GMATPREP: Charles Lindbergh, for his attempt...

[RonPurewal]

in B, the clause "when...." and the phrase "being..." are not good when they are placed side by side.

"when..." clause should be followed by a main clause

is that right?

not necessarily; if you need to insert a modifier there, then you should go ahead and insert one.
for instance:
when i wrote this paper, which was due only 45 minutes after i started writing, i turned off my phone to avoid any distractions.
in this sentence, the "which..." modifier is placed between the "when" clause and the main clause, because that's essentially the only place where you can put it.

[RonPurewal]

Maybe my thinking is biased.

I do not know why, "being reluctant....." in B is wrong?, pls, explain. The phrase is inserted between 2 clause. Is this placement of the phrase correct? pls, help

Taken from some other post -

you should avoid "being" when expressing the IDENTITY or CHARACTERISTICS of some individual or thing.
otherwise, evaluate it on the same merits as you would any other verb

Example - being a avid gamer, Jim plays everyday - Incorrect
A avid gamer, Jim plays everyday - Correct

Buy this law we can eliminate B and D

yeah, that sounds accurate. more generally, if you see any sort of modifier that starts with "being", then you can generally eliminate it, because "being" simply doesn't need to be there. for instance, in the example above, it would be better simply to write An avid gamer, Jim plays every day.
(note also that "every day" is two words in this kind of context. it's only one word when it's used as an adjective, as in everyday people.)

[rachelhong2012]

I like this question. It is hard but basic and that is why gmatprep makes high quality questions.

Only when you understand what gmat want to test in a sc problem, we can master the problem and can make similar problems of high quality

Let me make some remote discusion so that we can master many questions on the test day and have a good thinking of SC.

adverbial modifies whole sentence. The problem is that in what relation with main claue, the adverbial is in. If adverbial is absolute phrase, it provide context for main clause and gmat test this by providing the cases in which absolute phrase is in the causal relation or simultaneous relation in incorrect answer choices.

In some case, when adverbial is DOING PHRASE, and the correct semantic relation between adverbial-doing phrase is simultaneous, gmat make it incorrect by make the simultanous relation causal one or subsequent relation. The purpose is to make us to realize the correct semantic (in meaning) relation and make us to write exact meaning.

gmat can move around the adverbial to distort the meaning of correct answer. pls, read articles of Stacey in beatthegmat forum for this.

what I want to say is that when gmat want to distort meaning of correct answer choice and make us realize the intended meaning in a SC problem, and when gmat doing so by TOUCHING the adverbial of the sentence, we have a hard problem. why hard, because it is hard to realize the illogic of adverbial

gmat can distort correct sentence by changing the semantic (in meaning) relation between adverbial and main clause (most hardest questions are in this type) by changing the place of adverbial

coming back to the quetion here. what is correct relation between the event "reluctant..." and the event "refuse..." only E makes correct relation. All other relations causal, simultaneous, are wrong.

RELATION BETWEEN 2 EVENTS is a good thinking.

great insight, thanks!

[tim]

glad to hear it!

[davetzulin]

I'm wondering if i'm mistaken in my reasons for eliminating these:

A. Charles Lindbergh, for his attempt at a solo transatlantic flight, was very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane, he therefore

shouldn't we have an "and" or "so" he therefore? First clause is independent as well as second clause, but there is no conjunction. Funny because in C there is a awkwardly placed "so" as if they were tricking you.

B. When Charles Lindbergh was attempting his solo transatlantic flight, being very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane, he

i see two problems here, am i mistaken in either?

(1). since "being" assumes the time period of the previous verb "was" it sounds like Charles was still reluctant to have extra weight while he was already in the air flying
(2). "being" starts off a comma + present participle modifier, which, although properly modifies Charles Lindbergh, is not a consequence of the previous clause.


C. Since he was very reluctant to carry any extra weight on his plane when he was attempting his solo transatlantic flight, so Charles Lindbergh

"so" sounds wrong, but i couldn't eliminate based on that alone. The only thing I could think of was "charles lindhberg" should immediately follow the initial subordinate clause? I know it's not one of the initial modifiers Ron mentions, but another in another video tommy had an example,

"Because of his undeniable appeal, all the women love tommy" <-- incorrect, Tommy should follow. This example is also not one of the "initial modifiers" Ron mentioned.

