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Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission 26 Apr 2019, 01:13
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Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit is a relatively recent phenomenon, beginning only after World War II.


(A) Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(B) Though it is now taken for granted by most people, the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(C) Now taken for granted by most people, colleges and universities admitting students based on their academic merit

(D) Most take them for granted now, but the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on their academic merit

(E) Most people now take for granted that colleges and universities admit students nationally based on academic merit, and it
Show more

Option (C) is the ONLY option where "based" modifies students and not universities. (Which is also not correct)
In option (A), (B) and (D) - "based" modifies universities which implies (to me) that the universities are based on academic merit. However logic should say that admission would be based on academic merit.
Can someone help me with this dilemma?
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Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission 17 Jun 2019, 08:55
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adityabhide7
applecrisp
Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit is a relatively recent phenomenon, beginning only after World War II.


(A) Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(B) Though it is now taken for granted by most people, the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(C) Now taken for granted by most people, colleges and universities admitting students based on their academic merit

(D) Most take them for granted now, but the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on their academic merit

(E) Most people now take for granted that colleges and universities admit students nationally based on academic merit, and it

Option (C) is the ONLY option where "based" modifies students and not universities. (Which is also not correct)
In option (A), (B) and (D) - "based" modifies universities which implies (to me) that the universities are based on academic merit. However logic should say that admission would be based on academic merit.
Can someone help me with this dilemma?
egmat
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adityabhide7, Your concern is genuine that modifiers SHOULD modify the preceding noun.
However, this rule CAN be bent if a mission-critical-entity is available between the modifier and the noun, an entity which CANNOT be placed elsewhere in the sentence.

Sentence-structure
    Subject-Verb:
        Though most people take it for granted now,
      the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit is a relatively recent phenomenon, beginning only after World War II.

    Meaning: The admission, which is based on academic merit, is a relatively recent phenomenon.
      The noun being modified: the nationwide admission
      mission-critical-entity: of students to colleges and universities
      VerbED-Modifier: based on academic merit

This article will aid in cementing the understanding: Far away - Noun modifiers
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Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission 15 Dec 2019, 05:21
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Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit is a relatively recent phenomenon, beginning only after World War II.


(A) Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(B) Though it is now taken for granted by most people, the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(C) Now taken for granted by most people, colleges and universities admitting students based on their academic merit

(D) Most take them for granted now, but the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on their academic merit

(E) Most people now take for granted that colleges and universities admit students nationally based on academic merit, and it
Show more

Dear Experts,
mikemcgarry IanStewart VeritasKarishma daagh EMPOWERgmatVerbal EMPOWERgmatRichC AjiteshArun walker DmitryFarber

Can you please clarify the following doubts:
1. Can "it" refer to a noun phrase? As far as I know "it" can refer only to nouns / pronouns. "That" can refer to a noun phrase and not "it"
2. As far as I can comprehend, the question is trying to say that "the phenomenon of admissions based on academic merit" is a relatively recent and not just the "nationwide admissions".
3. "colleges and universities admitting students based on their academic merit" - isn't this a noun phrase that can modify "Now taken for granted by most people" ?

Thank you!
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Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission 16 Dec 2019, 09:50
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Quote:
Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit is a relatively recent phenomenon, beginning only after World War II.


(A) Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(B) Though it is now taken for granted by most people, the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(C) Now taken for granted by most people, colleges and universities admitting students based on their academic merit

(D) Most take them for granted now, but the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on their academic merit

(E) Most people now take for granted that colleges and universities admit students nationally based on academic merit, and it
Show more

Quote:
aniket wrote
1. Can "it" refer to a noun phrase? As far as I know "it" can refer only to nouns / pronouns. "That" can refer to a noun phrase and not "it"
2. As far as I can comprehend, the question is trying to say that "the phenomenon of admissions based on academic merit" is a relatively recent and not just the "nationwide admissions".
3. "colleges and universities admitting students based on their academic merit" - isn't this a noun phrase that can modify "Now taken for granted by most people"
Show more

1. I am afraid that you may be misinterpreting the intent of the question. What is the relatively new phenomenon? It is not just the admission to the colleges. Colleges and universities admitting students on merit happened randomly in some Institutes across the country. However, this happening nationwide is recent phenomenon. That is the reason the 'it' means nationwide admission and not anything else. You see the nationwide admission is a single unit and therefore appropriate.
2. With reference to your second query:. That admissions prior to the war were not on national level is what the passage is trying to imply. The new phenomenon is indeed the nationwide admissions. That is the meant subject and modifyee
3. A modifier modifies a noun, a noun, a verb, or a clause. In your query what is the role of the modified part "now taken for granted"? Is it a noun or a verb? In addition, choice C is missing the core of the theme, namely the nationwide admission' altogether.
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Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission 31 Jul 2021, 09:20
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VeritasKarishma GMATNinja could you please explain reason how does 'it' which is a noun modifier modifying the noun which is the noun the nationwide admission?
shouldn't a noun be preceded by a noun modifier to be valid or this is an exception ?
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Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission 31 Jul 2021, 16:35
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Archit3110

