GMAT Sentence Correction Practice

 Question

Unlike most other species of cat, regardless of being domesticated or not, the claws of the tiger are not retractable and so it is more like a dog in that way.
A) regardless of being domesticated or not, the claws of the tiger are not retractable and so it
is more like a dog in that way
B) domestic or wild, the tiger does not have retractable claws and so is more like a dog in that
respect
C) regardless of domestication or not, the tiger's claws are not retractable and so it more like
a dog in that respect
D) domestic or wild, the claws of the tiger are not retractable and so it is more like a dog in
that way
E) domestic or wild, the tiger does not have retractable claws and so they are more like a
dog's in that respect

Solution

Answer B

When you have to choose between 'regardless of being domesticated or not' and 'domestic or wild' you can easily eliminate 'regardless of being domesticated or not' for not being concise. So you can eliminate A and C.

In option D the verb 'are' is used for 'the tiger' so it is wrong.
In option E the use of 'have' for singular 'the tiger' is wrong.

So we are left with answer choice B, which is the correct choice.

Use of a Infinitive and a Participle

Use of a Infinitive and a Participle 

 Choosing between an infinitive and a participle, this is another type of question on the GMAT sentence correction questions.  In this type of question after eliminating all the obvious errors you will be struggling between two options; one will have an infinitive and the other will have a participle.

Like you may have to directly choose between 'to run' and 'running'. Both may sound equally correct to your ears, but only one of the two options is correct. Do not worry, in such a situation  we need to memorize a simple rule.

The Rule

An infinitive is almost always used to show intention or desire, whereas a participle is almost always used to show the result or effect of something. So use a present participle to show effect and infinitive to show intention.

Example,

Sentence 1: Sheldon drove his truck at 170 miles an hour, causing an accident.

Sentence 2: Sheldon drove his truck at 170 miles an hour to cause an accident.

In the sentence 1 the present participle 'causing' express the result or effect of driving at 170 miles per hour, whereas in the second sentence 'to cause' clearly suggests that Sheldon drove his truck at a particular speed with the intention of causing an accident.

Important Note: Here when you read the sentence, you need to understand the meaning of the sentence. Once you understand the meaning of the sentence it is very easy to decide between an infinitive and a participle.

Sentence Correction Practice Question

Sentence Correction Practice Question

 Question

Rising raw material costs is only one of the factors, albeit an important one, that keeps the housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did earlier in the decade.

A) keeps the housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did

B) keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, as it did

C) keeps the housing market from spiraling out of control, as it did

D) keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, like

E) keep the housing market from spiraling out of control, like it did

Solution

Answer B

Remember the following rule

On the GMAT for sentences like this where the subject is "one of the factors ... that keeps.." you can follow this simple rule.

If you see the sentence in the form of

One of the Noun (Here Noun is always PLURAL) .... that/who ..... PLURAL VERB.

If you see the sentence in the form of (where that/who is not used in the sentence).

One of the Noun (Here Noun is always PLURAL) .......SINGULAR VERB.



The original sentence states that "a higher interest rate is only one of the
factors...that keeps..." The clause "that keeps the housing market from
spiraling out of control" is describing the word "factors." Since "factors" is plural
noun and "keeps" agrees with singular nouns, we need to find a sentence that
replaces "keeps" with "keep". Also, "like it did earlier in the decade" is
incorrect. When comparing clauses (i.e., a phrase containing a subject and
a verb), we must use "as" instead of "like." For example, "She sings like her
mother" and "She sings as her mother does" are both correct, but "She sings
like her mother does" is not.

Sentence Correction - Practice Question

Sentence Correction - Practice Question

Question

The National space probe recently published a report cautioning that many of the space rubble to which satellites and spacefaring vessels are exposed pose a significant risk of damaging or destroying satellites and vessels in instances of accidental impact.

a) many of the space rubble to which satellites and spacefaring vessels are exposed pose

b) many of the space rubble that satellites and spacefaring vessels are exposed to poses

c) many of the rubble that is in space and that satellites and spacefaring vessels are exposed to pose
d) much of the rubble that is in space and satellites and spacefaring vessels are exposed to poses

e) much of the space rubble to which satellites and spacefaring vessels are exposed poses

Solution

Answer D

 

This is a easy rule to remember and a sure short question that helps a GMAT test taker can score a point. 

“Much” and “many” are commonly confused words. “Many” is right for countable quantities and is plural; “much” is correct when discussing unquantifiable amounts and is singular. Since it would be virtually impossible for someone to try to count space rubble, this sentence should contain “much.”

And since "much" is singular, its verb should be, too ("poses"). But be careful: even though "much is singular, "satellites and spacefaring vessels" is a compound-- and therefore plural-- noun, so "are exposed" is correct. Now choose the option that is clear, concise, and correct. 

 

Sentence Correction Practice Question

Sentence Correction Practice Question

Question

Found on several Indian subcontinent, Bengal Tigers dominate their habitat, and grow to lengths of up to 6 feet, running swiftly enough that deer and wild boar serve as its primary live prey.

