SC A one million-year-old skull

[sinhavis]

A one million-year-old skull bearing traits associated both with Homo erectus and, in addition, Homo sapiens has been found in the Afar region of Eritrea, and indicates that modern humans developed much earlier than previously thought.

A) both with Homo erectus and, in addition, Homo sapiens has been found in the Afar region of Eritrea, and indicates

B) both with Homo erectus and Homo sapiens have been found in the Afar region of Eritrea, which indicates

C) with both Homo erectus and Homo sapiens has been found in the Afar region of Eritrea, indicating

D) with both Homo erectus and Homo sapiens and found in the Afar region of Eritrea, indicating

E) with both Homo erectus and Homo sapiens have been found in the Afar region of Eritrea, which indicates

Source is GMAT prep
OA is C.
I picked E. Please explain why has been is chosed over have been.

[nravinandan]

Yes C is apt.
A skull... associated with both Homo erectus and Homo sapiens has been found...., indicating...

This is a subject verb problem. Singular subject "skull" followed by singular verb "has been"

[RonPurewal]

A one million-year-old skull bearing traits associated both with Homo erectus and, in addition, Homo sapiens has been found in the Afar region of Eritrea, and indicates that modern humans developed much earlier than previously thought.

A) both with Homo erectus and, in addition, Homo sapiens has been found in the Afar region of Eritrea, and indicates

B) both with Homo erectus and Homo sapiens have been found in the Afar region of Eritrea, which indicates

C) with both Homo erectus and Homo sapiens has been found in the Afar region of Eritrea, indicating

D) with both Homo erectus and Homo sapiens and found in the Afar region of Eritrea, indicating

E) with both Homo erectus and Homo sapiens have been found in the Afar region of Eritrea, which indicates

Source is GMAT prep
OA is C.
I picked E. Please explain why has been is chosed over have been.

the poster above me has done a handsome job of explaining the subject-verb agreement.

the easiest way to eliminate (e) is to use the "which" modifier. in fact, i personally think that "which" modifiers are THE single easiest vehicle of elimination in all of SC, provided that you actually understand the meaning of the sentence in which they appear.

if you see comma + "which", then the IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING noun/noun phrase MUST be the referent of "which".

i like to use this as my #1 elimination, whenever it appears, because (a) it's easy to see (you can't hide comma + "which"; if it's there, it's there) and (b) it's easy to resolve (you only have to look just to the left; you don't have to scan the whole context).

in choice (e), "which" refers to a geographical region. a geographical region can't "indicate" facts, so this is wrong.

[akhp77]

I agree that C is correct but why D is wrong?

In D: associated and found seems to be parallel. Can you please explain it?

[salman30]

I agree that C is correct but why D is wrong?

In D: associated and found seems to be parallel. Can you please explain it?

"and found in the Afar region" looks awakward. However, can someone explain the actual reason ?

[mschwrtz]

Here's the sentence that would result from D:

A one million-year-old skull bearing traits associated with both Homo erectus and Homo sapiens and found in the Afar region of Eritrea, indicating that modern humans developed much earlier than previously thought.

What should be the main clause of that sentence doesn't actaully have a verb. Indicating is a present participle modifying the entire clause that precedes it. Or trying to modify the entire clause, but there is no verb, so there is no clause. Associated is a past participle modifying traits.

[hiphopdidi7623]

Here's the sentence that would result from D:

A one million-year-old skull bearing traits associated with both Homo erectus and Homo sapiens and found in the Afar region of Eritrea, indicating that modern humans developed much earlier than previously thought.

What should be the main clause of that sentence doesn't actaully have a verb. Indicating is a present participle modifying the entire clause that precedes it. Or trying to modify the entire clause, but there is no verb, so there is no clause. Associated is a past participle modifying traits.

can't we explain D in this way:
A one-million-year-old skull bearing traits associated with... and found in..., indicating....

though I picked the correct answer, I was struggle with the S+V1 and V2 structure. (it sounds well on grammar.)
Is there any better way to figure out this matter?

[RonPurewal]

Here's the sentence that would result from D:

A one million-year-old skull bearing traits associated with both Homo erectus and Homo sapiens and found in the Afar region of Eritrea, indicating that modern humans developed much earlier than previously thought.

What should be the main clause of that sentence doesn't actaully have a verb. Indicating is a present participle modifying the entire clause that precedes it. Or trying to modify the entire clause, but there is no verb, so there is no clause. Associated is a past participle modifying traits.

can't we explain D in this way:
A one-million-year-old skull bearing traits associated with... and found in..., indicating....

though I picked the correct answer, I was struggle with the S+V1 and V2 structure. (it sounds well on grammar.)
Is there any better way to figure out this matter?

--

choice (d) is not a sentence; it has no main verb.

that choice is just "a 1-million-year-old skull" followed by a bunch of modifiers.

[aps_asks]

Hi Ron ,

Can U elaborate a bit more on Choice (D)

As far as i have read , AND is used for the following two Cases:

a) A List ( apples , oranges , and grapes )
b) For separating two main clauses.

Both the above cases are not true with regard to choice d)

Hence , choice d) is incorrect.

Please do let me know your comments.

[RonPurewal]

Hi Ron ,

Can U elaborate a bit more on Choice (D)

As far as i have read , AND is used for the following two Cases:

a) A List ( apples , oranges , and grapes )
b) For separating two main clauses.

Both the above cases are not true with regard to choice d)

Hence , choice d) is incorrect.

Please do let me know your comments.

there's no problem with "and" in that choice. here's a similar construction:
i ate steak and eggs and then went to work.
this is a correct sentence; the first instance of "and" connects steak and eggs, while the second connects the two actions (i ate ... and went ...)

the problem with choice (d) is that it's not a sentence -- there is no main verb at all. it's just
A skull (modifier) and (modifier), (modifier)
... not a sentence.

[aps_asks]

Thanks

I understand your point that there is no working verb,

Hence there is no clause for the COMMA + ing modifier ( i.e , indicating ...) to modify.

So , d is incorrect.


Please correct me if i am wrong.

[jnelson0612]

Thanks

I understand your point that there is no working verb,

Hence there is no clause for the COMMA + ing modifier ( i.e , indicating ...) to modify.

So , d is incorrect.


Please correct me if i am wrong.

Correct!

[aps_asks]

One thing i wanted to write here:

Some verbs are multi part . They require both concrete verb + Helping verb. The verb found is a multi part verb.
See this link
http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/verb.htm

The verb found requires a helping verb which is not present. Hence D) is incorrect.

[RonPurewal]

One thing i wanted to write here:

Some verbs are multi part . They require both concrete verb + Helping verb. The verb found is a multi part verb.
See this link
http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/verb.htm

The verb found requires a helping verb which is not present. Hence D) is incorrect.

sorry, but this analysis is wrong.
"has been found" is just the passive voice; there is nothing special about the word "found", which is just like any other past participle.

the word "found" may indeed be used by itself, in any situation where other past participles may be similarly used. in fact, here's an official problem in which precisely that situation occurs:
first-discovered-more-than-30-years-ago-lina-s-sunbird-t353.html

[anveshr735]

HI,

I chose A over C while solving the question, because my line of thinking was 1M old skull bearing blah.. indicates that humans blah...Does only finding 1M old skull indicates that humans have developed much earlier?..I think I am missing something..Please help

Regards
Anvesh