First, it's quite common to have noun modifiers precede the noun they modify. The GMAT does this all the time! However, this is not a modifier question. "Though most people take it for granted" is a dependent clause, not a modifier. It's a clause because it has a subject and a verb (subject: most people, verb: take), and it's dependent because of the "though" at the beginning.

Now your real question is about "it," which is a pronoun, not a modifier. It is more common to see pronouns used after the noun, but this isn't a rule. The meaning just needs to be clear. So I can say "Although she majored in physics, Lynn teaches biology," or "Lynn teaches biology, although she majored in physics." As long as it's clear enough what the pronoun stands for, order is not an issue.
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Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission 08 Aug 2021, 10:32
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applecrisp
Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit is a relatively recent phenomenon, beginning only after World War II.
Show more


(A) Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit
The modifier is in the right place and the meaning is also correct

(B) Though it is now taken for granted by most people, the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on academic merit
The intial sentence is wordy and the placement of nation wide isn't appropriate

(C) Now taken for granted by most people, colleges and universities admitting students based on their academic merit
the sentence lack a modifier at the right place and the meaning is ambigious

(D) Most take them for granted now, but the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on their academic merit
the addition of the term then is inappropriate and makes the whole paragraph akward , moreover and is not required

(E) Most people now take for granted that colleges and universities admit students nationally based on academic merit, and it
Similar reasoning as D
therefore IMO A
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Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission Updated on: 09 Aug 2021, 12:34
Originally posted by pk6969 on 09 Aug 2021, 03:52.
Last edited by pk6969 on 09 Aug 2021, 12:34, edited 2 times in total.
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applecrisp
Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit is a relatively recent phenomenon, beginning only after World War II.


(A) Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(B) Though it is now taken for granted by most people, the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(C) Now taken for granted by most people, colleges and universities admitting students based on their academic merit

(D) Most take them for granted now, but the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on their academic merit

(E) Most people now take for granted that colleges and universities admit students nationally based on academic merit, and it
Show more

In the correct answer choice A, "based" is a modifier and its modifying universities as per the sentence (because past participle modifiers modify preceding noun), but it needs to modify admission, which is actually based on academic merit. So, In A is this construction correct? can ed modifier skip over couple of nouns to make sense? AndrewN IanStewart GMATNinja DmitryFarber
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Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission 09 Aug 2021, 12:20
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Bunuel GMATNinja VeritasKarishma GMATAdvanced MartyTargetTestPrep can someone explain this ?

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OA is A :

The original sentence begins with an opening modifier that correctly modifies the nationwide admission of students.

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

(B) The use of the initial modifier in this choice is correct. However, the adjective “nationwide” is incorrectly applied to students, when it is meant to apply to the admission process.

(C) Here, the modifier is adjacent to the subject “colleges and universities,” incorrectly suggesting that colleges and universities are taken for granted as opposed to the admission process.

(D) This sentence incorrectly uses the pronoun “them” to refer to the “admission” which is a singular subject. The use of the pronoun “their” is also unclear as the antecedent could be construed to be “colleges and universities” as opposed to the intended antecedent, "students."

(E) Using the word "and" at the end of the underline makes the meaning of this sentence less clear by failing to draw an appropriate contrast between the current state of taking the nationwide admission of students for granted and the fact that it is a relatively recent phenomenon. A more appropriate word choice would be "but": "Most people now take for granted..., but it is a relatively recent phenomenon."



The reasoning given by manhattan prep for why C is wrong is fallacious.

For C, the modifier is not modifying "colleges and universities" just because that's the immediate noun after the comma. It's modifying the whole complex noun phrase "colleges and universities admitting students based on their academic merit", which is the subject of the sentence as whole and what the verb "is" is referring to. It pertains to the action as a whole: "admitting" as a gerund, which has a subject of "colleges and universities", direct object of "students" and adverbial modifier "based on their merit"


I've reported this to manhattan prep directly, and I've seen many online resources repeat this same explanation, when it might not be grammatically accurate. I hope anyone reading this can see this and see that the official reasoning given for why C is wrong is not true.
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Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission 09 Aug 2021, 12:26
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applecrisp
Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit is a relatively recent phenomenon, beginning only after World War II.


