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Learn how Kamakshi achieved a GMAT 675 with an impressive 96th %ile in Data Insights. Discover the unique methods and exam strategies that helped her excel in DI along with other sections for a balanced and high score.
02 Feb 2022, 00:04
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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:
75%
(hard)
Question Stats:
55% (02:25) correct
45%
(02:33)
wrong
based on 487
sessions
History
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Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
The impact of a large meteor nearly 65 million years ago can better account for the series of cataclysmic events attending the extinction of the dinosaurs than can the concomitant changes in the Earth’s climate alone, based on the fact that the meteorite can best explain the sudden appearance of high concentrations of the element iridium, which is found in meteors and, in and of itself, in no way related to changes in the terrestrial climate.
A) in the Earth’s climate alone, based on the fact that the meteorite can best explain the sudden appearance of high concentrations of the element iridium, which is found in meteors
B) in the Earth’s climate alone—changes that can best be explained by the sudden appearance of high concentrations in iridium, an element that is found in meteors
C) to the climate of the Earth, and this best explains the sudden appearance of iridium, an element in high concentrations in meteors
D) in the Earth’s climate alone; the former best explains the sudden appearance of high concentrations of iridium, an element found in meteors
E) to the Earth’s climate alone and that the impact can best explain the sudden appearance of high concentrations of iridium in meteors, an element found
gloomybison
Joined: 30 Mar 2021
Last visit: 02 Jan 2024
Posts: 223
Given Kudos: 93
Location: Turkey
Schools: Yale '26 (A) LBS '26 (WL) Booth '26 (A) Columbia CBS'26 (A) Kellogg '26 (A) Tuck '26 (A) Wharton '26 (D) Sloan '26 (D)
GMAT 1: 720 Q51 V36
GPA: 3.69
Schools: Yale '26 (A) LBS '26 (WL) Booth '26 (A) Columbia CBS'26 (A) Kellogg '26 (A) Tuck '26 (A) Wharton '26 (D) Sloan '26 (D)
GMAT 1: 720 Q51 V36
Posts: 223
02 Feb 2022, 04:22
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A) in the Earth’s climate alone, based on the fact that the meteorite can best explain the sudden appearance of high concentrations of the element iridium, which is found in meteors
-Meaning error; meteorite can best explain? meteorite are inanimate objects they can't explain anything
B) in the Earth’s climate alone—changes that can best be explained by the sudden appearance of high concentrations in iridium, an element that is found in meteors
-Warped Meaning; Sentence want to say that impact of a large meteor better account for the series of cataclysmic events than do the concomitant changes in Earth's climate. Appearance of high concentrations in Iridium is the result of impact of meteor not changes in climate
C) to the climate of the Earth, and this best explains the sudden appearance of iridium, an element in high concentrations in meteors
Pronoun error + Warped meaning; What does "this" refer to? "this" can't refer here to the entire previous sentence, "this" can only illogically refer to "extinction..." or "impact..." both of which would not "explain" anything. Also sudden appearence of Iridium? Iridium is an element that has been in the world as long as the world existed. It did not suddenly pop out to existence when meteor hit the world
D) in the Earth’s climate alone; the former best explains the sudden appearance of high concentrations of iridium, an element found in meteors
Correct
E) to the Earth’s climate alone and that the impact can best explain the sudden appearance of high concentrations of iridium in meteors, an element found
Illogical meaning; and "that" the impact can best explain... why is there even a "that"? if we remove it ı would be ok with the sentence but using "that" creates an unfinished sentence
-Meaning error; meteorite can best explain? meteorite are inanimate objects they can't explain anything
B) in the Earth’s climate alone—changes that can best be explained by the sudden appearance of high concentrations in iridium, an element that is found in meteors
-Warped Meaning; Sentence want to say that impact of a large meteor better account for the series of cataclysmic events than do the concomitant changes in Earth's climate. Appearance of high concentrations in Iridium is the result of impact of meteor not changes in climate
C) to the climate of the Earth, and this best explains the sudden appearance of iridium, an element in high concentrations in meteors
Pronoun error + Warped meaning; What does "this" refer to? "this" can't refer here to the entire previous sentence, "this" can only illogically refer to "extinction..." or "impact..." both of which would not "explain" anything. Also sudden appearence of Iridium? Iridium is an element that has been in the world as long as the world existed. It did not suddenly pop out to existence when meteor hit the world
D) in the Earth’s climate alone; the former best explains the sudden appearance of high concentrations of iridium, an element found in meteors
Correct
E) to the Earth’s climate alone and that the impact can best explain the sudden appearance of high concentrations of iridium in meteors, an element found
Illogical meaning; and "that" the impact can best explain... why is there even a "that"? if we remove it ı would be ok with the sentence but using "that" creates an unfinished sentence
02 Feb 2022, 00:15
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OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
MAGOOSH OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
[My slight edits and comments are in brackets.]
We can eliminate (A) because of a few suspect things, which, in of themselves, are not sufficient to make this answer choice incorrect.
1) based on the fact = wordy
A far more concise way of saying this is "because."
2) the sudden appearance of high concentrations of the element iridium
This is by no means wrong, but is a little awkward.
You should never hinge your answer on something like this, but notice how much less awkward the phrasing is in (D).
