Symphony

[arora.august]

Hi Ron,

Need help on the below sentence, why is this wrong>>

The nameless symphony was at last performed, decades after it was composed, yesterday.

my analysis>>
1- 'decades after it was composed' is a non essential modifier or probably a subordinate clause , hence if we keep it out, sentence makes perfect sense.
The nameless symphony was at last performed yesterday

or the better way could be >>
2- The nameless symphony, decades after it was composed, was at last performed yesterday.

BUT the SC MGMAT book says>>
3- The nameless symphony was at last performed yesterday, decades after it was composed.

In sentence 1 and 3, modifier 'decades after it was composed' is anyway no where closer to the noun, hence both should be equally preferred but book says 1 is wrong.

Kindly explain.

[Willy]

Hi Ron,

Need help on the below sentence, why is this wrong>>

The nameless symphony was at last performed, decades after it was composed, yesterday.

my analysis>>
1- 'decades after it was composed' is a non essential modifier or probably a subordinate clause , hence if we keep it out, sentence makes perfect sense.
The nameless symphony was at last performed yesterday

or the better way could be >>
2- The nameless symphony, decades after it was composed, was at last performed yesterday.

BUT the SC MGMAT book says>>
3- The nameless symphony was at last performed yesterday, decades after it was composed.

In sentence 1 and 3, modifier 'decades after it was composed' is anyway no where closer to the noun, hence both should be equally preferred but book says 1 is wrong.

Kindly explain.

the emphasis of the sentence is "symphony was performed yesterday. And that yesterday was decades after symphony was composed." This is what sentence 3 says correctly.

Sentence 1 and 2 implies or sounds like -

symphony was at last performed decades after it was composed yesterday.

Modifier DECADES AFTER IT WAS COMPOSED must come close to YESTERDAY. (see sentence 3) i.e. it must modify YESTERDAY.

[tim]

i see "decades after it was composed" as an appositive for "yesterday", so it needs to follow "yesterday" after a comma..

[sukriti.bahl]

Could some please clear my doubts in the following sentences (All sentences are from the Manhattan SC book:

1) The weight was lifted by concentrating OR The weight was lifted to free my leg - Incorrect sentences as the doer in the sentence is missing
However see next sentence

2)The nameless symphony was at last performed yesterday. decades after it was composed - Correct sentence according to book - Here also the doer is missing, so how is the sentence correct? Shouldn't it be " The nameless symphony was at last performed by the orchestra yesterday. decades after it was composed" ?

3) The patient's rare disease was treated using novel techniques developed at the medical school - Incorrect sentence as doer or prepositional phrase is missing

I am confused as to how sentence (2) is correct when the lesson stresses on the point that a noun doing the action MUST be present.
Your help will be much appreciated.

[RonPurewal]

if these examples are from the MPrep books, then this question should be posted in the MPrep non-CAT verbal folder.

this question actually should have been redirected earlier, but, please re-post it in the appropriate folder. thank you.