A) Bengal Tigers  dominate their habitat, and grow to lengths of up to 10 feet, running swiftly enough

B Bengal Tigers dominate their habitat and grow to lengths of up to 10 feet, and with such swift running

C) Bengal Tigers dominate their habitat and grow to lengths of up to 10 feet, they run swiftly enough

D) the Bengal Tiger dominates its habitat, growing to lengths of up to 10 feet and running so swiftly

E) the Bengal Tiger dominates its habitat, grows to lengths of up to 10 feet, and it runs swiftly enough

Solution

Answer D

This sentence contains errors in pronoun agreement. The plural “Bengal Tigers” and the referent "their" do not agree with the singular “its” in the non-underlined section of the sentence. Therefore, “Bengal Tigers” must be replaced by the singular “Bengal Tiger” and "their" by "its." Next, the present participle form of a verb (-ing) is appropriate when the word or phrase is used as an adjective or in an adjectival phrase, so "growing" and "running" are preferable and appropriate since they refer to the Bengal Tiger's domination of its habitat. Finally, the phrase “running swiftly that” is not the correct idiom. The correct construction is “so x that y,” or “running so swiftly that deer…”

Sentence Correction Practice

Sentence Correction Practice

 Under the Forestry Protection Act, the Australian  Forest Service is required either to certify individual counties’ plans for managing the containment of wildfires or that they implement their  own plan for counties that lack appropriate regulation.

a) that they implement their

b) for implementing their

c) they should implement their

d) it should implement its

e) to implement its

ANSWER E

Solution

The GMAT loves prepositional parallelism.  In fact, generally, the GMAT likes to repeat the very same preposition--"with," "after," "against," whatever--to emphasize parallelism, even when they don't have as good a reason as they do here.

There are actually two ways to use the preposition "to" to accompany a list of infinitive verbs.  You can repeat the "to" with each verb: "I like to eat most of the day, to sleep most of the night, and to watch cartoons whenever I'm not eating or sleeping."  Or you can distribute the "to" over the entire list: "I like to eat most of the day, sleep most of the night, and watch cartoons whenever I'm not eating or sleeping."  On the GMAT, the credited response will almost always repeat the "to," rather than distributing it.  The only likely exceptions are when the phrases that form the list are very short, just one or two words, such as, "I like to eat, sleep, and watch cartoons."

OK, so that means we expect the word "to" to start the underlined section. 

 Only answer choice E starts with "to."

By the way, the the singular subject, “Australian Forest Service” must be referred to by a singular pronoun.

Sentence Correction Practice Question

Sentence Correction Practice Question

 Question

The reason why the winged bean can thrive on poor soil is because their roots house bacteria that can turn atmospheric nitrogen into fertilizer.
(A) is because their roots house bacteria that can turn
(B) is because its roots house bacteria which can turn
(C) is that their roots house bacteria turning
(D) is that its roots house bacteria that can turn
(E) being that its roots house bacteria and can turn

Solution

Subject in the sentence is winged bean, which is singular.

Option A refers to winged bean as plural by using their. 
Option B us of 'which' is wrong; the use of bacteria should be restrictive. Also look out for a comma (,) before which.
Option C is meaning less it losely means that root house bacteria turns into atmospheric nitrogen, which is not the case.
Option D is correct.
Option E usage of being makes the sentence more complicated and it is not parallel, use of and requires a parallel structure.

Relative clauses on GMAT

Relative clauses on GMAT

A relative clause gives more information about someone or something referred to in a main clause.

On the GMAT, a common way of confusing students with Fragments is by using relative clauses in a sentence. Consider the following example:

Sentence 1: The fruit is lying in the basket.

Sentence 2: The fruit that is lying in the basket.

Sentence 3: The fruit that is lying in the basket is ripe.

Here Sentence 1 is complete, Sentence 2 in incomplete and Sentence 3 in complete.

Sentence 2 : Incomplete

Let us examine Sentence 2:

(Reference: A clause is a group of words that contains both a Subject and a Predicate, but may not be able to stand on its own. So, usually a relative clause requires an anchoring of a complete sentence).

In Sentence 2 that 'is lying in the basket' is a dependent clause and requires anchoring of a complete sentence, which is missing in this case.

Sentence 3: Complete

So to complete the sentence we move to sentence 3.

Consider this:

The fruit is ripe. (This is a complete sentence)

now add the relative clause <that is lying on the table>

Sentence 3: The fruit <that is lying in the basket> is ripe.

Note:  Simple rule for use of Relative clause

• ·         We prefer to put a relative clause immediately after or as close as possible to the noun it adds information to.

•       When we use a defining relative clause, the relative pronoun can be the subject or the object of the clause.

More on relative clause on the coming blogs.

Main Point:

On, the real GMAT, you will see very long sentences which are incomplete and they miss the most important part of the sentence that is VERB.The test makers always try to confuse you with a relative clause, which has a verb.

How do identify the missing verb - eliminate the relative clause and you will easily find the missing verb.