Sentence Correction Chapter 9 #11

[maqiuming.q]

Hi MGMAT
(1)Resulting from the moon's gravitational pull, not only on the ocean water closest to the moon but also on the earth itself, the tides undergo a twice-daily cycle. (resulting from + cause, effect)
(2)The twice-daily cycle of the tides results from the moon's gravitational pull, not only on the ocean water closest to the moon but also on the earth itself.(effect + results from + cause)

My question is:
Why(1) is wrong while (2) is right?
Normally, I consider the position of one phrase irrelevant,meaning whether the idiom is put in the front or in the middle of a sentence do not matter.But this(in (1), "result from" is put in the front and (1) is wrong, while in (2), it is put in the middle and (2) is right) puzzles me a lot.

Best wishes

[jnelson0612]

Hi MGMAT
(1)Resulting from the moon's gravitational pull, not only on the ocean water closest to the moon but also on the earth itself, the tides undergo a twice-daily cycle. (resulting from + cause, effect)
(2)The twice-daily cycle of the tides results from the moon's gravitational pull, not only on the ocean water closest to the moon but also on the earth itself.(effect + results from + cause)

My question is:
Why(1) is wrong while (2) is right?
Normally, I consider the position of one phrase irrelevant,meaning whether the idiom is put in the front or in the middle of a sentence do not matter.But this(in (1), "result from" is put in the front and (1) is wrong, while in (2), it is put in the middle and (2) is right) puzzles me a lot.

Best wishes

Well, one thing that is wrong with #1 is the modifying phrase "Resulting from the moon's gravitational pull". The phrase is trying to describe something; in this case what is trying to be described is the "twice daily cycle of the tides".

Thus, the "Resulting" phrase is trying to describe a noun. Modifying phrases describing nouns MUST be right next to the nouns that they are describing.

So if I said "Resulting from the moon's gravitational pull, the twice daily cycle of the tides . . ", that would be correct. Notice how the first part correctly describes the second part after the comma.

In #1, "Resulting from the moon's gravitational pull, not" is incorrect. "not" is not the noun described by the "Resulting" phrase.

This is a very important GMAT modifier error. If you look for it you will find it fairly often.