Dear josepradeep,
That's an excellent question, and I'm happy to help.

Here's the OA, version (E):
In the shark’s jaws, many spare teeth lie in seemingly limitless reserve, each one ready to slide into the appropriate position whenever an active tooth is lost or worn down.
You are perfectly correct about the independent clause --- "many spare teeth lie in seemingly limitless reserve" is the one independent clause in this sentence, with "many spare teeth" as the main subject of the sentence and "lie" as the main verb.

After the comma, the phrase starting with "each one .." is a sophisticated structure known as an absolute phrase. See
http://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/absolute-p ... -the-gmat/
An absolute phrase has the structure
[noun]+[noun modifier]
and it is a somewhat independent structure, sometimes modifying the entire independent clause, and sometimes just a part. Here, we have an indefinite pronoun, "each one", in the place of the noun, referring to the teeth. An absolute phrase is a phrase --- no bonafide verb, so it never can be clause on its own.

This is a structure you would find in sophisticated reading. How much do you read? Reading challenging English material is the best way to develop an ear for sophisticated grammatical structure such as this. Here are some suggestions for reading:
http://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-reading-list/

Does all this make sense?
Mike
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When an active tooth in the shark’s jaws is lost or worn down, many spare teeth lie in seemingly limitless reserve, each of which are ready to slide into the appropriate position.


Upon reading there is awkward meaning.

A. When an active tooth in the shark’s jaws is lost or worn down, many spare teeth lie in seemingly limitless reserve, each of which are ready to slide into the appropriate position. Seems to say that the spare teeth lie as a reserve when a tooth is lost or worn when the spare teeth are always lying in wait.
B. Whenever an active tooth is lost or worn down, many spare teeth lie in seemingly limitless reserve in the shark’s jaws, which are each ready to slide into the appropriate position. Same problem. Also the "which" makes the sentence say the jaw is ready to slide into the appropriate position.
C. Many spare teeth lie in seemingly limitless reserve in the shark’s jaws, each one of which are ready to slide into the appropriate position when an active tooth is lost or worn down. Should be "is" instead of "are"
D. The many spare teeth lying in seemingly limitless reserve in the shark’s jaws, each one of which is ready to slide into the appropriate position whenever an active tooth is lost or worn down.I believe the first clause is missing a verb? Feel free to provide a second opinion.
E. In the shark’s jaws, many spare teeth lie in seemingly limitless reserve, each one ready to slide into the appropriate position whenever an active tooth is lost or worn down.

I'll go with E.

A: Meaning is strange. The teeth don't lie in reserve when the active teeth are worn out.
B: Same as above.
C: 'each one of which are' is incorrect
D: what does 'each one of whch' refer to? the jaws or the teeth? 'lying in seemingly...' is akward use of present continuous tense.

E

A. wrong meaning. It seems that when a tooth is lost then many tooth lie in the reserve.
B, C, D - each is referring to shark's jaws instead of teeth.
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E conveys the correct meaning and uses singular 'is'.

E seems to be the right answer.

In B,C,D, the relative pronoun "which" seems to refer to wrong antecedent instead of pointing to the teeth..

A...as pointed out earlier, seems to suggest that the spare teeth are available only when the active tooth is lost or worn down, which is not the case; the spare teeth are always available irrespective of whether the active tooth is lost or worn down.

Each is singular, so "are" can`t be the correct verb.

(E)

1:20

B isn't correct because its seems to be saying the shark's jaws are ready to slide into postion.

D just doesn't make sense. 'The' shouldn't be the start.

C is wrong because 'each' is singular and 'are' shouldn't be used in 'each one of which are'

E is correct (I think).

A,B -> suggests the spare tooth only start appearing in the reserves when the active tooth is gone.

C -> 'are' is wrong

D -> 'the many spare teeth' sounds awkward.

I'll take E

For subject-verb agreement:

Each of which is

Each one of which is

I think the "each" refers to a single tooth, so the verb should be singular

Ans: E.
My analysis:
In the shark's jaw: this is a prepositional phrase modifying " lie"
many spare teeth lie in seemingly limitless reserve: this is a Independent clause with subject :teeth an verb: lie.
each one ready to slide into the appropriate position whenever an active tooth is lost or worn down.: this is a modifier modifying teeth.

But my doubt is what kind of modifier is this"each one ready to slide into the appropriate position whenever an active tooth is lost or worn down.

Hi Jose,

Thanks for posting your query here.

Great job with the analysis! Since 'one' is a pronoun, and pronouns function as nouns, the modifier "each one ready to slide into the appropriate position whenever an active tooth is lost or worn down" functions as a noun phrase modifying "teeth". So we have a noun + noun modifier here.

