Verbal problems from the *free* official practice tests and
problems from mba.com
vietst
 
 

Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current,

by vietst Sun Jan 27, 2008 3:08 am

Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, because he was excited with the prospects of harnessing niagra falls for producing electric power,hepredicted in the mid-1890's that electricity generated at Niagara would one day power the streetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris.

1. Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, because he was excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for producing electric power,he

2. The prospects of harnessing Niagara falls to produce electric power was exciting to Nikola Tesla, the inventory of alternating current, and so he

3. Excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power, Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current,

4. Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara falls for production of electric power and

5. The inventory of alternating current, excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara falls for producing electric power, Nikola Tesla
OA is C.
Could you let me know the meanings of "excited with" and "excited about"?
Thanks
StaceyKoprince
ManhattanGMAT Staff
 
Posts: 9361
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:05 am
Location: Montreal
 

by StaceyKoprince Tue Jan 29, 2008 6:05 pm

"excited with" - means nothing... it's not correct idiomatic English. :) You can be excited by something or you can be excited about something, but you can't be excited with something (even though people do say this - but they're speaking incorrectly).
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
vietst
 
 

by vietst Thu Jan 31, 2008 7:01 pm

Stacey Koprince
Thanks for your points.
StaceyKoprince
ManhattanGMAT Staff
 
Posts: 9361
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:05 am
Location: Montreal
 

by StaceyKoprince Fri Feb 01, 2008 1:48 am

You're welcome!
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
jp.jprasanna
Students
 
Posts: 200
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 3:48 am
 

Re: Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current,

by jp.jprasanna Mon Apr 09, 2012 3:35 pm

hi

Is Option E wrong only for the idiom "excited with"

If the Idiom were changed to "excited about" would this option be right :

E :
The inventor of alternating current, excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls for producing of electric power, Nikola Tesla ... blah blah...

What i specifically wanted to know was can we have 2 modifiers lined up this way..

Noun Modifier (The inventor of...) , Adjective modifier (excited about the...), Subject ( Nikola Tesla....)

I guess we cant line it up if there were 2 noun modifiers correct?

Noun Modifier 1, Noun Modifier 2, subject...? Pls correct me if Im worng...

[deleted because problem is from a banned source - see below]

Could you please let me know the rules governing these multiple modifiers pls.

Cheers
jp.jprasanna
Students
 
Posts: 200
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 3:48 am
 

Re: Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current,

by jp.jprasanna Mon Apr 09, 2012 3:38 pm

Option B is wrong because of

1. Subject Verb disagreement i.e The prospects were not was
2. and so he is not parallel to anything.

Please correct if any of the above statements are worng pls.

Cheers
jahid.dumgt
Forum Guests
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Apr 09, 2012 4:18 am
 

Re: Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current,

by jahid.dumgt Tue Apr 10, 2012 12:41 pm

i'm having doubt about the accuracy of option (C). 'Nikola Tesla' is working as a what in this sentence? i guess, as a main subject. if it is so, then, where is its verb? i don't find the verb of it in the sentence.

can somebody clear it to me?????????

waiting.
jp.jprasanna
Students
 
Posts: 200
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 3:48 am
 

Re: Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current,

by jp.jprasanna Tue Apr 10, 2012 7:01 pm

jahid.dumgt Wrote:i'm having doubt about the accuracy of option (C). 'Nikola Tesla' is working as a what in this sentence? i guess, as a main subject. if it is so, then, where is its verb? i don't find the verb of it in the sentence.

can somebody clear it to me?????????

waiting.


Dude - If you drop all the modifiers you can see "predicted" - the main verb for Nikola Tesla....

Excited about the prospects of harnessing Niagara Falls to produce electric power, Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, predicted in the mid-1890's that electricity generated at Niagara would one day power the streetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris.

The blue is adjective modifier and the Green is noun modifier both modifying "Nikola Tesla"

Dropping these modifier the main core sentence becomes....

Nikola Tesla predicted in the mid-1890's that electricity generated at Niagara would one day power the streetcars of London and the streetlights of Paris.

Cheers
tim
Course Students
 
Posts: 5665
Joined: Tue Sep 11, 2007 9:08 am
Location: Southwest Airlines, seat 21C
 

Re: Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current,

by tim Mon May 14, 2012 9:41 am

JP, thanks for clarifying jahid's question. As for your questions, i don't think i've ever seen the GMAT use an appositive ("the inventor...") followed by a modifier followed by the noun they both refer to. You should find another way to word the sentence to make it correct. More importantly, i would caution you against ever asking "what if" questions about changing parts of verbal questions, because there are often several interconnected parts that cannot be fully accounted for by a single change. just focus on why the right answer is right and why all the wrong answers are wrong..

