Schizophrenic hallucinations may result from a buildup in the patient'

Question

Project SC Butler: Day 183: Sentence Correction (SC2) 
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Schizophrenic hallucinations may result from a buildup in the patient's blood of adrenaline by-products caused by stress,  which the patient, for genetic reasons, cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person .

A) which the patient, for genetic reasons, cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person

B) which passes, for genetic reasons, more slowly through the kidneys of the patient than a normal person

C) which cannot be passed through the patient's kidneys as fast as those of a normal person for genetic reasons

D) by-products that cannot, for genetic reasons, be passed through the patient's kidneys as fast as a normal person can pass them

E) by-products that the patient, for genetic reasons, cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person would

generis · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Day 183: Sentence Correction (SC2)

• Meaning?
Some people 's genes prevent them from processing harmful by-products as quickly as other people can; the buildup of these bad byproducts may cause schizophrenic hallucinations.

No one chooses to be a hallucinatory schizophrenic.

THE PROMPT

Quote:

Schizophrenic hallucinations may result from a buildup in the patient's blood of adrenaline by-products caused by stress, which the patient, for genetic reasons, cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person.

THE OPTIONS

Quote:

A) Schizophrenic hallucinations may result from a buildup in the patient's blood of adrenaline by-products caused by stress, which the patient, for genetic reasons, cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person [can]

• wrong comparison. This sentence says that schizophrenic patients cannot pass stress through their own kidneys as fast the schizophrenic patients can pass a normal person through the patients' kidneys

• POSSIBLE ambiguity: does WHICH refer to byproducts or to stress?
--
which should refer to the nearest logical preceding noun.
-- meaning-wise, which should refer to byproducts.
-- but under the modifier touch rule, a noun-modifier should be as close as possible to (should "touch") its noun
-- on the other hand, sometimes long, essential noun phrases get in between "which" and its noun, so sometimes "which" modifies a a noun a little further away than we might expect

-- I can make the case that which refers to by-products:
1) "caused by stress" is a participle phrase in which "caused," a verbED, is an essential adjective over which the word "which" can reach to get to "by products"
2) logically, no person passes stress through the kidneys. A person passes the byproducts through the kidneys.
-- which reaches back over the essential modifiers and thus which refers to byproducts.

• wrong assumption: which modifies only the immediately preceding noun
That assumption is too hasty.
I suspect that people were thinking either that
(1) which must modify the immediately preceding noun (a pervasive myth), or that
(2) which modifies the nearest logical preceding noun, but which cannot "jump" over a verb such as "caused" to get to a subject and thus "which" must modify "stress."

Two problems: (1) which does not have to modify the immediately preceding noun; and
(2) caused in this case is not a verb.
-- Caused is a past participle, a verbED—and "which," a nonessential modifier, can "reach back" over an essential modifier to get to its noun.

-- I leave pronoun ambiguity until the end.
( If I believed that which were ambiguous, I would not eliminate this option on the basis of ambiguity until I had seen all the options.)
KEEP, but look for an option in which there is less chance of ambiguity.

(MYTH that keeps getting taught and understandably keeps getting repeated, but let's stop this one in its tracks: which does not have to modify the immediately preceding noun. Here is an article about that myth.)

Quote:

B) Schizophrenic hallucinations may result from a buildup in the patient's blood of adrenaline by-products caused by stress, which passes, for genetic reasons, more slowly through the kidneys of the patient than a normal patient [passes through the kidneys of the patient].

• which incorrectly modifies stress and should modify by-products instead
-- the singular verb passes (which passes) tells us that which incorrectly refers to the singular stress
-- the word by-products is plural and does not match that verb
-- which illogically modifies stress. Stress does not pass through the kidneys.

• another problem? Illogical comparison.
This sentence says that stress passes more slowly through a patient's kidneys than a normal person passes through a patient's kidneys.

• finally, for genetic reasons is a noun modify that should modify patient, not stress
Eliminate B

Quote:

C) Schizophrenic hallucinations may result from a buildup in the patient's blood of adrenaline by-products caused by stress, which cannot be passed through the patient's kidneys as fast as those of a normal person for genetic reasons

• what does which modify?
-- this time, as in A, the verb does not tell us which noun "which" refers to.
-- I believe that which refers to by-products (logical antecedent)
-- GMAC OE writers are not consistent about this issue. GMAC itself is consistent, though, and will give you another way out if the pronoun is truly amibugous.

