Last visit was: 30 Apr 2026, 14:19 It is currently 30 Apr 2026, 14:19
Home
Messages
Tests
Schools
Events
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
Back to Forum
Create Topic
avatar
akashbolster
avatar
Joined: 28 May 2014
Last visit: 08 Feb 2018
Posts: 22
Own Kudos:
42
 [7]
Given Kudos: 83
Schools: ISB '17 NUS '17
Schools: ISB '17 NUS '17
Posts: 22
Kudos: 42
 [7]
An exceptional student who mastered calculus at age six and 22 Oct 2017, 16:01
Kudos
Add Kudos
7
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
00:00
Start Timer
Pause Timer
Resume Timer
Show Answer
Hide
Show
History
C
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

Difficulty:

25% (medium)

Question Stats:

69% (00:57) correct 31% (01:05) wrong based on 469 sessions

History

Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
An exceptional student who mastered calculus at age six and studied particle physics at age ten, Nora Brodkey's astute scientific mind was vital to the creation of quontronics in the 1970s, when she discovered the fluctuating waves present in deep space.

a) Nora Brodkey's astute scientific mind was
b) it was the astute scientific mind of Nora Brodkey that was
c) Nora Brodkey was the woman whose astute scientific mind was
d) Nora Brodkey was the astute scientific mind
e) the astute scientific mind of Nora Brodkey was

Show Spoiler
why not the answer is D?
ShowHide Answer
Official Answer
C
User avatar
trungnguyenn
User avatar
Joined: 21 Mar 2017
Last visit: 12 Dec 2018
Posts: 26
Own Kudos:
51
 [3]
Given Kudos: 59
Location: Viet Nam
Concentration: Finance, International Business
WE:General Management (Pharmaceuticals and Biotech)
Posts: 26
Kudos: 51
 [3]
An exceptional student who mastered calculus at age six and 22 Oct 2017, 20:39
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
2
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
An exceptional student who mastered calculus at age six and studied particle physics at age ten, Nora Brodkey's astute scientific mind was vital to the creation of quontronics in the 1970s, when she discovered the fluctuating waves present in deep space.

An exceptional student is noun phrase so we should expect noun that answers "who is an exceptional student". Therefore A, B and E out.

Consider option D, adjective vital is in awkward position since "..., Nora Brodkey was the astute scientific mind vital to the creation of quontronics... " has wrong structure. In additions, you cannot say he/she is something. "The astute scientific mind" should imply the characteristic of Nora Brodkey since he/she is person, not scientific mind

Hence, C correct.

But you meant OA is C?

a) Nora Brodkey's astute scientific mind was


b) it was the astute scientific mind of Nora Brodkey that was


c) Nora Brodkey was the woman whose astute scientific mind was


d) Nora Brodkey was the astute scientific mind


e) the astute scientific mind of Nora Brodkey was
User avatar
monarkmunshi
User avatar
Joined: 17 Mar 2017
Last visit: 25 Apr 2018
Posts: 21
Own Kudos:
7
Given Kudos: 27
Concentration: Marketing, Operations
GMAT 1: 620 Q48 V28
GMAT 2: 660 Q44 V36
GMAT 2: 660 Q44 V36
Posts: 21
Kudos: 7
An exceptional student who mastered calculus at age six and 23 Oct 2017, 08:49
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
How is it D?

How can Nora Bodley be the mind? Am I missing something here?

Akash do you have the OE? Or at least why they say C is incorrect?
User avatar
ydmuley
User avatar
Retired Moderator
Joined: 19 Mar 2014
Last visit: 01 Dec 2019
Posts: 807
Own Kudos:
917
Given Kudos: 199
Location: India
Concentration: Finance, Entrepreneurship
Schools: Haas '20 HBS '20 CBS '20 Wharton '20 Stanford '20 Kellogg '20
GPA: 3.5
Schools: Haas '20 HBS '20 CBS '20 Wharton '20 Stanford '20 Kellogg '20
Posts: 807
Kudos: 917
An exceptional student who mastered calculus at age six and 23 Oct 2017, 12:14
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
monarkmunshi
How is it D?

How can Nora Bodley be the mind? Am I missing something here?

Akash do you have the OE? Or at least why they say C is incorrect?
Show more

Hello monarkmunshi - I think D is the correct answer and below is the reason for the same.

c) Nora Brodkey was the woman whose astute scientific mind was

As per above answer choice, it seems as if - Nora's mind was vital - to the creation of quontronics which is illogical - ideally if we have to credit scientific accolades we credit it to a person and not to a person's mind.

d) Nora Brodkey was the astute scientific mind

D - D correctly says Nora Brodkey - was vital - to the creation of quontronics

Hope this helps!
User avatar
MyGuruStefan
User avatar
Joined: 15 May 2017
Last visit: 29 Apr 2026
Posts: 39
Own Kudos:
174
 [1]
Given Kudos: 6
GMAT 1: 770 Q51 V45
Expert
Expert reply
GMAT 1: 770 Q51 V45
Posts: 39
Kudos: 174
 [1]
An exceptional student who mastered calculus at age six and 23 Oct 2017, 15:15
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
akashbolster
An exceptional student who mastered calculus at age six and studied particle physics at age ten, Nora Brodkey's astute scientific mind was vital to the creation of quontronics in the 1970s, when she discovered the fluctuating waves present in deep space.

