In January 1994 an oil barge ran...leaking its cargo

[qianruS779]

So are both OK?

Thank you.

Best, Song

[tim]

That's not what Ron said. He said the GMAT doesn't test punctuation, so you would not be faced with a choice like this on the GMAT.

[JustinCKN]

for instance, traffic was backed up on the freeway and i was late to work implies that i was NOT late because of the traffic.

Hi dear Ron.
I understand the sentence above, the connector AND should be used to link two independent things.

However,correct choice C:In January 1994 an oil barge ran aground off the coast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and its cargo of 750000 gallons leaked into the ocean, polluting the city's beaches.

Here, AND is used to connect two things: 1. oil barge ran aground off the coast 2. its cargos of 750000 gallons leaked into the ocean.However, I think the former thing cause the latter things, namely that two things are not independent things. Why they can be connected by "AND" without eliminating the meaning of cause and effect?

Thanks.
JustinCKN.

[RonPurewal]

if there are that many logical connections in 1 sentence, then the sentence might become tedious or even unreadable if all the connections are explicitly spelled out.
in that case, the most obvious connections might be made implicit -- just to keep the sentence from becoming unreasonably long and unreadable.

just don't forget that this is a multiple-choice exam, and there's still more than enough of a basis for you to eliminate the other four choices.

[JustinCKN]

if there are that many logical connections in 1 sentence, then the sentence might become tedious or even unreadable if all the connections are explicitly spelled out.
in that case, the most obvious connections might be made implicit -- just to keep the sentence from becoming unreasonably long and unreadable.

just don't forget that this is a multiple-choice exam, and there's still more than enough of a basis for you to eliminate the other four choices.

Thanks Ron, I will try to solve the problems from different aspects.
JustinCKN.

[RonPurewal]

excellent.

[aflaamM589]

Hello Ron,
In A, isn't while causing self contradictory?
While means contrast
Causing means causation.
It can be either a contrast or a causation, not both.

Any help clearing the issue will be of great importance.

Thank you very much.
Have a nice day

[aflaamM589]

Can you help me with this one?
: )

[RonPurewal]

Hello Ron,
In A, isn't while causing self contradictory?
While means contrast

you haven't read the thread. please read the thread.

in-january-1994-an-oil-barge-ran-leaking-its-cargo-t8007-15.html#p102711

"while __ing" doesn't indicate contrast. there's no contrast necessary unless "while" is followed by an entire sentence.

[KAOM514]

hello, Ron, I picked A because I think "leaking its cargo" as a direct and inevitable consequence of "oil barge ran aground"
please correct me

[RonPurewal]

well, that's ... not true. it's perfectly possible for a ship to run onto solid ground without leaking its cargo, so, those are two separate events.

on the other hand, it should be clear that leaking cargo DOES directly and inevitably pollute the waters, so, "polluting..." is the part that should be phrased as a comma + __ing modifier.

__

also, it should be absolutely clear that "WHILE causing..." is wrong, so, you should be able to eliminate A quickly and easily on the basis of that part.