(A) Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(B) Though it is now taken for granted by most people, the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(C) Now taken for granted by most people, colleges and universities admitting students based on their academic merit

(D) Most take them for granted now, but the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on their academic merit

(E) Most people now take for granted that colleges and universities admit students nationally based on academic merit, and it

In the correct answer choice A, "based" is a modifier and its modifying universities as per the sentence (because past participle modifiers modify preceding noun), but it needs to modify admission, which is actually based on academic merit. So, In A is this construction correct? can ed modifier skip over couple of nouns to make sense? AndrewN IanStewart GMATNinja DmitryFarber
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Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission 09 Aug 2021, 12:40
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applecrisp
Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit is a relatively recent phenomenon, beginning only after World War II.


(A) Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(B) Though it is now taken for granted by most people, the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(C) Now taken for granted by most people, colleges and universities admitting students based on their academic merit

(D) Most take them for granted now, but the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on their academic merit

(E) Most people now take for granted that colleges and universities admit students nationally based on academic merit, and it

In the correct answer choice A, "based" is a modifier and its modifying universities as per the sentence (because past participle modifiers modify preceding noun), but it needs to modify admission, which is actually based on academic merit. So, In A is this construction correct? can ed modifier skip over couple of nouns to make sense?
Show more
Here's one way to look at it.

"Based on academic merit" modifies the entire noun phrase that precedes it, "admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities."

Furthermore, since "based on academic merit" would not logically modify "colleges and universities," logic indicates that the target of "based on academic merit" is "admission." Thus, the meaning conveyed is clear.

So, yes, while the sentence is not ideally constructed and a little awkward, that modifier placement is basically fine.
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Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission 09 Aug 2021, 12:48
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applecrisp
Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit is a relatively recent phenomenon, beginning only after World War II.


(A) Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(B) Though it is now taken for granted by most people, the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(C) Now taken for granted by most people, colleges and universities admitting students based on their academic merit

(D) Most take them for granted now, but the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on their academic merit

(E) Most people now take for granted that colleges and universities admit students nationally based on academic merit, and it

In the correct answer choice A, "based" is a modifier and its modifying universities as per the sentence (because past participle modifiers modify preceding noun), but it needs to modify admission, which is actually based on academic merit. So, In A is this construction correct? can ed modifier skip over couple of nouns to make sense?
Here's one way to look at it.

"Based on academic merit" modifies the entire noun phrase that precedes it, "admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities."

Furthermore, since "based on academic merit" would not logically modify "colleges and universities," logic indicates that the target of "based on academic merit" is "admission." Thus, the meaning conveyed is clear.

So, yes, while the sentence is not ideally constructed and a little awkward, that modifier placement is basically fine.
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Thanks for the reply. So that means ed modifier can jump over some nouns to make sense, just like which.
But the same case is not true for ing modifier, right? they have to modify the nearest noun
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Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission 09 Aug 2021, 12:54
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MartyTargetTestPrep , please explain why C is wrong?

MartyTargetTestPrep
pk6969
applecrisp
Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit is a relatively recent phenomenon, beginning only after World War II.


(A) Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(B) Though it is now taken for granted by most people, the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(C) Now taken for granted by most people, colleges and universities admitting students based on their academic merit

(D) Most take them for granted now, but the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on their academic merit

(E) Most people now take for granted that colleges and universities admit students nationally based on academic merit, and it

In the correct answer choice A, "based" is a modifier and its modifying universities as per the sentence (because past participle modifiers modify preceding noun), but it needs to modify admission, which is actually based on academic merit. So, In A is this construction correct? can ed modifier skip over couple of nouns to make sense?
Here's one way to look at it.

"Based on academic merit" modifies the entire noun phrase that precedes it, "admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities."

Furthermore, since "based on academic merit" would not logically modify "colleges and universities," logic indicates that the target of "based on academic merit" is "admission." Thus, the meaning conveyed is clear.

So, yes, while the sentence is not ideally constructed and a little awkward, that modifier placement is basically fine.
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Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission 09 Aug 2021, 13:02
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I think C has a modifier issue. +Now taken for granted...+ Seems to modify subject that is +schools and colleges+ . Schools and colleges aren't taken for granted. Its that process . Jitu20

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Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission 09 Aug 2021, 13:05
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pk6969

In the correct answer choice A, "based" is a modifier and its modifying universities as per the sentence (because past participle modifiers modify preceding noun), but it needs to modify admission, which is actually based on academic merit. So, In A is this construction correct? can ed modifier skip over couple of nouns to make sense?
Here's one way to look at it.

"Based on academic merit" modifies the entire noun phrase that precedes it, "admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities."

