A difficult SC(2)

[Jason.tuyj]

Unearthed in China, fossils of feathered dinosaurs offer the most dramatic evidence yet discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds.

A. offer the most dramatic evidence yet discovered of the close evolutionary
relationship between dinosaurs and birds
B. offer evidence more dramatic than what has yet been discovered of the close
evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds
C. offer more dramatic evidence of the close evolutionary relationship than any yet
discovered between dinosaurs and birds
D. have offered the most dramatic evidence of the close evolutionary relationship
between dinosaurs and birds that have yet been discovered
E. have offered more dramatic evidence than any that has yet been discovered of the
close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds

Pls explain each choice to me, thank you so much~

[saptadeepc]

Unearthed in China, fossils of feathered dinosaurs offer the most dramatic evidence yet discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds.

A. offer the most dramatic evidence yet discovered of the close evolutionary
relationship between dinosaurs and birds
B. offer evidence more dramatic than what has yet been discovered of the close
evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds
C. offer more dramatic evidence of the close evolutionary relationship than any yet
discovered between dinosaurs and birds
D. have offered the most dramatic evidence of the close evolutionary relationship
between dinosaurs and birds that have yet been discovered
E. have offered more dramatic evidence than any that has yet been discovered of the
close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds

Pls explain each choice to me, thank you so much~

See this link and search for "most dramatic"

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/article5200977.ece

Let's discuss the options here -

IMO OA should be 'A'

A - offer the most dramatic evidence yet discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds - correctly uses the superlative "most" and the sentence is grammatically correct.

B - offer evidence more dramatic than what has yet been discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds -- incorrectly uses "more" we are comparing current evidence with all other evidences, should be most. Also more dramatic should come before the noun evidence.

C - offer more dramatic evidence of the close evolutionary relationship than any yet discovered between dinosaurs and birds -- Same as 'B'. Here "any yet discovered" can modify relationship as well. Ambiguous statement. Incorrent

D - have offered the most dramatic evidence of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds that have yet been discovered -- that clause incorrectly modifies birds. We dont mean to say "birds that have yet been discovered"

E - have offered more dramatic evidence than any that has yet been discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds -- if that ( in italics ) is evidence then it would be incorrect to say -- than any evidence "has" yet been discovered. -- we dont need 'has' here, without 'that'.

Anyone please correct if I m wrong somewhere !

[jnelson0612]

What is the original source of this question?

[youlimeng325]

See this question in PREP.
I am confused about A B&E.
Looking forward explanation about them.
Thank you for helping!

[tim]

"PREP" is not a source. it means nothing. that's like saying you found the question in "book". just about everything in the GMAT study world has the word "prep" attached to it..

[youlimeng325]

"PREP" is not a source. it means nothing. that's like saying you found the question in "book". just about everything in the GMAT study world has the word "prep" attached to it..

All right,my mistake. This question appears in GMAT Prep verbal section.

[tim]

Before we help with this question, we need you to show some effort of your own. What did you try on this question? Where did you get stuck?

[karun395]

Would appreciate an opinion on my approach.

Unearthed in China, fossils of feathered dinosaurs offer the most dramatic evidence yet discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds.

A. offer the most dramatic evidence yet discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds

POE. Not wordy. Comparison expressed correctly.

B. offer evidence more dramatic than what has yet been discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds - suggests that fossils of feathered dinosaurs are more dramatic than what has yet been discovered of the close evolutionary relationship. It incorrectly compares the fossils to the evolutionary relationship. Hence, OUT One question though, can we eliminate the choice based solely on more/ most. Can we not treat the evidence as 2 groups - fossils of feathered dinosaurs and all other evidence?


C. offer more dramatic evidence of the close evolutionary relationship than any yet discovered between dinosaurs and birds
- any is a pronoun could refer to evolutionary relationship. Hence OUT. Again question on more/ most stays

D. have offered the most dramatic evidence of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds that have yet been discovered

Have offered- simple tenses are preferred. Also, the fossils by virtue of existing "offer evidence" i.e. it is a perpetual state hence present simple tense would be correct. "That have yet been discovered" incorrectly modifies birds. Hence, OUT

E. have offered more dramatic evidence than any that has yet been discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds

Have offered- simple tenses are preferred. Also, the fossils by virtue of existing "offer evidence" i.e. it is a perpetual state hence present simple tense would be correct. Any that has yet.. Any and that have the same antecedent- evidence. Should be any discovered as yet. Hence, OUT

[rahul_devas]

Hi

"Yet to be discovered" makes sense but I cannot understand the meaning of "Yet discovered". Can somebody pls clarify this for me.

Thanks
Rahul

[vikram4689]

Experts please offer your view on my analysis

1. we cannot say - "A is more punctual than every human being" but we can say "A is the most punctual human being". This is a weird example but the point i want to convey is that first one is wrong because "every human being" includes A as well. so correct sentence will be "A is more punctual than every OTHER human being" - this concept rules out all but A

"Yet to be discovered" makes sense but I cannot understand the meaning of "Yet discovered". Can somebody pls clarify this for me.