As for the paper test question you quoted, we can't discuss it due to copyright regulations. Beyond that, paper tests are not a good source of practice questions because they are so old..
Tim Sanders
Manhattan GMAT Instructor

Follow this link for some important tips to get the most out of your forum experience:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/forums/a-few-tips-t31405.html
jp.jprasanna
Students
 
Posts: 200
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 3:48 am
 

Re: Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current,

by jp.jprasanna Mon May 14, 2012 3:31 pm

tim Wrote:JP, thanks for clarifying jahid's question. As for your questions, i don't think i've ever seen the GMAT use an appositive ("the inventor...") followed by a modifier followed by the noun they both refer to. You should find another way to word the sentence to make it correct. More importantly, i would caution you against ever asking "what if" questions about changing parts of verbal questions, because there are often several interconnected parts that cannot be fully accounted for by a single change. just focus on why the right answer is right and why all the wrong answers are wrong..

As for the paper test question you quoted, we can't discuss it due to copyright regulations. Beyond that, paper tests are not a good source of practice questions because they are so old..


Thanks for your response Tim.

So can I take this as a rule

Appositive / Noun Modifier , Adjective modifier , Subject - Is always WRONG..

I think apart from the error in Idiom "excited about" I don't see anything else wrong in this option - E

Please help.

Cheers
gmatwork
Course Students
 
Posts: 185
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 8:00 pm
 

Re: Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current,

by gmatwork Fri May 18, 2012 2:48 pm

In option (B) is the usage of 'and so' incorrect?

Can we use "and so" (both together or either one only)?
RonPurewal
Students
 
Posts: 19744
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:23 am
 

Re: Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current,

by RonPurewal Sun Jun 03, 2012 6:58 am

jp.jprasanna Wrote:
tim Wrote:Appositive / Noun Modifier , Adjective modifier , Subject - Is always WRONG..


nah, i can make correct sentences with that construction.

Already a renowned composer of symphonies, some of which have been performed by the world's best orchestras, Smith is now turning his attention to writing Broadway-style musicals.

in this example (which is correct), the difference is that the second modifier actually modifies the first modifier, so you basically have to keep those two stuck together.

the construction of choice (e) doesn't make the same kind of logical sense, because "excited about the prospects..." has no apparent connection to tesla's status as the inventor of alternating current.
jp.jprasanna
Students
 
Posts: 200
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 3:48 am
 

Re: Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current,

by jp.jprasanna Sun Jun 03, 2012 7:53 am

RonPurewal Wrote:
jp.jprasanna Wrote:
tim Wrote:Appositive / Noun Modifier , Adjective modifier , Subject - Is always WRONG..


nah, i can make correct sentences with that construction.

Already a renowned composer of symphonies, some of which have been performed by the world's best orchestras, Smith is now turning his attention to writing Broadway-style musicals.

in this example (which is correct), the difference is that the second modifier actually modifies the first modifier, so you basically have to keep those two stuck together.

the construction of choice (e) doesn't make the same kind of logical sense, because "excited about the prospects..." has no apparent connection to tesla's status as the inventor of alternating current.


Hi - By this logic, in option E, I could also take "excited" to be modifying "The Inventor". Each of them modifying "Nikola Tesla"
I'm failing to see how "excited about the prospects..." and "The inventor of......" are not related. Could you please help me understand better. Sincere thanks.

5. The inventory of alternating current, excited with the prospects of harnessing Niagara falls for producing electric power, Nikola Tesla
tim
Course Students
 
Posts: 5665
Joined: Tue Sep 11, 2007 9:08 am
Location: Southwest Airlines, seat 21C
 

Re: Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current,

by tim Mon Jun 25, 2012 5:19 pm

Ron's example had the modifying phrase refer to something other than the main noun that was being used as an appositive, so it is different from what you propose..
Tim Sanders
Manhattan GMAT Instructor

Follow this link for some important tips to get the most out of your forum experience:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/forums/a-few-tips-t31405.html
long.dinh.huynh
Students
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2013 6:37 pm
 

Re: Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current,

by long.dinh.huynh Sat Dec 28, 2013 5:40 am

Hi Ron,

May I ask what's wrong with D?

Thanks