Emily Dickinson’s letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson

[fenruyun]

OG12:
Emily Dickinson’s letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan’s marriage to Emily’s brother and ending shortly before Emily’s death in 1886, outnumbering her letters to anyone else.
A. Dickinson were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan’s marriage to Emily’s brother and ending shortly before Emily’s death in 1886, outnumbering
B. Dickinson were written over a period that begins a few years before Susan’s marriage to Emily’s brother and ended shortly before Emily’s death in 1886, outnumber
C. Dickinson, written over a period beginning a few years before Susan’s marriage to Emily’s brother and that ends shortly before Emily’s death in 1886 and outnumbering
D. Dickinson, which were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan’s marriage to Emily’s brother, ending shortly before Emily’s death in 1886, and outnumbering
E. Dickinson, which were written over a period beginning a few years before Susan’s marriage to Emily’s brother and ending shortly before Emily’s death in 1886, outnumber

OA is E.
I am struggling between A and E.For me,there is no apparent mistake in A while the reference of the word "which" in E seems quite confusing

I wonder whether the problem in A is that the ", outnumbering..."structure distorts the whole meaning by mistakenly modifying the whole clause rather than the subject"letters"? But...so what,I find it quite easy to understand even if it goes to modify the whole clause...

thanks~

[RonPurewal]

since this problem appears on GMATPREP, we can answer it.

we already have:
post24246.html

any problem that is UNIQUELY in the OG will be deleted forthwith. read the forum rules, people! OG problems are banned!

[546558048]

Hi, Ron
I have another question here for I think the construct of"......, outnumbering......" modifys "letters" rather than express a result. Given that "letters to SHD outnumber her letters to anyone else" is correct, I consider answer A is correct.

Thanks advancedly

[jnelson0612]

Hi, Ron
I have another question here for I think the construct of"......, outnumbering......" modifys "letters" rather than express a result. Given that "letters to SHD outnumber her letters to anyone else" is correct, I consider answer A is correct.

Thanks advancedly

I'm going to repost Ron's explanation as to why A is not correct:

"the phrase in question, "outnumbering ...", is NOT, in any way whatsoever, a "(direct/indirect) result" of the time period over which the letters were written. these are tw completely independent and unrelated observations about the letters, and so they can't be placed into the sort of construction that appears in choice (a). this is thus not a grammatical problem so much as a problem of clarity, but it's still a problem.

examples:
my brother, who ate bagel bites for breakfast every single day of his high school career, graduated in 1994. --> correct; his eating bagel bites had no impact on his graduation date.
my brother ate bagel bites for breakfast every single day of his high school career, graduating in 1994. --> incorrect; these are two unrelated observations, but this construction erroneously implies some sort of relationship."