Known as the Tasmanian Tiger, the thylacine, a species most observers

Question

Known as the Tasmanian Tiger, the thylacine,  a species most observers agree to be made extinct by hunting by humans,  was the largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern times.

A. a species most observers agree to be made extinct by hunting by humans,

B. a species most observers agree that has been made extinct by human hunting,

C. a species that most observers agree has been made extinct by humans' hunting,

D. which most observers agree on as a species made extinct by humans' hunting

E. which most observers agree to be a species made extinct by humans hunting

Im279 · Answer

If a gerund is preceded by a noun, and the noun is the doer of the action depicted by the gerund, then the noun should be in possessive form.

Gerund "hunting" preceded by noun "human" who is the doer of the action needs noun "human" in possessive form so "human's" is right.

That leaves us with option C & D.

Go for C as the structure of the modifier is right.

ahabib · Answer

Im279

Hello, I'm curious to know which GMAT course/book you read this rule in please

yvankd · Answer

A & E use "to be...", however we know that the species has already been extinct. Therefore removing both of these ACs.
B - the placement of "that" needs to be between "species" and "most observers". The placement of "that" after agree changes the meaning of the sentence. B is out.
D - "agree on X..." is less idiomatic than "agree X...". D is out.

That leaves us with C.

Im279 · Answer

Google "if a gerund is preceded by a noun".

Bunuel · Answer

Official Explanation

Creating a filter: the original sentence has problems near the phrase "be made extinct." As written, the sentence fails to convey the intended meaning. The meaning as written might indicate that the species is made extinct on a regular basis, whereas, in fact, it's something that has happened and completed. The meaning could be expressed properly as, "a species most observers agree to have been made extinct." So (A) is out. We'll look for a simple past tense instead of the infinite "to be."

Applying the filter: choice (B) has a defect: "that" is misplaced in coming after "most observers agree." If we use the word "that," we introduce a clause, and there is no verb for this clause. So (B) is out. Choice (C) uses "that" in a in a valid clause. The words "humans' hunting" is a little awkward, but it's grammatically correct. We can come back to (C). Choices (D) and (E) both have problems. In (D), the observers are not quite agreeing on the right thing. The intended meaning is that they agree on the fact and method of extinction, not the identification of species. Choice (E) also has that problem. In (D), the word "as" is not proper usage to equate "species" logically whether the thylacine. In (E), the infinitive "to be" has the same problems identified in (A). So (D) and (E) are out.

The correct answer is (C).

VerbalBot · Answer

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Known as the Tasmanian Tiger, the thylacine, a species most observers

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Known as the Tasmanian Tiger, the thylacine, a species most observers

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