All across Detroit, whitewashed fences, new roofs, and freshly painted

Question

All across Detroit, whitewashed fences, new roofs, and freshly painted porches are signs of a brisk urban  renewal led by new immigrants, one clapboard house at a time.

A. renewal led by new immigrants, one clapboard house at a time
B. renewal led by new immigrants, with one clapboard house at a time
C. renewal that has been led by new immigrants, with one clapboard house at a time
D. renewal, which had been led by new immigrants, one clapboard house at a time
E. renewal, which has been led by new immigrants and one clapboard house at a time

mikemcgarry · Accepted Answer

Dear JarvisR , I'm happy to respond. :-)

This is a tricky question, using a somewhat atypical idiomatic structure. You are correct that (A) is the best answer. The idiom "one X at a time" is an adverbial phrase, that is, a verb modifier, that is often separated from the rest of the action by commas. He washed the dishes, one grimy pot at a time. She read her way through Shakespeare, one play at a time. The politician campaigned through the sparsely inhabited northern section of the state, one cow town at a time. The X in this idiom is, in one way or another, a definable individual element of the larger process described, what might be called an "atom" of the larger process. Here, the larger process is " urban renewal ." The smallest discernible "piece" of urban renewal would be the renewal & renovation of a single house. Thus, we have " signs of a brick urban renewal . . . , one clapboard house at a time ." It's a sophisticated touch to put in a descriptive adjective, here " clapboard ," so that we are both describing the pace of the renewal as well as providing a color detail about the situation. Does all this make sense? Mike

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Choice A:  Option A maintains proper idiom and tense use throughout the sentence and conveys the intended meaning, properly. Thus, Option A is correct.

Choice B:  Option B utilizes an incorrect idiom form in "with one clapboard house at a time"; the correct form of this idiom would be “one clapboard at a time”. Thus, Option B is incorrect.

Choice C:  Option C repeats the same error that Option B makes. Thus, Option C is incorrect.

Choice D:  Option D utilizes the incorrect tense form, past perfect, in the phrase "had been led"; past perfect is the wrong tense to utilize here, as the first half of the sentence implies that the renewal is ongoing. Thus, Option D is incorrect.

Choice E:  Option E changes the meaning of the sentence by utilizing the conjunction "and", in place of a comma, to form the phrase "led by new immigrants and one clapboard house at a time". The new meaning of the sentence is that the renewal was led by new immigrants and "one clapboard house”. As this meaning is quite illogical, we can say that Option E is incorrect.

Hence, A is the best answer choice.

This question makes prominent use of an idiom that you might be unfamiliar with, "one X at a time". Although this idiom is not very common on the GMAT, you might encounter it still; therefore, we will now go over its use in some detail. This idiom is a verb modifier, meaning it is used to modify actions. The 'X' in the idiom is always a smaller element of the overall action. For example, if we were referring to writing software the smaller element might be each individual line of code. The purpose of this idiom is to emphasize the gradual progression of action by laying stress on the smallest steps taken to complete said action.

To understand the concept of the “Past Perfect Tense and the use of Had on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFGxC37OOGU

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

JusTLucK04 · Answer

C,B & E change the meaning..Quite evident i think..
Between A and D ..Had been again is wrong as nowhere in the original sentence has it been implied that the renewal is not an ongoing phenomenon.

desaichinmay22 · Answer

In A, "one clapboard house at a time" is modifying "new immigrants". I am not able to get any meaning out of the modifier. Can please elaborate on this.

execnitinsharma · Answer

Dear Chinmay,

I am happy to help.

In option A, noun modifier 'one clapboard house at a time' correctly modifies 'brisk urban renewal' in the preceding clause. This is very much a valid application of noun modifiers. You can refer the application of these type of modifiers here  https://gmatclub.com/forum/noun-noun-modifiers-the-most-versatile-modifier-137292.html  Refer to the second application of Noun+Noun Modifier piece. B incorrectly associates 'one clapboard house at a time' with new immigrants and the sentence takes a meaning of the sort that 'one clapboard house at a time' and 'new immigrants' both led 'brisk urban renewal'. In C, the noun modifier 'one clapboard house at a time' incorrectly modifies 'new immigrants'. D incorrectly uses past perfect stating that 'new immigrants' led 'brisk urban renewal' sometime in past before some event. E does the same mistake as that of B and states that 'brisk urban renewal' was led by both 'new immigrants' and 'one clapboard house at a time'.

I hope I helped!! Cheers!!

aditya8062 · Answer

this interpretation is not entirely correct .  "noun modifiers"  must attach to the noun that they modify .that's the basic difference between  "noun modifiers"  and  "verb modifiers"

first of all the modifier in C is not  "one clapboard house at a time"  but  "with one clapboard house at a time" . secondly  "with one clapboard house at a time"  is not just a noun modifier .yes it can be a "adverbial" in nature at times

this question seems faulty . Forced to select an option, i will select option A but i feel it is not correct

execnitinsharma · Answer

It is not absolutely necessary for the noun modifiers to touch the noun they modify. Please refer the URL which I have shared above. Also refer some of the Official Guide questions which have been shared in that URL. It is a very good article written by eGMAT in that URL.

JusTLucK04 · Answer

Ok..Let me try..

