12 Days of Christmas GMAT Competition - Day 2: Digoxin, used for mille

Question

12 Days of Christmas GMAT Competition with Lots of Fun

Digoxin, used for millennia to treat heart disease, is a chemical  that derives from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe, and that was first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith .

(A) that derives from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe, and that was first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith

(B) that had derived from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe, and first been isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith

(C) derived from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe, and that was first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith

(D) that was first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith and then derives from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe

(E) first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith and that derived from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

Manhattan Prep Official Explanation

First Glance:  Differences in the answer choices provide clues about what a problem might be testing. Before reading the sentence, glance at the beginning of the underline and down the beginning (just the beginning!) of the five answer choices to look for one early clue as to what this sentence is testing. In this sentence, some choices begin with the word that and some drop the word  that ; there may be sentence structure issues going on. Also, the verb tense changes ( derives, had derived, derived ), so pay attention to the meaning to figure out what verb tense makes sense.

Issues: 
(1) Parallelism: X and Y structure
The first  that  is part of a broader parallel structure:  a chemical that X and that Y .
(A) that derives from … and that was first isolated by …
(B) that had derived … and first been isolated by …
(C) derived from … and that was first isolated by …
(D) that was first isolated by … and then derives from …
(E) first isolated by … and that derived from …

It’s fine to have  that  in front of both X and Y or to have it only in front of X. However, it’s not okay to have the word  that  only at the beginning of the Y (second) element but not at the beginning of the X (first) element, so eliminate choices (C) and (E).
Correct:  that X and that Y 
Correct:  that X and Y 
Incorrect:  X and that Y

Next, check the rest of the parallel structure for the remaining choices. In all three, the two elements both start with verbs, so that’s good.

(2) Verb Tense 
While choice (B) does use a parallel structure, the verbs are  had derived  and ( had) been isolated  (the  had  has to carry over to the second verb because  been isolated , by itself, is not a complete verb form). These verbs are in past perfect form, which is used when you want to talk about the first of two events that happened at different times in the past. In this sentence, there is no second past event that took place later in time—a requirement when using past perfect. The only other verb ( digoxin … is ) is in the present tense. Eliminate (B) for using past perfect incorrectly.

(3) Meaning 
Answer (D) has a logic problem. It says that  digoxin … was first isolated by  someone and  then derives  (comes)  from … foxglove . It doesn’t make sense to say a specific researcher  first isolated  digoxin and only then did the chemical come from the plant. The chemical was already present in the plant. Then the researcher figured out how to extract/isolate it. Eliminate answer (D) for an illogical meaning.

The Correct Answer:  Answer (A) employs a correct parallel structure:  that derives from … and that was first isolated . It’s acceptable for two parallel verbs to be in different tenses, as long as those tenses make sense in the context of the sentence. In this case, it’s still true that the chemical  derives from foxglove , so that fact should be stated in present tense.

vrsthe1 · Answer

Digoxin, used for millennia to treat heart disease, is a chemical  that derives from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe, and that was first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith .

removing the modifiers the sentence would be -  Digoxin is a chemical that derives from.... and that was first isolated...

(A) that derives from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe, and that was first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith -->  Nothing wrong, parallelism doesn't need the verb tenses to match, so lets keep this option.

(B) that had derived from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe, and first been isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith -->  had derived means it is no more derived??

(C) derived from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe, and that was first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith -->  derived and was isolated.. let's keep this.. though not having 'that' at the beginning breaks parallelism IMO

(D) that was first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith and then derives from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe -->  the chemical always derives from foxglove even before or after the isolation.. 'then derives' makes this option wrong.

(E) first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith and that derived from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe -->   parallelism is lost -- "digoxin is a chemical first isolate... digoxin derived from the common foxglove... " IMO 'is a chemical' is an essential part before 'derived from...'

Hence Answer: A

ElninoEffect · Answer

I am dancing on parallelism here.

(A) that derives from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe, and that was first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith Parallel + Meaning is clear-hence correct. (B) that had derived from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe, and first been isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith that is missing after 'and' hence the sentence is not parallel. use of past perfect tense is wrong here as we are stating a fact. (C) derived from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe, and that was first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith That is missing at the starting of the sentence hence making it not parallel. Incorrect (D) that was first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith and then derives from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe that is missing after 'and' - Not parallel Use of then changes the intended meaning of the sentence. (E) first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith and that derived from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe Sentence not parallel. use of verb derived is also wrong - as the process is still continuing. It's not something that happened in past. It's a fact. Also, the placement of modifier (a flowering plant native to most..) is better in A than here.

Mangs1297 · Answer

Digoxin, used for millennia to treat heart disease, is a chemical that derives from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe, and that was first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith.

(A) that derives from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe, and that was first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith - Correct

(B) that had derived from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe, and first been isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith - Tense errror

(C) derived from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe, and that was first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith - Parallelism error

(D) that was first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith and then derives from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe - Cause and effect added. Not the intended meaning.

(E) first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith and that derived from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe -Parallelism error

behlmanmeet · Answer

Digoxin, used for millennia to treat heart disease, is a chemical  that derives from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe, and that was first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith.

Solution:

(A) that derives from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe, and that was first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith:  Seems fine, the meaning makes sense. The "that was first isolated by English researcher" connects properly back to that derives. Now, the "that derives from the common foxglove" at first glance does seem a bit iffy or awkward or maybe not but I think it makes sense because this is something universal or a fact. So, the present tense makes sense.

(B)  that had derived  from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe, and  first been isolated  by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith:  The "that had derived" makes no sense because it still derives from the flower and also past perfect makes no sense, there are no two related events. "and first been isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith" is missing a "that" after the "and", without "that" the part after "and" does not connect properly with the first part or is not obvious. We can mistake it to further modify the flower.

(C) derived from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe,  and that was first isolated  by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith:  " and that was first isolated by English researcher" does not relate back to anything before and. Thus, this breaks the parallelism. Also "derived from the common foxglove" misses the point that the chemical still derives from the flower.

(D) that was first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith  and then derives from  the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe:  the second part after "and" tries to make a sequence of events which don't make much sense in given tense. The chemical was first isolated by the Dr. and then derives from the flower, huh, does not make any sense. If we read the second part after "and" by connecting it with the main body it reads- Digoxin, used for millennia to treat heart disease, is a chemical then derives from the common foxglove. Makes no sense.

(E) first isolated by English researcher Dr. Sydney Smith  and that derived  from the common foxglove, a flowering plant native to most of Europe:
 again the second part after "and" has a "that" that does not connect back to the first part in parallel. Thus, breaks parallelism.

VerbalBot · Answer

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12 Days of Christmas GMAT Competition - Day 2: Digoxin, used for mille

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12 Days of Christmas GMAT Competition - Day 2: Digoxin, used for mille

Prep Toolkit

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

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Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards