Fossils of Anchiornis, the smallest known dinosaur

Question

Fossils of Anchiornis,  the smallest known dinosaur measuring about thirteen inches in length and weighing  little less than 4 ounces, were discovered in China and are well preserved in the Beijing Museum of Natural History.

A) the smallest known dinosaur measuring about thirteen inches in length and weighing
B) which is the smallest dinosaur known, is about thirteen inches long, and weighs
C) the smallest dinosaur known, is about thirteen inches long and weighs
D) measuring about thirteen inches in length is the smallest known dinosaur weighing
E) which is the smallest known dinosaur, about thirteen inches long, weighing

DinoPen · Answer

This took me a while. 1:58

Answer is A. The 'smallest known dinosaur ..' modifies Anchironis.
Measuring + weighing are parallel.

I eliminated all the other choices via POE.
B) 'which is' is redundant. And, 'is about thirteen inches long, and weighs' incorrectly modifies Anchironis. This should refer to the fossil.
C) S/V disagreement between 'fossils' and 'is'.
D) This sentence doesn't make sense. Fossils are a known dinosaur? what?
E) This does not make a sentence. Also, 'weighing' ambiguously refers to the smallest known dinosaur. This can also refer to fossils.

adstudy · Answer

In this question if we see the non - underlined part -

Fossils of Anchiornis ,........., were  discovered in China  and are  well preserved in the Beijing Museum of Natural History.

Now here we already have a subject and a verb that cannot be moved or changed. So between the two commas we will be having a modifier for sure.

Eliminating options  (B), (C) and (D)  as follows -

B) which is the smallest dinosaur known,  is  about thirteen inches long, and weighs
C) the smallest dinosaur known,  is  about thirteen inches long and weighs
D) measuring about thirteen inches in length  is  the smallest known dinosaur weighing

(E) can be eliminated as there is no parallel list getting maintained when trying to describe Fossils of Anchiornis. Hence (E) is not grammatically preferrable and (A) is a much better option.

Hence answer is (A)

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

Option A is an option we can keep. The use of weighing at the end tripped me up for a second, but I realized that it is parallel with measuring.

We can  eliminate  Options  B  and  C  because of  is about 13 inches . The subject-verb agreement is a good reason to eliminate. We know that the subject is Fossils and not Anchiornis.

Option  D  makes the same error with  is the smallest known  and can be  eliminated .

Option  E  does not make any sense if you substitute it back into the question. It introduces a parenthetical phrase between dinosaur and weighing, changing the intended meaning of the sentence.  Eliminate .

Option A   is the  best option .

Anush56 · Answer

The word after the comma should refer to "Anchiornis" since that is the dinosaur. The smaller refers to the fossil is it not this way ? I request on of the experts to please help me out here.

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

Hi Anush

The modifier should appear adjacent to whatever it modifies (barring select exceptions).

In the given sentence, it is important to identify what the modifier is. A modifier provides additional information or description (ie; modifies) some other part of the sentence. In the question, "Fossils of Anchiornis" acts as the subject ie; the protagonist of the sentence and does not function as a modifier.

The portion appearing  after  "Achiornis" provides additional information about the subject ie; about Anchiornis and hence acts as a modifier. So we need to check what that portion modifies. It is correctly placed right next to Anchiornis about which it provides additional information. Hence this structure is the correct one to use.

Hope this helps.

thereisaFire · Answer

Hi  AjiteshArun   VeritasKarishma

If choice E were the following, would it be correct?
E) which is the smallest known dinosaur, about thirteen inches long and weighing

I eliminated the choice since there is no connecter between "about thirteen inches long" and "weighing little less than 4 ounces".
Please verify my logic.

Thanks

KarishmaB · Answer

The question is usually not whether it is correct or not but which option is better. Do you need elements to be parallel in your day to day language? No. Does the other person still understand exactly what you mean? Yes. 
But it is better to have the elements in parallel. It makes for clearer communication.

"about thirteen inches long" and "weighing little less than 4 ounces" are not parallel.
It is better to have "measuring about thirteen inches in length" and "weighing little less than 4 ounces".

VerbalBot · Answer

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Fossils of Anchiornis, the smallest known dinosaur

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Fossils of Anchiornis, the smallest known dinosaur

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