A supermoon, which is the full or new moon that occurs when the moon

Question

A  supermoon, which is the full or new moon that occurs when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the Earth, and which can make the moon appear  much larger and brighter than the moon typically does.

(A) supermoon, which is the full or new moon that occurs when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the Earth, and which can make the moon appear

(B) supermoon is the full or new moon that occurs when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the Earth and can make the moon appear

(C) supermoon is the full or new moon that occurs when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the Earth and appears

(D) supermoon is the full or new moon that occurs when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the Earth, a position which causes itself to appear

(E) supermoon, which is the full or new moon that occurs when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the Earth, causes the moon to appear

pqhai · Accepted Answer

Good question. +1 kudo.

A supermoon, which is the full or new moon that occurs when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the Earth, and which can make the moon appear much larger and brighter than the moon typically does.

Meaning:
Supermoon is a full or new moon that occurs when the moon is at or near the Earth and this can make the moon appear much larger and brighter than usual.

Sentence analysis:
(1) Supermoon is the main subject but it does not have a verb.
(2) 'Which' correctly adds more information about supermoon and 'which' has a verb 'is' (both are singular).
(3) 'that' (refers to moon) is the subject of the third clause and its verb is 'occurs'.
(4) 'and which can make....' is incorrectly referring to supermoon but in the correct version it means to say that when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the earth, it appears larger and brighter.

Option C corrects all these errors.
Supermoon is the full or new moon
that occurs
when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the Earth and appears much larger and brighter than the moon typically does.

'is' and 'appears' are the two verbs of 'moon'.

This is what I have understood. Please correct me if I the analysis is wrong. Also can anyone explain the role of 'does' here? Is 'does' a verb here?

Shiv2016 · Answer

A  supermoon , which is the full or new moon  that   occurs  when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the Earth, and  which   can make  the moon appear much larger and brighter than the moon typically does.

Meaning:
Supermoon is a full or new moon that occurs when the moon is at or near the Earth and this can make the moon appear much larger and brighter than usual.

Sentence analysis:
(1) Supermoon is the main subject but it does not have a verb.
(2) 'Which' correctly adds more information about supermoon and 'which' has a verb 'is' (both are singular).
(3) 'that' (refers to moon) is the subject of the third clause and its verb is 'occurs'.
(4) 'and which can make....' is incorrectly referring to supermoon but in the correct version it means to say that when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the earth, it appears larger and brighter.

Option C corrects all these errors.
 Supermoon   is  the full or new moon 
  that   occurs  
 when the  moon   is  at or near its closest approach to the Earth and  appears  much larger and brighter than the moon typically does.

'is' and 'appears' are the two verbs of 'moon'.

This is what I have understood. Please correct me if I the analysis is wrong. Also can anyone explain the role of 'does' here? Is 'does' a verb here?

GMATNinja · Answer

Good question, Shiv2016! Yes, you have the right idea. "Does" (or various forms of "did") can work sort of like a pronoun, but for verbs:

Mike always wanted to surf with Kelly Slater, and last year, he finally did. --> "did" refers back to "surf(ed) with Kelly Slater" 
 Shiv2016 studies much more than Carcass does. --> "does" refers back to "studies"

Of course, "does" has other functions in English. It can be a nice, normal verb ("Shiv2016 does his GMAT homework every night.") or it can introduce a question ("Does Mike have a receding hairline?). But in this particular question, it's referring back to "appears": "the supermoon... appears larger... than the moon typically appears."

Does that help?

GMATNinja · Answer

"Did" and "does" aren't actually pronouns -- in this case, "does" functions sort of like a pronoun, but for verbs. But it definitely isn't a pronoun -- it can just be used to avoid repeating the same verb twice in a sentence:

So in the original question:

appears

does

Mo2men · Answer

Dear Charles,

I ave a genera question an I will use question above. Can 'appositive modifier' modify a noun in the middle of sentence? In choice D, can 'a position' modify noun 'approach'?

Thanks

dabhishek87 · Answer

A  supermoon, which is the full or new moon that occurs when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the Earth, and which can make the moon appear  much larger and brighter than the moon typically does.

(A)  supermoon , which is the full or new moon that occurs when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the Earth, and  which can make the moon  appear

(B)  supermoon  is the full or new moon that occurs when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the Earth and  can make the moon  appear

(C) supermoon is the full or new moon that occurs when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the Earth and appears  correct

(D) supermoon is the full or new moon that occurs when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the Earth, a  position  which causes  itself  to appear

(E) supermoon, which is the full or new moon that occurs when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the Earth,  causes the moon  to appear

skysailor · Answer

(A) supermoon, which is the full or new moon that occurs when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the Earth,  and which can make the moon appear  and which can make the moon appear

(B) supermoon is the full or new moon that occurs when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the Earth  and can make the moon appear
  doesn't make sense
(C) supermoon is the full or new moon that occurs when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the Earth and appears

(D) supermoon is the full or new moon that occurs when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the Earth, a position which  causes itself to appear  "which causes itself to appear" is wrong

(E) supermoon, which is the full or new moon that occurs when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the Earth,  causes the moon to appear
  If you remove the claus "which is the full or new moon that occurs when the moon is at or near its closest approach to the Earth" the sentence doesn't make sense

Bunuel · Answer

VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

(A) contains a sentence construction error: the subject "supermoon" never gets a verb, so we are left with a fragment.

(B) suggests either that "a supermoon" can make the moon appear larger or that "the moon" can make the moon appear larger, but neither of these construals is acceptable, since a supermoon is the moon and one would never say that "the moon makes the moon appear larger."

(C) correctly suggests either that "a supermoon" appears much larger than the moon typically does or that "the moon" appears much larger than the moon typically does.

In (D), the phrase "causes itself" does not work logically, since the position does not make itself appear larger.

(E) suggests that the "supermoon" causes the moon to appear larger, but that claim is illogical, since the "supermoon" is the moon.

Note: (B) and (C) are both characterized by the same flexible/fuzzy subject-verb relationships. In (B), either "a supermoon" or "the moon" (first instance) could be legitimately posited as the subject of "can make"; in (C), either "a supermoon" or "the moon" (first instance) could be legitimately posited as the subject of "appears." What's important is that whichever construct one favors, the reasoning above holds: (B) doesn't work and (C) does.

VerbalBot · Answer

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A supermoon, which is the full or new moon that occurs when the moon

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A supermoon, which is the full or new moon that occurs when the moon

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