[agarwalmanoj2000]

I'm wondering if i'm mistaken in my reasons for eliminating these:

A. Charles Lindbergh, for his attempt at a solo transatlantic flight, was very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane, he therefore

shouldn't we have an "and" or "so" he therefore? First clause is independent as well as second clause, but there is no conjunction. Funny because in C there is a awkwardly placed "so" as if they were tricking you.

B. When Charles Lindbergh was attempting his solo transatlantic flight, being very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane, he

i see two problems here, am i mistaken in either?

(1). since "being" assumes the time period of the previous verb "was" it sounds like Charles was still reluctant to have extra weight while he was already in the air flying
(2). "being" starts off a comma + present participle modifier, which, although properly modifies Charles Lindbergh, is not a consequence of the previous clause.


C. Since he was very reluctant to carry any extra weight on his plane when he was attempting his solo transatlantic flight, so Charles Lindbergh

"so" sounds wrong, but i couldn't eliminate based on that alone. The only thing I could think of was "charles lindhberg" should immediately follow the initial subordinate clause? I know it's not one of the initial modifiers Ron mentions, but another in another video tommy had an example,

"Because of his undeniable appeal, all the women love tommy" <-- incorrect, Tommy should follow. This example is also not one of the "initial modifiers" Ron mentioned.

I agree with your elimination reasoning.

[RonPurewal]

dave --

shouldn't we have an "and" or "so" he therefore? First clause is independent as well as second clause, but there is no conjunction. Funny because in C there is a awkwardly placed "so" as if they were tricking you.

yes, (a) is a run-on.

B. When Charles Lindbergh was attempting his solo transatlantic flight, being very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane, he

i see two problems here, am i mistaken in either?

(1). since "being" assumes the time period of the previous verb "was" it sounds like Charles was still reluctant to have extra weight while he was already in the air flying

this seems accurate.

(2). "being" starts off a comma + present participle modifier, which, although properly modifies Charles Lindbergh, is not a consequence of the previous clause.

in general, you shouldn't start a modifier with "being".
check whether you can eliminate "being"!
Being very reluctant to do X, Jim...
--> Very reluctant to do X, Jim...

C. Since he was very reluctant to carry any extra weight on his plane when he was attempting his solo transatlantic flight, so Charles Lindbergh

[color=#FF0000]"so" sounds wrong, but i couldn't eliminate based on that alone. The only thing I could think of was "charles lindhberg" should immediately follow the initial subordinate clause?

no.
subordinate clauses are not modifiers (since they are entire clauses), so any attempt to discuss what they "modify" is void.

[xyq121573]

What "was the reason that Charles Lindbergh refused to carry even a pound of mail"?
"Being very reluctant to carry any extra weight on his plane"
This is just not how you answer a question like this. When someone asks you "what is the reason that X happened?", the answer is not "being Y". This is why "being" cannot be used as a subject here. The "being" phrase here would be more appropriate as a modifier for Charles Lindbergh if the sentence were restructured to accommodate that.

1)SORRY~i am non-native english speaker, and i was very comfused why "being..."can't be the answer to the qustion"what's the reason that X happened?" what should the appropriate answer be?
2)i also want to ask sth about choice B,is it wrong to use "when", which indicates that these two actions:"attempt" and "refuse" happen at the same time(i thought that he should refuse others at first and then attempt his flight )? is it any wrong with the tense:"Charles Lindbergh was attempting..."? OR is there any other mistake in choice B?
please help~ thks in advance~

[thanghnvn]

"being " in B is wrong because it can modify the previous clause or the latter clause. This case is typical of middle modifier. this situation is exploited many times on gmat.

I am not clear why "being " as subject in D is wrong. pls explain, "doing" is not prefered to be a subject? why? any grammar rule here. if it is a rule, it is regretful that we fail for not knowing the rule.

pls, help. Thank you.

[thanghnvn]

In this case "being" is not correctly used as a modifier in B or a a subject in D (ask yourself what it is doing in the sentence - this will often help).

Hi Tim,

I do not think I understand why the Being used in D as a subject is incorrect. Would you please help me on this issue. I have seen one correct sentence in OG (this question also appear in Prep, I hope it did not violate the copyright rule here) use "being" as a subject very well, and I had learn a post from Ron about this question, he mentioned that when "being" used as a actual SUBJECT of the sentence, this usage is correct (exception), I think this is the case in this choice, being is used as a Subject here. Moreover, you mentioned "D is wrong for some very specific grammar reasons, and that’s what you should focus on..", could you please clarify this Q for me?

