As the honeybee's stinger is heavily barbed, staying where it is inserted, this results in the act of stinging causing the bee to sustain a fatal injury.
A.
B. As the heavily barbed stinger of the honeybee stays where it is inserted, with the result that the act of stinging causes
C. The honeybee's stinger, heavily barbed and staying where it is inserted, results in the fact that the act of stinging causes
D. The heavily barbed stinger of the honeybee stays where it is inserted, and results in the act of stinging causing
E. The honeybee's stinger is heavily barbed and stays where it is inserted, with the result that the act of stinging causes
Please help me analyze this argument.
Thanks.
Prince
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- Prince
- dbernst
- ManhattanGMAT Staff
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- Joined: Mon May 09, 2005 9:03 am
Prince,
As there are few clear "splits" among the answer choice, I will walk you though my process of elimination for each individual answer choice.
A. As the honeybee's stinger is heavily barbed, staying where it is inserted, this results in the act of stinging causing the bee to sustain a fatal injury.
-In this choice, staying where it is inserted is a modifier that provides additional information about the stinger. Thus, the information following the modifier, prefaced with "this results," does not correctly refer to anything in the sentence (if anything, it describes the stinger itself, rather than the fact that the stinger stays where it is inserted)
B. As the heavily barbed stinger of the honeybee stays where it is inserted, with the result that the act of stinging causes
-Since each clause is introduced by "connecting" punctuation ("as" and "with") this sentence contains no subject.
C. The honeybee's stinger, heavily barbed and staying where it is inserted, results in the fact that the act of stinging causes
-Similar to choice A, this choice uses the modifier heavily barbed and staying where it is inserted to describe the stinger. By removing this modifier (The honeybee's stinger results in the fact that ...), it becomes obvious that the sentence incorrectly states that the stinger itself, rather than the properties of the stinger, results in something. Moreover, the phrase "the fact that" is awkward and unnecessary.
D. The heavily barbed stinger of the honeybee stays where it is inserted, and results in the act of stinging causing
- This choice incorrectly equates the verbs stays and results. However, the sentence intends to indicate that the result is due to fact that the stinger stays where it is inserted.
E. The honeybee's stinger is heavily barbed and stays where it is inserted, with the result that the act of stinging causes
-CORRECT. This choice clearly states that the stinger (subject) stays (verb), resulting in particularly poor circumstances for the honeybee!
-dan
As there are few clear "splits" among the answer choice, I will walk you though my process of elimination for each individual answer choice.
A. As the honeybee's stinger is heavily barbed, staying where it is inserted, this results in the act of stinging causing the bee to sustain a fatal injury.
-In this choice, staying where it is inserted is a modifier that provides additional information about the stinger. Thus, the information following the modifier, prefaced with "this results," does not correctly refer to anything in the sentence (if anything, it describes the stinger itself, rather than the fact that the stinger stays where it is inserted)
B. As the heavily barbed stinger of the honeybee stays where it is inserted, with the result that the act of stinging causes
-Since each clause is introduced by "connecting" punctuation ("as" and "with") this sentence contains no subject.
C. The honeybee's stinger, heavily barbed and staying where it is inserted, results in the fact that the act of stinging causes
-Similar to choice A, this choice uses the modifier heavily barbed and staying where it is inserted to describe the stinger. By removing this modifier (The honeybee's stinger results in the fact that ...), it becomes obvious that the sentence incorrectly states that the stinger itself, rather than the properties of the stinger, results in something. Moreover, the phrase "the fact that" is awkward and unnecessary.
D. The heavily barbed stinger of the honeybee stays where it is inserted, and results in the act of stinging causing
- This choice incorrectly equates the verbs stays and results. However, the sentence intends to indicate that the result is due to fact that the stinger stays where it is inserted.
E. The honeybee's stinger is heavily barbed and stays where it is inserted, with the result that the act of stinging causes
-CORRECT. This choice clearly states that the stinger (subject) stays (verb), resulting in particularly poor circumstances for the honeybee!
-dan
As the honeybee's stinger is heavily barbed, staying where it is inserted, this results in the act of stinging causing the bee to sustain a fatal injury.
A.
B. As the heavily barbed stinger of the honeybee stays where it is inserted, with the result that the act of stinging causes
C. The honeybee's stinger, heavily barbed and staying where it is inserted, results in the fact that the act of stinging causes
D. The heavily barbed stinger of the honeybee stays where it is inserted, and results in the act of stinging causing
E. The honeybee's stinger is heavily barbed and stays where it is inserted, with the result that the act of stinging causes
Please help me analyze this argument.
