Narwhals can be called whales of ice: in icy channels, pouds

[ghong14]

http://postimg.org/image/kpft1ir3x/

Narwhals can be called whales of ice: in icy channels, ponds and ice-shielded bays they seek sanctuary from killer whales, their chief predator, and their annual migrations following the seasonal rhythm of advancing and retreating ice.

A. their annual migrations following
B. their annual migrations which follow
C. their annual migrations follow
D. whose annual migrations following
E. whose annual migrations follow

Is the issue in this sentence parallelism? I am not finding a good split fort his question. I guess D and E are out because they are inappropriate modifiers? Any suggestions on how to attack this question?

[ghag.kamlesh]

Hello,

Use of 'whose' as a possessive relative noun - (Courtesy Ron)

Whose relates to people or to things.

You can tell when to use "˜whose’ by changing the adjective clause into a free-running sentence.

If the free running sentence contains his, hers, its, theirs - use whose. Example:

I am walking beside my father whose name is Simon Dedalus.
(His name is Simon Dedalus)

Therefore, in option D and in option E, usage of 'whose' is questionable. So, rule out these options.

I think, we should try to dig out the meaning of the sentence. Only on construction we can rule out option A and D. I think so.
On parallelism we can not rule out any options in more clear way.

We may work on splits - following and follow. Follow = verb, and Following = present participle - used in progressive tenses. Present participles tend to indicate ongoing action, although not necessarily at the present moment.
E.g. The tires were rolling.

Therefore, we need a verb in the latter part of the sentence i.e.

,and their annual migrations following the seasonal rhythm of advancing and retreating ice

Correct construction would be: , and their annual migrations follow the seasonal rhythm of advancing and retreating ice.
Bingo !!
so, the best option is C.

Thanks.
Kamlesh

[RonPurewal]

http://postimg.org/image/kpft1ir3x/

Narwhals can be called whales of ice: in icy channels, ponds and ice-shielded bays they seek sanctuary from killer whales, their chief predator, and their annual migrations following the seasonal rhythm of advancing and retreating ice.

A. their annual migrations following
B. their annual migrations which follow
C. their annual migrations follow
D. whose annual migrations following
E. whose annual migrations follow

Is the issue in this sentence parallelism? I am not finding a good split fort his question. I guess D and E are out because they are inappropriate modifiers? Any suggestions on how to attack this question?

yes, the issue is parallelism. the sentence presents two facts about narwhals:
1/ they seek sanctuary from killer whales
2/ their migrations follow xxxxx.

"they seek sanctuary" is a normal subject and verb. it's not a modifier, so (d) and (e) are not parallel to anything. eliminate those.

of the remaining three choices, there's a clear split: (a) and (b) contain modifiers ("following" and "which follow", respectively), but (C) has a verb there ("follow").
you need subj+verb to be parallel to the other subj+verb, so (a) and (b) are gone.

done.

[RonPurewal]

Hello,

Use of 'whose' as a possessive relative noun - (Courtesy Ron)

i don't think you got that from me. i have no idea whatsoever what a "possessive relative noun" is -- and, even if i did, i wouldn't use it in a forum post.
these kinds of grammatical terms are at best useless, and at worst a significant distraction from actually solving the problem.

[750plus]

http://postimg.org/image/kpft1ir3x/

Narwhals can be called whales of ice: in icy channels, ponds and ice-shielded bays they seek sanctuary from killer whales, their chief predator, and their annual migrations following the seasonal rhythm of advancing and retreating ice.

A. their annual migrations following
B. their annual migrations which follow
C. their annual migrations follow
D. whose annual migrations following
E. whose annual migrations follow

Is the issue in this sentence parallelism? I am not finding a good split fort his question. I guess D and E are out because they are inappropriate modifiers? Any suggestions on how to attack this question?

yes, the issue is parallelism. the sentence presents two facts about narwhals:
1/ they seek sanctuary from killer whales
2/ their migrations follow xxxxx.

"they seek sanctuary" is a normal subject and verb. it's not a modifier, so (d) and (e) are not parallel to anything. eliminate those.

of the remaining three choices, there's a clear split: (a) and (b) contain modifiers ("following" and "which follow", respectively), but (C) has a verb there ("follow").
you need subj+verb to be parallel to the other subj+verb, so (a) and (b) are gone.

done.

Mr. Purewal,

I have a doubt.

I really cannot understand why option E) "whose annual migrations follow" is NOT PARALLEL to "they seek sanctuary"

Both of 'their' and 'whose' are possessive pronoun. Please if you can explain it to me.

Warm Regards
Rajat Gugnani

[RonPurewal]

"they seek sanctuary" is a complete sentence.
"whose xxxxx" is a modifier.

these are mutually exclusive. they are so dissimilar that it's impossible for both of them to work in the same construction--if one of them works, the other one doesn't!

in fact, if i told you to go out to the grammar store and buy 2 constructions that are as non-parallel as possible, you'd actually do pretty well by bringing these two back home.

[750plus]

"they seek sanctuary" is a complete sentence.
"whose xxxxx" is a modifier.

these are mutually exclusive. they are so dissimilar that it's impossible for both of them to work in the same construction--if one of them works, the other one doesn't!

in fact, if i told you to go out to the grammar store and buy 2 constructions that are as non-parallel as possible, you'd actually do pretty well by bringing these two back home.

Thank You. I have understood the concept now.

And yes I like that hypothetical situation that you created for me

Warm Regards
Rajat Gugnani

[RonPurewal]

cool.

[aflaamM589]

Are D and E also incorrect because their and whose have same antecedent?
Thanks

[RonPurewal]

that isn't a problem. the problem is that those choices try to put a complete sentence in parallel with a modifier.

it's perfectly possible for "whose" and "their" to stand for the same word.
e.g.,
Today we interviewed an elderly married couple whose son wants to buy their house from them.
--> "whose", "their", and "them" all refer to the couple.

[aflaamM589]

Thanks for the reply Ron.
Another quick question:
Is the usage of which in B also problematic?
Does GMAC allow this usage of which ?
i.e without preposition or without comma.
Best

[aflaamM589]

Ron can you help me out on this one?
Which introduced non essential clause so, if not used with prepositions, must be used after comma.
Is my understanding correct?
Best
: )

[RonPurewal]

i don't know the terminology you're using, so i'll have to ignore it.

if your question is just about whether it's acceptable to use "which" as in choice B -- i.e., NOT following a comma -- then, no, that's not acceptable (in the standard US English tested on the GMAT exam).

this is a predominantly British usage.
on the other hand, because this construction is a legitimate usage in some English-speaking regions, something else will always be wrong with incorrect answers containing it. when you review these problems, be sure to find it!

[aflaamM589]

Thanks Ron,
Great explanation as usual.
: )

[RonPurewal]

you're welcome.