SC:Imported into Massachusetts form Europe

[pmal04]

deleted.

[RonPurewal]

Imported into Massachusetts form Europe in 1869, the gypsy moth was used by a French scientist in an attempt at developing a strong strain of silk-producing insects, crossing gypsy moths with adult silkworms.

A)Imported into Massachusetts from Europe in 1869, the gypsy moth was used by a French scientist in an attempt at developing a strong strain of silk-producing insects, crossing gypsy moths with adult silkworms.

B)Imported into Massachusetts form Europe in 1869, a French scientist was attempting to develop a strong strain of silk-producing insects by crossing gypsy moths with adult silkworms.

C)To cross gypsy moths with adult silkworms, in attempting the development of a strong strain of silk-producing insects, a French scientist in 1869 imported the gypsy moth into Massachusetts from Europe.

D)The gypsy moth was imported into Massachusetts from Europe in 1869 by a French scientist attempting to develop a strong strain of silk-producing insects by crossing gypsy moths with adult silkworms.

E)In an attempt at the development of a strong strain of silk-producing insects, a French scientist, importing the gypsy moth from Europe into Massachusetts in 1869 in order to cross gypsy moths and adult silkworms.

Source: Gmat paper

I know that 'attempt to' is the correct idiom; However, it's used in a passive sentence(i.e. in D). Please help!

not sure what you're asking, exactly.

from the tenor of your post, it seems you might think that the passive voice is automatically wrong.
this is not the case.
there are plenty of reasons why the passive voice may even be the preferred voice for a sentence. one such reason is when the object of the action is the CLEAR FOCUS of the sentence, as is the case here (i.e., this sentence is clearly about the gypsy moth, not about a french scientist).

do you think that there are actual errors in (d)? is there another answer choice that you think is better than (d)?

[pmal04]

Hi Stacy,
You said in one post," I don't recommend studying from the old paper tests. It's a totally different era and that company no longer even writes the test."
In the light of that could you please delete this post?
Thanks,

[Ben Ku]

Thanks PMal.

[NIKESH_PAHUJA]

@pmal04,


As you know, attempt to is the correct option, and D is the best choice among the 5 options, you now know that we cant use attempt to in a passive sentence.

i.e.Gmat allows us to use attempt to in this manner.

As Ron, always says, dont question the validity of official answer. Just learn from them.
:-) Right RON ?

[RonPurewal]

As Ron, always says, dont question the validity of official answer. Just learn from them.
:-) Right RON ?

right.

[tgt.ivyleague]

Hi there .....

Is OA indeed d ???

The gypsy moth was imported into Massachusetts from Europe in 1869 by a French scientist attempting to develop a strong strain of silk-producing insects by crossing gypsy moths with adult silkworms.

Isnt this altered intent as per SC guide ??
Did the Frence scientist import the moth ??? Or did he just use it for his expt ??
Also it appears as if the Scientist was importing the moth into Massachusetts from Europe in 1869 by crossing gypsy moths with adult silkworms which is nonsensical !!
Moreover, i find the sentence to be a very long single one without any commas in between ... making it very complex and wordy.

I would rather go with option A ... can't "attemt at" be used at all ????

Some help here please!

[RonPurewal]

Hi there .....

Is OA indeed d ???

yes.

The gypsy moth was imported into Massachusetts from Europe in 1869 by a French scientist attempting to develop a strong strain of silk-producing insects by crossing gypsy moths with adult silkworms.

Isnt this altered intent as per SC guide ??
Did the Frence scientist import the moth ??? Or did he just use it for his expt ??

perhaps the meaning is changed a little bit, but this doesn't matter -- the other four choices are all grammatically incorrect.
remember, [b]you should not worry about differences in meaning, unless there are two or more choices that are grammatically correct.
if there are four grammatically incorrect answers and only one grammatically sound answer, then it actually doesn't matter what is in the grammatically sound answer -- it's the only one that is correct!

Also it appears as if the Scientist was importing the moth into Massachusetts from Europe in 1869 by crossing gypsy moths with adult silkworms which is nonsensical !![/b]

nope -- that modifier ("by crossing...") applies to the closest action, which is "to develop a strong strain of silk-producing insects..."
this is usually (though not always) how these essential modifiers work: if there is a conflict between two or more actions that they can modify, they normally modify the closest action. generally, if the context is obvious enough, these modifiers are ok.

Moreover, i find the sentence to be a very long single one without any commas in between ... making it very complex and wordy.

well, sure, but there are plenty of official answers that are written like that.
it's actually not "wordy"; "wordy" means that there is an unnecessarily large number of words. that's not the case here (do you think you can get rid of some words in the correct answer? if so, which ones?)
...and almost ALL of the correct answers in sentence correction are "complex", especially if you are scoring above a certain level on the verbal section.

I would rather go with option A ... can't "attemt at" be used at all ????

