Van Gogh's paintings of sunflowers were created during a period in the

Question

Van Gogh's paintings of  sunflowers were created during a period in the late 1880s, starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother, and ending after he was hospitalized in Arles, exceeding  his depictions of any other still life object.

A sunflowers were created during a period in the late 1880s, that starts a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother, and ended after he was hospitalized in Arles, exceeding
 B sunflowers were created during a period in the late 1880s, starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother, and ending after he was hospitalized in Arles, exceeding
 C sunflowers, created during a period in the late 1880s starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother and that ends after he was hospitalized in Arles and exceeding
 D sunflowers, which were created during a period in the late 1880s starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother, ending after he was hospitalized in Arles, and exceeding
 E sunflowers, which were created during a period in the late 1880s starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother and ending after he was hospitalized in Arles, exceed

DPANJA · Answer

A-starts n ended not parallel
B-corect
C-same as A
D-incorrectly modify sunflowers
E-samr error as D

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philipssonicare · Answer

Van Gogh's paintings of  sunflowers were created during a period in the late 1880s, starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother, and ending after he was hospitalized in Arles, exceeding  his depictions of any other still life object.

A. sunflowers were created during a period in the late 1880s, that starts a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother, and ended after he was hospitalized in Arles, exceeding
I believe that  exceeding  modifies  hospitalized ?

B. sunflowers were created during a period in the late 1880s, starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother, and ending after he was hospitalized in Arles, exceeding
Van Gogh's paintings of sunflowers exceeding his depictions of any other still life object.
 exceeding  is not a working verb. No verb in this clause. Not a main clause

C. sunflowers, created during a period in the late 1880s starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother and that ends after he was hospitalized in Arles and exceeding
 Starting X...and that ends  isn't parallel
 starting...and that ends...and exceeding . The created is meant to modify  Van Gogh's paintings , but the sentence never returns to this clause. It is left dangling at the front with nothing continuing it on

D. sunflowers, which were created during a period in the late 1880s starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother, ending after he was hospitalized in Arles, and exceeding
The  which -clause is a non-essential modifier offset with commas.
 Van Gogh's paintings of sunflowers...and exceeding his depictions of any other still life object. 
 sunflowers...and . Why the and?
 Exceeding  is not a working verb (present participle??). Thus, this is not a main clause.

E. sunflowers, which were created during a period in the late 1880s starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother and ending after he was hospitalized in Arles, exceed
The  which -clause is a non-essential modifier offset with commas. 
 Van Gogh's paintings of sunflowers...exceed his depictions of any other still life object.  Subject = Van Gogh's paintings, verb=exceed. This is a full main clause.
 E

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

Might as well study from the original: https://gmatclub.com/forum/emily-dickin ... 10142.html

insead22 · Answer

Isn't the use of "he" wrong altogether with the possesives? And if we do ignore that error, since "he" is present in all the options, what is specifically wrong with B?

Snehaaaaa · Answer

Explanation-
 A. sunflowers were created during a period in the late 1880s, that starts a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother, and ended after he was hospitalized in Arles, exceeding- comma+that is a wrong construction, starts and ended are not parallel, exceeding incorrectly seems to modify the preceding clause and that makes no sense

B. sunflowers were created during a period in the late 1880s, starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother, and ending after he was hospitalized in Arles, exceeding- exceeding illogically modifies the 'Van Gogh's paintings of sunflowers were created during a period in the late 1880s'--> this shows as if the Van Gogh's paintings of sunflowers were created intentionally to exceed his depictions of any other still life object

C. sunflowers, created during a period in the late 1880s starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother and that ends after he was hospitalized in Arles and exceeding- no Verb

D sunflowers, which were created during a period in the late 1880s starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother, ending after he was hospitalized in Arles, and exceeding- no Verb

E sunflowers, which were created during a period in the late 1880s starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother and ending after he was hospitalized in Arles, exceed-    all issues are resolved. This is the correct answer.

Snehaaaaa · Answer

In option B, exceeding illogically modifies the 'Van Gogh's paintings of sunflowers were created during a period in the late 1880s'--> this shows as if the Van Gogh's paintings of sunflowers were created intentionally to exceed his depictions of any other still life object

Hope this helps

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Many of us learned that a personal pronoun, such as "he," should not refer to a noun in the possessive form, such a "Van Gogh's." However, many people and some style guides accept such a reference as correct, and it appears that the GMAT does as well since the correct answer in a released official SC question or two has such a reference.

So, the move if you see such a reference in an SC answer choice is to go with the idea that that reference is acceptable, look for another decision point, and use that reference as a decision point only if you can find absolutely nothing else to base your choice on.

GMATNinja · Answer

As  Snehaaaaa  notes, (B) has an illogical modifier, the same problem that shows up in option (A) in the  official version  of this question.

And for a brief discussion about how the GMAT sometimes allows non-possessive pronouns to refer to possessive antecedents, check out our post  here , and let us know if you still have questions.

Van Gogh's paintings of sunflowers were created during a period in the

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Van Gogh's paintings of sunflowers were created during a period in the

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