George Clinton, the governor of New York for many years,

Question

George Clinton, the governor of New York for many years, served as Vice President under Thomas Jefferson and again under James Madison, to become only one of two men to serve as Vice-President under two different US Presidents.

A. again under James Madison, to become only one of

B. served again under James Madison, to become one of only

C. again under James Madison, becoming one of only

D. served again under James Madison, becoming only one of

E. he served as Vice President again under James Madison, becoming only one of

Hi Mike, the page (the link takes you at) shows the question without a comma before the "and again under James Madison". This change the whole story in my opinion. If we drop the comma, it is true that the answer will be choice C.

Would you pls clarify which one the correct version?

jlgdr · Answer

I chose C because we need again to remain parallel and the correct expression is one of only two men. We need only to modify two men not one. But my question is, isn't and and again redundant? Why do we need again? I think 'and' will suffice

Please clarify
Thanks
Cheers
J

Abdul29 · Answer

I went with (D). Could you please explain the answer?

Thanks for sharing, Mike.

Abdul29 · Answer

I actually haven't noticed you reply.

Well, your explanation makes sense. I also visited the URL that Mike has posted (https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/dropping-c ... -the-gmat/), it seems to provide a clear explanation why " served as Vice President " was replaced with " again ". Following the explanation, you can sort of see that the "and" before "again" is not redundant.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear jlgdr & Abdul29 , I couldn't tell from your dialogue whether any questions remain. I know Abdul29 read my explanation on the blog, and and I don't know whether he has any remaining questions. I don't know whether jlgdr , but doing so may resolve any question. Please let me know if either of you has any further questions about this. Mike :-)

gauravkaushik8591 · Answer

Mike,

I'm so confused here. I've always though that whenever these FANBOYS coordinating conjunctions are used with a comma, they sentences on both the sides of the conduction have to be independent clauses. Please clarify. I've been getting a lot of questions wrong lately because of this misconception.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear gauravkaushik8591 , My friend, remember that grammar is NOT mathematics. In math, there are many universal rules, patterns in which we can always trust. Grammar has many more exceptions than rules. You get yourself in trouble if you are too rigid in trusting universal rules. The word " and " is extremely flexible. Here, there is a single subject and two verbs, two predicates, in parallel. If the predicates are relatively short and logically connected, there would be no comma. She went to Egypt and saw the pyramids. If the predicates are comparatively long, there can be a comma after before the word " and ." In some very short sentences, the comma would be wrong. In some very long sentences, the comma is absolutely necessary for clarity. For many sentences, such as this one, there's a gray area --- is this long enough to warrant the comma before "and"? That's debatable. Good arguments could be made either way. Remember that the GMAT SC absolutely does not test punctuation. In other words, if (C) would be correct without the comma, then the presence of a comma is NEVER enough to disqualify an answer from being correct. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

vad3tha · Answer

C

Choice b/w " to become" and " becoming", "becoming" is correct since George Washington did not serve to become one of only two men .
C,D and E are left. "one of only " is correct because there are only two men serve as Vice-President under two different US Presidents. So "only" has to be placed before "two men".

alphaseeker · Answer

George Clinton, the governor of New York for many years, served as Vice President under Thomas Jefferson and again under James Madison, to become only one of two men to serve as Vice-President under two different US Presidents.

A. again under James Madison, to become only one of

B. served again under James Madison, to become one of only

C. again under James Madison, becoming one of only

D. served again under James Madison, becoming only one of

E. he served as Vice President again under James Madison, becoming only one of

Hi Mike, the page (the link takes you at) shows the question without a comma before the "and again under James Madison". This change the whole story in my opinion. If we drop the comma, it is true that the answer will be choice C.

Would you pls clarify which one the correct version?

Would you pls clarify which one the correct version?

daagh · Answer

Some theory here:

Coordinating conjunctions connect words, phrases, and clauses. Look at the examples that follow:

The bowl of squid eyeball stew is hot and delicious. – two words
The squid eyeball stew is so thick that you can eat it with a fork or spoon. --- Two words
He likes to dine and dance but not to swim and surf --- two phrases
Jack, the topper in Verbal and Jill, the topper in Quant are the plum faculties in our Institute. --- Two noun phrases.

Rocky, my orange tomcat, loves having his head scratched but hates getting his claws trimmed. --- two predicates
Rocky terrorizes the poodles next door yet adores the German shepherd across the street.—two predicates
Rocky refuses to eat dry cat food, nor will he touch a saucer of squid eyeball stew. – two clauses

Punctuate coordinating conjunctions correctly.

Three patterns in writing use coordinating conjunctions. Add commas when required.