Furthermore, since "based on academic merit" would not logically modify "colleges and universities," logic indicates that the target of "based on academic merit" is "admission." Thus, the meaning conveyed is clear.

So, yes, while the sentence is not ideally constructed and a little awkward, that modifier placement is basically fine.

Thanks for the reply. So that means ed modifier can jump over some nouns to make sense, just like which.
But the same case is not true for ing modifier, right? they have to modify the nearest noun
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A verb -ing modifier could also modify an entire noun phrase rather than the noun directly preceding it in certain circumstances.

The ball of ice rolling down the hill barely missed Janice.
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Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission 09 Aug 2021, 13:21
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MartyTargetTestPrep , please explain why C is wrong.
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Here's the version created via the use of (C).

(C) Now taken for granted by most people, colleges and universities admitting students based on their academic merit is a relatively recent phenomenon, beginning only after World War II.

Honestly, (C) is not clearly wrong.

The singular verb "is" indicates that the subject is "college and universities admitting students," which can logically be modified by "Now taken for granted by most people."

So, (C) is just not ideal, since the way it's written makes "colleges and universities" appear to be the subject, and "colleges and universities" is not a logical target of "taken for granted."

Worth considering is that, if "colleges and universities" were the possessive "colleges' and universities',", then (C) would be absolutely fine.
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Schools: HBS '22 Wharton '22 Stanford '22
GRE 1: Q170 V163
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Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission 09 Aug 2021, 13:52
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Quote:

Thanks for the reply. So that means ed modifier can jump over some nouns to make sense, just like which.
But the same case is not true for ing modifier, right? they have to modify the nearest noun
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Check out this question. Notice “gathering”

https://gmatclub.com/forum/like-the-gre ... 66485.html

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Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission 10 Aug 2021, 04:37
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Jitu20
Bunuel GMATNinja VeritasKarishma GMATAdvanced MartyTargetTestPrep can someone explain this ?

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OA is A :

The original sentence begins with an opening modifier that correctly modifies the nationwide admission of students.

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

(B) The use of the initial modifier in this choice is correct. However, the adjective “nationwide” is incorrectly applied to students, when it is meant to apply to the admission process.

(C) Here, the modifier is adjacent to the subject “colleges and universities,” incorrectly suggesting that colleges and universities are taken for granted as opposed to the admission process.

(D) This sentence incorrectly uses the pronoun “them” to refer to the “admission” which is a singular subject. The use of the pronoun “their” is also unclear as the antecedent could be construed to be “colleges and universities” as opposed to the intended antecedent, "students."

(E) Using the word "and" at the end of the underline makes the meaning of this sentence less clear by failing to draw an appropriate contrast between the current state of taking the nationwide admission of students for granted and the fact that it is a relatively recent phenomenon. A more appropriate word choice would be "but": "Most people now take for granted..., but it is a relatively recent phenomenon."



The reasoning given by manhattan prep for why C is wrong is fallacious.

For C, the modifier is not modifying "colleges and universities" just because that's the immediate noun after the comma. It's modifying the whole complex noun phrase "colleges and universities admitting students based on their academic merit", which is the subject of the sentence as whole and what the verb "is" is referring to. It pertains to the action as a whole: "admitting" as a gerund, which has a subject of "colleges and universities", direct object of "students" and adverbial modifier "based on their merit"


I've reported this to manhattan prep directly, and I've seen many online resources repeat this same explanation, when it might not be grammatically accurate. I hope anyone reading this can see this and see that the official reasoning given for why C is wrong is not true.
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(C) Now taken for granted by most people, colleges and universities admitting students based on their academic merit is a relatively recent phenomenon.

Now taken for granted by most people - what is taken for granted by most people?

colleges and universities admitting students based on their academic merit
Note that "admitting students based on their academic merit" is modifying "colleges and universities"

For example,
The girl standing by the curb is my sister.
Who is my sister? The girl
I am modifying the girl by telling you who she is.

Or another way to write it: The girl who is standing by the curb is my sister.
But my sister is still the girl only.

Similarly, "colleges and universities admitting students based on their academic merit" is similar to "colleges and universities that admit students based on their academic merit"

Is this correct then?
Now taken for granted by most people, colleges and universities that admit students based on their academic merit is a relatively recent phenomenon.

Are such colleges and universities a recent phenomenon? No. Are such colleges and universities taken for granted by most people? No.
"The nationwide admission based on merit" is a recent phenomenon. That is what is taken for granted.


Hence,
(A) Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit is a relatively recent phenomenon.
makes sense.
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Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission 10 Nov 2023, 22:04
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