to usage of "being" in previous option, the usage of "having been" is wrong.

C. one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, turned cotton cloth into an affordable, however costly previously, commodity
=> Wrong. This a good contender. But compared to clear expression in option (D), phrase "however costly previously" makes (C) become wordy and less preferred.

D. one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, turned cotton cloth, which had previously been quite costly, into an affordable commodity
CORRECT. Especially, usage of past perfect in "which had previously been quite costly" correctly describes the sequence of events of this sentence.

E. being one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, turned cotton cloth from a previously costly commodity to an affordable one
=> Wrong. As in option (A), usage of "being" is wrong.

The invention of the cotton gin, one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century, turned cotton cloth, which had previously been quite costly, into an affordable commodity

Errors in the other options, highlighted in red, correct answer must be (D)
_________________

Hi GMATNinja ,

Need your special attention here.

There is a lot of confusion for options B, D and E.

Can you please provide your thoughts on this question?

Thanks
_________________

Official Explanation from Manhattan:

The word "being" is unnecessary in the opening modifier "being one of the most significant developments . . ." Moreover, the past perfect verb "had turned" coupled with the simple past verb "was" reverses the chronological order of the events. The tenses run counter to the logic of the sentence by incorrectly suggesting that the invention of the cotton gin happened before the cotton cloth became expensive.

(A) This choice is incorrect as it repeats the original sentence.

(B) The words "having been" are unnecessary in the opening modifier. Moreover, the ending phrase "costly previously" is too concise; it fails to strike the contrast between the earlier and the later state of affairs.

(C) This choice interrupts the connection between the adjective "affordable" and the noun "commodity," making the sentence hard to follow. Also, the use of "however" changes the meaning: "however costly" implies that the cotton gin would have made cotton cloth affordable no matter how costly it was previously. In contrast, the original sentence only states that cotton cloth had previously been costly.

(D) CORRECT. The modifier "one of the most significant developments of the nineteenth century" eliminates the unnecessary word "being." The simple past verb "turned" coupled with the past perfect "had previously been" correctly expresses the fact that cotton cloth was "turned ... into an affordable commodity" after it "had previously been quite costly." The later past event uses the simple past tense, whereas the earlier past event uses the past perfect tense. Moreover, the relative pronoun "which" correctly modifies "cotton cloth" and resolves any ambiguity.

(E) The word "being" is unnecessary in the opening modifier.

MartyMurray , AjiteshArun .

I am finding it difficult to eliminate option E on the basis of "being" alone. The word "being" raises red flag in an answer choice but not always. I am still unsure why have we eliminated E.

Isn't had previously also redundant in E. I dont think redundancy is issue in E. There probably is some rule which we dont understand regarding being.

Hello there,

I didn't understand how however costly previously can refer to affordable. The basis of striking off the option C doesn't seems convincing.
Would you elaborate why C is wrong?
As I think, here costly logically referring to cotton cloth.

Got correct in the second attempt.
A and E have a redundant "being" in them.
B changes the meaning by the usage of "having been"; it continues to be a significant development of the 19th century and simple past tense would be the correct usage.
C is awkward in "however costly previously".
D doesn't seem perfect but the best of the lot.

A B and E have the wrong tenses, C’s phrase ‘however costly previously, is awkward and misplaced. D is the right answer.

My doubt is whether "however costly previously" is really a critical information for the meaning in the sentence?

If something turned into an economical commodity, it was obviously a costlier commodity earlier and thus, this phrase didn't sound critically important to me and I chose

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