Thanks.
Prince
- RonPurewal
- Students
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Sputnik Wrote:Hi Guys,
Great explanation Dan... but I still couldn't understand the problem with choice D properly...
isn't that the intended meaning...that the stinger stays and therefore results in XYZ...
Also is it correct to have this structure : "stinging causing" ..
Thanks,
Sputnik
you can't have 'results in NOUN GERUND'.
technically, you can't ever follow a noun with a gerund; you actually have to use the possessive form of the noun with the gerund (so this would have to be something unappetizing like 'the act of stinging's causing...'). that's just plain terrible* - according to me, the gmat, and just about everyone else - and so you likely won't ever encounter NOUN + GERUND in a correct answer, ever.
the other problem in (d) is that 'and' sets up a parallel structure, implying that the stinger 'results in' blah blah blah. that's not correct, though; it's the fact that the stinger stays where it is inserted that causes all the trouble. the use of an adverbial modifier - as in choice (e) as well as the incorrect choice (b) - conveys this meaning correctly.
- lawrencewwh
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- Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2008 9:06 am
Re: Crack GMAT test Q
I have a question:
In E,
with the result that the act of stinging causes
modify the subject stinger,
But in my view, 'with' in choice E seems to imply that stinger physically own something.
I think that E would be better if revised to:
The honeybee’s stinger is heavily barbed and stays where it is inserted, resulting in that the act of stinging causes the bee to sustain a fatal injury.
"resulting" clearly indicates that the cause( stinger does sth) lead to the result.
In E,
with the result that the act of stinging causes
modify the subject stinger,
But in my view, 'with' in choice E seems to imply that stinger physically own something.
I think that E would be better if revised to:
The honeybee’s stinger is heavily barbed and stays where it is inserted, resulting in that the act of stinging causes the bee to sustain a fatal injury.
"resulting" clearly indicates that the cause( stinger does sth) lead to the result.
- esledge
- Forum Guests
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- Location: St. Louis, MO
Re: Crack GMAT test Q
Here's correct choice (E), just so we don't have to scroll up and down:
The honeybee's stinger is heavily barbed and stays where it is inserted, with the result that the act of stinging causes the bee to sustain a fatal injury.
The with phrase is an adverbial modifier, which modifies the action(s) in the main clause, is ... barbed and stays ... inserted.
With can have various a metaphorical meanings:
I went to the movies with my friends. (with = together)
Ice cream with sprinkles is our favorite snack. (with = covered by)
With much apprehension, we approached the haunted house. (with = having/feeling)
My point is that you shouldn't reject with because it could be interpreted as ownership. As we see, it could be interpreted another way.
That said, revising the adverbial modifier to begin resulting could also be OK:
The honeybee's stinger is heavily barbed and stays where it is inserted, resulting in a fatal injury to the bee after it stings.
You'll note that I had to rewrite the latter part of the sentence. I don't think there's a non-awkward way to connect resulting and the bee to sustain a fatal injury. The GMAT would reject resulting in that the act of stinging causes as wordy and awkward.
The honeybee's stinger is heavily barbed and stays where it is inserted, with the result that the act of stinging causes the bee to sustain a fatal injury.
lawrencewwh Wrote:I have a question:
In E, with the result that the act of stinging causes
modify the subject stinger,
But in my view, 'with' in choice E seems to imply that stinger physically own something.
I think that E would be better if revised to:
The honeybee’s stinger is heavily barbed and stays where it is inserted, resulting in that the act of stinging causes the bee to sustain a fatal injury.
"resulting" clearly indicates that the cause( stinger does sth) lead to the result.
The with phrase is an adverbial modifier, which modifies the action(s) in the main clause, is ... barbed and stays ... inserted.
With can have various a metaphorical meanings:
I went to the movies with my friends. (with = together)
Ice cream with sprinkles is our favorite snack. (with = covered by)
With much apprehension, we approached the haunted house. (with = having/feeling)
My point is that you shouldn't reject with because it could be interpreted as ownership. As we see, it could be interpreted another way.
That said, revising the adverbial modifier to begin resulting could also be OK:
The honeybee's stinger is heavily barbed and stays where it is inserted, resulting in a fatal injury to the bee after it stings.
You'll note that I had to rewrite the latter part of the sentence. I don't think there's a non-awkward way to connect resulting and the bee to sustain a fatal injury. The GMAT would reject resulting in that the act of stinging causes as wordy and awkward.
Emily Sledge
Instructor
ManhattanGMAT
Instructor
ManhattanGMAT
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