"yet" acts as coordinating conjunction or adverb. clearly, "yet" is adverb here and in that sense "yet" means still/already/until now

in below quote, my response is in blue

B. offer evidence more dramatic than what has yet been discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds - suggests that fossils of feathered dinosaurs are more dramatic than what has yet been discovered of the close evolutionary relationship. It incorrectly compares the fossils to the evolutionary relationship. Hence, OUT One question though, can we eliminate the choice based solely on more/ most. Can we not treat the evidence as 2 groups - fossils of feathered dinosaurs and all other evidence?
i think your statement in red is wrong and b) is wrong for not using OTHER. I also think "yet" meaning "until now" is redundant as "has been" conveys that sense

C. offer more dramatic evidence of the close evolutionary relationship than any yet discovered between dinosaurs and birds
- any is a pronoun could refer to evolutionary relationship. Hence OUT. Again question on more/ most stays
i think there is nothing in sentence that "any" could refer to. we need "fossils offer more dramatic evidence than any other ____ offers" and nothing in sentence can fill this blank

D. have offered the most dramatic evidence of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds that have yet been discovered
Have offered- simple tenses are preferred. Also, the fossils by virtue of existing "offer evidence" i.e. it is a perpetual state hence present simple tense would be correct. "That have yet been discovered" incorrectly modifies birds. Hence, OUT
"have offered" is a point event and in that case present perfect reflects past event. so, d) means fossils no longer offer evidence. Also, "that" incorrectly modifies "birds"

E. have offered more dramatic evidence than any that has yet been discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds
Have offered- simple tenses are preferred. Also, the fossils by virtue of existing "offer evidence" i.e. it is a perpetual state hence present simple tense would be correct. Any that has yet.. Any and that have the same antecedent- evidence. Should be any discovered as yet. Hence, OUT
same problems that are already discussed
1. "have offered" as mentioned in d)
2. "yet" and "has been" in b)
3. missing "OTHER"

[rahul_devas]

Experts please offer your view on my analysis

1. we cannot say - "A is more punctual than every human being" but we can say "A is the most punctual human being". This is a weird example but the point i want to convey is that first one is wrong because "every human being" includes A as well. so correct sentence will be "A is more punctual than every OTHER human being" - this concept rules out all but A

"Yet to be discovered" makes sense but I cannot understand the meaning of "Yet discovered". Can somebody pls clarify this for me.

"yet" acts as coordinating conjunction or adverb. clearly, "yet" is adverb here and in that sense "yet" means still/already/until now

in below quote, my response is in blue

B. offer evidence more dramatic than what has yet been discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds - suggests that fossils of feathered dinosaurs are more dramatic than what has yet been discovered of the close evolutionary relationship. It incorrectly compares the fossils to the evolutionary relationship. Hence, OUT One question though, can we eliminate the choice based solely on more/ most. Can we not treat the evidence as 2 groups - fossils of feathered dinosaurs and all other evidence?
i think your statement in red is wrong and b) is wrong for not using OTHER. I also think "yet" meaning "until now" is redundant as "has been" conveys that sense

C. offer more dramatic evidence of the close evolutionary relationship than any yet discovered between dinosaurs and birds
- any is a pronoun could refer to evolutionary relationship. Hence OUT. Again question on more/ most stays
i think there is nothing in sentence that "any" could refer to. we need "fossils offer more dramatic evidence than any other ____ offers" and nothing in sentence can fill this blank

D. have offered the most dramatic evidence of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds that have yet been discovered
Have offered- simple tenses are preferred. Also, the fossils by virtue of existing "offer evidence" i.e. it is a perpetual state hence present simple tense would be correct. "That have yet been discovered" incorrectly modifies birds. Hence, OUT
"have offered" is a point event and in that case present perfect reflects past event. so, d) means fossils no longer offer evidence. Also, "that" incorrectly modifies "birds"

E. have offered more dramatic evidence than any that has yet been discovered of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds
Have offered- simple tenses are preferred. Also, the fossils by virtue of existing "offer evidence" i.e. it is a perpetual state hence present simple tense would be correct. Any that has yet.. Any and that have the same antecedent- evidence. Should be any discovered as yet. Hence, OUT
same problems that are already discussed
1. "have offered" as mentioned in d)
2. "yet" and "has been" in b)
3. missing "OTHER"

Thanks Vikram. That is a really great explanation.

[tim]

please let us know if there are any further questions on this one. note that any request for further analysis by our instructors will need to be accompanied by a screenshot of the problem from the GMAT Prep software, because I am not convinced this is an actual GMAT Prep question..

[sanchit.gupta1689]

please let us know if there are any further questions on this one. note that any request for further analysis by our instructors will need to be accompanied by a screenshot of the problem from the GMAT Prep software, because I am not convinced this is an actual GMAT Prep question..

Please tell me the error in option B.

[tim]

please post a screenshot

[RonPurewal]

please post a screenshot

It isn't from prep..I find in GWD, an illegal source...
I did it wrong either..bad sc problem

Well, thanks for admitting it, at least.

The thread is now locked. If anyone finds this problem in GMAT Prep, you know where to post it!