The 32 species that make up the dolphin family

[sachin.w]

-ING MODIFIER FOLLOWING COMMA

this type of modifier modifies the entire preceding clause.

Is there any name for this type of modifier for us to note down in our takeaway notes ?

[tim]

that sounds like a great name to me; what's wrong with "-ING MODIFIER FOLLOWING COMMA"?

[buymovieposters]

I selected answer B. The OG says the answer is A however I eliminated A and D because of the words "and is". I have never seen these two words used together, one after the other, and it doesn't sound right.

Can someone please justify how GMAC can consider this fair and correct?

Thank you.

the previous poster has most of the right ideas. i may be reiterating a lot of what's in that post, but, perhaps, in clearer language.

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
you see "include" vs "includes". this is a singular/plural split, so you know that you should look for the subject of this verb.
looking back through the sentence, we see that "32 species" is the subject, and that a plural verb is thus required.
two ways to tell this:
(a) the desired verb is PARALLEL to "are closely related to whales". since these two verbs are connected by "and", they must have parallel grammar. since "are" is plural, we need another plural verb.
(b) "that make up the dolphin family" is a modifier and can therefore be excluded from our search for the subject. the only possible subject that's left, then, is "32 species".

this kills d/e.

--

REDUNDANCY

you don't say both "as big as..." and "long" in the same sentence. you can use only one of these words, both of which express the same idea (i.e., length or size).

this kills b/d.

--

-ING MODIFIER FOLLOWING COMMA

this type of modifier modifies the entire preceding clause.

this is illogical in the case of "growing up to 30 feet long", because the suggestion is that the 32 species of the dolphin family grow up to this long as a consequence of being closely related to whales, etc.

this is actually two problems. one, the modifier refers to the wrong agent/noun (the 32 species, rather than just the killer whale as intended), and, two, the "-ing" makes this modifier modify the entire clause rather than just a noun, a situation that makes no sense.

this kills b/c.

--

only (a) remains. there are other issues, too; for instance, the "and" at the end of (b) introduces false parallelism, "being" in (c) is problematic, and "it" in (e) violates parallelism. post back if you don't understand any of these.

[jlucero]

I selected answer B. The OG says the answer is A however I eliminated A and D because of the words "and is". I have never seen these two words used together, one after the other, and it doesn't sound right.

Can someone please justify how GMAC can consider this fair and correct?

Thank you.

Note the parallelism at the end of the sentence:

(The killer whale) can grow to be 30 feet long and is famous for its aggressive hunting pods.

There are two verbs here: can grow and is. Note how each parallel element latches onto the subject:
The killer whale can grow to be 30 feet long
The killer whale is famous for its aggressive hunting pods.

If you were to remove the word is, you are trying to make famous parallel with to be:
The killer whale can grow to be 30 feet long.
The killer whale can grow famous for its aggressive hunting pods.

This is an incorrect meaning.

Note- the reason why this sounds wrong is that we are used to very simple parallelism in daily speech:
He is tall and is skinny (the second is here is awkward and unnecessary)

But when we use two different forms of verbs, the second verb is sometimes necessary:
He can play in the NBA and is a millionaire.

[RonPurewal]

I selected answer B. The OG says the answer is A however I eliminated A and D because of the words "and is". I have never seen these two words used together, one after the other, and it doesn't sound right.

Can someone please justify how GMAC can consider this fair and correct?

it doesn't seem that you're giving enough thought to normal english usage (i.e., you are probably thinking too "academically" about this); this construction is actually quite common.

e.g.,
The candidate has arrived and is waiting for you.

[rspcat]

The principal feature of the redesigned checks is a series of printed instructions that the company hopes will help merchants confirm a check's authenticity, which includes reminders to watch the endorsement, compare signatures, and view the watermark while holding the check to the light.

which includes reminders to watch the endorsement, compare signatures, and view

which include reminders for watching the endorsement, to compare signatures and view

by including reminders for watching the endorsement, comparing signatures, and viewing

including reminders to watch the endorsement, comparing signatures and viewing

including reminders to watch the endorsement, compare signatures, and view

ah, yes.

important:
"INCLUDING" is an EXCEPTION to the otherwise robust rules for comma+ing modifiers.

when you see "comma + including", you should think of "including" as a preposition, not as an -ing modifier. therefore, "including X" will become a prepositional phrase that describes the stuff preceding the comma.

thanks for pointing this out / calling it to our attention -- we'll be sure to include it in our revised unit on modifiers in the course.

Consider this GMATPrep Question:

A study by the Ocean Wildlife Campaign urged states to undertake a number of remedies to reverse a decline in the shark population, which includes the establishment of size limits for shark catches, closing state waters for shark fishing during pupping season, and requiring commercial fishers to have federal shark permits.
A. which includes the establishment of size limits for shark catches, closing
B. which includes establishing limits to the size of sharks that can be caught, closing
C. which include the establishment of size limits for shark catches, the closing of
D. including establishing size limits for shark catches, closing
E. including the establishing of limits to the size of sharks that are caught, the closing of

The correct answer to this question is D and including does not modify the population (immediately before the comma) but remedies. Thanks in advance.

