Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans

Question

Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.

a) Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.

b) Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans and circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.

c) Fruit bats, which gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.

d) Fruit bats, which gather in large, sociable swarms, have long life spans and circumstances that may be particularly hospitable for harmful viruses.

e) Fruit bats, gathering in large, sociable swarms, have long life spans and circumstances that may be particularly hospitable for harmful viruses.

Zarrolou · Answer

Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.

The structure of the sentence B is
Bats   gather   (...) and   have   (...) and   circumstances   (...)
while the first two terms are correctly in a parallel structure, the third one should not be put "on the same level" as the first two.
C is not a sentence 
 c)   Fruit bats (subject) ,  which gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses (modifer). 
The sencond part is composed by modifers, and there is no main verb.
The strcuture in D is not correct
 d) Fruit bats,   which gather in large, sociable swarms (modifier) ,   have   long life spans and   circumstances   that may be particularly hospitable for harmful viruses.
Bats have (...) and circumstances, once more and is the wrong connector
E has the same problem

A is the correct answer
 a) Fruit bats   gather   in large, sociable swarms and   have   long life spans,   circumstances   that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.
The structure is perfect: subject and verbs are parallel, and the second clause (not connected by "and") correctly adds info.

fozzzy · Answer

Could you explain the usage of "hospitable to" and "hospitable for"

petrifiedbutstanding · Answer

The author is trying to say that fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans. Such a situation is hospitable for harmful viruses to exist.

B. Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans and circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses
 Means the fruit bats have the circumstances in addition to long lifespans. Incorrect.

C. Fruit bats, which gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.
 The last part of the sentence forms a clause that cannot stand by itself. Incorrect.

D. Fruit bats, which gather in large, sociable swarms, have long life spans and circumstances that may be particularly hospitable for harmful viruses.
E. Fruit bats, gathering in large, sociable swarms, have long life spans and circumstances that may be particularly hospitable for harmful viruses.
 Like B, these options imply that fruit bats have the favorable circumstances for harmful viruses to prevail. Incorrect.

A. Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.
 This option accurately presents the author's intent

Zarrolou · Answer

It's hard to say, and it' s not the point.

I mean: focus on the overall structure first.
Try to see if the meaning is correct, if the sentence uses a correct structure,...
There are many things you can check before "hospitable to" VS "hospitable for".

Bluelagoon · Answer

The original sentence has proper parallelism and modifier usage.

Fruit bats 
  gather in large, sociable swarms 
 and  have long life spans ,  circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses

Underlined part is the modifier.

honchos · Answer

Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.

1. Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.
2. Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans and circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.
3. Fruit bats, which gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.
4. Fruit bats, which gather in large, sociable swarms, have long life spans and circumstances that may be particularly hospitable for harmful viruses.
5. Fruit bats, gathering in large, sociable swarms, have long life spans and circumstances that may be particularly hospitable for harmful viruses.

This is one of the most difficult question I have encountered so far-
 This is classic GMAT misdirection, employing a unique structure to "hide the correct answer".

honchos · Answer

Veritas Gives this Answer:

A. Avoid the temptation to eliminate choice A simply because its structure, with the modifier "circumstances that..." at the end, may seem strange. This is classic GMAT misdirection, employing a unique structure to "hide the correct answer". Note the logical flaw within choices B, D, and E - fruit bats don't "have circumstances", but instead they have traits to which "circumstances" refers. Choice C, once you get rid of the "which" modifier, doesn't have a subject-verb construction and therefore isn't a sentence. Choice A commits none of critical errors and is therefore correct.

I opted for B i am still not sure why A is chosen.

daagh · Answer

Have you ever heard of fruit bats having circumstances? They may long life spans but not circumstances. That is why B is out

arpitkansal · Answer

GMATNinja   GMATNinjaTwo  can you explain this one please?

abhishekdadarwal2009 · Answer

Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.

a) Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.
b) Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans and circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.
c) Fruit bats, which gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.
d) Fruit bats, which gather in large, sociable swarms, have long life spans and circumstances that may be particularly hospitable for harmful viruses.
e) Fruit bats, gathering in large, sociable swarms, have long life spans and circumstances that may be particularly hospitable for harmful viruses.

Solution:

Rule 1.  ',which' is always used to provide non necessary information. and to provide necessary information a comma is never used.

Rule2.  If you don't find a grammar error simply in the sentence then always look for meaning error.

A:Correct.
B: Fruit bats gather...and have long life...and circumstances  this is not parallel (not supposed to be :P ) and this does not make any sense either because according to the structure only fruit bats are being connected to circumstances and nothing else . for this reason this is wrong as stated in rule 2.
C: which gather in large,  wrong for the reason mentioned in rule1
D: which gather in large,  wrong for the reason mentioned in rule1
E:  gathering in large  This modifier modifies the fruit bat and gives a meaning that only those fruit bat that gather in large,sociable swarms provide hospitable circumstances and not all the fruit bats. For this reason this sentence is wrong as mentioned in rule 2

thangvietnam · Answer

look at choice A
noun+noun modifier can refer the whole preceding clause or to a preceding noun.
inhere " circumstances that..." refer to which phrase, clause or noun
pls tell me the phrase that "circumstances that..." modifies

if circumstances modifies the whole preceding clause, circumstances must be in singular. if it modifies a noun, which noun?

gmattodreamschool · Answer

Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans, circumstances that may be particularly hospitable to harmful viruses.

I would be thankful , if experts could help me understand why we do not have "and" in between large and sociable .
as per my understanding , large and sociable both act as adjectives for swarm , thus we need and in between them to make a proper list .

what i mean is that as per my understanding , the below needs to be the correct answer

fruit bats  gather in large and sociable swarms   and  have long life spans ,  circumstances hospitable to harmful viruses

gather in large and sociable swarms   (list 1)
and 
 have long life spans  (list 2)

circumstances hospitable to harmful viruses  (noun + noun modifier)

daagh   GMATNinja

berdibekov · Answer

Never thought that a GMAT question would someday explain madness happening these days

...

Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans

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

Fruit bats gather in large, sociable swarms and have long life spans

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