Though Homo habilis made blunt cutting tools, Neanderthals fashioned

Question

Though Homo habilis made blunt cutting tools, Neanderthals fashioned finer implements, tapering from the butt to the  point and flaked on two sides, to form  the familiar teardrop now paradigmatic of early man.

(A) point and flaked on two sides, to form

(B) point, flaked on two sides, and formed

(C) point, flaking on two sides, that form

(D) point, flaking on two sides, forming

(E) point and flaked on two sides, form

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/01/arts/design/nasher-sculpture-center-dallas-first-sculpture-review.html

It convinces most in the section devoted to hand axes. Stone Age humans, principally the species Homo erectus, would use rocks, bones or antlers to fracture larger boulders, hewing sharp tools in a laborious process known as knapping. Though Australopithecus (four million to three million years ago) made blunt cutting tools, Homo erectus (1.9 million to 100,000 years ago) fashioned finer implements,  tapering  from the butt to the point and  flaked  on two sides, to form the familiar teardrop now paradigmatic of early man. There are dozens here, and at a display by the entrance of “First Sculpture,” visitors can handle three specimens, each 7 or 8 inches long and weighing about five pounds, crafted by our fellow hominins between 200,000 and 700,000 years ago. Their satisfying heft and ergonomic shape offer an unnerving haptic trace of human life before contemporary humankind.

abhimahna · Accepted Answer

Hey sagar43 , C cannot be the correct answer because it is changing the original meaning of the sentence. As per the original meaning of the sentence, the purpose of "fashioned finer implements" is TO FORM something. So, TO + Verb is Required here. But C is changing the meaning and saying that fashioned something that can form XYZ. Here, the intention of fashioning has been changed. Again , to answer your question why "ing" isn't used in option A. You need to understand "Fashioned" and "Flaked" as || and conveys two activities that "Neanderthals " are doing. But the moment we will change it to "flaking", the meaning of the sentence will be something like "The result of fashioning something" was Flaking on two sides. This is an illogical meaning. Hence, it is incorrect. Rule: Meaning is the Key to Solve this Question!

Does that make sense?

Bunuel · Answer

VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL SOLUTION:

This problem is testing a mix of issues with modifiers and sentence construction. With the fairly confusing structure, the key is to first read the sentence carefully and figure out what role the different parts are playing: in the original the part from “tapering” to “sides” is a participial modifier giving extra information about “finer implements” – take that out with slash-and-burn to see that the sentence is really: “Neanderthals fashioned finer implements…to form the familiar teardrop now paradigmatic of early man.” This main clause seems perfectly correct so now examine the modifier: “tapering from the butt to the point and flaked on two sides.” While some people will think that “tapering” and “flaked” cannot go together, this is perfectly parallel – both are participial phrases linked with “and” giving descriptions of the implements, one using a present participle and other a past participle.

The other choices all have fatal flaws: in (B), (C), and (E) the two parts of the modifier are linked with a comma instead of “and”, making it seem that the last part “and formed,” “that form” or “forming” is part of that series, when it needs to be a separate element. You cannot say “implements, tapering…, flaked…, and formed/forming/that form the familiar teardrop…” (E) properly links the two elements with “and” but lacks the necessary “to” before form.  The correct answer is (A).

redskull1 · Answer

flaked is parallel to fashioned so I think A.This is a toughie..

sagar43 · Answer

What is correct answer? Confused between A & C.... If A then why 'ing' is not required?

Ritz1605 · Answer

Tapering is modifying how the Neanderthals fashioned finer implements (verb-ing modifier) so it is correct with a comma pair so option A, E eliminated. To form parallel pairs of fashioned and --- after comma pair there should be a verb-ed form, so option B should be correct and C, D eliminated.

SajjitaKundu · Answer

I think the question is correct as is. A should be the answer.
Tapering... and flaked... both talk about the implements. To form gives a consequence of the before phrases.

Posted from my mobile device

Sdpl0118 · Answer

Though Homo habilis made blunt cutting tools, Neanderthals fashioned finer implements, tapering from the butt to the  point and flaked on two sides, to form  the familiar teardrop now paradigmatic of early man.

A. point and  flaked  on two sides, to form - whatever behind and after the "and" should be parallel (tapering vs flaked) -->  eliminated

B. point, flaked on two sides, and formed

C. point , flaking  on two sides, that form - the comma makes "tapering from the butt to the point" a clause that describes the implements. If so, "flaking" is not parallel with "fashioned" -->  eliminated

D. point, flaking on two sides,  forming  --> same as above, "forming" and "fashioned" as well as the change of meaning -->  eliminated

E. point and  flaked  on two sides, form - "flaked" is not parallel with "tapering" before the "and" (like Choice A) -->  eliminated

So that leaves us with   B  .

Please correct my reasoning if it's wrong or not accurate enough.

