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SI777
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It could be argued that the era of modern medicine began in earnest wi Updated on: 03 May 2018, 00:19
Originally posted by SI777 on 14 Mar 2017, 16:59.
Last edited by Bunuel on 03 May 2018, 00:19, edited 3 times in total.
Renamed the topic.
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C
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

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71% (01:00) correct 29% (01:11) wrong based on 346 sessions

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It could be argued that the era of modern medicine began in earnest with Louis Pasteur’s 19th-century development of a vaccine for rabies, which led to the eradication of polio, smallpox, and eventually malaria.

(A) rabies, which led to the eradication of polio, smallpox, and eventually
(B) rabies, which led to the eradication of polio and smallpox, and eventually to
(C) rabies, an event that led to the eradication of polio, smallpox, and eventually
(D) rabies and an event leading to the eradication of polio, smallpox, and eventually
(E) rabies, which has led to the eradication of polio, smallpox, and eventually to

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According to official solution, which is referring to "rabies" that led to the eradication of other diseases, and the presence of the other modifier in the answer choices ("an event") should show you that the intended meaning of the sentence is that the event (the development of the rabies vaccine) is what led to those eradication.

But my question is doesn't which refer to Vaccine, which actually eradicated polio, smallpox etc. Which can jump and refer to vaccine because according to e-gmat which can refer to far away noun if the modifier (for rabies) cannot be placed else where.So, what is wrong with option A here ?
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C
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It could be argued that the era of modern medicine began in earnest wi 14 Mar 2017, 17:21
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sumanainampudi
It could be argued that the era of modern medicine began in earnest with Louis Pasteur’s 19th-century development of a vaccine for rabies, which led to the eradication of polio, smallpox, and eventually malaria.

(A) rabies, which led to the eradication of polio, smallpox, and eventually
(B) rabies, which led to the eradication of polio and smallpox, and eventually to
(C) rabies, an event that led to the eradication of polio, smallpox, and eventually
(D) rabies and an event leading to the eradication of polio, smallpox, and eventually
(E) rabies, which has led to the eradication of polio, smallpox, and eventually to



According to official solution, which is referring to "rabies" that led to the eradication of other diseases, and the presence of the other modifier in the answer choices ("an event") should show you that the intended meaning of the sentence is that the event (the development of the rabies vaccine) is what led to those eradication.

But my question is doesn't which refer to Vaccine, which actually eradicated polio, smallpox etc. Which can jump and refer to vaccine because according to e-gmat which can refer to far away noun if the modifier (for rabies) cannot be placed else where.So, what is wrong with option A here ?
Show more
Dear sumanainampudi,

I'm happy to respond. :-)

My friend, when you post a SC question, please always underline the prompt correctly. It's also in good form to write in the answer choice letters. The habit of excellence extends to the details. How you do anything is how you do everything.

It's true that, grammatically, in the structure "X of Y, which" the word "which" could refer to either X or Y, depending on context.

Of course, the GMAT SC is NOT just a test of grammar--instead, grammar & logic & rhetoric are all equally important. Here, the problem with "which" is logical as much as grammatical, although the book's OE didn't go into this.

Even if "which" refers to "vaccine," the "vaccine for rabies," by itself, did not lead to "the eradication of polio, smallpox, and eventually malaria." Instead, the ideas suggested by the rabies vaccine, that general method, lead to the eradication of the other diseases. If we could construe the word "which" as targeting "development," then it would logically make sense, but at that point, we are expecting the modifier to leapfrog over two other nouns. The target of "which" is quite muddled and unclear.

Inserting the word "event" solves all these problems. That's why (C) is the best answer.

There are often many things to say about why a wrong answer is wrong in a well-designed question. Sometimes, simple space constraints limit the length of the explanations. Don't automatically assume that the explanation printed in the book is all there is to say on the subject. The OEs in the GMAT OG are particularly disappointing in this regard.

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)
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It could be argued that the era of modern medicine began in earnest wi 15 Mar 2017, 04:54
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mikemcgarry
sumanainampudi
It could be argued that the era of modern medicine began in earnest with Louis Pasteur’s 19th-century development of a vaccine for rabies, which led to the eradication of polio, smallpox, and eventually malaria.

