SC sound

[roshan_aslam_engg]

its acoustic energy prevented from dissipating by------> is an absolute modifier

an absolute modifer is formed by either deleting the auxliliary verb or the 'be' verb.

this choice would have been a run on sentence if the modifying part( by this i mean the whole its clause) read something like;


its acoustic energy (was) prevented from dissipating by..........

[RonPurewal]

its acoustic energy prevented from dissipating by------> is an absolute modifier

an absolute modifer is formed by either deleting the auxliliary verb or the 'be' verb.

this choice would have been a run on sentence if the modifying part( by this i mean the whole its clause) read something like;


its acoustic energy (was) prevented from dissipating by..........

all correct.
as far as i can tell, though, all absolute phrases are created by removing some form of "to be" (is, are, was, were, etc.)
your phrasing -- "auxiliary verb OR 'to be' form" -- suggests that there are some other "auxiliary verbs" that can also be removed to create absolute phrases.
if that's what you were saying, what are those other auxiliary verbs? i can't think of any such verbs myself.

thanks

[simaraudioslave]

its acoustic energy prevented from dissipating by------> is an absolute modifier

an absolute modifer is formed by either deleting the auxliliary verb or the 'be' verb.

this choice would have been a run on sentence if the modifying part( by this i mean the whole its clause) read something like;


its acoustic energy (was) prevented from dissipating by..........

all correct.
as far as i can tell, though, all absolute phrases are created by removing some form of "to be" (is, are, was, were, etc.)
your phrasing -- "auxiliary verb OR 'to be' form" -- suggests that there are some other "auxiliary verbs" that can also be removed to create absolute phrases.
if that's what you were saying, what are those other auxiliary verbs? i can't think of any such verbs myself.

thanks

I do not think this would have been a run on sentence at all, both the sentences will have main verb in the case described above.( i.e if the modifier was supplied a 'be' verb).
What would have resulted, in fact, would have a comma splice.

[mschwrtz]

Hmm... a comma splice is an error in English. It means two independent clauses joined by a comma. Most grammar writers consider a comma splice a form of run-on sentence, though some consider it a distinct sort of error. It's a distinction without a difference as far as the GMAT is concerned.

Let's take a look at the sentence Roshan characterizes as run-on:

Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, its acoustic energy is prevented from dissipating....

That's wrong. Sound can travel... and its energy is prevented ... are both independent clauses. I'd characterize it as a run-on, but you certainly don't have to.

[tanyatomar]

hey i chose B for this question..
want to understand whats wrong with "having".
Thanks

[RonPurewal]

hey i chose B for this question..
want to understand whats wrong with "having".
Thanks

well, that's sort of a ... weird construction, but that's not the kind of thing that gmac is testing.

the real issue with (b) is that it can be read as "...dissipated by boundaries".
in other words, choice (b) seems to suggest that the boundaries themselves can dissipate the acoustic energy; this is the opposite of the intended meaning.

[tanyatomar]

hey i chose B for this question..
want to understand whats wrong with "having".
Thanks

well, that's sort of a ... weird construction, but that's not the kind of thing that gmac is testing.

the real issue with (b) is that it can be read as "...dissipated by boundaries".
in other words, choice (b) seems to suggest that the boundaries themselves can dissipate the acoustic energy; this is the opposite of the intended meaning.

Hi Ron,
you mean to say that actual meaning is that boundaries are helping in preventing the dissipation of energy.. but if we use option B=> it will seem as if boundaries actually dissipate energy and sentence is talking about preventing it...
Thanks a lot for the answer..

[RonPurewal]

yes.

[sachin.w]

What is wrong with D?
Is it because it is wordy?

[RonPurewal]

What is wrong with D?
Is it because it is wordy?

"as a result of" doesn't make sense, because (as you can discern from context) the energy is actually prevented from dissipating BY the boundaries.

"as a result of" suggests indirect causation. i.e., when you write "x happened as a result of y", the implication is that y didn't cause x directly, although y was in some way ultimately responsible for x.

e.g.
if 500 people actually died IN an explosion, you could write
500 people were killed by the explosion.

on the other hand, if some or all of these people didn't actually die in the explosion itself, but died from other causes related to the explosion -- e.g., the explosion released carbon monoxide, which ultimately killed them later -- then that sentence would be inaccurate. in this case, you could write
500 people were killed [i]as a result of the explosion[/i].

[sachin.w]

Ron Sir! You rock!

Bow before thee, Master!

[jlucero]

Sounds a bit cult-ish, but I'm sure he'll take it.

[divineacclivity]

Thanks Ron. I learnt about "absolute phrase". I'm not able to understand why option A is wrong here? Option A is a (past) participle modifier modifying the verb "travel" and sounds correct to me. Please explain. thanks in advance.

Another thought: Could it be because verb-ed/past participle modifiers can NOT (please correct me if I'm wrong) modify the verb but the noun/noun phrase preceding the comma before the modifier.
Do participle modifier (on GMAT) only modify the preceding noun and not the clause? thank you very much.

[RonPurewal]

I'm not able to understand why option A is wrong here?

post71578.html#p71578

[kiranck007]

sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from dissipating its acoustic energy as a result of boundaries in the ocean created by water layers of different temperature and densities

B. prevented from having its acoustic energy dissipated by

C. its acoustic energy prevented from dissipating by

D. its acoustic energy prevented from being dissipated as a result of

E. preventing its acoustic energy from dissipating by

IMO A.
E- dangling modifier
C & D - run on
B - dont like having
A- Prevented from ..... acts as a modifier.

Hi, A quick questions. In this problem the pronoun "its" is modifying water or sound? Please elaborate. Thanks.