The impact of a large meteor nearly 65 million years ago can better ac

Question

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
in the Earth’s climate alone

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

winterschool · Answer

'change in' - correct idioms, C & E eliminate; also C is awkward ,and 'that ' is not in parallel in D
In B - 'changes' indicates which change - former or latter; also has redundancy issue (...an element that is found in...)
between A & D, D is the best choice
A has meaning issue - .....the meteorite can best explain...

H2h2s · Answer

Even though I got the question correct, I am not able to completely understand the meaning of the non-underlined portion that follows the underlined segment. Can someone clarify here please?

himanshu0077 · Answer

In option D the latter clause should be an independent clause. (usage of semi colon).
But the clause does not appear to be independent as it does not convey complete meaning in itself. And it should not be independent because it present reason for statement preceding it.
 Confused between A & D. Although in option A meaning is not clear. 
Please clarify
Due Regards

RonTargetTestPrep · Answer

That's a fully grammatical clause. The subject is "the former" (you should know that "the former" or "the latter" can be used as a noun); the main verb is "explains".

A semicolon is, essentially, a 'general-purpose' connector: it can indicate a wide variety of different relationships between the ideas in two clauses. It can't indicate contrast—you still need a contrast transition for that—but it can indicate lots of different kinds of relationships that are not contrasts.
 
Importantly, a semicolon DOES indicate a  relationship ! If two sentences genuinely have very little or nothing to do with each other—a situation that will absolutely  never  obtain on the GMAT—then they should be written as distinct sentences.

The impact of a large meteor nearly 65 million years ago can better ac

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The impact of a large meteor nearly 65 million years ago can better ac

Prep Toolkit

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

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