Hi there,

Used by many natural history museum curators in the preparation of animal skeletons for display, dermestid beetles feed on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses, pulling with its mouthparts to strip the bone of any residual fat or muscle tissue.

Meaning Analysis: The curators use dermestid beetles in the preparation of animal skeletons for display because these beetles feed on flesh and by doing so, they pull the fat out of the bone.

Error Analysis: Notice this phrase in the non-underlined portion of the sentence – “…with its mouthparts…”. Singular pronoun “its” does not agree in number with its plural antecedent “dermestid beetles”. Hence, this antecedent must be changed to singular.

POE:

A. dermestid beetles feed on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses, pulling: Incorrect for the reason stated above.

B. dermestid beetles feed on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses and pull: Incorrect.
1. Same pronoun antecedent number agreement error.
2. The unintentional parallelism between “feed” and “pull” now separates these two activities as independent. It fails to connect the pulling with feeding.

C. the dermestid beetle feeds on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses and pulls: Incorrect. Same parallelism error as in choice B.

D. the dermestid beetle feeds on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses, pulling: Correct.

E. the dermestid beetle feeds on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses and it pulls: Incorrect.
1. Same parallelism error as in Choice B.
2. Pronoun “it” is not needed.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha.
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C means to convey the meaning that feeding on the decaying flesh and pulling with its mouthparts are different events. Whereas, the "pulling with the mouthparts" part is actually modifying the clause "feed on decaying flesh". That is, it is explaining how it feeds.

I think you would be able to appreciate the difference between:

He crossed the finish line, limping on one leg. and (He was limping while crossing the finish line)
He crossed the finish line and limped on one leg. (He limped after crossing the finish line)

Kudos Please... If my post helped.

The possessive pronoun 'its’ indicates that the subject must be singular. Hence A and B are out.

In C, the expression ‘in order to pull’ is altered intent.. It implies that the beetle feeds on the decaying flesh in order to pull. E flouts the llism norm by redundantly using the pronoun ‘it’. D is the correct choice.
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What I feel is that feeding on flesh and pulling to strip the bone are two independent things. The words "any residual" at the end is forcing me to think this way. The "any residual" is sufficient to strengthen my point that though beetle feeds on decaying flesh but it also pulls to strip the bone of any residual fat.
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Hi @Marcab,

Let’s reason it out if feeding and pulling are two independent activities done by the beetles. The beetles feed on the decaying flesh of animal dead bodies. They pull out any residual fat or muscle tissue left on the bone from their mouthparts. And why do they pull any residual fat? They do so to feed themselves. This is how they eat. If the beetles are not hungry, they will not nibble on the body. So the verb-ing modifier “pulling” is telling us how these beetles feed themselves. Hence both these activities are related in that “pulling” is explaining how the beetles eat.

Hope this helps.
Shraddha
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although the OA is D, could somebody shed light on why E is wrong. It makes perfect sense for me

Hi Ivy, E is wrong because those two actions should not be parallel.

Used by many natural history museum curators in the preparation of animal skeletons for display, dermestid beetles feed on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses, pulling with its mouthparts to strip the bone of any residual fat or muscle tissu

The idea is is to present how the beetle feeds ( Comma + ING modifier ), not to present two parallel actions.

If the sentence were "the beetle feeds on the flesh and sleeps ..." in this case those two actions should be parallel, they express what the beetle can do.
In this sentence however the structure is "the beetle feeds, (HOW it feeds) pulling ".

D. the dermestid beetle feeds on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses, pulling
E. the dermestid beetle feeds on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses and it pulls

Hope it's clear

OA is definitely not A. Between D & E.

Shouldn't the parallelism be maintained between feed & pull? Not decaying and pulling? Pulling is done by the beetles right? and flesh is decaying. So D should be incorrect as well. Also, E is wrong because it is breaking parallelism by adding "it"

Can someone please explain this?

In this problem, there are two main issues:

1. AB / CDE
plural / singular

The non-underlined portion refers to "its mouthparts", telling us that beetle must be singular. Eliminate A and B.

2. C / D / E
and pulls / , pulling / and it pulls
Feeding is the main action. Pulling fat and muscle tissue is part of the feeding process. The "ing" form of pulling in D makes this clear (we read everything after the comma as a modifier of the main action). In C and E, the conjunction plus main verb construction (and pulls or and it pulls) makes it sound like pulling is a separate action from feeding. This is incorrect. Hence C and E are wrong.
here's more about the comma + -ing modifier:
the "comma + ing" modifier should only be used when:

(A)
it MODIFIES THE ENTIRE ACTION of the preceding clause, and it APPLIES TO THE SUBJECT of that clause;

AND

(B)
one of the following is true:
(1) the "ing" action is SIMULTANEOUS with the main action;
- i ran down the sidewalk, flapping my arms wildly
(2) the "ing" action is a DIRECT CONSEQUENCE of the main action.
- i got a 100 on the most recent exam, bringing my average up to 91

another example:

joe ran down the sidewalk, flailing his arms.
--> correct (simultaneous)

my cousin took extra classes every semester in college, graduating in three years.
--> correct, because the "ing" is an actual consequence of the first action.

my cousin ate frozen food every day in college, graduating in three years.
--> incorrect, because there is no relationship (in particular, the second thing is not a consequence of the first thing, and isn't simultaneous either)


Source : Manhattan GMat

Used by many natural history museum curators in the preparation of animal skeletons for display, dermestid beetles feed on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses, pulling with its mouthparts to strip the bone of any residual fat or muscle tissue.