a) Nora Brodkey's astute scientific mind was
b) it was the astute scientific mind of Nora Brodkey that was
c) Nora Brodkey was the woman whose astute scientific mind was
d) Nora Brodkey was the astute scientific mind
e) the astute scientific mind of Nora Brodkey was

Show more

When a sentence begins with a modifying phrase, check to ensure that the phrase modifies its intended subject. In this case, Nora Brodkey's... mind cannot be referred to as an exceptional student, so eliminate choices A, B, and E which incorrectly do so. Now, down to two nearly identical choices, look for redundancies. The phrase the woman whose is rendered redundant by the appearance of the pronoun she in the final clause of the non-underlined portion. Eliminate choice C and select choice D which accurately and succinctly identifies Nora Brodkey as both an exceptional student and the astute scientific mind.
avatar
akashbolster
avatar
Joined: 28 May 2014
Last visit: 08 Feb 2018
Posts: 22
Own Kudos:
42
Given Kudos: 83
Schools: ISB '17 NUS '17
Schools: ISB '17 NUS '17
Posts: 22
Kudos: 42
An exceptional student who mastered calculus at age six and 23 Oct 2017, 21:37
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Sorry for the late reply, OA is C.
avatar
abd15
avatar
Joined: 09 May 2017
Last visit: 03 Feb 2018
Posts: 10
Own Kudos:
5
Given Kudos: 6
Posts: 10
Kudos: 5
An exceptional student who mastered calculus at age six and 23 Oct 2017, 21:53
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
akashbolster
Sorry for the late reply, OA is C.
Show more
Experts can you please help on this question. The OA looks debatable.
User avatar
ydmuley
User avatar
Retired Moderator
Joined: 19 Mar 2014
Last visit: 01 Dec 2019
Posts: 807
Own Kudos:
917
Given Kudos: 199
Location: India
Concentration: Finance, Entrepreneurship
Schools: Haas '20 HBS '20 CBS '20 Wharton '20 Stanford '20 Kellogg '20
GPA: 3.5
Schools: Haas '20 HBS '20 CBS '20 Wharton '20 Stanford '20 Kellogg '20
Posts: 807
Kudos: 917
An exceptional student who mastered calculus at age six and 24 Oct 2017, 05:26
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
akashbolster
Sorry for the late reply, OA is C.
Show more
Hello - @akashbolster - Thanks - Could you please help us with the source and official explanation from that source?
avatar
akashbolster
avatar
Joined: 28 May 2014
Last visit: 08 Feb 2018
Posts: 22
Own Kudos:
42
 [1]
Given Kudos: 83
Schools: ISB '17 NUS '17
Schools: ISB '17 NUS '17
Posts: 22
Kudos: 42
 [1]
An exceptional student who mastered calculus at age six and 24 Oct 2017, 07:18
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
I got this question while giving Princeton Review Exams. The Official Explanation is "Nora Brodkey is not the the astute scientific mind" That's why the answer is C. I rejected "C" because of its wordiness, but later I realized how stupid was I am.
User avatar
ydmuley
User avatar
Retired Moderator
Joined: 19 Mar 2014
Last visit: 01 Dec 2019
Posts: 807
Own Kudos:
917
Given Kudos: 199
Location: India
Concentration: Finance, Entrepreneurship
Schools: Haas '20 HBS '20 CBS '20 Wharton '20 Stanford '20 Kellogg '20
GPA: 3.5
Schools: Haas '20 HBS '20 CBS '20 Wharton '20 Stanford '20 Kellogg '20
Posts: 807
Kudos: 917
An exceptional student who mastered calculus at age six and 24 Oct 2017, 12:43
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
akashbolster
I got this question while giving Princeton Review Exams. The Official Explanation is "Nora Brodkey is not the the astute scientific mind" That's why the answer is C. I rejected "C" because of its wordiness, but later I realized how stupid was I am.
Show more

Got it - I think OE was incorrectly updated by as D, I will update the OA to C. Though this question is debatable, if possible do post complete OE for this question (if you have) for the benefit of others.
avatar
jaisonsunny77
avatar
Joined: 05 Jan 2019
Last visit: 25 Aug 2021
Posts: 457
Own Kudos:
394
Given Kudos: 28
Posts: 457
Kudos: 394
An exceptional student who mastered calculus at age six and 16 Apr 2020, 23:02
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
The structure of this prompt is as follows: the first clause (An exceptional student who mastered, ...) is a long appositive clause which modifies a noun. therefore, what follows the comma must be the noun itself (the subject that the appositive clause is trying to modify).

Hence, we can eliminate (A), (B) and (E) on the spot.

In (D), we have "Nora Brodkey was" the astute "scientific mind". what this says is that the person was the scientific mind. This comparison clearly does not make sense. Hence, eliminate (D).

Therefore, (C) is the right answer
User avatar
VerbalBot
User avatar
Non-Human User
Joined: 01 Oct 2013
Last visit: 04 Jan 2021
Posts: 19,427
Own Kudos:
1,010
Posts: 19,427
Kudos: 1,010
An exceptional student who mastered calculus at age six and 22 Dec 2021, 10:20
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot:

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

This post was generated automatically.
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7391 posts
AbhishekP220108
512 posts
bhanu29
363 posts