1000 SC #31

[tarek99]

A star will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole after it passes through a red giant stage, depending on mass.

(A) A star will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole after it passes through a red giant stage, depending on mass.

(B) After passing through a red giant stage, depending on its mass, a star will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.

(C) After passing through a red giant stage, a star’s mass will determine if it compresses itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.

(D) Mass determines whether a star, after passing through the red giant stage, will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.

(E) The mass of a star, after passing through the red giant stage, will determine whether it compresses itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole


I chose B as an answer, however, the OA is D. Why is D the best option here? I would appreciate your input! thanks

[RonPurewal]

choice b contains an unacceptable ambiguity: the modifying phrase 'depending on its mass' is clearly supposed to what the star is doing, but, in choice b, it could technically also refer to passing through a red giant stage. (in other words, one could read the sentence as though the star's passing through a red giant stage depends upon the star's mass).

do you have any ?s about the other answer choices?

[Guest]

I don't have any questions, but i'll just explain why each one is wrong just to make sure i understood it correctly:

A) A star will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole after it passes through a red giant stage, depending on mass. comment: "depending on mass," which is an averbial phrase, should be as close to the verb as possibe. In this case, it's "compress."

(B) After passing through a red giant stage, depending on its mass, a star will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.
comment: you explained it. Also the "its" can refer to either "stage" or "a star."

(C) After passing through a red giant stage, a star’s mass will determine if it compresses itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.
comment: the "it" is refering to "stage" when it should rather refer to "a star" but we don't have "a star" here. We only have "a star's mass," which is a possessive. The pronoun "it" can never refer to a possessive noun. We could, however, have a possessive pronoun refer to a noun, but this is not the case in this answer choice.

(D) Mass determines whether a star, after passing through the red giant stage, will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole. comment: correct

(E) The mass of a star, after passing through the red giant stage, will determine whether it compresses itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole
comment: a mass can never compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black whole because everything has a mass. I don't think there is a grammatical error here. I think it's mostly about making it logical. The referent here is not logical. am i right here?

thanks [/i][/b]

[RonPurewal]

I don't have any questions, but i'll just explain why each one is wrong just to make sure i understood it correctly:

A) A star will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole after it passes through a red giant stage, depending on mass. comment: "depending on mass," which is an averbial phrase, should be as close to the verb as possibe. In this case, it's "compress."

(B) After passing through a red giant stage, depending on its mass, a star will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.
comment: you explained it. Also the "its" can refer to either "stage" or "a star."

(C) After passing through a red giant stage, a star’s mass will determine if it compresses itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.
comment: the "it" is refering to "stage" when it should rather refer to "a star" but we don't have "a star" here. We only have "a star's mass," which is a possessive. The pronoun "it" can never refer to a possessive noun. We could, however, have a possessive pronoun refer to a noun, but this is not the case in this answer choice.

(D) Mass determines whether a star, after passing through the red giant stage, will compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole. comment: correct

(E) The mass of a star, after passing through the red giant stage, will determine whether it compresses itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole
comment: a mass can never compress itself into a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black whole because everything has a mass. I don't think there is a grammatical error here. I think it's mostly about making it logical. The referent here is not logical. am i right here?

thanks [/i][/b]

i'd say you're pretty much right on. nice!

[jyothi h]

I had another doubt in option E . Is the modifier "after passing through the red giant stage" , modifying "mass of star" here or it can modify just "star" ?

Appreciate any help on the above.

Thanks,
Jyothi

[jlucero]

That's correct. Proper placement of modifiers is key on this question.