A. dermestid beetles feed on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses, pulling
plural beetles does not go with its in non underlined portion

B. dermestid beetles feed on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses and pull
plural beetles does not go with its in non underlined portion.. pulling is correct

C. the dermestid beetle feeds on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses and pulls
pulling is correct , so incorrect

D. the dermestid beetle feeds on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses, pulling
correct

E. the dermestid beetle feeds on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses and it pulls
pulling is correct , so incorrect
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A. dermestid beetles feed on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses, pulling - Incorrect...when referring to the entire class 'the' with the class name is used. For example, we dont say 'lions are kings of the jungle' when referring to the entire class. Instead we say 'The lion is the king of the jungle' which refers to the entire group/class
B. dermestid beetles feed on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses and pull - Same as A
C. the dermestid beetle feeds on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses and pulls - Incorrect. It is important to understand the meaning and not just focus on the structure. Although this one looks parallel, the sentence means that it feeds by pulling.....so the present participle in option D is correct.
D. the dermestid beetle feeds on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses, pulling - Correct
E. the dermestid beetle feeds on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses and it pulls - Same as C

Hope this helps

I think C is incorrect, because it compromises with the meaning. It says: "the dermestid beetle feeds on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses and pulls with its mouthparts to strip the bone of any residual fat or muscle tissue".

Because of the presence of the coordinating conjunction "and", C seems to suggest that the dermestid beetle does two difference things: a) It feeds on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses and b) It pulls with its mouthparts to strip the bone of any residual fat or muscle tissue.

But this is not the correct interpretation. These are not two "different & unrelated" things.

Can you please post the OA.

Narrowed down to A & D.
A -> UsesPlural form. It means there are many beetles doing the action.
D-> Uses singular form. Changes the meaning. Only one beetle is doing the action.
I therefore marked A

hi,
Used by many natural history museum curators in the preparation of animal skeletons for display, dermestid beetles feed on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses, pulling with its mouthparts to strip the bone of any residual fat or muscle tissue.

A. dermestid beetles feed on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses, pulling
plural beetles does not go with its in non underlined portion
A cannot be correct.....

D. the dermestid beetle feeds on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses, pulling
correct
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OA is "D"

- A & B - pronoun antecendant number error.

- C - in order to pull - changes in the meaning of the sentence.

- E - Changes the meaning by using the connector "and". The intent is to provide extra information and NOT to join two different activities.
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Used by many natural history museum curators in the preparation of animal skeletons for display, the dermestid beetle feeds on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses, pulling with its mouthparts to strip the bone of any residual fat or muscle tissue.

IMHO (D) - The strike through region reflects the non essential modifier !!
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OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

The plural subject in the original sentence, “dermestid beetles,” does not agree in number with the singular pronoun “its,” which appears in the non-underlined part of the sentence. In order to correctly agree with “its,” the subject must be singular: “the dermestid beetle.”

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

(B) The plural subject “dermestid beetles” does not agree in number with the singular pronoun “its,” which appears in the non-underlined part of the sentence. In order to correctly agree with “its,” the subject must be singular: “the dermestid beetle.” Also, the present tense verb “pull” is incorrectly consistent with the present tense verb “feed.” In this case, verb consistency is undesirable as it separates “feed” and “pull” into two independent and sequential actions: the beetles “feed on the decaying flesh” and “pull with…mouthparts.” The logical meaning of the sentence, as dictated by the original version, is that the “pulling” occurs as part of the main verb “feed,” not independent of it.

(C) While the singular subject “the dermestid beetle” correctly agrees in number with the singular pronoun “its,” the present tense verb “pulls” is incorrectly consistent with the present tense verb “feeds.” In this case, verb consistency is undesirable as it separates “feeds” and “pulls” into two independent and sequential actions: the beetle “feeds on the decaying flesh” and “pulls with…mouthparts.” The logical meaning of the sentence, as dictated by the original version, is that the “pulling” occurs as part of the main verb “feeds,” not independent of it.

(D) CORRECT. The singular subject “the dermestid beetle” correctly agrees in number with the singular pronoun “its.” Also, the form “pulling” correctly implies that “pulling with its mouthparts” occurs as part of the main verb “feeds,” not independent of it.

(E) The singular subject “the dermestid beetle” correctly agrees in number with the singular pronoun “its.” However, the present tense verb “pulls” is incorrectly consistent with the present tense verb “feeds.” In this case, verb consistency is undesirable as it separates “feeds” and “pulls” into two independent and sequential actions: the beetle “feeds on the decaying flesh” and “pulls with…mouthparts.” The logical meaning of the sentence, as dictated by the original version, is that the “pulling” occurs as part of the main verb “feeds,” not independent of it. Also, the use of the pronoun “it” is unnecessarily wordy; the subject of the verb “pulls,” “the dermestid beetle,” is clear without of the use of “it.”
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The structure of this prompt is as follows:

"Used by many natural history museum curators in the preparation of animal skeletons for display, dermestid beetles feed on the decaying flesh of animal carcasses, pulling with its mouthparts to strip the bone of any residual fat or muscle tissue.

since the last clause of this prompt has the possessive pronoun "it's", it must agree with its antecedent (in the underlined section) in the singular-plural sense.

For violating this reason, we can eliminate (A) and (B)

If we plug in (C), it literally means that the purpose of beetles feeding is only to strip the bone whereas in reality, the bones being stripped is a consequence that follows the feeding and hence cannot be considered as the sole purpose of the action of feeding. This option, therefore, does not make sense. Hence, we can eliminate (C)

If we plug in (E), it means that "feeding" and "it pulls with its mouthparts...." are two separate actions that are being put in parallel whereas the latter is actually a consequence of the former. Hence, (E) is incorrect.

this leaves us with (D). When we take a closer look at (D), the correct grammatical structure is being used. Hence, (D) is the right answer choice.