Meaning in SC, What is Considered Tolerable Change?

[alexcey]

Many resources on GMAT state that first the test taker is supposed to understand the intended meaning of the sentence and then choose the most appropriate answer. I've run into several examples, however, that had the correct answer with a slightly modified meaning.

I. Below is an example from GMACPrep1 question pack:

In undistributed primary forests, the Honduran mahogany grows up to a height of 130 feet, having a buttressed trunk and a crown that spread over the canopy of lesser trees.

A. up to a height of 130 feet, having a buttressed trunk and a crown that spread over the canopy of lesser trees.
D. to a height of 130 feet, with a buttressed trunk and with a crown that spreads.

D is the correct answer. I understand that there is an issue with the relative noun modifier in A.

However, in my opinion the original meaning of the sentence was to say "grows up to 130 feet [in height]", implying a range in height. Saying "grows to a height of 130 feet" indicates that that's the typical height that the tree achieves on average.

The answer explanation also mentioned that "grows up" is redundant since the trees can only grow up. This statement is also confusing to me since the construction "up to" seems to have been used in the original sentence for a different purpose.

II. There were also two other examples.

(An OG13 DT question) "is likely to" was wrong and "more than likely" was right. In that example, "is likely to" was said to be not parallel with the rest of the sentence but "more than likely" carries a completely different degree of certainty to me than "is likely to".

(Another OG13 question) "A and B" in the original sentence was wrong and "A and even B" was right. The word even implies an element of surprise, an addition to the meaning not clearly justified.

[tim]

please give us question numbers for the OG13 questions you are referring to. also, please post the full question from the one you referenced at the beginning. it's possible that meaning isn't even an issue if grammar will take care of all the wrong answers, but that's impossible to tell without more information..

[duyng9989]

Interesting, the person posted this did never comes back to see what he or she posted. lol

So why A is wrong? I can narrow down to A and D but finally I picked A :'(.

[Willy]

Interesting, the person posted this did never comes back to see what he or she posted. lol

So why A is wrong? I can narrow down to A and D but finally I picked A :'(.

I think D is right because 'with' acts as a preposition and prep phrase modifies correctly the action i.e. how Honduran mahogany grows.

I think OG 11 Q 78 is on the similar lines. You may want to check that.

[duyng9989]

Interesting, the person posted this did never comes back to see what he or she posted. lol

So why A is wrong? I can narrow down to A and D but finally I picked A :'(.

I think D is right because 'with' acts as a preposition and prep phrase modifies correctly the action i.e. how Honduran mahogany grows.

I think OG 11 Q 78 is on the similar lines. You may want to check that.

Thank you.

I see your point.

[tim]

Let us know if there are any further questions on this one.

[lindaliu9273]

Hi instructors,

I choose A too. One thing that I'm very unsure is :
In "a buttressed trunk and a crown that " , "that" refers to "a buttressed trunk and a crown ". So, the verb can be "spread".

Pls help me explain about the reference of "that" here.

Many thanks!

[RonPurewal]

Hi instructors,

I choose A too. One thing that I'm very unsure is :
In "a buttressed trunk and a crown that " , "that" refers to "a buttressed trunk and a crown ". So, the verb can be "spread".

Pls help me explain about the reference of "that" here.

Many thanks!

Remember, there's nothing special about the meaning of choice A. It doesn't matter which choice is choice A.

The criterion for meaning is this:
"- If an answer choice has a sensible and logical meaning, then the meaning is OK.
"- If it doesn't, then the meaning is not OK.

If two answer choices have two slightly different meanings"”but both of them make sense"”then BOTH meanings are fine, and something else is the issue.

[RonPurewal]

In this problem, though, the meaning of choice A is not reasonable.

The trunk of a tree does not "spread over the canopy of lesser trees". Because, well, that's not what tree trunks do in the real world.
The trunk is the central part of the tree. It's the other stuff that "spread(s) over xxxxx".

In this context, it's quite clear that only the crown"”and not the trunk"”"spreads over xxxx".

[lindaliu9273]

Thank you! That's helpful.

[lindaliu9273]

Thank you so much!

[RonPurewal]

You're welcome.

[arjeet.itbhu]

Hi Ron & Stacey,

I am having the query related to the usage of "that"

For example :

1) He plays cricket and carom that is the indoor game ---> That modifies to carom

2) He plays cricket and the tennis that are the indoor games ---> that modifies to cricket and tennis

3) He plays chess and carom that is the indoor game ---> that modifies to carom only

So, my question is that can that modifies to both X&Y or always near noun(Y).

Thanks
Arjeet Agarwal

[RonPurewal]

those examples have lots of other issues, but the answer to your question is 'It can do both'.

i.e.,
if you have "X and Y that...", then
• "that..." CAN modify 'Y'
• "that..." CAN modify 'X and Y'

if this is ever an issue, you should always be able to use normal common sense to determine which interpretation is correct.