• which does not automatically modify stress.
-- that position too strong and not accurate. Which does not always have to modify the immediately preceding non.
• Some people will think that "which" could modify "stress" or "byproducts" and thus that which is ambiguous
(In this case, this approach is probably the safest position to take. Just hold the option for comparison.)

• illogical comparison: the sentence states that by-products (or stress) cannot be passed through the patient's kidneys as fast as the stress/by-products from another person can be passed through the schizophrenia patient's kidneys.
Eliminate

D) Schizophrenic hallucinations may result from a buildup in the patient's blood of adrenaline by-products caused by stress, by-products that cannot, for genetic reasons, be passed through the patient's kidneys as fast as a normal person can pass them
• "for genetic reasons" should modify a person, not products,
• I'm not sure what them refers to in . . . as a normal person can pass them.[
• against (E), no contest
Eliminate D

[b]E)[/b] Schizophrenic hallucinations may result from a buildup in the patient's blood of adrenaline by-products caused by stress, [color=#0000ff]by-products[/color] that the patient, for genetic reasons, cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person would
• No problems.
• Just in case someone might find the sentence confusing or ambiguous, the noun by-products is repeated (jargon: a resumptive modifier). By-products is the correct target of which.
• "for genetic reasons" modifies a person, and
• the comparison is clear because the verb "would" is added, making the comparison clear

COMMENTS
Abhishekrao12 , welcome to SC Butler.

I am very pleased.
Although some answers contain a wobble here or there (no matter, you'll learn), these explanations range from excellent to outstanding.

Well done. Kudos to all, and well-deserved at that.

NOTE - POSTING TIMES. This week I will post questions:
1) Tuesday, between 10 a.m.-12 noon Pacific USA;
2) Wednesday, between 8 a.m.-noon Pacific USA, and
3) Thursday (between 8 and 11 a.m., PACIFIC TIME).
I don't like the 48-hour reveal.
I will return to 24-hour reveal.

Daylight savings is in effect in the Pacific Time zone until Sun, Nov 3.

I am very pleased. Although some answers contain a wobble here or there (no matter, you'll learn), these explanations range from excellent to outstanding. Well done. Kudos to all, and well-deserved at that. NOTE - POSTING TIMES. This week I will post questions: 1) Tuesday, between 10 a.m.-12 noon Pacific USA; 2) Wednesday, between 8 a.m.-noon Pacific USA, and 3) Thursday (between 8 and 11 a.m., PACIFIC TIME). I don't like the 48-hour reveal. I will return to 24-hour reveal. Daylight savings is in effect in the Pacific Time zone until Sun, Nov 3.

suchithra · Answer

The sentence intends to say that

Because the products are not processed (in people who hallucinate) as fast as a normal person would process these products, these products build up and create the Schizophrenic hallucinations.

A)  which  the patient, for genetic reasons, cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as  a normal person . 
Which could mean Stress here. Comparison is not correct

B)  which  passes, for genetic reasons, more slowly through the kidneys of the patient than  a normal person 
Same errors as A

C)  which  cannot be passed through the patient's kidneys as fast as those of a normal person  for genetic reasons 
Dubious placement of genetic reasons. We want to say people who hallucinate for genetic reasons cannot process them faster.

D) by-products that cannot,  for genetic reasons , be passed through the patient's kidneys as fast as a normal person can pass  them 
Them could mean products or kidneys. 
It would be right to place the modifier "for genetic reasons" closest to the noun patients or the verb passed

E) by-products that the patient, for genetic reasons, cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person would. 
Correct.

sampriya · Answer

A)  which  the patient, for genetic reasons, cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person

B)  which  passes, for genetic reasons, more slowly through the kidneys of the patient than a normal person

C)  which  cannot be passed through the patient's kidneys as fast as those of a normal person for genetic reasons

D)  by-products  that cannot, for genetic reasons, be passed through the patient's kidneys as fast as a normal person can pass them

E)  by-products  that the patient, for genetic reasons, cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person would

"which" refers to stress and that is wrong since its the by products that cannot pass through not the stress!

eliminate A, B and C

between D and E

D)  by-products  that cannot, for genetic reasons, be passed through the patient's kidneys as fast as a  normal person  can pass  them

the comparison is not clear and the pronoun "them" is ambiguous
This option literally means by-products cannot pass through as fast as a normal person can pass through the kidney

E) by-products that  the patient , for genetic reasons, cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a  normal person  would

option E correctly compares the patient with a normal person and therefore it is correct

chaitralirr · Answer

Schizophrenic hallucinations may result from a buildup in the patient's blood of adrenaline by-products caused by stress,  which the patient, for genetic reasons, cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person .