[jlucero]

Another good example. Think of "including" like "such as" to help remember this distinction b/w most COMMA + verb-ing modifiers.

[jb_avinash]

A include the animal known as the killer whale,which can grow to be 30 feet long and is
Dont we have to add a which after and
include the animal known as the killer whale,which can grow to be 30 feet long and which is
to maintain parallel structure both the clauses should start with the same subordinater , isnt that necessary
I am confused

[jlucero]

A include the animal known as the killer whale,which can grow to be 30 feet long and is
Dont we have to add a which after and
include the animal known as the killer whale,which can grow to be 30 feet long and which is
to maintain parallel structure both the clauses should start with the same subordinater , isnt that necessary
I am confused

If A is the correct answer, then the GMAT says we do not need to repeat the same word. Your job is to learn why it's ok:

The animal can grow to be 30 ft long and is famous for its aggressive pods.

That's a normal, parallel structure. When we place the word which in front of this clause, we are still using this parallel structure to refer back to killer whales.

The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to whales and in fact include the animal known as the killer whale, which:

1) can grow to be 30 feet long
and
2) is famous for its aggressive hunting pods.

My rule for parallelism is to find a place to latch each of the phrases back onto. In this case, we can latch each one on AFTER the word which and make 2 valid sentences.

[rustom.hakimiyan]

I took the "dolphin family" as the subject and in turn, rules out ABC. How could I have seen that "32 species" is actually the subject?

Subject-Verb is turning out to quite the issue of me.

Thanks!

[RonPurewal]

I took the "dolphin family" as the subject and in turn, rules out ABC. How could I have seen that "32 species" is actually the subject?

Subject-Verb is turning out to quite the issue of me.

Thanks!

"... that make up the dolphin family" is a modifier, so it's not part of the subject-verb construction.

analogy:
The dogs are healthy.
The dogs that we adopted at the shelter are healthy.
Same core subject & verb both times. The second sentence has a modifier thrown in there, but that doesn't change its core structure.

[ericyuan0811]

thanks for the awesome explanation,Ron!

can you help me check my thoughts below:

"being" in (c) is problematic because it parallels to "growing", so both of them are served as "comma+Verbing" modifier to modify the previous sentence. that doesn't make sense.

"it" in (e) "which can grow to be 30 feet long and it is famous for..." violates parallelism because "which" is the subject of subordinate clause and "it" is the subject of the independent clause. subordinate clause can't parallel to independent clause.

[RonPurewal]

"being" in (c) is problematic because it parallels to "growing", so both of them are served as "comma+Verbing" modifier to modify the previous sentence. that doesn't make sense.

Sure, that's another issue.

The bigger issue there is that "comma + growing" is already wrong by itself.
That modifier would have to describe the subject+whole action of the previous sentence -- but it doesn't. That subject+action is "The 32 species ... include ... the killer whale", which is clearly not what we are trying to describe here.
You need a modifier that describes only "the killer whale". Hence "which" -- a modifier that's committed to describing nouns.

[RonPurewal]

"it" in (e) "which can grow to be 30 feet long and it is famous for..." violates parallelism because "which" is the subject of subordinate clause and "it" is the subject of the independent clause. subordinate clause can't parallel to independent clause.

I don't remember what "subordinate clause" and "independent clause" mean.
More importantly -- By even thinking about such needlessly specific labels, you're over-complicating the issue.

All you have to realize is ...
... "it is famous..." is the second half;
... there's nothing to match "it" on the other side.
So, not parallel.

Keep it simple.

[jingjiaol257]

the previous poster has most of the right ideas. i may be reiterating a lot of what's in that post, but, perhaps, in clearer language.

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
you see "include" vs "includes". this is a singular/plural split, so you know that you should look for the subject of this verb.
looking back through the sentence, we see that "32 species" is the subject, and that a plural verb is thus required.
two ways to tell this:
(a) the desired verb is PARALLEL to "are closely related to whales". since these two verbs are connected by "and", they must have parallel grammar. since "are" is plural, we need another plural verb.
(b) "that make up the dolphin family" is a modifier and can therefore be excluded from our search for the subject. the only possible subject that's left, then, is "32 species".

this kills d/e.

--

REDUNDANCY

you don't say both "as big as..." and "long" in the same sentence. you can use only one of these words, both of which express the same idea (i.e., length or size).

this kills b/d.

--

-ING MODIFIER FOLLOWING COMMA

this type of modifier modifies the entire preceding clause.

this is illogical in the case of "growing up to 30 feet long", because the suggestion is that the 32 species of the dolphin family grow up to this long as a consequence of being closely related to whales, etc.

this is actually two problems. one, the modifier refers to the wrong agent/noun (the 32 species, rather than just the killer whale as intended), and, two, the "-ing" makes this modifier modify the entire clause rather than just a noun, a situation that makes no sense.

this kills b/c.

--

only (a) remains. there are other issues, too; for instance, the "and" at the end of (b) introduces false parallelism, "being" in (c) is problematic, and "it" in (e) violates parallelism. post back if you don't understand any of these.

hi Ron
do you mean that "being" should not exit in C?That is, is "growing up to 30 feet long and famous for its aggressive hunting pods" correct when we only take parallelism into account?