(A) rabies, which led to the eradication of polio, smallpox, and eventually
(B) rabies, which led to the eradication of polio and smallpox, and eventually to
(C) rabies, an event that led to the eradication of polio, smallpox, and eventually
(D) rabies and an event leading to the eradication of polio, smallpox, and eventually
(E) rabies, which has led to the eradication of polio, smallpox, and eventually to



According to official solution, which is referring to "rabies" that led to the eradication of other diseases, and the presence of the other modifier in the answer choices ("an event") should show you that the intended meaning of the sentence is that the event (the development of the rabies vaccine) is what led to those eradication.

But my question is doesn't which refer to Vaccine, which actually eradicated polio, smallpox etc. Which can jump and refer to vaccine because according to e-gmat which can refer to far away noun if the modifier (for rabies) cannot be placed else where.So, what is wrong with option A here ?
Dear sumanainampudi,

I'm happy to respond. :-)

My friend, when you post a SC question, please always underline the prompt correctly. It's also in good form to write in the answer choice letters. The habit of excellence extends to the details. How you do anything is how you do everything.

It's true that, grammatically, in the structure "X of Y, which" the word "which" could refer to either X or Y, depending on context.

Of course, the GMAT SC is NOT just a test of grammar--instead, grammar & logic & rhetoric are all equally important. Here, the problem with "which" is logical as much as grammatical, although the book's OE didn't go into this.

Even if "which" refers to "vaccine," the "vaccine for rabies," by itself, did not lead to "the eradication of polio, smallpox, and eventually malaria." Instead, the ideas suggested by the rabies vaccine, that general method, lead to the eradication of the other diseases. If we could construe the word "which" as targeting "development," then it would logically make sense, but at that point, we are expecting the modifier to leapfrog over two other nouns. The target of "which" is quite muddled and unclear.

Inserting the word "event" solves all these problems. That's why (C) is the best answer.

There are often many things to say about why a wrong answer is wrong in a well-designed question. Sometimes, simple space constraints limit the length of the explanations. Don't automatically assume that the explanation printed in the book is all there is to say on the subject. The OEs in the GMAT OG are particularly disappointing in this regard.

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)
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Thanks very much Mike ! Really helps. :)
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It could be argued that the era of modern medicine began in earnest wi 28 Mar 2017, 07:07
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sumanainampudi
It could be argued that the era of modern medicine began in earnest with Louis Pasteur’s 19th-century development of a vaccine for rabies, which led to the eradication of polio, smallpox, and eventually malaria.

(A) rabies, which led to the eradication of polio, smallpox, and eventually
(B) rabies, which led to the eradication of polio and smallpox, and eventually to
(C) rabies, an event that led to the eradication of polio, smallpox, and eventually
(D) rabies and an event leading to the eradication of polio, smallpox, and eventually
(E) rabies, which has led to the eradication of polio, smallpox, and eventually to
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OFFICIAL SOLUTION



When you see answer choices with the restrictive "comma which" modifier, you should seize on that as a primary decision point. Here, clearly it wasn't "rabies" that led to the eradication of other diseases, and the presence of the other modifier in the answer choices ("an event") should show you that the intended meaning of the sentence is that the event (the development of the rabies vaccine) is what led to those eradication. So you can confidently eliminate A, B, and E for the modifier error.

Choice D avoids the modifier error, removing the modifier and using the conjunction "and." But that suggests that "an event leading to..." is a separate entity (one of two things Pasteur developed? A second, vague item to which we can tie the beginning of the modern medicine era?). This is incorrect, as well, leading you to answer choice C. Choice C uses a more flexible, less restrictive modifier ("an event" - appositive modifiers at the ends of sentences get a lot of leeway) to correct the problems in the other choices, and is therefore correct.
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It could be argued that the era of modern medicine began in earnest wi 30 Apr 2017, 04:34
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When you see answer choices with the restrictive "comma which" modifier, you should seize on that as a primary decision point. Here, clearly it wasn't "rabies" that led to the eradication of other diseases, and the presence of the other modifier in the answer choices ("an event") should show you that the intended meaning of the sentence is that the event (the development of the rabies vaccine) is what led to those eradication. So you can confidently eliminate A, B, and E for the modifier error.

Choice D avoids the modifier error, removing the modifier and using the conjunction "and." But that suggests that "an event leading to..." is a separate entity (one of two things Pasteur developed? A second, vague item to which we can tie the beginning of the modern medicine era?). This is incorrect, as well, leading you to answer choice C. Choice C uses a more flexible, less restrictive modifier ("an event" - appositive modifiers at the ends of sentences get a lot of leeway) to correct the problems in the other choices, and is therefore correct.
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It could be argued that the era of modern medicine began in earnest wi 22 Mar 2023, 03:13
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