The success of sailboat racing as a television sport largely depends o

Question

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2) 
 For SC butler Questions  Click Here

The success of sailboat racing as a television sport  largely depends on the technology in the helicopters that fly above to a great deal, technology so advanced that it makes the insertion of a first-down line during the broadcast of a football game seem insignificant .

A) largely depends on the technology in the helicopters that fly above to a great deal, technology so advanced that it makes the insertion of a first-down line during the broadcast of a football game seem insignificant

B) to a great deal depends on the helicopter technology that flies above, technology so advanced that it makes the insertion of a first-down line during the broadcast of a football game seem insignificant

C) to a great deal depends on the helicopter technology that fly above, technology so advanced that it makes the first-down line during a football game seem insignificant

D) largely depends on the technology in the helicopters that fly above, technology so advanced that it makes the insertion of a first-down line during a football game broadcast seem insignificant

E) largely depends on the advanced technology in the helicopters flying above that make the insertion of a first-down line during a football game broadcast seem insignificant

generis · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2) THE PROMPT • Meaning? Whether sailboat racing is successful as a television sport depends largely on technology in the helicopters that fly above the sailboats. That technology is so advanced that it makes other television sports technology seem insignificant. THE OPTIONS • largely depends and to a great deal are redundant ELIMINATE A • technology that is carried in or by the helicopters that fly above the sailboats is not the same thing as "helicopter technology." Technology that can film a sailboat race and make it exciting is different from technology that makes helicopters fly. • Nonsensical. Helicopter technology cannot itself fly. The expression itself is silly. ELIMINATE B • subject-verb agreement: singular technology requires the singular verb flies , not the plural verb fly • nonsensical: helicopter technology does not itself fly ELIMINATE C • I see no issues KEEP • This option is either ungrammatical or illogical. • Ungrammatical: the singular word technology requires the singular verb makes → technology anchors a long noun phrase (in the helicopters flying above) and is the true grammatical candidate for subject of that clause • Illogical: perhaps the plural word make refers to the helicopters (flying above) → but the helicopters do not make the insertion of a first-down during a televised football game seem insignificant; the technology itself makes the insertion of a first-down lined during a football game seem insigificant. ELIMINATE E The answer is D. COMMENTS pgwodehouse , welcome to SC Butler. warrior1991 , I wanna duck your question because prep companies are not always consistent with terminology. If by noun phrase you mean an appositive (a noun phrase that describes another noun), then yes, what you see is a "nice noun phrase"

that describes the technology. You do not see an absolute phrase that almost always modifies a whole sentence. This particular noun phrase is called a resumptive modifier. We repeat a word from some other part of the sentence and expand upon or give detail about it. Because we pick up from some other part of the sentence and repeat a word, we call this kind of modifier a resumptive ("resume") modifier. In the end, you will all be fine if you are able to identify appositives and appositive phrases. GMAT uses them frequently. Absolute phrases are very rare on the GMAT. I talked a little bit about resumptive modifiers (which are a special kind of appositive) beneath option A in this post, here . Better yet, I linked to a nice little article about resumptive modifiers. At any rate, you've gotten straight to the heart of the matter. These posts range from excellent to outstanding. Nicely done. Happy kudos.

tyildirim92 · Answer

The success of sailboat racing as a television sport  largely depends on the technology in the helicopters that fly above to a great deal, technology so advanced that it makes the insertion of a first-down line during the broadcast of a football game seem insignificant .

A) largely depends on the technology in the helicopters that fly above to a great deal, technology so advanced that it makes the insertion of a first-down line during the broadcast of a football game seem insignificant

B) to a great deal depends on the helicopter technology that flies above, technology so advanced that it makes the insertion of a first-down line during the broadcast of a football game seem insignificant
C) to a great deal depends on the helicopter technology that fly above, technology so advanced that it makes the first-down line during a football game seem insignificant

C) to a great deal depends on the helicopter technology that fly above, technology so advanced that it makes the first-down line during a football game seem insignificant // "helicopter technology" does not fly. Helicopter flies. 😂

D) largely depends on the technology in the helicopters that fly above, technology so advanced that it makes the insertion of a first-down line during a football game broadcast seem insignificant

E) largely depends on the advanced technology in the helicopters flying above that make the insertion of a first-down line during a football game broadcast seem insignificant // helicopters do not make the insertion seem insignificant.

Posted from my mobile device

vv65 · Answer

This question is all about modifiers and redundancy

A. largely depends on the technology in the helicopters that fly above to a great deal,..

Eliminate 
- to have both "largely" and "a great deal" is redundant
- "to a great deal" is misplaced: it modifies "depends" and should be placed with "depends"

B. to a great deal depends on the helicopter technology that flies above, ...

Eliminate
- misplaced modifier leads to an absurd meaning: says that the technology flies above 
(it's the helicopters that fly, not the technology)

C. to a great deal depends on the helicopter technology that fly above, ...

Eliminate
- same problem as in B.
- also has a subject-verb agreement error (fly vs flies)

D. ... (No problem)

E. largely depends on the advanced technology in the helicopters flying above that make the insertion of a first-down line during a football game broadcast seem insignificant

Eliminate
- misplaced modifier leads to an absurd meaning: says that the HELICOPTERS make something seem insignificant
( it's the technology that make that thing seem insignificant)

