giant arches, bridges, and walls

[anthonymok930]

Hi,

A pair of architects in Britain, who say that giant arches, bridges, and walls made of artificial bone could be easier to design and build than conventional structures, and already designed a number of structures, including a bridge, for showing how their idea would work.

(A) build than conventional structures, and already designed a number of structures, including a bridge, for showing

(B) build than conventional structures, and they have already designed a number of structures, which includes a bridge, to show

(C) build than conventional structures, have already designed a number of structures, including a bridge, to show

(D) also to build than conventional structures, already designed a number of structures, including a bridge, which shows

(E) to build than with conventional structures, have already designed a number of structures, including a bridge, which shows

Source: GMATPrep Test 2. Correct answer is C. Is "to show how their idea would work" an adverbial modifier? is it better to use -ING form?

[mikrodj]

IMO You want here the infinitive to indicate the purpose of the designs. Don't get confused because the infinitive comes after a comma. That comma is used to set off another modifier "including a bridge" the sentence can perfectly read

A pair of architects in Britain, who say that giant arches, bridges, and walls made of artificial bone could be easier to design and build than conventional structures, have have already designed a number of structures,including a bridge, to show how their idea would work

If you remove the modifiers, you see that the infinitive is required. Otherwise you would be saying that the structures or the bridge show the idea.

[RonPurewal]

IMO You want here the infinitive to indicate the purpose of the designs. Don't get confused because the infinitive comes after a comma. That comma is used to set off another modifier "including a bridge" the sentence can perfectly read

A pair of architects in Britain, who say that giant arches, bridges, and walls made of artificial bone could be easier to design and build than conventional structures, have have already designed a number of structures,including a bridge, to show how their idea would work

If you remove the modifiers, you see that the infinitive is required. Otherwise you would be saying that the structures or the bridge show the idea.

excellent explanation.

more explicitly:
"X does Y to accomplish Z" means that accomplishing Z is the purpose of doing Y.
that's the meaning of this sentence, so it's the logical construction to use here.

--

also, guys, don't forget:
DON'T QUESTION THE CORRECT ANSWERS TO OFFICIAL PROBLEMS.

[zhaoyu0319]

Hi,

Can anyone explain why does "a pair of architects" take the verb "have" rather than "has"?

Thanks a lot!

[RonPurewal]

Hi,

Can anyone explain why does "a pair of architects" take the verb "have" rather than "has"?

Thanks a lot!

because there are two architects, and it makes no sense to think of them as a unit.

i.e., if you say a pair of pants is on the table, this makes logical sense, in that the pair of pants is a single item. ("a pair of pants were..." would actually be incorrect, since it is impossible for a pair of pants to act as two separate items.)

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note that this is not something that you actually have to figure out for yourself; the plural verb "say", which is in the non-underlined part, serves as proof that "a pair of architects" is plural.

[violetwind]

Hi Ron,

Just wanna confirm sth. in choice D.

"......already designed a number of structures, including a bridge, which shows...."

according to this placement,does the clause "which shows..." still modify "a number of structures" , or it is modifying "a bridge" ?

I'm just wondering whether some modifier can be put in btween the antecedent and the "which" clause.

Thank you very much!

[RonPurewal]

Hi Ron,

Just wanna confirm sth. in choice D.

"......already designed a number of structures, including a bridge, which shows...."

according to this placement,does the clause "which shows..." still modify "a number of structures" , or it is modifying "a bridge" ?

I'm just wondering whether some modifier can be put in btween the antecedent and the "which" clause.

Thank you very much!

in that construction, you would have to assign the modifier to "bridge", because "shows" is a singular verb.

[violetwind]

Hi Ron,

Just wanna confirm sth. in choice D.

"......already designed a number of structures, including a bridge, which shows...."

according to this placement,does the clause "which shows..." still modify "a number of structures" , or it is modifying "a bridge" ?

I'm just wondering whether some modifier can be put in btween the antecedent and the "which" clause.

Thank you very much!

in that construction, you would have to assign the modifier to "bridge", because "shows" is a singular verb.

oh~sorry I missed that.

[RonPurewal]

yep -- easy to miss things on the first try. that's why review is so valuable.

[violetwind]

Hi Ron,

Just wanna confirm sth. in choice D.

"......already designed a number of structures, including a bridge, which shows...."

according to this placement,does the clause "which shows..." still modify "a number of structures" , or it is modifying "a bridge" ?

I'm just wondering whether some modifier can be put in btween the antecedent and the "which" clause.

Thank you very much!

in that construction, you would have to assign the modifier to "bridge", because "shows" is a singular verb.

oh~sorry I missed that.

therefore in this kind of situation, we should determine the antecedent of the which clause according to the verb's implication and the meaning of the sentence, no strict rules, right?

[tim]

if there is an interpretation of the sentence that is correct, you go with that one. does that help?

[thanghnvn]

"and also" is never correct on gmat. This point is hard and fast rule.

Is my thinking correct? pls, confirm. experts.


Though gmat test logic mainly, knowing hard and fast rule is good.

[jnelson0612]

"and also" is never correct on gmat. This point is hard and fast rule.

Is my thinking correct? pls, confirm. experts.


Though gmat test logic mainly, knowing hard and fast rule is good.

No, not true. For example, see this example of a GMAT Prep question in which "and also" is in the correct answer: turning-away-from-literary-realism-to-write-romantic-stories-t5815.html

[jyothi h]

Could anyone confirm on the below ?
A) Incorrect cos the first half of the sentence before "and" should be an independent clause , but the sentence does not have a working verb.
B) same issue as with option A
D) usage of "also" is incorrect.It is redundant to use both "and" and "also" .
Also , "designed" should be "have designed" as in correct option. Cant quiet explain the reason , but sounds right to the ear, when you read it as "have designed".
Not sure if "which" is an issue here. Sounds legit to me. Can any of the manhattan experts confirm on this ?
E)Parallelism issue - There is nothing parallel to "with conventional structure" , before "than".
Again unclear on the usage of which here , as in option D.
Would love it, if anyone can explain on this ?

Thanks

[tim]

looks like you've done a good analysis here. the "which" is inappropriate in this one because there is not a noun to attach it to. A and B are both definitely missing a verb, and E has an incorrect comparison..