Butterflies come in more than 17,000 species, displaying a wing patter

Question

Butterflies come in more than 17,000 species,  displaying a wing pattern unique to each one .

(A) displaying a wing pattern unique to each one
(B) displaying a unique wing pattern in each
(C) each uniquely displaying a wing pattern
(D) each of which displays a unique wing pattern
(E) each of which uniquely displays a wing pattern

daagh · Accepted Answer

1. The 'comma plus displaying' wrongly modifies the Butterflies that come rather than each species. Therefore A and B are out.

2. The display is not unique; the wing pattern is unique. Remove all those choices namely C and E. that say uniquely displays. 
3. D is left and is indeed correct.

madhankumar666 · Answer

Butterflies come in more than 17,000 species, displaying a wing pattern unique to each one.
 Intended meaning is each species of butterfly has unique wing pattern 
(A) displaying a wing pattern unique to each one- Here displaying denotes butterflies-  hence sentence tells that each butterfly(should be each species of butterfly) has unique wing pattern 
(B) displaying a unique wing pattern in each-  same as A 
(C) each uniquely displaying a wing pattern- adverb uniquely modifies displaying(should modify wind pattern) 
(D) each of which displays a unique wing pattern- adjective unique correctly modifies wing pattern 
(E) each of which uniquely displays a wing pattern-  same as C

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Choice A:  This answer choice features a subtle example of pronoun ambiguity; "each one" could refer to either "species" or "butterflies". Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice B:  This answer choice displays the same pronoun ambiguity seen in Option A, due to the use of the phrase "in each". Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice C:  This answer choice changes the meaning of the sentence by modifying the verb "displaying" with the adverb "uniquely"; the intended meaning of the sentence is that each species of butterfly displays a unique wing pattern, but this answer choice implies that each species displays a wing pattern in a unique way. This answer choice also displays the pronoun ambiguity seen in Options A and B. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice D:  This answer choice maintains proper pronoun use and preserves the intended meaning of the sentence. Thus, this answer choice is correct.

Choice E:  This answer choice repeats the meaning-related error seen in Option C. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Hence, D is the best answer choice.

One important thing to note here is how Options E and D resolve the pronoun ambiguity error by using the word "which"; by employing the phrase "each of which", these answer choices make it clear that the modifying phrases apply to the noun directly before the comma.

To understand the concept of "Avoiding Pronoun Ambiguity on GMAT", you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGc9RgNXBZE

To understand the concept of "Which, Who, Whose, Where on GMAT", you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0M_MYzDfMk

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

Butterflies come in more than 17,000 species,  displaying a wing pattern unique to each one.

For this question, the best way to progress is to think about the intended meaning of the sentence before reading the answer choices. So here, the butterflies don’t really come displaying a wing pattern, right? What the sentence wants to say is that each species has a unique design/pattern. 
With this in mind, let’s look at the options.

(A)   displaying  a wing pattern unique to each one
Here the comma + present participle modifier (verb-ing) describes the entire preceding clause/subject. If we delete the prepositional phrase and try reading the sentence, we can see that it is awkward: Butterflies come in more than 17,000 species, displaying…. It is not the butterflies but the species that come with unique patterns. Thus, we can  eliminate .

(B)   displaying  a unique wing pattern in each
Although the placement of ‘unique’ expresses the right intent, the modifier with a comma has the same problem as that of option A.  Eliminate .

(C)  each  uniquely  displaying a wing pattern
Here the meaning that comes through is erroneous. Butterflies aren’t uniquely showing or displaying patterns. Thus, we can  eliminate .

(D)   each  of which  displays  a  unique  wing pattern
This option corrects all the errors that we see in the earlier options.  This is correct .

(E)  each of which  uniquely  displays a wing pattern
It is not the species that is ‘uniquely displaying’ their wings; the pattern is what is unique/different.  Eliminate .

Hope this helps!

janadipesh · Answer

Can anyone tell , why E is not correct

nishantd88 · Answer

Lets compare D and E

(D) each of which displays a unique wing pattern
(E) each of which uniquely displays a wing pattern

As per D, the wing pattern is unique.

However, E doesn't specify that the pattern is unique. It says that the way the pattern is displayed by the different species is unique, which doesn't make much sense.

daagh · Answer

Tthe wing pattern is unique whereas E says that the display is unique

SonalSinha803 · Answer

(A) displaying a wing pattern unique ((to)) ((each one)) - thus sentence means that the butterflies display their unique wedding pattern to someone (each one). Who is each one ?? Ambiguous. Eliminate.

(B) displaying a //unique wing pattern// in ((each)) - in each... In which ??

