OG 13, Q 8 SC

[aliag916]

Hello,
Sorry for the earlier post in the wrong forum. Could anybody pls tell me what "which" refers to in choices A and C and why A is wrong. thanks!
(OA is E)

[RonPurewal]

Hello,
Sorry for the earlier post in the wrong forum. Could anybody pls tell me what "which" refers to in choices A and C and why A is wrong. thanks!
(OA is E)

It should be clear from context that "which" is intended to mean moisture. This works in choice C, but not in choice A.

--

Regarding "why A is wrong" -- have you read the answer key? It pretty much says exactly the same thing that we would write here. Please check it out.

[aliag916]

Thank u, so in choice A "which" refers to the nearest noun "tourists" but is intended to mean "moisture"? The answer key gives the explanation about "due to" being an imprecise causal connector between moisture and repair of the chambers. But I do think that repair is needed as the moisture from the tourists is causing the damage. So am not sure whats wrong there. I read in the forum that due to should be followed with a noun and because with a clause.

Thanks!

[jlucero]

Thank u, so in choice A "which" refers to the nearest noun "tourists" but is intended to mean "moisture"? The answer key gives the explanation about "due to" being an imprecise causal connector between moisture and repair of the chambers. But I do think that repair is needed as the moisture from the tourists is causing the damage. So am not sure whats wrong there. I read in the forum that due to should be followed with a noun and because with a clause.

Thanks!

There can be many issues in an incorrect answer choice in the OG, not all of which are mentioned by the OG. The OG needs only to find one major rule broken by the example sentence and explain that error. The correct answer choice won't have a wrong/ambiguous phrasing, so it's helpful to learn more than one issue on a question like this.

The difference between A/C is the word before "which"- tourists in A, and moisture in C. Since moisture "had raised the humidity" makes sense, this answer is ok. Since tourists "raised its humidity" is not the proper meaning, we don't like this. However, if we did want to talk about the tourists doing something, we'd use the word who instead of which. All in all, because the "which" should be referring to a thing and not a person, it could be argued that "which had raised its humidity" could not be referring to people and must therefore be referring to moisture.

Most important point: rather than the OG explaining all of this- the OG simply settles on the irrefutable issue in A (due to is wrong) and leaves out the debate of whether "which" could refer to moisture. Some people might argue that this is ok, other would say its not. But the correct answer won't have this sort of ambiguity. So learn the major issues first and foremost, but also notice the type of structure the GMAT tends to avoid. And finally, know that the right answer should always be clear and unambiguous.

[aliag916]

I understand the "which" clearly, thank u!

If you could also pls explain the due to in A. Since due to moisture exhaled by the tourist modifies the noun repair, isn't it okay here?
Repair is needed due to the damage caused by the moisture exhaled by the tourists.

Thanks!

[RonPurewal]

I understand the "which" clearly, thank u!

If you could also pls explain the due to in A. Since due to moisture exhaled by the tourist modifies the noun repair, isn't it okay here?
Repair is needed due to the damage caused by the moisture exhaled by the tourists.

Thanks!

No.
"Cleaning and repair" themselves are not "due to moisture", so that construction is wrong.

For this to work, you need a NOUN that represents the red thing -- i.e., the thing that's actually due to the moisture.
E.g., "the need for cleaning and repair", or "the deteriorating condition of the chambers", etc.

You don't have that here.

[aliag916]

Thank u! I understand. So I could write:
1. The need for cleaning & repair due to the moisture exhaled by the tourists, prompted the authorities to close the chambers. In this due to is modifying the noun (need for c & r).

and

2. The deteriorating condition of the chambers due to the moisture exhaled by the tourists prompted authorities to close the chambers. In this case due to is modifying noun = deteriorating condition.

But since in the original problem we don't have any version of the above, we use "because moisture exhaled..." to modify the whole clause = the chambers were closed for cleaning and repair.

Pls let me know if my thinking is correct. Thanks!

[aliag916]

Is it ok to ask doubts in OG if the question text is not posted? Anyways thanks much to the moderators for allowing me this question.

[RonPurewal]

Is it ok to ask doubts in OG if the question text is not posted?.

Theoretically, yes. Try not to make a habit of it, though -- if there are too many forum threads posted without the corresponding problem text, the forum will become much less useful for future readers.

[RonPurewal]

aliag916,
Most important here:
Do not create your own versions of GMAC's sentences.
Don't do it.
Ever.
It's a complete waste of your time.

In 99% of cases when students "tweak" GMAC's sentences, their versions are wrong, for reasons that GMAC does not test. (The range of things tested on SC is a very, very small fraction of all issues in English.)
So, we end up with a situation that's like "No, that's wrong, but you don't have to know why."

Like this one.

Don't do it.

Thank u! I understand. So I could write:
1. The need for cleaning & repair due to the moisture exhaled by the tourists, prompted the authorities to close the chambers. In this due to is modifying the noun (need for c & r).

There's still a problem here -- you've got a modifier that ends with a comma, but doesn't begin with one. You'd need commas on both sides of it.
But, GMAC doesn't test punctuation. So, we have a sentence that's wrong, but you don't really need to know why.

2. The deteriorating condition of the chambers due to the moisture exhaled by the tourists prompted authorities to close the chambers. In this case due to is modifying noun = deteriorating condition.

This sentence is still hard to read, and would probably be considered ambiguous and/or incorrect by GMAC, unless commas are placed around "due to xxxx".
But, again, GMAC doesn't test punctuation. So, again, we have a sentence that's questionable, but you don't really need to know why.

Don't edit GMAC's sentences. Your hands are already full enough with deciding whether the answer choices are right or wrong; there's no need to pile more onto your plate.