Because she knew many of the leaders of colonial America...

[tim]

I'm not sure entirely what point you're trying to prove here, but I would caution you in the strongest terms possible not to use any grammar resources that are not specifically designed for the GMAT. Some sources disagree on various points of grammar, and you wouldn't want to set yourself for failure by memorizing someone else's rule that contradicts the GMAT's grammar rules.

[healthy312]

Hey guys,

Is A) wrong because it uses "combining"? It sounds to me that a vantage point performs the action that combines with her talent. Can anyone confirm my reasoning?

Thank you,
Al

absolutely correct. very well done -- this is an issue of meaning, not an issue of grammar.

hi, i have the same question with you.
i am just wondering whether "combine" should be used the same as "compare." When in comparison two things, we have to use passive voice.

nope -- not a grammar issue. this is entirely a function of meaning. see the post quoted above yours for an excellent explanation of the difference.

I cannot understand why when use "combining with " cannot make sense ? Ron, could you please explain a little more ?

[RonPurewal]

please read the entire thread. thank you.

[RichaChampion]

"That" (in this sense) isn't used with commas, so the commas must belong to the pink thing.
If you take the pink thing out, the commas have to leave with it. You're left with "a vantage point that...".

So Ron,

B) a vantage point, when combined with her talent for writing, that made

That always modifies what is just next to that in left hand-side, We have writing(Gerund) here.
Shall we make a conclusion that "that" always behave like this.

[RonPurewal]

no.
you may want to go back and read that discussion again—this time more carefully—because the point was exactly the opposite.

condensed version:
a/an X that does Y
a/an X, blah blah blah blah blah, that does Y
if 'that does Y' modifies 'X' in the first sentence, then it also modifies 'X' in the second one. the whole point is that the addition of the intervening modifier doesn't change anything.

[RonPurewal]

it's also mistaken to think that 'that xxxx' MUST describe whatever noun is directly adjoining it.

to dispel that notion, just look at OG 13th DIAGNOSTIC #50 (NOT #50 in the SC chapter). in that problem there is a whole bunch of junk between 'that xxxx' and the word that it describes ('way').

[KathyL227]

in choice (A),what is the difference between "combining" and "combined".
"vantage point combining......" means that vantage point itself combine with her talent ?

Exactly correct.

in choice C,what's wrong with "and it made"?

Not parallel to "that combined".

HI Ron,

I chose C.

The reason for my choice is:
if C is chosen, the sentence becomes: Mercy Otis Warren was continually at or near the center of political events from 1765 to 1789, a vantage point that combined with her talent for writing, and it made her one of the most valuable historians of the era.

a vantage point that combined with her talent for writing is an appositive modifier, referring "at or near the center of political events from 1765 to 1789". It is not parallel to any parts, but correctly modified the quoted part;
"and it ..." : it refers to "a vantage point" and this part is parallel to "Mercy Otis Warren was continually at... "

I can't figure out what's wrong with my understanding above. Please help.

Thanks.

Kathy

[RonPurewal]

...but then you have a sentence that doesn't make sense.

the intended meaning is summed up by this 'equation':
Vantage point + Writing talent = Important historian

your sentence, on the other hand, says...
'She had this vantage point, AND this vantage point made her an important historian.'

there are two very big problems here.

1/
what about her writing talent?
in choice C the writing talent is mentioned, offhand, as a modifier—but not as part of the core sentence. the core sentence suggests that this woman's status as a historian derives entirely from the situation in which she found herself, and NOT from her writing talent.

2/
'and' is also a HUGE problem here.
'and'—unless it is followed by 'thus', 'so', 'yet', or some other connecting word(s)—suggests two separate and independent things.
these two observations are definitely not independent, so 'and' is a logically incorrect connector.

[RonPurewal]

'and'—unless it is followed by 'thus', 'so', 'yet', or some other connecting word(s)—suggests two separate and independent things.

more on this here:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/foru ... ml#p115627

[aflaamM589]

Hello Experts,
My question is regarding the noun modifier in D and E(vantage point).
Isn't and acts as wall for modifier?
Then how vantage point( noun modifier) can modify the concept at the other side of and ?
What am i missing?
Best

[aflaamM589]

Ron , experts, can you help me out with this concept?
Many thanks : )

[RonPurewal]

Hello Experts,
My question is regarding the noun modifier in D and E(vantage point).
Isn't and acts as wall for modifier?
Then how vantage point( noun modifier) can modify the concept at the other side of and ?
What am i missing?
Best

"this/that X" isn't a grammatical modifier. it behaves like a noun, and it can be stuck basically anywhere a noun can be stuck.
as long as the actual identity of the "X" is clear in context, the use of this construction makes sense.

the same is true for "these/those X's".

[drn354]

hi instructors,
I wonder if B is written in this way :
a vantage point, combined with her talent for writing, that made
is this sentence right?

thanks in advance !

[RonPurewal]

DO NOT 'make your own versions' of GMAC's sentences.
really.
don't do it.

the GMAT only tests 1-2% of the things that can actually go wrong with english sentences (and even that may be an overestimate).
when random users try to 'edit' these sentences, the result is almost always inferior or incorrect—for reasons that the GMAT doesn't test.

making your own examples is good, but they should be...
...1/ your own examples,
...2/ SIMPLE examples, each illustrating only ONE concept (that is actually tested on this exam).

as far as the official problems are concerned, the given answer choices should be challenging enough already.
(:

__

...no, that sentence wouldn't work; the placement of modifiers is wrong. but there's no point in discussing it, because it's not an answer choice.

[Crisc419]

The sentence should not be written like:

a vantange point that combined with her talent for writing (choice C)

or

a vantage point combined with her talent fo writing

because these two constructions are used to narrow down the possibilities, implying there are other vantage points.

am i right? please clarify.

thanks in advance

Cris