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20 Nov 2020, 00:42
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D
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
45%
(medium)
Question Stats:
53% (01:08) correct
47%
(01:09)
wrong
based on 228
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
By day, hippos enjoy bathing in water to cool themselves down, which might have contributed to their reputation for being relatively sluggish and sedentary.
A) which might have contributed to their reputation for being
B) which might contribute to its reputation for being
C) and this might have contributed to their reputation to be
D) a preference that might contribute to their reputation for being
E) a preference which might have contributed to their reputation to be
20 Nov 2020, 00:45
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OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
Eliminate A and B because which lacks an antecedent.
Eliminate E because it uses which as a restrictive pronoun.
Eliminate C because it uses this as a standalone pronoun.
The answer is D.
The distinction between which and that and the use of this as a standalone pronoun are fairly controversial and more nuanced than the hatchet-job above.
• Split #1 — which: the case of the Missing Antecedent
.
In options A and B, which has no antecedent.
→ which must refer to a stated noun and cannot refer to the entire previous clause or its idea
Option B also incorrectly pairs the singular pronoun its with the plural noun hippos
Eliminate A and B
• Split #2 — which should be set off by commas
In British English, which and that are interchangeable.
In U.S. English and on the GMAT, which and that are not interchangeable.
→ which introduces nonessential information and is set off by commas
→ that introduces essential information and is almost never set off by commas
People debate whether GMAT will continue to observe the distinction between which and that.
In at least one official question in the nonunderlined portion, which was used without commas to introduce essential modifiers.
On the other hand, I have never seen a correct answer choice (i.e., the underlined part) in which the word which introduced essential material and was not set off by commas.
SPOILER ALERT: In addition, in 2020, GMAC published a new official question that tests this very distinction.
The question remains in the 2021 Official Guide. You can find that question here.
In option E, the word which is used without commas and thus to introduce essential material.
Not good, especially because we have a better answer (option D) that avoids misuse of which.
Furthermore, reputation to be is not idiomatic.
Eliminate E. (If you want to be conservative, hold this option and compare it to D. No contest.)
• Split #3 — this is not a standalone pronoun 99.9% of the time
In option C, this is incorrectly used as standalone pronoun rather than being properly followed by a noun.
→ this, a demonstrative adjective, should "point" to a noun (this bookstore, this bottle of wine) and should not be a standalone pronoun.
→ GMAC has rejected this as a standalone pronoun in all but one question, which you can find SPOILER ALERT here.
One exception does not overturn a longstanding pattern, although that exception does probably signal that we should not automatically reject "this" as a standalone pronoun.
→ We are not "automatically" rejecting option C.
As is the case in option E, option C uses the unidiomatic reputation to be.
Finally, compare to option D, which is grammatical and without problematic constructions.
Eliminate C
The correct answer is D
Option D contains a special kind of appositive called a summative modifier.
Summative Modifiers
In option D, the words "a preference" summarize the idea expressed by the preceding clause.
We need that preceding clause to be summarized because the clause describes a preference that it never actually names with a noun (that we could then modify with "contributed to their reputation for being sluggish and sedentary").
Learn to spot the difference between a comma splice, on one hand, and a summative modifier on the other.
The former is illegal. The latter is common in good writing.
COMMENTS
ivolve , welcome to GMAT Club.
These answers are very good.
The different methods of attack and kinds of analysis will be helpful to future aspirants (the more ways you see a problem explained, the better).
Very nicely done.
Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2)
Quote:
SHORT POE
Eliminate A and B because which lacks an antecedent.
Eliminate E because it uses which as a restrictive pronoun.
Eliminate C because it uses this as a standalone pronoun.
The answer is D.
The distinction between which and that and the use of this as a standalone pronoun are fairly controversial and more nuanced than the hatchet-job above.
• Split #1 — which: the case of the Missing Antecedent
.
In options A and B, which has no antecedent.
→ which must refer to a stated noun and cannot refer to the entire previous clause or its idea
Option B also incorrectly pairs the singular pronoun its with the plural noun hippos
Eliminate A and B
• Split #2 — which should be set off by commas
In British English, which and that are interchangeable.
In U.S. English and on the GMAT, which and that are not interchangeable.