A) which the patient, for genetic reasons, cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person. "the use of which is incorrect and refer to stress rather than by products"

B) which passes, for genetic reasons, more slowly through the kidneys of the patient than a normal person "same error as A"

C) which cannot be passed through the patient's kidneys as fast as those of a normal person for genetic reasons "Same error as A"

D) by-products that cannot, for genetic reasons, be passed through the patient's kidneys as fast as a normal person can pass them. correct answer them here refers to by products

E) by-products that the patient, for genetic reasons, cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person would. The comparison is incorrect. we need to compare how the by products of a patient with genetic reasons can as compared to normal person.

IMO D

arcKnight · Answer

Schizophrenic hallucinations may result from a buildup in the patient's blood of adrenaline by-products caused by stress, which the patient, for genetic reasons, cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person.

A)  which the patient , for genetic reasons, cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person

B)  which passes,  for genetic reasons, more slowly through the kidneys of the patient than a normal person

C)  which cannot be passed  through the patient's kidneys as fast as those of a normal person for genetic reasons

D) by-products that cannot, for genetic reasons, be passed through the  patient's kidneys  as fast as a normal  person  can pass them

E) by-products that the patient, for genetic reasons, cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person would

This problem offers multiple reasons to eliminate option A, B and C. However the most important one is meaning. Answers A, B and C indicate that " stress cannot pass " which is incorrect. Hence, eliminate them.

Options D & E rectify this issue. The next issue lies with parallelism. In option D the comparison is between a  "patient's kidney" and a "person", which are not comparable entities  unless you are making a joke about someones face :P Hence, D is incorrect. Eliminate D.

Correct Answer IMO: E

TheNightKing · Answer

Initially I went for D but OA is E.

Here is how.

I prefer D because it states that by-products cannot be passed through the patient's kidneys. I didn't think that patient himself/herself would do that. But then if you read further the stem mentions "as fast as a normal person". Now to achieve this comparison I cannot use possessive noun "patient's". So I need patient in the sentence. And this is corrected in option E.

So IMO E for this one. Even thought I like D and the meaning of D. But who knows. I don't know how Schizophrenic hallucinations works so who cares.!

Thank you!

Abhishekrao12 · Answer

A) which the patient, for genetic reasons, cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person.

This sentence has comparison error. can after normal person is missing.

B) which passes, for genetic reasons, more slowly through the kidneys of the patient than a normal person

This sentence has comparison error. 'through' is missing. Compares kidneys to normal person instead of comparing them to the kidneys of the normal person.

C) which cannot be passed through the patient's kidneys as fast as those of a normal person for genetic reasons

This sentence has comparison error. through is missing.

The sentence should read "which cannot be passed through the patient's kidneys as fast as through those of a normal person".

For the above three sentences , the word 'which' cannot logically point to stress because stress cannot flow through the patients kidneys.
'Which' pronoun refers to the by products.

D) by-products that cannot, for genetic reasons, be passed through the patient's kidneys as fast as a normal person can pass them.

This is an absolute phrase which has a noun + noun modifier construction. By products is the noun and the following relative that clause modifies this noun.
Them at the end refers back to the by products which makes it redundant. So eliminate D.

From POE , E is the correct answer.

E) by-products that the patient, for genetic reasons, cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person would

sathik63 · Answer

Split 1: usage of which Which is referring to stress. So the sentence implies stress cannot be passed through kidney. Why do we need to pass the stress through kidney

. A, B and C can be eliminated for incorrect reference. In D prepositional phrase (for genetic reasons) must touch noun it refers. But it's placed far away from patient. E wins. Posted from my mobile device

eakabuah · Answer

Option A: Schizophrenic hallucinations may result from a buildup in the patient's blood of adrenaline by-products caused by   stress  ,  which the patient ,  for genetic reasons , cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person.
The which clause wrongly modifies  stress . It does not make sense that stress which the patient cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person. The modifier is intended to modify by-products, hence a which clause is not appropriate since it modifies most of the time the immediately preceding noun, which in this case is stress. Eliminate A.