Abhishek009 · Answer

I second you, nothing wrong with the original sentence, answer must be (A)

SajjitaKundu · Answer

I think the answer should be A. Only this option conveys the intended meaning correctly. The other options distort the meaning

sagar43 · Answer

abhimahna  , I got it. Thanks for explaining.

rahul16singh28 · Answer

Hi  abhimahna ,

Can we use comma before infinitive "to" in general. I ruled out A because of this and selected B.

abhimahna · Answer

Hey  rahul16singh28  ,

It depends on the structure of the sentence. If you are using the information before the "To" infinitive as a modifier such that we do have another comma before the start of the modifier, then it is perfectly fine to use a comma.

For example:

I am drinking water, to get hydrated.

Here, the usage is wrong. You cannot have a comma before "To"

I am drinking water, bought from the market, to get hydrated.

Here the usage is correct because here the comma used is a part of the modifier. If the modifier is removed, the sentence will become I am drinking water to get hydrated.

Does that make sense?

rraman · Answer

egmat
Can you guys please explain how "flaked" is a participle, as from my view Neanderthals "fashioned" finer implements, "tapering" from the butt and "flaked" on two sides. Here tapering is a ING modifier as it is modifying the action 'fashioned' which has the subject Neanderthals but flaked seemed to me as a 'verb' as this is what Neanderthals are doing(the action is performed by them).Or is it that here fashioned and flaked are parallel? But Neanderthals flaked on two sides doesn't make sense to me

LauraOrion · Answer

Hey rraman -- Great question! This is one of those "ugh why does English occasionally treat words that are spelled the same way as different parts of speech?" questions.

What is easy to get confused on here is that "tapering" could be either a participle or a verb. The way we know that it isn't a verb is that "tapering" is transitive -- it needs a direct object. And since there isn't an obvious direct object after the word tapering, it's going to have to be a participle. Instead of being an action that Neanderthals do, it's a way of describing the implements the Neanderthals built - they're tapered! Based on that, to keep parallelism, "flaked" needs to be a participle as well.

If the sentence had included "tapering the implements and flaking them," or "Neanderthals "fashioned, tapered, and flaked the implements" then the words "tapered/tapering" and "flaked/flaking" would had direct objects so you could use them as verbs. But as it is they're being used to modify the word "implements" and must be participles.

lary301254M7 · Answer

Ignore the first part.

Neanderthals fashioned finer implements, tapering from the butt to the point and flaked on two sides, to form the familiar teardrop now paradigmatic of early man.

A. point and flaked on two sides, to form
 
B. point, flaked on two sides, and formed

C. point, flaking on two sides, that form

D. point, flaking on two sides, forming

E. point and flaked on two sides, form

the middle part is a modifier, tapering from...., describing the "finer implements" 
What is the quality of the implements? " tapering  from the butt to the point and  flaked  on two sides"
One is "ing modifier" and the other one is "ed modifier" so (A) is correct.

(B) is incorrect because flaked is not a verb, it is a ed modifier here
(C) is incorrect because there is no "and", no parallelism
(D) even if you think flaking is correct, 3 "ing" without and "and" also fails at parallelism
(E) verb ... verb incorrect. Neanderthals fashioned ... form. You cannot have two verbs like this without a conjunction

navderm · Answer

abhimahna   Bunuel 
I have a question here. 
There are multiple decision points in an SC. I chose the decision point 'to form' vs 'forming'. (A vs D) and then decided to go with D. 
This is something I see all the time, when making mistake, that I choose either to+infinitive when verb-ing is required or vice versa.

So, how do I decide when to+infinitive is used and when verb+ing is used.

I understand that there might be multiple decision points in a given question, but if I am do choose between these two, how do I make that determination ?

Thanks.

manosadam · Answer

According to veritas, tapering and flaked are participial phrases linked with “and” giving descriptions of the implements.

However, the verb-ing modifier after a comma modifies preceding clause and associates with subject; it either presents extra information or the result of the clause.

The modifier must be clear and unambiguous what it is modifying and in answer A fails to do that.

Ksmew · Answer

Hi abhimahna , can you tell me how "Fashioned" and "Flaked" are parallel?? I was initially thinking on the same line but then realized that a comma is essential in front of "and" to make "Fashioned" and "Flaked".... is my thinking wrong??? the comma is required as "tapering" is a modifier started with a comma, and needs a closing comma...........

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi  Ksmew , there is some misunderstanding here. "Fashioned" and "Flaked" are not parallel in this sentence: "Fashioned" is used as a Simple Past Tense  verb , while "Flaked" is used as a  past participle . A  Verb   cannot  be parallel to a  participle .

On the other hand, in the original sentence is correct because "tapering" (a present participle) is parallel to "flaked" (a past participle), both of them modifying "implements".

p.s. Our book    EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana    discusses  "Simple Past Tense Verb" vs "Past Participle" , its application and examples in significant detail. If you or someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.

Though Homo habilis made blunt cutting tools, Neanderthals fashioned

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Though Homo habilis made blunt cutting tools, Neanderthals fashioned

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