Unearthed in China, fossils of feathered dinosaurs offer the most dram

This is the structure of option (A):
... New fossils offer the most dramatic evidence yet discovered ...
This is correct.

B. offer evidence more dramatic than what has yet been discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds

New fossils offer evidence more dramatic than what has yet been discovered ...
This is incorrect. It should be more dramatic that what had previously been discovered. "Yet been discovered" includes "new fossils" too but the comparison cannot be between one element and the whole group. It must be between one element and the rest of the group.

C. offer more dramatic evidence of the close evolutionary relationship than any yet discovered between dinosaurs and birds

New fossils offer more dramatic evidence ... than any yet discovered ...
Again, "any yet discovered" includes "new fossils".

D. have offered the most dramatic evidence of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds that have yet been discovered

Same problem as in (C). Also, "that have yet been discovered" seems to modify birds.

E. have offered more dramatic evidence than any that has yet been discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds

New fossils have offered more dramatic evidence than any that has yet been discovered ...
"Any that has yet been discovered" includes "new fossils" too.

Answer (A)

Unearthed in China, fossils of feathered dinosaurs offer the most dramatic evidence yet discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds.

(A) offer the most dramatic evidence yet discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds
(B) offer evidence more dramatic than what has yet been discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds
(C) offer more dramatic evidence of the close evolutionary relationship than any yet discovered between dinosaurs and birds
(D) have offered the most dramatic evidence of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds that have yet been discovered
(E) have offered more dramatic evidence than any that has yet been discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds

I found that by looking at the meaning and construction of the sentence you can eliminate choices quite easily.

In A, "evidence yet discovered" looks awkward, but doesn't seem incorrect. The key is to look at where "yet discovered" is in the other choices.

A - "yet discovered" refers directly to the "evidence" that the fossils offer. Correct.
B - "yet been discovered" ambiguously refers to "what" and seems to be referring to evidence other than the unearthed fossils. Additionally, "more" adds an unnecessary comparison and complicates the meaning of the sentence. Incorrect.
C - "yet discovered" refers to "the close evolutionary relationship". Incorrect.
D - "yet been discovered" refers to "dinosaurs and birds" (because the sentence uses "have"). Incorrect.
E - "yet been discovered" ambiguously refers to "any" evidence other than the fossils mentioned. Additionally, "more" is used in the same way as in choice B. Also, "have offered" is not grammatically incorrect, but it is unnecessary because it offers no additional information between a past event and the present. Both "offer" and "have offered" mean the same thing in the context of this sentence. Simplicity wins. Incorrect.

Can anyone explain what is the difference in between the tense used in options A, B , and C and the tense used in options D, and E.

Offer and Have Offered is that a split.

Please help.

I dont think have offered or offer is correct split. There are many other issues with the wrong options.
Check these links for your reasoning.
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/foru ... 13762.html

For the tenses as you asked A B and C use simple present tense and D and E use present perfect. As per GMAT rules we should keep it simple so simple tenses are preferred, means if something could be said in simple tenses, it is preferred.

Hi daagh
Shouldn't the modifier "that have yet been discovered" modify the close evolutionary relationship instead of "fossils"?

Actually in option A (the correct option) "yet been discovered" refers to "evidence", neither to "fossils", nor to "close evolutionary relationship".

Unearthed in China, fossils of feathered dinosaurs offer the most dramatic evidence yet discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds.

A. offer the most dramatic evidence yet discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds
B. offer evidence more dramatic than what has yet been discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds -->should be most dramatic
C. offer more dramatic evidence of the close evolutionary relationship than any yet discovered between dinosaurs and birds --> what ???
D. have offered the most dramatic evidence of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds that have yet been discovered --> they still offer
E. have offered more dramatic evidence than any that has yet been discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds --> they still offer

One of the splits in the ans choices is "most" and "more"..
Most : Can be used to show comparison between more than 2 entities
More : can be used to show comparison between exactly 2 entities....

Here we are comparing evidence discovered in China with evidences that are discovered till that date...
So, the comparison is between more than 2 entities ...
Hence, "Most" is required ..
So option B, C and E are out..
Now, in option D : "dinosaurs and birds that have yet been discovered" changes the meaning by shifting the location of the modifier "yet been discovered" ..