Being heavily committed to a course of action, especially one that has worked well in the past, is likely to make an executive miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpret them when they do appear.

Thanks!
Lucas

I agree with you that being in the gmatprep and the question in the original posting is quite SIMILAR. what I learn from this situation/phenominon is that being is not prefered by gmat. if we can avoid being, we should do so.

the similar situation is that "considered as" is considered wrong on some og questions but appear in all 5 choices in a gmatprep question. what we learn from this phenominon is that "considered as" is not prefered though not incorrect.

is my thinking correct?

[jlucero]

What "was the reason that Charles Lindbergh refused to carry even a pound of mail"?
"Being very reluctant to carry any extra weight on his plane"
This is just not how you answer a question like this. When someone asks you "what is the reason that X happened?", the answer is not "being Y". This is why "being" cannot be used as a subject here. The "being" phrase here would be more appropriate as a modifier for Charles Lindbergh if the sentence were restructured to accommodate that.

1)SORRY~i am non-native english speaker, and i was very comfused why "being..."can't be the answer to the qustion"what's the reason that X happened?" what should the appropriate answer be?
2)i also want to ask sth about choice B,is it wrong to use "when", which indicates that these two actions:"attempt" and "refuse" happen at the same time(i thought that he should refuse others at first and then attempt his flight )? is it any wrong with the tense:"Charles Lindbergh was attempting..."? OR is there any other mistake in choice B?
please help~ thks in advance~

1) Why did you ask this question:

IN ORDER TO learn something new.
BECAUSE you wanted to learn something new.
TO TRY TO learn something new.
but not
BEING to learn something new.

Idioms. You gotta love em or learn em.

2) This is probably one of those issues that we would consider to be suspect but not outright wrong. It's probably fine to use this as he did refuse to accept extra weight WHILE he attempted his flight. The bigger issue is the improper use of "being" in B, as described above.

I refused to take my work with me when I went on vacation.

[jlucero]

"being " in B is wrong because it can modify the previous clause or the latter clause. This case is typical of middle modifier. this situation is exploited many times on gmat.

I am not clear why "being " as subject in D is wrong. pls explain, "doing" is not prefered to be a subject? why? any grammar rule here. if it is a rule, it is regretful that we fail for not knowing the rule.

pls, help. Thank you.

As Tim mentioned above, "being" isn't a great way to explain something. Idiomatically, you would prefer "because" or "in order to".

[jlucero]

I agree with you that being in the gmatprep and the question in the original posting is quite SIMILAR. what I learn from this situation/phenominon is that being is not prefered by gmat. if we can avoid being, we should do so.

the similar situation is that "considered as" is considered wrong on some og questions but appear in all 5 choices in a gmatprep question. what we learn from this phenominon is that "considered as" is not prefered though not incorrect.

is my thinking correct?

Correct. Think of "being" as a suspect word and use it as a final split only when there are other options available and when you can't find any other splits to use. The one time when "being" is grammatically necessary is when having a property is the idea you are trying to describe:

Being tall is helpful for basketball players.

I can't say this any other way. It's not something they have. It's something about them. It's a property that's inherent to them.

[sunruiapply]

hi ron, this is your reply for a student

choice B.When Charles Lindbergh was attempting his solo transatlantic flight, being very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane, he

i see two problems here, am i mistaken in either?

(1). since "being" assumes the time period of the previous verb "was" it sounds like Charles was still reluctant to have extra weight while he was already in the air flying


this seems accurate.

I don't think "being" assumes the time peorid of "was" ,which in the surbodinate clause; however, it should assume the time period of "refused". so the meaning error doesn't exist actualy.

do i think right? hope for your reply.

[RonPurewal]

hi ron, this is your reply for a student

choice B.When Charles Lindbergh was attempting his solo transatlantic flight, being very reluctant to have any extra weight on his plane, he

i see two problems here, am i mistaken in either?

(1). since "being" assumes the time period of the previous verb "was" it sounds like Charles was still reluctant to have extra weight while he was already in the air flying


this seems accurate.

I don't think "being" assumes the time peorid of "was" ,which in the surbodinate clause; however, it should assume the time period of "refused". so the meaning error doesn't exist actualy.

do i think right? hope for your reply.

When "comma -ING" follows a clause, it generally modifies that clause, regardless of what comes after it.

E.g.,
As I finished the race, leaning into the finish line, my wife cheered me on.
--> This sentence does not imply that my wife was leaning into the finish line; it implies that I was.