Among the world's famous volcanic mountains are Mount Vesuvius in

Question

Among the world's famous volcanic mountains  are Mount Vesuvius in Italy, which erupted in 1944, and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, with its three extinct cones .

A. are Mount Vesuvius in Italy, which erupted in 1944, and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, with its three extinct cones

B. are Mount Vesuvius, which erupted in 1944 in Italy, as well as Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, with its three extinct cones

C. is the Italian Mount Vesuvius, which erupted in 1944, along with the three extinct cones of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania

D. are Mount Vesuvius in Italy and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania; the former erupted in 1944 whereas the latter has three extinct cones.

E. are the erupting Italian Mount Vesuvius of 1994 and the three-coned extinct Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania

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ViharSaladi · Answer

Could someone please explain the mistake in Option A?

Abhishek009 · Answer

What does "with its three extinct cones" refer to ? Can you certainly claim Mount Vesuvius or Mount Kilimanjaro?

Also "which" is incorrectly used.

This is the problem with (A)

Nidhibatra · Answer

Can someone explain why D is correct

Posted from my mobile device

Abhishek009 · Answer

Trying my best...

(A) Incorrect usage of which.

(B) Incorrect usage of as well as & its

(C) Changes the intended meaning of the sentence.

(E) S-V agreement issue...

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Among the world's famous volcanic mountains  are Mount Vesuvius in Italy, which erupted in 1944, and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, with its three extinct cones .

A. are Mount Vesuvius in Italy, which erupted in 1944, and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, with its three extinct cones

Incorrect.

This answer choice has a logical flaw caused by placing the relative clause  which erupted in 1944  at a distance from the noun it describes  Mount Vesuvius . The original sentence could be taken to mean that  Italy  rather than the  volcano erupted in 1944 . This answer choice is also ambiguous: the pronoun  its  can refer either to  Tanzania  or to  Mount Kilimanjaro .

B. are Mount Vesuvius, which erupted in 1944 in Italy, as well as Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, with its three extinct cones

Incorrect.

This answer choice is stylistically flawed because the use of  as well as  is considered redundant in the GMAT.

Stop Sign: as well as

Although  as well as  is a stylistic flaw, it is one of the specific redundancies that should always be corrected, so go for answer choices which use  and  instead:

Incorrect: John likes collecting stamps as well as model trains.
Correct: John likes collecting stamps and model trains.

In addition, this answer choice is also ambiguous: the pronoun  its  can refer either to  Tanzania  or to  Mount Kilimanjaro .

C. is the Italian Mount Vesuvius, which erupted in 1944, along with the three extinct cones of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania

Incorrect.

While this answer choice is grammatically correct, because it matches the singular verb  is  to the singular subject the  Italian Mount Vesuvius , it changes the meaning of the original sentence and is also illogical.

By replacing the connector and with the phrase  along with , the sentence is now saying that Mount Vesuvius and Mount Kilimanjaro erupted together. Besides changing the meaning this is illogical because the  three cones  are describes as among  the world's most famous volcanic mountains , but they actually form part of Mount Kilimanjaro; it is Kilimanjaro which should be described as one of those volcanic mountains, NOT the cones.

D. are Mount Vesuvius in Italy and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania; the former erupted in 1944 whereas the latter has three extinct cones.

Although this answer choice is longer than the others and changes the structure of the sentence, it is the only answer choice which corrects the grammatical mistake in the original sentence and remains logical and unambiguous.

The structure of the corrected sentence solves the logical problem in the original sentence, which was caused by placing the relative clause  which erupted in 1944  at a distance from the noun it describes  Mount Vesuvius , implying that  Italy  rather than the volcano  erupted in 1944 . The corrected sentence also solves the ambiguity of the pronoun  its  in the final part of the original sentence where it can refer either to  Tanzania  or to  Mount Kilimanjaro .

E. are the erupting Italian Mount Vesuvius of 1994 and the three-coned extinct Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania

Incorrect.

Although this answer choice is grammatically correct, it is stylistically flawed.

This answer choice does indeed correct the Subject Verb Agreement mistake in the original sentence, by changing the singular verb  is  to the plural verb  are , and also eliminates the ambiguity in the original sentence (caused both by the incorrect location of the relative clause and by the pronoun  its ).

However, the resulting noun phrase  erupting Italian Mount Vesuvius of 1994  does not make sense, as it implies that the volcano is erupting now. It is also illogical because it seems as if Mount Vesuvius belongs to 1994. Also, the phrase  three-coned extinct Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania  is not only wordy and awkward but also expresses that Mount Kilimanjaro is extinct (a mountain cannot be extinct) and not the mountain's cones.

Among the world's famous volcanic mountains are Mount Vesuvius in

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Among the world's famous volcanic mountains are Mount Vesuvius in

Prep Toolkit

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

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Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards