Those who have visited the Grand Canyon have typically seen layers of

B out, no discussion
C: have...been seeing.. OUT ALSO
D:out: with...marking
E: out: "marking" should not modify "those"

A is remaining

I will not take the credit for this as I found the explanation on another forum.

A has to be the right answer here.

B: the word 'whose' illogically refers to the 'the canyon'.

C: the word 'whose' illogically refers to the 'the canyon'. Also, the GMAT prefers Verb forms to noun forms. So 'mark' is better than 'are markers of', which is unnecessarily wordy as well. Also, 'have been seeing' distorts the original meaning by suggesting that the action has been going on nonstop.

D: 'been able to see' distorts the meaning by suggesting that the action was intended on part of the visitors. Also, 'colors marking' is not correct as it makes the sentence ambiguous. 'colors that mark' is non-ambiguous; 'that' refers to 'colors'.

E: Here 'marking' is an adverbial modifier. Usually adverbial modifiers modify the entire clause. So this choice is definitely wrong as the word 'marking' should unambiguously refer to (layers of) sediment.

Noboru,
please do not forget to provide OA!

OA is A, according to 1000 series.

985. Those who have visited the Grand Canyon have typically seen layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, with different colors that mark the passage of time like the rings in a tree trunk.

(A) seen layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, with different colors that mark- true canyon has different colors
(B) seen layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, whose different colors mark - read this as "different colors of canyon mark something" - they do not mark , they show something
(C) been seeing layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, whose different colors are markers of -unnecessary wordy
(D) been able to see layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, with different colors marking- unnecessary wordy
(E) seen layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, marking by different colors - the action of seeing "layers of sediment in the gaping", does not relate to "marking by different colors "

Hi, there. I'm happy to help with this.

The first split in the answers is the way the verb is completed. The auxiliary verb "have" can be followed by "seen", "been able", or "been seeing" (although that last is ridiculously wordy). The "see" of (B) is completely wrong.

(C) is absurdly wordy with "have been seeing" --- there's absolutely no reason for the past progressive in this context. (C) is out.

(D) is also unnecessarily wordy. Think about it. Folks who have been to the Grand Canyon have seen the colored layers of sediment. Plain and simple. To say ---- Folks who have been to the Grand Canyon have been able to see the colored layers of sediment. ----- that adds extra words without adding any extra meaning. In GMAT terms, it's unacceptable to lengthen a sentence for no purpose. The only reason to introduce "have been able to" would be if the subject of the sentence itself is about establishing whether folks have the ability to see it at all. If it were in doubt whether anything could be seen, then establishing that folks were able to see something is meaningful. Here, in this context, there's no doubt about one's ability to see the Grand Canyon. It's perhaps the single most photographed natural feature in the USA. Everyone has seen it. There's no reason to raise the question about whether folks are able to see it. (D) is out.

(A) & (E) are close, but the odd passive construction in (E) --- "marking by different colors" --- is weak and indirect. (A) is the best answer, and I believe this is the OA.

Does this make sense? Let me know if you have any further questions.

Mike

Ms. Devina Williams,

There's not a rule of thumb. Consider these sentences,

Those who have visited the Grand Canyon have typically seen layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, with different colors that mark the passage of time like the rings in a tree trunk.

Those who have visited the Grand Canyon have typically seen layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, with different colors marking the passage of time like the rings in a tree trunk.

Here, both are grammatically correct and acceptable. There might be some special case where one is right and the other is wrong, but I can't think of an example at the moment. I would say: certainly there's not a hard-and-fast grammar rule distinguishing these two that would, in an of itself, separate a right answer from a wrong answer on GMAT SC.

I would say: one beware of parallel constructions --- you can't have one of the parallel elements be -ing and the other "that". That's a standard GMAT SC snare. Both with the -ing or both with the "that" would be fine.

Does that make sense? Let me know if you have any further questions.

Mike

can someone please clarify why "mark" is correct in A? I eliminated it because i thought it should be "marking" why means it's still true whereas "mark" is past tense (when in reality it's not past tense)

Thanks!

Hi mdacosta,

(A) seen layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, with different colors that mark

'mark' is correct in A - plural subject (colors) - plural verb 'mark'

in case of the singluar subject (color) verb will be marks

Past tense of mark is marked.

mdacosta "Marking" works fine as a modifier. However, if we use the word "that" to create a modifier, we use the present tense form of the verb: "mark."

D should not be the right choice, since it is needlessly wordy and slightly changes the meaning. C’s tense is incorrect. Same problem with E. B is definitely wrong, as it makes the sentence say ‘have typically see’. Very incorrect tense usage.

A is the right answer.

In the non-underlined part,“the rings” is noun,
Doesn’t that mean we need another noun to compare, since the passage is using the word “like”, which is a comparison meaning??
so I thought the “markers” would do the job
Can anyone clarify??

Posted from my mobile device

jinwshin , the (short version) of the comparison noun is "colored layers of sediment."

The differently colored layers in the canyon mark (off) time. So do rings in trees.

The noun, verbatim, in option A: layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, with different colors that mark

It's okay if a noun contains a comma; the comma probably adds clarity.

Everything that follows "layers" is a modifier of layers. Colored sediment layers in the canyon are likened to rings in tree trunks.

Hope that helps.

Understood! So much thanks to you!

B - have typically see is incorrect. Should be have typically seen. whose is pointing to what is not clear. if it is pointing to grand canyon, it is incorrect.
C - whose is confusing. have been seeing (present perfect continuous) is also unnecessary and somewhat changes meaning.
D - with different colors marking passage of time. somewhat marking doesn't seem appropriate compared to that mark
E - marking by different colors...What does marking modiy...is it canyon....incorrect.

A seems to be the best choice. Sediment with different colors that mark the passage of time looks decent.

Hi mike,
Thanks for this explanation. Just one quick thing, I think there's a typo in option B where seen is misspelled as see. I would love to know any other decision point to eliminate option B in the Qs.

(A) seen layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, with different colors that mark
No error, hence looking for a better option.

(B) see layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, whose different colors mark
The sentence highlights the past tense in the beginning

(C) been seeing layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, whose different colors are markers of
Usage of been not required here.

(D) been able to see layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, with different colors marking
Usage of been not required here.

(E) seen layers of sediment in the gaping canyon, marking by different colors
the sentence doesn't has any cause-effect structure. hence, the usage of the structure, i.e, ", +verb+ing", not required here

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