I tried painting the house in Red Color, one brick at a time

So one brick at a time is modifying the action painting..How did he paint--> One brick at a time...
llly..here clapboard is a type of something..lets skip it

All across Detroit, whitewashed fences, new roofs, and freshly painted porches are signs of a brisk urban renewal led by new immigrants, one house at a time.

Urban renewal is happening one house at a time -->is what it seems to convey..

so with doesn't make sense here and as this is a modifier modifying the action renewal,it cannot be placed anywhere else.

aditya8062 · Answer

i agree but my point was that the reason u were using to eliminate C can be applied to eliminate A as well.
i will explain how . you are saying that modifier in C is applying to "new immigrant" then the same logic can be applied in A as well !!

execnitinsharma · Answer

In option C, 'with one clapboard house at a time' obviously does not modify 'new immigrants'. Moreover, it does not modify any other noun or noun clause in the sentence. Let me add this to my explanation. Had it modified any other, may be 'brisk urban renewal', the sentence would have looked like 'All across Detroit, whitewashed fences, new roofs, and freshly painted porches are signs of a brisk urban renewal  with one clapboard house at a time '....this looks a faulty sentence to me. I hope that helps!! Cheers!

mehulsayani · Answer

"one clapboard house at a time" is an absolute phrase I guess! You can find a nice explanation for absolute phrases in MGMAT. Actually, that is what I have referred. Once you read that, option A will make sense to you.

JarvisR · Answer

My 2 cents.
All across Detroit, whitewashed fences, new roofs, and freshly painted porches are signs of a brisk urban  renewal led by new immigrants , one clapboard house at a time. 
Intended meaning:
All across Detroit, whitewashed fences, new roofs, and freshly painted porches are signs of a brisk urban renewal.
The urban renewal is led by new immigrant.(How?) one clapboard house at a time. Here NP is modifying clause/action here.

A. renewal led by new immigrants, one clapboard house at a time
 B. renewal led by new immigrants,  with  one clapboard house at a time
C. renewal that has been led by new immigrants,  with  one clapboard house at a time
D. renewal, which  had been led  by new immigrants, one clapboard house at a time
>>Tense error
E. renewal, which has been led by new immigrants  and  one clapboard house at a time 
>>Changes meaning.

282552 · Answer

As suggested, I went back to MGMAT SC guide and looked for Absolute Phrases.
I also saw an example in the book : 
Owen walked out of the store,with his head held high.
This is a right sentence.
So why can't option B can be right for the question in hand.

solitaryreaper · Answer

noun+ noun modifier can modify a clause or a noun placed anywhere in the preceding clause until and unless meaning is clear and unambiguous. But in option 'A'
 one clapboard house at a time  is a noun modifier not a noun + noun modifier. And the above rule doesn't apply to noun modifier(noun modifier demands that noun should be touching it). So 'A' can't be the correct choice.

mejia401 · Answer

Not all noun modifiers are adjectives, ones require to be placed right next to the noun it modifies (like what I just did). Noun modifiers come in all different forms: adjectives, nouns, compound nouns, phrases, etc. A must be the correct choice because no other maintains the logic required for the sentence to make sense.

JarvisR · Answer

I have a doubt here.

What's the difference in the usage of adverbial modifier (with / without "with"), in below sentences. 
 
All across Detroit, whitewashed fences, new roofs, and freshly painted porches are signs of a brisk urban renewal  led  by new immigrants, one clapboard house at a time. 
A. renewal led by new immigrants,  one clapboard house at a time  - Correct
B. renewal led by new immigrants,  with  one clapboard house at a time - Wrong

Vs

In little more than a decade, Argentina  has become  the world’s leading exporter of honey,with nearly 90,000 tons a year sold to foreign markets, almost half of which going to the United States.
E. selling nearly 90,000 tons a year to foreign markets,   with almost half going  - Correct

iamanorwhal · Answer

Q: All across Detroit, whitewashed fences, new roofs, and freshly painted porches are signs of a brisk urban renewal led by new immigrants, one clapboard house at a time.

A. renewal led by new immigrants, one clapboard house at a time    
B. renewal led by new immigrants,  with  one clapboard house at a time –  Illogical: “with one clapboard house at a time” 
C. renewal that has been led by new immigrants,  with  one clapboard house at a time –  Illogical: “with one clapboard house at a time” 
D. renewal, which  had been  led by new immigrants, one clapboard house at a time –  Tense: “had been” is not needed as the renewal led by immigrants is still going on 
E. renewal, which  has been  led by new immigrants  and one clapboard house at a time  –  Illogical: led by X and “one clapboard house at a time”…a house cannot lead anything

subhamgarg91 · Answer

Hi,

Can someone explain the difference between option A and B?

Thanks in advance!!

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear subhamgarg91 , I'm happy to respond. :-)

The short answer is that (A) is idiomatically correct and (B) sound clunky and awkward because it is idiomatically incorrect. The phrase " one X at a time " is a common idiom in colloquial American English. It certainly could appear in a more academic context, as in this sentence. The idiom does not involve any preposition, and appending a preposition to the front of this idiom creates an awkward structure. Does this answer your question? Mike :-)

All across Detroit, whitewashed fences, new roofs, and freshly painted

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All across Detroit, whitewashed fences, new roofs, and freshly painted

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