Option B: Schizophrenic hallucinations may result from a buildup in the patient's blood of adrenaline by-products caused by   stress  ,  which passes ,  for genetic reasons , more slowly through the kidneys of the patient than a normal person.
Just as in option A, the which clause in option B erroneously modifies  stress  instead of  by-products . In addition, the modifier for genetic reasons is dangling. At best we can say it modifies  stress , and this does not make sense either. It is supposed to modify patients. Eliminate option B.

Option C: Schizophrenic hallucinations may result from a buildup in the patient's blood of adrenaline by-products caused by   stress  ,  which cannot be passed through the patient's kidneys as fast as those of a normal person for genetic reasons .
The which clause in option C also wrongly modifies  stress  as in A and B instead of by-products. Eliminate option C as well.

Option D: Schizophrenic hallucinations may result from a buildup in the patient's blood of adrenaline by-products caused by stress,  by-products that cannot ,  for genetic reasons , be passed through the patient's kidneys as fast as a normal person can pass them.
Option D rightly re-states  by-products  in order to erase ambiguities in modification. So the modifier  by-products  that cannot be passed through the patient's kidneys as fast as a normal person can pass them is correct. However, the modifier  for genetic reasons  wrongly modifies  by-products  instead of   patients  . For this reason, eliminate option D.

Option E: Schizophrenic hallucinations may result from a buildup in the patient's blood of adrenaline by-products caused by stress,  by-products that the patient ,  for genetic reasons , cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person would.
The modification errors are in the other options are correct in option E. Just as in option D, by restating  by-products  in the modifier   by-products  that the patient cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person would , it is crystal clear what the modifier is intended to modify.
In addition, the modifier  for genetic reasons  rightly modifies   patients  . Option E is the correct answer.

exc4libur · Answer

MEANING
Hallucinations may result from a buildup of by-products that the patient cannot filter through the kidneys as fast as a normal person would  .

We are comparing 'the speed that a patient filters such by-products' vs 'the speed that a normal person filters such…';
We are not comparing the "SPEED of filtering" vs "a normal PERSON".

A) "cannot pass as fast as a person" not comparable; "which" might ref to "stress" unintended;
B) "which" might ref to "stress" unintended; "passes more slowly… than a person" not comparable;
C) "which" might ref to "stress" unintended;
D) "for genetic reasons" seems to mod "by-prod" unintended; "them" could ref to "kidneys, products…" unclear;

Answer (E)

kunaldutt15 · Answer

Schizophrenic hallucinations may result from a buildup in the patient's blood of adrenaline by-products caused by stress, which the patient, for genetic reasons, cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person.

A) which the patient, for genetic reasons, cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person
  "which" incorrectly refers to stress. Incorrect.

B) which passes, for genetic reasons, more slowly through the kidneys of the patient than a normal person
  Same as A. Incorrect.

C) which cannot be passed through the patient's kidneys as fast as those of a normal person for genetic reasons
  Same as A and B. Incorrect.

D) by-products that cannot, for genetic reasons, be passed through the patient's kidneys as fast as a normal person can pass them
  The antecedent for "them" in not clear. Also, there is a parallelism error present - passive voice is being compared to active voice. Incorrect.

E) by-products that the patient, for genetic reasons, cannot pass through the kidneys as fast as a normal person would
  None of the errors mentioned above are present in this option. The meaning is perfectly conveyed. Correct.

generis · Answer

The official explanation is posted  HERE

Tracy95 · Answer

I prefer D because it states that by-products cannot be passed through the patient's kidneys. I didn't think that patient himself/herself would do that. But then if you read further the stem mentions "as fast as a normal person". Now to achieve this comparison I cannot use possessive noun "patient's". So I need patient in the sentence. And this is corrected in option E.

So IMO E for this one. Even thought I like D and the meaning of D. But who knows. I don't know how Schizophrenic hallucinations works so who cares.!

Hi  TheNightKing  
I share the same concern as you do about the part "the patient ... pass through the kidneys", which doesn't make sense. Though (E) is grammartically correct, it's meaning is so weird to me.

CEdward · Answer

generis , Would 'can' which signals ability be more appropriate than would (future in the past)? It seems to me that a normal person's ability to pass build-up through the kidneys is an enduring characteristic (unless that person becomes sick, of course).

VerbalBot · Answer

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Schizophrenic hallucinations may result from a buildup in the patient'

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Schizophrenic hallucinations may result from a buildup in the patient'

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