I hope this helps!

Regards,
Meghna
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A: S-V error - each of which-are----wrong.
B: Incorrect usage of which--modifying jaws
C: S-V error--each of which-are----wrong.
D: No verb--

E correct answer.

When an active tooth in the shark’s jaws is lost or worn down, many spare teeth lie in seemingly limitless reserve, each of which are ready to slide into the appropriate position.

A. When an active tooth in the shark’s jaws is lost or worn down, many spare teeth lie in seemingly limitless reserve, each of which are ready to slide into the appropriate position - Wrong placement of sentences. Plural verb 'Are' should be singular verb 'is'.
B. Whenever an active tooth is lost or worn down, many spare teeth lie in seemingly limitless reserve in the shark’s jaws, which are each ready to slide into the appropriate position - Wrong placement of sentences. Which seems to refer to Jaws instead of Teeth.
C. Many spare teeth lie in seemingly limitless reserve in the shark’s jaws, each one of which are ready to slide into the appropriate position when an active tooth is lost or worn down - Plural verb 'Are' should be singular verb 'is'. Distant modifier- Each seems to modify jaws instead of teeth
D. The many spare teeth lying in seemingly limitless reserve in the shark’s jaws, each one of which is ready to slide into the appropriate position whenever an active tooth is lost or worn down - Use of 'The' is wrong here as it seems to refer to specific spare teeth. Fragment error- No verb for first sentence.
E. In the shark’s jaws, many spare teeth lie in seemingly limitless reserve, each one ready to slide into the appropriate position whenever an active tooth is lost or worn down - Correct.

+1 for Kudos..
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Only option B and E are close.
B has changed the meaning. According B when when active tooth is lost only then many spare teeth lie in limitless reserve. This is illogical. These spare teeth lie in reserve from before not at the moment when an active tooth is lost.

E- has eliminated such meaning error in B.

A and C are wrong for using "are" wrongly. Each of which are--- Wrong. It will be " each of which is"

D- is not a sentence even

9 years and no one bothered to look at it. This is an official question guys..

Look at the explanation given by Futuristic and ps_dahiya above.
Thats enough to understand the meaning and analysis behind the correct answer.

When an active tooth in the shark's jaws is lost or worn down, many spare teeth lie in seemingly limitless reserve, each of which are ready to slide into the appropriate position.

A. When an active tooth in the shark's jaws is lost or worn down, many spare teeth lie in seemingly limitless reserve, each of which are ready to slide into the appropriate position.
There are a couple of Errors in this option.
1. Grammar -

freetheking wrote:

each of which are

Each makes the subject Singular. Therefore, it should be - Each of which IS.
2. Meaning - Conveying the meaning that Spare Teeth get in reserve when an active tooth is lost rather than meaning that Spare Teeth lie in reserve to replace a broken tooth.
B. Whenever an active tooth is lost or worn down, many spare teeth lie in seemingly limitless reserve in the shark's jaws, which are each ready to slide into the appropriate position.
Which clause is wrongly modifying Jaws.
C. Many spare teeth lie in seemingly limitless reserve in the shark's jaws, each one of which are ready to slide into the appropriate position when an active tooth is lost or worn down.
Same error as above
D. The many spare teeth lying in seemingly limitless reserve in the shark's jaws, each one of which is ready to slide into the appropriate position whenever an active tooth is lost or worn down.
Same error as above
E. In the shark's jaws, many spare teeth lie in seemingly limitless reserve, each one ready to slide into the appropriate position whenever an active tooth is lost or worn down.
Correct.

freetheking wrote:

In the shark's jaws, many spare teeth lie in seemingly limitless reserve,

An Independent Clause and

freetheking wrote:

each one ready to slide into the appropriate position whenever an active tooth is lost or worn down.

Correctly modifying Spare Teeth.
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I was hesitating between C and E, eventually choosing the wrong answer.

One more little argument in favor of E over C is the usage of "whenever" instead of "when".

From the book:
If an event is unique or its date or time is known, use when.
The game will begin Friday evening when the clock strikes seven.
Whenever is best used for repeated events or events whose date or time is uncertain. If you can substitute every time that or at whatever time that in your sentence, then whenever is preferred.
Whenever I get in the shower, the phone rings.

Let's see E again:
In the shark's jaws, many spare teeth lie in seemingly limitless reserve, each one ready to slide into the appropriate position whenever (can be substitute with "every time that") an active tooth is lost or worn down.

But I would agree with the previous answers that the most ambiguity in C is "which" that incorrectly refers to "jaws"
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