Some help here please!

the biggest problem with choice (a) is actually not an idiom issue -- it's the gross misuse of the COMMA + -ING modifier.
see:
the gypsy moth was used by a French scientist in an attempt at developing a strong strain of silk-producing insects, crossing gypsy moths with...

when you use COMMA -ING modifiers:
* they modify the action of the preceding clause, and
* the SUBJECT of the preceding clause should be the agent of the -ING action

the second of these rules, if applied to choice (a), tells us that the gypsy moth itself (the subject of the preceding clause) is the one who is "crossing gypsy moths...". that is most certainly not true, so choice (a) is ungrammatical.

[tgt.ivyleague]

Dear Ron,

Thanks. That was an excellent explanation. It all makes sense now :)
For some reason, I had not thought about the -ing modifier!

Also, one BIG favour is reqd........

I have my exam TOMORROW & had posted this basic doubt that I needed help on .... But i guess, this thread may be way below in the list of unanswerd ques & may take some time"

a-basic-doubt-in-verbal-that-is-killing-me-pl-help-t10569.html

As u can understand, since i have just about 12hrs for my exam, can u please clarify this doubt !!!!! Can u please make the rules a little flexible for this one time & help me out ........

Thanks in advance !!

Regards ..... Sam

[tim]

Sam, sorry you had to learn your lesson the hard way. We answer questions on the forum when we get around to them. If you want us to be on call, that's what private tutoring is for..

[ritalun]

Can let me know what is wrong with option A?

[RonPurewal]

Can let me know what is wrong with option A?

did you read the thread?

the answer to this question is already contained in the last paragraph of the following post, which is part of this thread:
post42124.html#p42124

[thanghnvn]

Ron, pls, help.
you said that

when you use COMMA -ING modifiers:
* they modify the action of the preceding clause, and
* the SUBJECT of the preceding clause should be the agent of the -ING action

and I understand that the following is NOT correct

the comment is posted by Ron, teaching us gmat SC.

and the following is correct

Ron posts his comment, teaching us gmat SC.

you mean that the subject must create both actions, the action of the verb in main clause and the action of "DOING"

and the following sentence

Ron post his comment in the Manhantan forum and teach us gmat
SC in Asia

is also correct

but in this sentence, the two actions are separate while in the "doing" sentence, the action of "doing" modifies the preceding clause.


is my thinking correct?, Ron, pls, confirm.

[RonPurewal]

Ron, pls, help.
you said that

when you use COMMA -ING modifiers:
* they modify the action of the preceding clause, and
* the SUBJECT of the preceding clause should be the agent of the -ING action

and I understand that the following is NOT correct

the comment is posted by Ron, teaching us gmat SC.

and the following is correct

Ron posts his comment, teaching us gmat SC.

you mean that the subject must create both actions, the action of the verb in main clause and the action of "DOING"

and the following sentence

Ron post his comment in the Manhantan forum and teach us gmat
SC in Asia

is also correct

but in this sentence, the two actions are separate while in the "doing" sentence, the action of "doing" modifies the preceding clause.


is my thinking correct?, Ron, pls, confirm.

this looks correct, but i am not seeing any relationship to the problem in this thread.

[nowwithgmat]

Imported into Massachusetts form Europe in 1869, the gypsy moth was used by a French scientist in an attempt at developing a strong strain of silk-producing insects, crossing gypsy moths with adult silkworms.

A)Imported into Massachusetts from Europe in 1869, the gypsy moth was used by a French scientist in an attempt at developing a strong strain of silk-producing insects, crossing gypsy moths with adult silkworms.

B)Imported into Massachusetts form Europe in 1869, a French scientist was attempting to develop a strong strain of silk-producing insects by crossing gypsy moths with adult silkworms.

C)To cross gypsy moths with adult silkworms, in attempting the development of a strong strain of silk-producing insects, a French scientist in 1869 imported the gypsy moth into Massachusetts from Europe.

D)The gypsy moth was imported into Massachusetts from Europe in 1869 by a French scientist attempting to develop a strong strain of silk-producing insects by crossing gypsy moths with adult silkworms.

E)In an attempt at the development of a strong strain of silk-producing insects, a French scientist, importing the gypsy moth from Europe into Massachusetts in 1869 in order to cross gypsy moths and adult silkworms.

Source: Gmat paper

I know that 'attempt to' is the correct idiom; However, it's used in a passive sentence(i.e. in D). Please help!

not sure what you're asking, exactly.

from the tenor of your post, it seems you might think that the passive voice is automatically wrong.
this is not the case.
there are plenty of reasons why the passive voice may even be the preferred voice for a sentence. one such reason is when the object of the action is the CLEAR FOCUS of the sentence, as is the case here (i.e., this sentence is clearly about the gypsy moth, not about a french scientist).

do you think that there are actual errors in (d)? is there another answer choice that you think is better than (d)?

hello ron
would you please tell why option C is wrong ??/

thanx in advance