Pattern 1 — Connecting two main clauses

When you connect two main clauses with a coordinating conjunction, use a comma. The pattern looks like this:
MAIN CLAUSE + , + Coordinating Conjunction + MAIN CLAUSE.
Here is an example:
While I am at work, my dog Floyd sleeps on the bed , and my cat Buster naps in the bathtub.
Pattern 2 — Connecting two items
You can also use a coordinating conjunction to connect any two items. These items can be any grammatical unit except main clauses. The pattern looks like this:
ITEM + Ø + Coordinating Conjunction + ITEM
Here are some examples:
My dog Floyd has too many fleas and too much hair.
My cat Buster has beautiful blue eyes but a destructive personality.
Pattern 3 — Connecting three or more items in a series
When you have three or more items in a series, you generally use a comma before the coordinating conjunction. Some handbooks and style guides will tell you that this comma is optional, but my advice is to put it in. The pattern looks like this:
ITEM +, + ITEM +, + Coordinating Conjunction + ITEM

Here is an example:
Swatting olives off the kitchen counter, dragging toilet paper streamers through the house, and terrorizing Jacques Cousteau, the parakeet, have consumed another of Buster's days.
Source https://www.chompchomp.com/terms/coordin ... nction.htm

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear alphaseeker , I'm happy to respond. :-)

The correct version includes the comma: it was a typo on the blog to omit it, and I corrected that typo on the blog. Thank you for pointing it out. Here is the corrected version: George Clinton, the governor of New York for many years, served as Vice President under Thomas Jefferson , and again under James Madison, to become only one of two men to serve as Vice-President under two different US Presidents. A. again under James Madison, to become only one of B. served again under James Madison, to become one of only C. again under James Madison, becoming one of only D. served again under James Madison, becoming only one of E. he served as Vice President again under James Madison, becoming only one of Notice that this includes the comma. Why is this comma acceptable? Well, we generally need a comma to separate two independent clauses. Here, we could say that there is an implied independent clause that has been omitted. If we were hyper-explicit, and incredibly over-wordy, we might say: George Clinton, the governor of New York for many years, served as Vice President under Thomas Jefferson, and George Clinton served again as Vice President under James Madison . . . All the red sections were omitted in the correct sentence. Even though most of the second clause, the second branch of the parallelism was deleted, the comma still "recognizes" the clause that was there. It would also be correct to think of the two prepositional phrases in parallel, in which case we wouldn't need the comma. Whether we have the comma or not depends on which logical interpretation of the elements we are taking. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

aragonn · Answer

Official Explanation Magoosh: 
Split #1: "to become" or "becoming". The use of the infinitive "to become" suggests an infinitive of purpose, which in turn, suggests that Clinton purposely set out with the goal of becoming a Vice President of two different Presidents. That's not what the sentence is trying to say. Clinton served his offices, and then it just happened, he fulfilled this odd distinction. The participle "becoming" allows for the "it just happened" way of looking at it, whereas the "infinitive" suggests a purpose, which does make sense. Choices (A) & (B) are incorrect.

Split #2: the placement of "only". What do we wish to show is limited? The striking fact is that this distinction, Vice President of two different Presidents, has happened only two times. (BTW, the other was John Calhoun). Thus, "only two men" makes perfect sense. By contrast, the "only one" is entirely illogical --- Clinton became "only one of two men": how could this one man, George Clinton, possibly be more than one? Choices (A) & (D) & (E) are incorrect.

Split #3: common words in parallel. We don't need to repeat the common words "  served as Vice President" --- all that can be dropped. Choice (C) is the most concise choice, and it is perfectly correct.

The only possible answer is (C).

lakshya14 · Answer

Hi, I got stuck between (B) and (C), and chose (B). I think (C) has a modifier error by placing 'becoming" right after "James Madison", or is it modifying "George Clinton"?

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  lakshya14 ,

You're right:  becoming  refers to  George Clinton .

LaveenaPanchal · Answer

George Clinton, the governor of New York for many years, served as Vice President under Thomas Jefferson, and again under James Madison, to become only one of two men to serve as Vice-President under two different US Presidents.
A. again under James Madison, to become only one of Incorrect. To become is incorrect. Becoming is required because it is result and not the intention 
B. served again under James Madison, to become one of only. Incorrect same as (A)
C. again under James Madison, becoming one of only. Correct.Concise and clear.
D. served again under James Madison, becoming only one of. Incorrect used of Served is redundant and only is wrongly placed.
E. he served as Vice President again under James Madison, becoming only one of. Incorrect use of he served as VP is redundant

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Dumsy_1711 · Answer

A. again under James Madison, to become only one of

1.  served as Vice President  under Thomas Jefferson,   and    served as Vice President  again under James Madison.
works

2. to become only one of.
Only two men in history have served as VP under two different presidents. George Clinton was one of these two men.
So, it should be one of only two men. Not only one of two men.

B. served again under James Madison, to become one of only

served as Vice President under Thomas Jefferson,   and   served again under James Madison.

served in what capacity under JM? Only if he serves as Vice President, will the rest of the sentence make sense.

C. again under James Madison, becoming one of only

served as Vice President  under Thomas Jefferson,   and    served as Vice President  again under James Madison.
works.

D. served again under James Madison, becoming only one of

1. served as Vice President under Thomas Jefferson,   and   served again under James Madison.
same as B

2. becoming only one of
same as A. Should be one of only two.

E. he served as Vice President again under James Madison, becoming only one of

1. served as Vice President under Thomas Jefferson,   and   he served as Vice President again under James Madison
not parallel.

2. becoming only one of
same as A. Should be one of only two.

George Clinton, the governor of New York for many years,

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George Clinton, the governor of New York for many years,

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