Once made exclusively from the wool of sheep

[Hei]

Once made exclusively from the wool of sheep that roam the Isle of Lewis and Harris off the coast of Scotland, Harris tweed is now made only with wools that are imported, sometimes from the mainland and sometimes they come--as a result of a 1996 amendment to the Harris Tweed Act--from outside Scotland.

(A) sometimes from the mainland and sometimes they come
(B) sometimes from the mainland and sometimes
(C) that come sometimes from the mainland or sometimes
(D) from the mainland sometimes, or sometimes it comes
(E) from the mainland sometimes, or sometimes coming

The answer is B. I picked B as well when I took the test.
However, when I looked at the question again, I think that A is correct because "as a result of [noun phrase]" is a modifier that modifies an action or a clause.
If I put B in, the sentence becomes:
Once made exclusively from the wool of sheep that roam the Isle of Lewis and Harris off the coast of Scotland, Harris tweed is now made only with wools that are imported, sometimes from the mainland and sometimes--as a result of a 1996 amendment to the Harris Tweed Act--from outside Scotland.
I don't know what action is "as a result of..." modifying.
But if I put A into the sentence, it is clear that "as a result of..." modifies the action "come". Although A breaks the parallelism, I thought that grammatically correct is more important?

[brian]

Being gramatically correct is important (of course) and parallelism is a very important component of "correct grammar."

Try reading the sentence without the information in between the dashes. In that instance, it becomes clear that B is the clearest, gramatically correct, and concise answer choice.

When you see information in between dashes -- ... ... ... -- think of that information as more of a 'pause' in the sentence versus direct modification as you would see around commas, etc.

Hope that helps.

-Brian Lange
MGMAT

[enginpasa1]

I am not seeing why C is wrong. Can anyone help!?

[Hei]

"that" in C can't refer to anything.
logically (with the intended, correct meaning), the "that" refers to the imported wools; but "wools" is plural, and "that" can't refer to a plural.

[Hei]

If you try to think that the "that" parallels with the preceding "that", then you need an "and". Otherwise, it would be a run-on sentence.

[RonPurewal]

I am not seeing why C is wrong. Can anyone help!?

you can't follow 'that are imported' with 'that come'; that's 2 main verbs in one clause, which is a big no-no unless those verbs are joined by 'and'.

notice the idiomatic usage: sometimes X and sometimes Y is the correct form when X and Y are alternative options.

[salman30]

Hi Ron, I eliminated this choice because there was a "comma" before the underlined in the question and normally you don't have a comma before THAT - will there be cases when you can use a comma before That ?

C) that come sometimes from the mainland or sometimes

[danielpatinkin]

Hi Ron, I eliminated this choice because there was a "comma" before the underlined in the question and normally you don't have a comma before THAT - will there be cases when you can use a comma before That ?

C) that come sometimes from the mainland or sometimes

Salman,
You can, indeed, precede the word "that" with a comma. However, you generally only do this if you are listing a series of subordinate clauses. That is, you could say, for example, "Harris tweed is now made only with wools that are imported from Scotland, that are processed organically, and that smell like roses."

The part in red is my own creation. So, what we have in this example is three consecutive subordinate clauses that are modifying "wools."

By the way, the GMAT rarely tests comma usage, so that should not be a key focal point in answering this question.

Best Wishes,
Dan P

[salman30]

Hi Ron, I eliminated this choice because there was a "comma" before the underlined in the question and normally you don't have a comma before THAT - will there be cases when you can use a comma before That ?

C) that come sometimes from the mainland or sometimes

Salman,
You can, indeed, precede the word "that" with a comma. However, you generally only do this if you are listing a series of subordinate clauses. That is, you could say, for example, "Harris tweed is now made only with wools that are imported from Scotland, that are processed organically, and that smell like roses."

The part in red is my own creation. So, what we have in this example is three consecutive subordinate clauses that are modifying "wools."

By the way, the GMAT rarely tests comma usage, so that should not be a key focal point in answering this question.

Best Wishes,
Dan P

Thanks Dan

[RonPurewal]

Thanks Dan

dan, dan, he does what he can

[neelabhthakur84]

Hello!

I have a doubt here..

According to the question, Harris tweed is made either from mainland wool or outside wool. So, shouldn't there be an "or" to differentiate the two places where the wool comes from?

Both A&B don't use "or".

[RonPurewal]

Hello!

I have a doubt here..

According to the question, Harris tweed is made either from mainland wool or outside wool. So, shouldn't there be an "or" to differentiate the two places where the wool comes from?

Both A&B don't use "or".

first --
OFFICIALLY CORRECT ANSWERS ARE CORRECT!
do not question officially correct answers!
far too many students on this forum make the mistake of questioning the correct answers; please note that doing so is a complete waste of your time and effort. i.e., exactly 0% of the time that you spend posting "isn't this official answer wrong?" is productive, and exactly 100% of that time is wasted.

"is this correct?" is NEVER a productive question to ask about one of GMAC's correct answers -- the answer is always yes.
"is this wrong?" / "is this X type of error?" is NEVER a productive question to ask about one of GMAC's correct answers -- the answer is always no.

instead, the questions you should be asking about correct official answers, if you don't understand them, are:
"why is this correct?"
"how does this work?"
"what understanding am i lacking that i need to understand this choice?"

this is a small, but hugely significant, change to your way of thinking -- you will suddenly find it much easier to understand the format, style, and conventions of the official problems if you dispose of the idea that they might be wrong.

--

now, for the question --
nope, because those statements are qualified with "sometimes".

example: let's say that i go to the boxing gym mon/wed/fri afternoons, and to the weight room sun/tues/thurs/sat afternoons.

then i'd write:
in the afternoons, i'm either at the boxing gym or in the weight room
... because, if you are talking about the afternoons in general, then i can be found in either of those places.

i can also write:
i go to the boxing gym on mondays, wednesdays, and fridays and to the weight room on sundays, tuesdays, thursdays, and saturdays
... here "and" is appropriate, because both of these statements are simultaneously true.
same with the statements in the given sentence.