The Chicago and Calumet Rivers originally flowed into the

[RonPurewal]

yeah, that use of "flowing" bothers me, too -- it's not consistent with how __ing modifiers are used on essentially the entire remainder of the exam.
it would be better to use the regular past tense ("flowed"), but, the only choice with the regular past tense isn't even a complete sentence. so, they made this a non-issue.

this is the only GMAC problem i've seen to have this kind of sloppy usage of an __ing modifier, so, it's best just to ignore that part of the problem.
it's a really old problem; perhaps that part of the problem just wasn't edited as closely, since other errors had already been installed in the wrong answer choices.

[aflaamM589]

Sigh.
Thanks

[RonPurewal]

ok.

[aflaamM589]

I took another deep look in OA and came with the following version.
Do you approve it?

The Chicago and Calumet Rivers , originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, have been redirected through the construction of canals so that the water now empties into the Mississippi by way of the Illinois River.
OR
The Chicago and Calumet Rivers , which originally flowed into the St. Lawrence by way of Lake Michigan, have been redirected through the construction of canals so that the water now empties into the Mississippi by way of the Illinois River.

,Ved modifying The Chicago and Calumet Rivers.
Does this solve Ving anamoly?
Thanks in advance

[RonPurewal]

the first one is not a sentence.

the second version works -- and is probably what i would expect -- but, it's not one of the choices.
again, i know i've told you this many times, but, DO NOT CREATE YOUR OWN VERSIONS OF GMAC'S SENTENCES. there's really nothing to gain from doing so.

[aflaamM589]

Thank you very much Ron for your kind guidance.
But there are times when i can't help trying to anticipate how GMAC can change it a little here and there.(but i'll try to refrain from doing so as much as i can)
And I surely will heed your advice in future.
stay blessed

[tim]

Sometimes the biggest obstacle to success is failure to stop doing things you know are wasting your time.

[aflaamM589]

Sometimes the biggest obstacle to success is failure to stop doing things you know are wasting your time.

Gem.
Gem of a statement.
Will surely keep in my mind forever (because i want to be successful not only in GMAT but also in life).
Thanks.
God bless ya.

[tim]

Yep, good advice for life as well.

[SeanZ198]

the first one is not a sentence.

the second version works -- and is probably what i would expect -- but, it's not one of the choices.
again, i know i've told you this many times, but, DO NOT CREATE YOUR OWN VERSIONS OF GMAC'S SENTENCES. there's really nothing to gain from doing so.

Hi Ron,

I agree the 2nd version works.

The 1st version is introducing the ambiguous point about the function of "flowed", isn't it?

[RonPurewal]

"flowed" cannot be a modifier (since "flow" can't have an object -- it's impossible to "flow something").

...MUCH MORE IMPORTANTLY, it's always a bad idea to try to "edit" GMAC's sentences.
since this version isn't actually in the answer choices, we will not continue to discuss it here. any further posts about it will be deleted.