(C) each ((uniquely displaying)) a wing pattern - this means the display is unique. Meaning changes. Eliminate.

(D) each of //which// displays a //unique wing pattern// - looks good. No errors.

(E) each of which ((uniquely displays)) a wing pattern - meaning change. Same as C.

Thus, D is best.

Sent from my Lenovo K53a48 using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

blitzkriegxX · Answer

Why is A wrong?

Butterflies come in more than 17,000 species, displaying a wing pattern unique to each one.

(A) displaying a wing pattern unique to each one
(B) displaying a unique wing pattern in each
(C) each uniquely displaying a wing pattern
(D) each of which displays a unique wing pattern
(E) each of which uniquely displays a wing pattern

Please can u clarify why A is wrong?
I marked A because the verb-ing modifier correctly modifies the preceding clause.
The subject "Butterflies" is doing the action of displaying.

If it was "displaying a unique wing pattern to each one" Then i understand that it is INCORRECT.
But otherwise A seems fine to me.

aragonn · Answer

blitzkriegxX  - Always be reasonable with meaning of a sentence. This is the only correct approach to solve a SC question. Rest every thing will fall in its place. Lets pick this choice on these lines.

thangvietnam · Answer

regarding choice A and B.
displaying refer to butterflies. this is wrong. it should refers to species.
second error is that
if displaying refer to butterflies, we need add "each". 
each displaying a unique wing pattern.
the butterflied each display a unique wing pattern
without "each", sentence is not logic because all butterflied can not display a unique wing pattern.
this is the second error.

ShankSouljaBoi · Answer

hI  daagh  !!!!!

1. iN D, each of which is acting as a subject and sdsiplays is the verb. Then how can we jon two independent clauses without semi colon or FANBOYS. Is this a dependent clause or a relative clause ?

2. In C , each of which displaying ... This is absolute phrase . Per my understanding, besides wrong placement of unique, there is nothing wrong in the absolute phrase.

Am i correct with my above contentions ? Kindly enlighten

Regards

daagh · Answer

1. 'Each of which displays a unique wing pattern' -This is a relative clause and not an IC. Each is a noun but because of the inclusion of the relative pronoun, it becomes the subject of a relative clause. and has now necessarily to fall back on whatever the word, 'which' refers to. We cannot join a relative clause by a semicolon or fanboys with the main clause. This is the structure of a complex sentence. 
2. A wrong word error is unacceptable in GMAT, if it changes the original intent. Hence, we have to consign C to the bin.

Kinshook · Answer

(A) displaying a wing pattern unique  to each one 
(B) displaying a unique wing pattern  in each 
(C) each  uniquely displaying  a wing pattern
(D) each of which displays a unique wing pattern
(E) each of which  uniquely displays  a wing pattern

IMO D

harshsaini · Answer

I have one issue in option D. "Butterflies come in more than 17,000 species" and " each of which displays a unique wing pattern" are two independent clauses which are separated by comma. How is this possible? Two independent clauses can only be possible either with FANBOYS or semicolon. and each of which is neither of them.

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi  harshsaini , "each of which displays a unique wing pattern" is not an independent clause; it's a  dependent  clause (since it starts with a relative pronoun  which ).

You can watch our  video  on  independent & dependent clauses .

ccontesse · Answer

Hi! The word “species” in this case is singular? I got confused with the verb “displays”. I thought species was plural and the correct verb was “display”

Posted from my mobile device

Dinesh654 · Answer

Hi,  MartyTargetTestPrep   AndrewN 
I almost chose D, which was the best. but
In D each is the subject and displays is the verb, giving us an IC, which needs to be connected with either ; or ,conjuction.

Why grammer is failing here,

note that which is not the subject, if it was, the verb would have been display (which is referring to species-plural). so its not a relative clause!

Wow, What do you say?

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  dcoolguy . It may be helpful to think of    of which  as a trigger that creates a subordinate clause. Unless you are dealing with dialogue, something the GMAT™ never tests in SC questions, you will not see  of which  form an independent clause. By the way, another manner in which (a similar construct that also subordinates) you might see the end of the sentence written in a different question is  each of them displaying a unique wing pattern . The same grammatical conventions apply: you would use a comma ahead of  each . I would not worry too much about why the comma is used in this case. Just learn the convention and move on. There are bigger fish to fry, as the saying goes (and to return to a recent dialogue we shared on a different question).

Thank you for thinking to ask.

- Andrew

Butterflies come in more than 17,000 species, displaying a wing patter

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Butterflies come in more than 17,000 species, displaying a wing patter

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards