[quote="souvik101990"]

The World Wildlife Fund has declared that global warming, a phenomenon most scientists agree to be caused by human beings in burning fossil fuels, will create havoc among migratory birds by altering the environment in ways harmful to their habitats.

(A) a phenomenon most scientists agree to be caused by human beings in burning fossil fuels,
(B) a phenomenon most scientists agree that is caused by fossil fuels burned by human beings,
(C) a phenomenon that most scientists agree is caused by human beings' burning of fossil fuels,
(D) which most scientists agree on as a phenomenon caused by human beings who burn fossil fuels,
(E) which most scientists agree to be a phenomenon caused by fossil fuels burned by human beings,

Answer B

global warming, a phenomenon.......correct modifier
caused by fossil fuel.......only correct in B......
hope it serves.....

Hello mrittik800,


The original sentence intends to say that global warming has been caused because human beings burn fossil fuels.

However, Choice B suggests that global warming has been caused by fossil fuels. The modifier burned by human beings only provide additional information about fossil fuels. But the main cause for global warming is fossil fuels per Choice B.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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To make life simple, the fact is that Global warming is caused individually neither by human beings nor by the fossil fuels, but by a combination of human beings' burning of the fossils. This combination is stated only in C.
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How do you read

Sam's book ----> book of sam

Black panther's fighting skills ----> Fighting skills of Black Panther

human beings' burning of fossil fuel ----> burning of fossil fuel of human beings?

The last one doesn't make sense. Hence I crossed out C.

Experts egmat, souvik101990, GMATNinja sayantanc2k - please help
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Hey GMATNinja

Unfortunately, i didn't get what you are trying to convey here. I even asked a couple of my friends and even they didnt get what you are trying to convey.

Sorry , but can you explain in some other way?
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Dear sandeep86,

To address your query, we need to look at the answer options at our disposal.
The question at hand in our answer option C uses "that most scientists agree" as the modifier that correctly modifies "a phenomenon".
If we put your chosen words in the same sentence, let's see what it makes:
The World Wildlife Fund has declared that global warming, a phenomenon is caused by human beings’ burning of fossil fuels, will create havoc among migratory birds by altering the environment in ways harmful to their habitats.

The modifier "a phenomenon that most scientists agree is caused by human beings’ burning of fossil fuels" is a non-essential modifier. if we take off "that most scientists agree". If not grammar in particular, it would distort the meaning of the sentence. The original sentence intents to take the consent of scientists on that particular phenomena.

human being's burning of fuels

I understood this phrase as "burning of fossil fuels of human being".

Where am I wrong? Please help me with explanation.

Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one issue at a time, and narrow it down to the right choice quickly! To begin, here is the original question with any major differences between the options highlighted in orange:

The World Wildlife Fund has declared that global warming, a phenomenon most scientists agree to be caused by human beings in burning fossil fuels, will create havoc among migratory birds by altering the environment in ways harmful to their habitats.

(A) a phenomenon most scientists agree to be caused by human beings in burning fossil fuels,
(B) a phenomenon most scientists agree that is caused by fossil fuels burned by human beings,
(C) a phenomenon that most scientists agree is caused by human beings' burning of fossil fuels,
(D) which most scientists agree on as a phenomenon caused by human beings who burn fossil fuels
(E) which most scientists agree to be a phenomenon caused by fossil fuels burned by human beings

After taking a quick glance over the options, a few key differences popped out:

1. How to start the modifier: "a phenomenon" vs. "which" (Clarity/Meaning)
2. agree to be / agree that is / agree is / agree on (Idiom/Verbs)
3. What is global warming caused by? (Clarity/Meaning)

Let's start with #1 on our list because it will eliminate 2-3 options in one round. This is a matter of clarity.

First, we need to ask ourselves what exactly the scientists are agreeing on in this sentence. Are they agreeing that global warming is a phenomenon? Or do they agree on what causes it? It makes more sense for this sentence to say that scientists agree on what causes the phenomenon! The phrase "a phenomenon" is merely giving us more details about the antecedent "global warming," which is fine. So let's see how our options hold up:

(A) a phenomenon most scientists agree to be caused by human beings in burning fossil fuels,
(B) a phenomenon most scientists agree that is caused by fossil fuels burned by human beings,
(C) a phenomenon that most scientists agree is caused by human beings' burning of fossil fuels,
(D) which most scientists agree on as a phenomenon caused by human beings who burn fossil fuels,
(E) which most scientists agree to be a phenomenon caused by fossil fuels burned by human beings,

We can eliminate options D & E because they slightly change the meaning and focus. The phrase should focus on scientists agreeing on what causes global warming, NOT that it's a phenomenon.

Now that we have things narrowed down a bit, let's move on to #2 & #3 on our list: verbs and meaning. We need to make sure that each option is using the correct verb tense (to be caused/is caused) and that it clearly states what scientists believe causes global warming! Let's see how they break down:

(A) a phenomenon most scientists agree to be caused by human beings in burning fossil fuels,

This is INCORRECT for two reasons. First, the verb "to be" implies that scientists will agree on this in the future, and not in the present, which is more likely. Second, it states that global warming is caused by "human beings in burning fossil fuels." This literally means that global warming is caused by human beings who are sitting inside burning fossil fuels. Sounds odd, right? That's because it is! Global warming is caused by burning fossil fuels, not by human beings who are somehow swimming around in burning fossil fuels. So let's rule this out for verb tense and meaning problems.

(B) a phenomenon most scientists agree that is caused by fossil fuels burned by human beings,

While this option does get things mostly right, it is still INCORRECT. The word "that" is misplaced here. It is meant to be used as a modifier for the word "phenomenon," so it needs to be placed before "most scientists agree" and not after it. It also just sounds awkward. So let's eliminate this one because of word placement issues.

(C) a phenomenon that most scientists agree is caused by human beings' burning of fossil fuels,

This is CORRECT! Everything is written clearly and concisely. It uses the present tense "is" to convey that scientists currently agree on this, and what they agree on is stated clearly (global warming is caused by the action of humans burning fossil fuels).


There you have it - option C is the correct choice!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
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You may already know this, but "awkward" does not necessarily mean "incorrect".

Attack the more "sure" decision points before moving on to awkwardness.
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Remember, you want to try to avoid eliminating answer choices based on ambiguous pronouns (more on that in this video). That's especially true here, since you could make that argument for every option!

The best reason to kill (D) is that it seems to imply that global warming is caused by the people who burn fossil fuels, as opposed to the burning of the fossil fuels themselves. Put another way, (D) suggests the possibility that the people who burn fossil fuels might be up to some other nefarious activities that are causing warming -- and the fact that they burn fossil fuels is just an unrelated, identifying trait -- whereas (C) makes it crystal-clear that the burning of the fuels is the culprit.

Takeaway: Don't eliminate an answer choice because it contains an ambiguous pronoun when you can eliminate that same option because it's less clear or logical than its competitors.

I hope that helps!
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