What makes (A) clearly wrong [] is a violation of parallelism.
This [error] is much harder to see, however, because part of the parallelism issue comes at the very end of the sentence, in the non-underlined part: "which IS found in meteors and... in no way related."
It should be as follows: "which IS found in meteors and IS in no way related."
However, this exact construction is not found.
Instead, in correct option (D), we have some less than idealized parallelism: an element found in meteors and...in no way related to...
The GMAT is known to sometimes choose such a construction in the credited response.
In other words, the GMAT doesn't always choose the most ideal way of expressing something in a correct answer.
But as long as it isn't grammatically wrong or a poor taste in style (this is a lot more fuzzy), a phrase like the one above can be part of a correct answer.
(B)['s error is] also subtle. By [inserting] an em-dash and the word "changes," the sentence implies that climatic changes can be explained by iridium.
This not only [distorts the] meaning but clashes with the non-underlined part at the end of the sentence. Eliminate (B)
(C) is wrong because the word this is vague; [this is almost never a standalone pronoun on the GMAT.
This, sometimes called a determiner, typically "points" to a noun: this type of question, e.g.]. Dropping the word found makes for an awkward construction. Eliminate (C).
(D) maintains the not-perfect but not incorrect parallelism "an element found in meteors and, in and of itself, in no way related to changes in the terrestrial climate."
Both underlined parts correctly modify element.
The semicolon correctly separates two independent clauses.
The word former clearly refers to the impact of the meteor and not to the changes in climate.
Given this dirty grab bag of tricks, this question is pretty close to an 800-level question.
Answer: (D)
While it's true that the "impact" in (E) is more succinct, (E) has several flaws.
Option (E) is clearly wrong because an element modifies meteors, and "meteors" are not an element.
[I have no idea what the word that is supposed to be doing in this option, because it renders the sentence almost incoherent. I suspect a typo.]
The answer is D.
COMMENTS
(I'm playing a bit of catch up here.)
Vatsal7794 and gloomybison , very well done.
You two took on a hard question even though the parallelism is not perfect.
You all are not looking for the best answer but rather for the four worst answers. The answer left standing is the winner.
POE (process of elimination) is an especially powerful tool in SC.
I teach my higher level students to make a guess on almost all CR questions and on many "big idea" RC questions before they look at the answer choices, but I never want any student to take a guess at what the underlined portion in SC should say. Ever. Use POE.
gloomybison , I am bumping you to Best Community Reply.
Quote:
MAGOOSH OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
[My slight edits and comments are in brackets.]
We can eliminate (A) because of a few suspect things, which, in of themselves, are not sufficient to make this answer choice incorrect.
1) based on the fact = wordy
A far more concise way of saying this is "because."
2) the sudden appearance of high concentrations of the element iridium
This is by no means wrong, but is a little awkward.
You should never hinge your answer on something like this, but notice how much less awkward the phrasing is in (D).
What makes (A) clearly wrong [] is a violation of parallelism.
This [error] is much harder to see, however, because part of the parallelism issue comes at the very end of the sentence, in the non-underlined part: "which IS found in meteors and... in no way related."
It should be as follows: "which IS found in meteors and IS in no way related."
However, this exact construction is not found.
Instead, in correct option (D), we have some less than idealized parallelism: an element found in meteors and...in no way related to...
The GMAT is known to sometimes choose such a construction in the credited response.
In other words, the GMAT doesn't always choose the most ideal way of expressing something in a correct answer.
But as long as it isn't grammatically wrong or a poor taste in style (this is a lot more fuzzy), a phrase like the one above can be part of a correct answer.
(B)['s error is] also subtle. By [inserting] an em-dash and the word "changes," the sentence implies that climatic changes can be explained by iridium.
This not only [distorts the] meaning but clashes with the non-underlined part at the end of the sentence. Eliminate (B)
(C) is wrong because the word this is vague; [this is almost never a standalone pronoun on the GMAT.
This, sometimes called a determiner, typically "points" to a noun: this type of question, e.g.]. Dropping the word found makes for an awkward construction. Eliminate (C).
(D) maintains the not-perfect but not incorrect parallelism "an element found in meteors and, in and of itself, in no way related to changes in the terrestrial climate."
Both underlined parts correctly modify element.
The semicolon correctly separates two independent clauses.
The word former clearly refers to the impact of the meteor and not to the changes in climate.
Given this dirty grab bag of tricks, this question is pretty close to an 800-level question.
Answer: (D)
While it's true that the "impact" in (E) is more succinct, (E) has several flaws.
Option (E) is clearly wrong because an element modifies meteors, and "meteors" are not an element.
[I have no idea what the word that is supposed to be doing in this option, because it renders the sentence almost incoherent. I suspect a typo.]
The answer is D.
COMMENTS
(I'm playing a bit of catch up here.)
Vatsal7794 and gloomybison , very well done.
You two took on a hard question even though the parallelism is not perfect.
You all are not looking for the best answer but rather for the four worst answers. The answer left standing is the winner.
POE (process of elimination) is an especially powerful tool in SC.
I teach my higher level students to make a guess on almost all CR questions and on many "big idea" RC questions before they look at the answer choices, but I never want any student to take a guess at what the underlined portion in SC should say. Ever. Use POE.
gloomybison , I am bumping you to Best Community Reply.
