In the minds of many scientists, although Harrison Ford more famously

Question

In the minds of many scientists,  although Harrison Ford more famously played Han Solo and Indiana Jones, his most memorable role was Rick Deckard , the protagonist of the film Blade Runner, which was recently voted the best science fiction film ever in a worldwide poll of scientists.

(A) although Harrison Ford more famously played Han Solo and Indiana Jones, his most memorable role was Rick Deckard
(B) before he was Han Solo or Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford was Rick Deckard
(C) less memorably Harrison Ford was Han Solo or Indiana Jones than he was Rick Deckard
(D) although Harrison Ford more famously played Han Solo and Indiana Jones, his most memorable role had been Rick Deckard
(E) although he more famously played Han Solo and Indiana Jones, the most memorable role played by Harrison Ford was Rick Deckard

GMAT215 · Answer

Adi93 · Answer

IMO A is the correct choice
A and D are contenders here..past perfect tense is not required in D.hence A is the answer

Sent from my Nexus 5 using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

aggvipul · Answer

(A) although Harrison Ford more famously played Han Solo and Indiana Jones, his most memorable role was Rick Deckard - Bingo!  played Han Solo and Indiana Jones  and  role was Rick Deckard  is the parallel construction.
(B) before he was Han Solo or Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford was Rick Deckard-  he was not Han Solo or Indiana Jones  rather he played that role
(C) less memorably Harrison Ford was Han Solo or Indiana Jones than he was Rick Deckard-  However the construction is grammatically correct (less..than..) but changes the intended meaning  
(D) although Harrison Ford more famously played Han Solo and Indiana Jones, his most memorable role had been Rick Deckard-  There isn't any sequencing of events here and therefore the use of "had been" is incorrect 
(E) although he more famously played Han Solo and Indiana Jones, the most memorable role played by Harrison Ford was Rick Deckard-  however the construction is grammatically correct as in we obviously know that "he" refers to "Harrison Ford" but using the Noun at start makes the sentence more clearer than using the PRONOUN

Sowelu · Answer

B -- he never was Han Solo or Indiana Jones
C -- awkward comparison
D -- "had been" not warranted
E -- "he" and passive voice, what is "he" referring to

A is the best answer

Hero8888 · Answer

The E is wrong because of 2 times repeating "played" and "played role". The placement of pronoun doesn't metter.

aggvipul · Answer

(E) although he more famously played Han Solo and Indiana Jones, the most memorable role played by Harrison Ford was Rick Deckard-  however the construction is grammatically correct as in we obviously know that "he" refers to "Harrison Ford" but using the Noun at start makes the sentence more clearer than using the PRONOUN

Hi, I cant see "played role" in option E, rather I can definitely find "played" and "role played", this leads to finding one more error with option E, which is it using Active voice and then Passive voice construction.

MikeHelios · Answer

hi guys

Thanks for the many explanations. Can someone please explain why the usage of 'had been' is wrong here?

abhimahna · Answer

Hey  MikeHelios  ,

The usage of past perfect(had been) is incorrect here.

You need to understand the meaning of the sentence to clearly decipher what is required.

As per the meaning of the sentence, we are saying this guy played a couple of different roles but out of these roles, Rick Deckard role is the most memorable.

Now, in option D we are saying he played a couple of roles later while his Rick Deckard role was played previously(before the other couple of roles) and was most memorable. This is changing the meaning of the sentence. Hence, it is incorrect.

Does that make sense?

aragonn · Answer

(B) before he was Han Solo or Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford was Rick Deckard --- he was an actor not CIAspy, who can change his identity.
(C) less memorably Harrison Ford was Han Solo or Indiana Jones than he was Rick Deckard --- "memorably" is an adverb. wrong use.
(E) although he more famously played Han Solo and Indiana Jones, the most memorable role played by Harrison Ford was Rick Deckard --- modifier error, "although he more famously played Han Solo and Indiana Jones," is written for harison ford. that should come just after it.

Left with A and D. Both are different in later part. and tense is a problem. Lets see the meaning. both are past tense but first one is simple past while 2nd

(D) although Harrison Ford more famously played Han Solo and Indiana Jones, his most memorable role had been Rick Deckard ---- This is past perfect. past perfect need a simple past tense to hold on. lets find that in D. That is played. So meaning of this is that first Harrison ford played Han Solo and Indiana Jones but before that his most memorable role was Rick Deckard. Does not make sense.

(A) although Harrison Ford more famously played Han Solo and Indiana Jones, his most memorable role was Rick Deckard --- Same thing just ir is saying that Harrison Ford played Han Solo and Indiana Jones but his most famous role was Rick Deckard. ofcource at the time of the vote.

A is correct.

MikeHelios · Answer

abhimahna

Thanks a lot for the detailed explanation, man.
I guess i have to get back to the grammar basics.

akshaymalpani · Answer

Hello. I'd be grateful if somebody could clarify whether the sentence structure in A holds up? At the end, it seems that there are two modifiers - the first modifier is modifying 'Rick Deckard' and the second modifier is modifying 'Blade Runner'. Also is 'in the minds of the scientists' modifying 'although Harrison Ford...' or 'his most memorable role was Rick Deckard'?

DmitryFarber

DmitryFarber

Camach700 · Answer

Hi  akshaymalpani ,

In the minds of many scientists   and  although Harrison Ford more famously played Han Solo and Indiana Jones  are two non essential modifiers and they both modify the main clause " his most memorable role was Rick Deckard ".

You can notice that by asking yourself 
" which  was Harrison Ford's most memorable role?" --> "It was Rick Deckard  in the minds of many scientists ".

Here  in the minds of many scientists  represents an adverbial modifier, which can modify adjectives, verbs, or even clauses.

When there are more than one non essential modifiers it becomes difficult to spot them and to put them in the correct position. Non essential modifiers have to be as close as possible to the object they modify. In the answer choices, every modifier is put in the right position.

Nonetheless, there are a bunch of errors that one may notice:

B/C are out as they both imply that Harrison Ford changed identity. In fact, he just played a different role in different films (we have a meaning issue)

E uses the pronoun   he   without any antecedent, and answer A solves the ambiguity by putting the actual name   Harrison Ford   at first.

D incorrectly uses the past perfect, which conveys a totally different meaning to the actual sentence.

Finally, A does eliminate the problem of ambiguity and correctly uses the past tense form.

Hope it helps!

akshaymalpani · Answer

Hey  Camach700

Thank you for replying. Just one last doubt, it is acceptable for two non-essential modifiers to be one after the other as long as the main clause is clear?

Thank you!

Camach700 · Answer

akshaymalpani absolutely yes

archanam9449 · Answer

How is option A correct? He didn't play in their minds, he actually played the roles.

IanStewart · Answer

I really can't tell on what basis one could decide between A and B here. Answer B is the best-written choice, and the justifications offered above for ruling it out aren't right. There's no pronoun reference issue in B, and there's nothing wrong with saying something like "In my mind, Harrison Ford is Han Solo from the Star Wars films". The sentence is not reporting the roles Harrison Ford played; it's reporting what was true "in the minds of many scientists", and many people might equate an actor with the roles the actor has played. Answer A also seems acceptable to me, though it's more awkwardly written than necessary and would be better if its comparison was more parallel.

In the minds of many scientists, although Harrison Ford more famously

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

In the minds of many scientists, although Harrison Ford more famously

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