The answer is D

Posted from my mobile device

Nipungupta9081 · Answer

Answer D

A) largely depends on the technology in the helicopters that fly above to a great deal, technology so advanced that it makes the insertion of a first-down line during the broadcast of a football game seem insignificant

B) to a great deal depends on the helicopter technology that flies above, technology so advanced that it makes the insertion of a first-down line during the broadcast of a football game seem insignificant
C) to a great deal depends on the helicopter technology that fly above, technology so advanced that it makes the first-down line during a football game seem insignificant

C) to a great deal depends on the helicopter technology that fly above, technology so advanced that it makes the first-down line during a football game seem insignificant -  helicopter technology that fly above ( X )

D) largely depends on the technology in the helicopters that fly above, technology so advanced that it makes the insertion of a first-down line during a football game broadcast seem insignificant

E) largely depends on the advanced technology in the helicopters flying above that make the insertion of a first-down line during a football game broadcast seem insignificant -  Misplaced Modifier ( X )

Akp880 · Answer

The success of sailboat racing as a television sport  largely depends on the technology in the helicopters that fly above to a great deal, technology so advanced that it makes the insertion of a first-down line during the broadcast of a football game seem insignificant.

Explanation:

A)  largely  depends on the technology in the helicopters that fly above  to a great deal , technology so advanced that it makes the insertion of a first-down line during the broadcast of a football game seem insignificant
 Largely & to a great deal are redundant.Incorrect

B) to a great deal depends on the helicopter technology that flies above, technology so advanced that it makes the insertion of a first-down line during the broadcast of a football game seem insignificant
 Helicopter flies above not the helicopter technology.Incorrect

C) to a great deal depends on the helicopter technology that fly above, technology so advanced that it makes the first-down line during a football game seem insignificant
 Helicopter flies above not the helicopter technology.Incorrect

D) largely depends on the technology in the helicopters that fly above, technology so advanced that it makes the insertion of a first-down line during a football game broadcast seem insignificant
 Correct.Looks good eliminates the redundancy issue of original question stem.Good idiomatic usage and conveys proper meaning.

E) largely depends on the advanced technology in the helicopters flying above that make the insertion of a first-down line during a football game broadcast seem insignificant
 Illogically changes the meaning saying that helicopters flying above make the insertion.Incorrect.

Hence D is the correct answer.

warrior1991 · Answer

Largely depends and to a great deal are redundant. Eliminate

Helicopter technology is not flying. Helicopter is flying

Correct. Helicopters that fly above is correct construct.After the comma is a nice NOUN PHRASE.
 generis  Please correct if this is not a NOUN PHRASE.
Also will be highly grateful if you can tell me the difference between Noun and Absolute Phrase. As far as I know, absolute phrase modifies the whole preceding independent clause  whereas  Noun phrase only a preceding noun.

Helicopters do not make the insertion. 'That'  should refer to advance technology.Even if you say that  that  is referring to  advanced technology , we have a S-V agreement error then ( technology  and  make ). It should be  makes .
Eliminate

IMO D

winterschool · Answer

The success of sailboat racing as a television sport largely depends on the technology in the helicopters that fly above to a great deal, technology so advanced that it makes the insertion of a first-down line during the broadcast of a football game seem insignificant.

A) largely depends on the technology in the helicopters that fly above to a great deal, technology so advanced that it makes the insertion of a first-down line during the broadcast of a football game seem insignificant

redundant error- .....largely .........to a great deal

B) to a great deal depends on  the helicopter technology that flies above , technology so advanced that it makes the insertion of a first-down line during the broadcast of a football game seem insignificant  Incorrect

meaning change - .......the helicopter technology that flies above

C) to a great deal depends on  the helicopter technology that fly above , technology so advanced that it makes the first-down line during a football game seem insignificant  Incorrect

SV error- .....the helicopter technology........fly .....

D) largely depends on the technology in the helicopters that fly above, technology so advanced that it makes the insertion of a first-down line during a football game broadcast seem insignificant

E) largely depends on  the advanced technology in the helicopters flying above that make  the insertion of a first-down line during a football game broadcast seem insignificant  Incorrect

meaning change

pgwodehouse · Answer

Is the usage of 'to a great deal' in B and C correct? Since we are only rejecting the options B and C on the basis of misplaced modifier?

generis · Answer

pgwodehouse  , I am not sure that I understand your question.

I think you wish to know whether, in addition to being illogical, options B and C are correct in their usage of "to a great deal."

I wouldn't eliminate either option on that basis unless I were near the end of my analysis.

On the other hand, we are on firm ground when we argue that B and C are illogical.

I think we are on less firm ground when we argue that the usage of  to a great deal  is incorrect.
Your instincts are good; the usage of  to a great deal  is not as common or as commonly accepted as is  largely depends .
But as far as I can remember, in GMAT official questions, that usage is not wrong.

The usage sounds strange to my native ear; nonetheless, it shows up in a few good-quality publications.

Your question is good. Nice work.
I hope that answer helps.

generis · Answer

The official explanation is  here .

pgwodehouse · Answer

Thanks generis ! This helps

Palpable · Answer

Had it been 'makes' in option E, then could it have solved for the ambiguity, and be a preferred answer over D given its conciseness?

Posted from my mobile device

The success of sailboat racing as a television sport largely depends o

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

The success of sailboat racing as a television sport largely depends o

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards