giant arches, bridges, and walls

[jyothi h]

looks like you've done a good analysis here. the "which" is inappropriate in this one because there is not a noun to attach it to. A and B are both definitely missing a verb, and E has an incorrect comparison..

Thank you, Tim !

[tim]

:)

[eggpain24]

Hi Ron,

Just wanna confirm sth. in choice D.

"......already designed a number of structures, including a bridge, which shows...."

according to this placement,does the clause "which shows..." still modify "a number of structures" , or it is modifying "a bridge" ?

I'm just wondering whether some modifier can be put in btween the antecedent and the "which" clause.

Thank you very much!

in that construction, you would have to assign the modifier to "bridge", because "shows" is a singular verb.

few doubts to be clarified，thanks~

in choice D，E → which modifies “bridge”

just don't make sense （if bridge can show how their ideas work，there is no necessity to mention “ a number of structures” → the whole sentence becomes quite weird）

“which include“ vs. "including"

”which include“ is inferior ( if we interpret it very literally → it means “bridge” is a subcomponent of structures）

“including” serves as a preposition to indicate X and Y is on the same level in construction like "......X, Including Y“

I am not sure about the split ”designed“ vs ”have designed“

but I think present perfect is better because it relates to the current topic (who say that giant arches, bridges, and walls made of artificial bone could be easier to design and....)

just correct me if I am wrong ~ really appreciate your time, Ron!

[ZoeZ42]

Dear instructors,
i have two questions here., one is tense in D, the other is "with conventional structures" in E, please help clarify.

* tense in D, I cross off D because there is a word "already" in D, as i know, you should use past perfect when you see a word such as "already", but i am not sure whether it is the same rule in GMAT

* "with conventional structures", honestly speaking, i picked up E, because
what i read is preceding concretes such as "giant arches, bridges, and walls " , while, "conventional structures" is abstract, which is upper level noun than "giant arches, bridges, and walls ", i don't think concretes can be compared directly to it's upper level noun, that's why i picked up E.
Please help.


thanks a lot, have a nice day.

>_~

[RonPurewal]

* tense in D, I cross off D because there is a word "already" in D, as i know, you should use past perfect when you see a word such as "already", but i am not sure whether it is the same rule in GMAT

it's probably true that "already" will usually go with "has/have/had VERBed", but that isn't guaranteed. the only foolproof way to think about verb tenses is by using context.

[RonPurewal]

* "with conventional structures", honestly speaking, i picked up E, because
what i read is preceding concretes such as "giant arches, bridges, and walls " , while, "conventional structures" is abstract, which is upper level noun than "giant arches, bridges, and walls ", i don't think concretes can be compared directly to it's upper level noun

i have absolutely no idea what "upper level noun" is supposed to mean, but you are clearly overthinking this.

in context, it should be perfectly clear that there's a comparison between two things:
• "giant arches, bridges, and walls made of artificial bone"
• "conventional structures"

if this is not IMMEDIATELY clear, then you aren't thinking enough about what the sentence is actually saying (= the ONLY thing you should think about when you first read it).

[ZoeZ42]

* "with conventional structures", honestly speaking, i picked up E, because
what i read is preceding concretes such as "giant arches, bridges, and walls " , while, "conventional structures" is abstract, which is upper level noun than "giant arches, bridges, and walls ", i don't think concretes can be compared directly to it's upper level noun

i have absolutely no idea what "upper level noun" is supposed to mean, but you are clearly overthinking this.

in context, it should be perfectly clear that there's a comparison between two things:
• "giant arches, bridges, and walls made of artificial bone"
• "conventional structures"

if this is not IMMEDIATELY clear, then you aren't thinking enough about what the sentence is actually saying (= the ONLY thing you should think about when you first read it).

thanks RON.
i need further explanation.
conventional structure is a abatract word and include some concrete things such as giant arches, bridges, and walls
the earlier one is a specific name, the latter one is concrete thing which is subordinate to "conventional structure",
i don't think the earlier and latter are same level, i don't think they can be compared between two different levels. that's why i eliminate C,

please clarify how can be compared between two different level things?

thanks a lot

[ZoeZ42]

* tense in D, I cross off D because there is a word "already" in D, as i know, you should use past perfect when you see a word such as "already", but i am not sure whether it is the same rule in GMAT

it's probably true that "already" will usually go with "has/have/had VERBed", but that isn't guaranteed. the only foolproof way to think about verb tenses is by using context.

thanks for RON's confirmation

have a nice day
>_~

[RonPurewal]

you're welcome.

[aflaamM589]

Hello Ron,
Hope you are doing good.
,which in B is also incorrect, right?

(B) build than conventional structures, and they have already designed a number of structures, which includes a bridge, to show

Thanks in anticipation.
Have a nice day

[RonPurewal]

yes, that's clearly incorrect. (there isn't even a singular noun that could be the subject!)

[RohanT93]

looks like you've done a good analysis here. the "which" is inappropriate in this one because there is not a noun to attach it to. A and B are both definitely missing a verb, and E has an incorrect comparison..

I think it should be 'to design and to build', right? does not 'and ' require strict parallelism?

[ilyana777]

looks like you've done a good analysis here. the "which" is inappropriate in this one because there is not a noun to attach it to. A and B are both definitely missing a verb, and E has an incorrect comparison..

I think it should be 'to design and to build', right? does not 'and ' require strict parallelism?

Both "to design and to build" (answer choice E) and "to design and build" (answer choice C) are fine.
The issue with E is comparison that comes with the word "than".
C: giant arches... could be easier to design... than conventional structures --> nouns are compared to a noun
E: giant arches... could be easier to design... than with conventional structures --> nouns are compared to a prepositional phrase. This is not a valid structure.

[RonPurewal]

Both "to design and to build" (answer choice E) and "to design and build" (answer choice C) are fine.

^^ this is correct... although the parallel structure in C is just "design and build" (not "to design and build").