The golden crab of the Gulf of Mexico has not been fished co

[ghong14]

The golden crab of the Gulf of Mexico has not been fished commercially in great numbers, primarily on account of living at great depths-- 2,500 to 3,000 feet down.

(A) on account of living
(B) on account of their living
(C) because it lives
(D) because of living
(E) being they live

http://s22.postimg.org/mp3o3z57l/Capture.jpg

I have read on some posts about Ron's discussion on preposition, noun, verb ING. I came across this problem on the GMAT prep today. Is this an example where choice A can be eliminated because of the proceeding rule?

[RonPurewal]

I have read on some posts about Ron's discussion on preposition, noun, verb ING. I came across this problem on the GMAT prep today. Is this an example where choice A can be eliminated because of the proceeding rule?

well, no, because it's not prep + noun + verbING. there's no noun there.

if you were looking at a sentence that said something like Because of the crab living at such great depths, it is one of the least fished species, then yeah it would be wrong.
but a key component of the wrongness there is the presence of the noun.

prep + verbING is a perfectly acceptable construction in many cases. sure, there are certain examples that are prohibited (most notably because of + verbING), but there are lots and lots and lots of correct examples of verbING preceded by a preposition.

finally, watch your use of "preceding" vs. "proceeding". (this doesn't matter on the gmat exam, but this is the kind of mistake that can completely confuse people -- especially because "preceding" and "proceeding" are essentially exact opposites of each other.)

[garryrother]

Thanks Ron for your perennial generous help.

prep + verbING is a perfectly acceptable construction in many cases. sure, there are certain examples that are prohibited (most notably because of + verbING)

Can you please adduce some more instances of incorrect usage of "prep + verb-ing"

Thanks,
Garry

[RonPurewal]

Thanks Ron for your perennial generous help.

prep + verbING is a perfectly acceptable construction in many cases. sure, there are certain examples that are prohibited (most notably because of + verbING)

Can you please adduce some more instances of incorrect usage of "prep + verb-ing"

Thanks,
Garry

the big one that comes to mind, as stated above, is "because of + verbING". this is the only pattern i've seen multiple times that is pretty much going to be wrong no matter what.

most other instances are going to depend heavily on context/intended meaning, so trying to make a list would be a bad idea.

[vietmoi937]

this is a hard one.

participle doing with or without preposition can be adverbial showing time, reason, and other. in many cases, a participle without a preposition is the same as a participle with a preposition

learning gmat, I make my thinking better

in learning gmat, I make my thinking better.

so, why choice C is wrong?

[RonPurewal]

so, why choice C is wrong?

hmm?
choice (c) is the correct answer.

[AmmuS624]

Hi Ron,

Why Option A "On account of living" is wrong.

Regards,
Ammu

[RonPurewal]

If you want, you can just remember that "on account of ___ing" can be eliminated. I can't think of any context in which that structure would work, so you should be able to rule it out safely.

"On account of" is followed by a noun, and is usually restricted to changes in abstract things (prices, emotions, etc.)
e.g., It's common for stock prices to fluctuate wildly on account of announcements made at press conferences.

[AmmuS624]

If you want, you can just remember that "on account of ___ing" can be eliminated. I can't think of any context in which that structure would work, so you should be able to rule it out safely.

"On account of" is followed by a noun, and is usually restricted to changes in abstract things (prices, emotions, etc.)
e.g., It's common for stock prices to fluctuate wildly on account of announcements made at press conferences.

Oh cool..quickest and easiest way to narrow down options ;)

Thank You!

Regrds,
Ron

[RonPurewal]

You're welcome.

[aflaamM589]

hello Ron,
I read somewhere that preposition cannot be followed by ing noun(gerund).
Can we cross out A for this reason as well?

[RonPurewal]

"i read somewhere"...LOL

for things like this, you should just open your OG and do some basic research by flipping through the SC problems. not only will you be able to answer lots of your own questions that way, but that will also take much less time than posting them on forums and waiting for answers.

for this "rule", if you open OG 2016 to the SC chapter, start flipping through problems, and get to #15 ("from getting..."), you'll discover that this is not a thing.