→ which introduces nonessential information and is set off by commas
→ that introduces essential information and is almost never set off by commas
People debate whether GMAT will continue to observe the distinction between which and that.
In at least one official question in the nonunderlined portion, which was used without commas to introduce essential modifiers.
On the other hand, I have never seen a correct answer choice (i.e., the underlined part) in which the word which introduced essential material and was not set off by commas.
SPOILER ALERT: In addition, in 2020, GMAC published a new official question that tests this very distinction.
The question remains in the 2021 Official Guide. You can find that question here.
In option E, the word which is used without commas and thus to introduce essential material.
Not good, especially because we have a better answer (option D) that avoids misuse of which.
Furthermore, reputation to be is not idiomatic.
Eliminate E. (If you want to be conservative, hold this option and compare it to D. No contest.)
• Split #3 — this is not a standalone pronoun 99.9% of the time
In option C, this is incorrectly used as standalone pronoun rather than being properly followed by a noun.
→ this, a demonstrative adjective, should "point" to a noun (this bookstore, this bottle of wine) and should not be a standalone pronoun.
→ GMAC has rejected this as a standalone pronoun in all but one question, which you can find SPOILER ALERT here.
One exception does not overturn a longstanding pattern, although that exception does probably signal that we should not automatically reject "this" as a standalone pronoun.
→ We are not "automatically" rejecting option C.
As is the case in option E, option C uses the unidiomatic reputation to be.
Finally, compare to option D, which is grammatical and without problematic constructions.
Eliminate C
The correct answer is D
Option D contains a special kind of appositive called a summative modifier.
Summative Modifiers
In option D, the words "a preference" summarize the idea expressed by the preceding clause.
We need that preceding clause to be summarized because the clause describes a preference that it never actually names with a noun (that we could then modify with "contributed to their reputation for being sluggish and sedentary").
Learn to spot the difference between a comma splice, on one hand, and a summative modifier on the other.
The former is illegal. The latter is common in good writing.
COMMENTS
ivolve , welcome to GMAT Club.
These answers are very good.
The different methods of attack and kinds of analysis will be helpful to future aspirants (the more ways you see a problem explained, the better).
Very nicely done.
20 Nov 2020, 01:11
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Bookmarks
The original sentence
By day, hippos enjoy bathing in water to cool themselves down,which might have contributed to their reputation for being relatively sluggish and sedentary.
Meaning - The act of bathing in water adds to the reputation that hippos are sluggish and sedentary.
A) which might have contributed to their reputation for being
"Which" has no clear antecedent. The nearest noun water can't contribute to reputation, the whole act of bathing does.
B) which might contribute to its reputation for being
"Which" has no clear antecedent. The nearest noun water can't contribute to reputation, the whole act of bathing does.
C) and this might have contributed to their reputation to be
The demonstrative pronoun 'this' acts as an adjective and needs a noun to be followed.
D) a preference that might contribute to their reputation for being
a preference refers to - hippos enjoy bathing in water to cool themselves down. 'might' - used interchangeably with 'may' to say that something is possible.
Reputation for - is correct preposition.
E) a preference which might have contributed to their reputation to be
Might have expresses an opinion about an earlier (past) situation.
There is nothing in the past happened for which an opinion is made.
IMO D
By day, hippos enjoy bathing in water to cool themselves down,which might have contributed to their reputation for being relatively sluggish and sedentary.
Meaning - The act of bathing in water adds to the reputation that hippos are sluggish and sedentary.
A) which might have contributed to their reputation for being
"Which" has no clear antecedent. The nearest noun water can't contribute to reputation, the whole act of bathing does.
B) which might contribute to its reputation for being
"Which" has no clear antecedent. The nearest noun water can't contribute to reputation, the whole act of bathing does.
C) and this might have contributed to their reputation to be
The demonstrative pronoun 'this' acts as an adjective and needs a noun to be followed.
D) a preference that might contribute to their reputation for being
a preference refers to - hippos enjoy bathing in water to cool themselves down. 'might' - used interchangeably with 'may' to say that something is possible.
Reputation for - is correct preposition.
E) a preference which might have contributed to their reputation to be
Might have expresses an opinion about an earlier (past) situation.
There is nothing in the past happened for which an opinion is made.
IMO D