Hence Option A is correct

Hi daagh

Thanks for the explanation Sir. Just wanted to ask whether usage of "more" is problematic here as some people have pointed out?

If you use more, then you must also say ' any other'also to exclude the item from the all the other items. Since we want to say it is the most dramatic, it is an absolute term and hence 'the most' is the appropriate use.

B. offer evidence more dramatic than what has yet been discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds

E. have offered more dramatic evidence than any that has yet been discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds

Is it redundant to say 'has yet been', since the present perfect 'has been' implies continuous up to the present time, and 'yet discovered' implies discovered up to date?

i. The first split is MOST(A, D) vs MORE (B, C, E)
To use MORE, the comparison needs to be between two things, and, in this case, the two things can be "Evidence offered by fossils of feathered dinosaurs unearthed in China" (let's call this "Chinese Evidence" hereinafter), on the one hand, and any evidence other than Chinese Evidence, on the other. Let's see the answer choices.

B: offer evidence more dramatic than what has yet been discovered...
→what has yet been discovered does not exclude Chinese Evidence. Therefore, B is incorrect. Chinese Evidence can't be more dramatic than itself. The two things being compared must be mutually exclusive.

C: offer more dramatic evidence...than any yet discovered...
→Same as B. any yet discovered does not exclude Chinese Evidence. Thus, incorrect.

D: have offered more dramatic evidence than any that has yet been discovered...
→Same as B. any that has yet been discovered does not exclude Chinese Evidence. Thus, incorrect.

ii. Now, the game is between A and D.
D: "have yet been discovered" modifies wrong nouns, dinosaurs and birds. Thus, incorrect.

iii. A is the last standing winner.
"the most dramatic evidence yet discovered" may not be the perfect sentence to mean "the most dramatic evidence that has been discovered until now" but the best one out of the five choice.

VeritasKarishma thank you for the explanation. I have a question- Does the tense here make sense offer vs have offered. Does offer says fossil generally offer the most dramatic evidence. Hoe can we see the meaning of A which has offer vs meaning in D and E which has "have offered".
How do we know which tense is appropriate here.
Please explain?

Simple present is used to show instantaneous present too, not just habitual activities.

New research suggests that ...
New fossils offer ...
I suggest you to ...

'have offered' isn't wrong either. It shows that the new fossils were tested and the results were found. They offered the most dramatic evidence and they still offer the most dramatic evidence.

Unearthed in China, fossils of feathered dinosaurs offer the most dramatic evidence yet discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds.


B. offer evidence more dramatic than what has yet been discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds

Explanation : New fossils offer evidence more dramatic than what has yet been discovered ...
This is incorrect. It should be more dramatic that what had previously been discovered. "Yet been discovered" includes "new fossils" too but the
comparison cannot be between one element and the whole group. It must be between one element and the rest of the group.

Unearthed in China, fossils of feathered dinosaurs offer evidence more dramatic than what (fossils that) had yet been discovered (offer).
I have written the missing words which are implied within the brackets.
Is this the correct way of reading this sentence ? If it is not , can you please correct me ?



E. have offered more dramatic evidence than any that has yet been discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds

Explanation : New fossils have offered more dramatic evidence than any that has yet been discovered ...
"Any that has yet been discovered" includes "new fossils" too.

1) Unearthed in China, fossils of feathered dinosaurs have offered more dramatic evidence than any (fossil) that has yet been discovered (have)
I have written the missing words which are implied within the brackets.
Is this the correct way of reading this sentence ? If it is not , can you please correct me ?

2) Don't you think that the word fossil (singular) should actually be fossils (plural). Because in ellipsis you can only replace the missing word by something that is
already present in the sentence ?
Unearthed in China, fossils of feathered dinosaurs have offered more dramatic evidence than any (fossils) that have yet been discovered.

VeritasKarishma :Kindly help me out with this!

Comparison is between new evidence and all previous evidence.

New fossils offer evidence.
This "evidence" is more dramatic than any previous "evidence".

Hi,
I'm confused with the meaning of the term "yet to be discovered" . Does this mean that in A, the fossils provide evidence about a relationship that needs the right evidence to strengthen the statement?
Curious