The atmosphere forms a gaseous envelope

[SANJAYLAKHANI]

The atmosphere forms a gaseous envelope around the earth,protecting it from the cold of space, harmful ultraviolet light,and meteors that are large, but not the largest.
a. and meteors that are large,but not the largest.
b. and all but the largest meteors.
c. and most meteors,except those that are very large.
d. and large meteors,excepting the largest.
e. and with the exception of the largest,meteors.

Source- Learning Express GMAT Exam Success

[kylo]

is the OA A?


Thanks!

[JonathanSchneider]

A, D, and E can be gotten rid of for wordiness/awkwardness.
Between B and C, I'd go with B for concision.

[pawan_chitturu]

option B has used but
option C has used except

is but being used properly here?

I am still going for option C

Request you to please explain

[ugenderr]

Very good question.
Yes, B and C are close but I prefer C since the last part ("except those that are very large") directly modifies meteors.

In A, "but not the largest" is modifying what? can it modify the "earth"?

B also correct.. I don't see any grammatical errors though (unless there is something wrong with largest meteors --plural, and largest should take singular? since it refers to only the largest one?--).

If B is correct, then on what basis we eliminate C? (by just precision? or are there any other errors in C?)

Thanks for your comments. please point out errors in each option.

[ujjavalgupta]

The atmosphere forms a gaseous envelope around the earth,protecting it from the cold of space, harmful ultraviolet light,and meteors that are large, but not the largest.
a. and meteors that are large,but not the largest. Awkward (that are large but not the largest)
b. and all but the largest meteors.
c. and most meteors,except those that are very large.
d. and large meteors,excepting the largest.
e. and with the exception of the largest,meteors. Incorrect Comparision

IMO D, but one prob in that...
If you notice, only Option A and D follow the parallelism.Cold of space,harm....and Large meteors.....
the problem is excepting the Largest.....can someone explain why excepting the largest is wrong.
Once explanation for wrong: reference for Largest !!..

[chunyang.yu]

I go with B, C is wordy.

[chunyang.yu]

The atmosphere forms a gaseous envelope around the earth,protecting it from the cold of space, harmful ultraviolet light,and meteors that are large, but not the largest.
a. and meteors that are large,but not the largest.
b. and all but the largest meteors.
c. and most meteors,except those that are very large.
d. and large meteors,excepting the largest.
e. and with the exception of the largest,meteors.

I think B is the best
there is a flaw in C, since "meteors that are large, but not the largest" means the atmosphere protects the earth from all the
meteors except those large enough to go through the atmosphere;
but in option C, the range is change to be most meteors except those that are very large

[RonPurewal]

@ ugender, re: choice (c)

hmm.

my biggest problem with (c) is that it's not ok to use "most" together with "except".

this is one of those things that many native speakers/writers will just "get", without being able to explain exactly why, but here's my best attempt at explanation:
when you use "except", you're usually talking about a precise exclusion -- i.e., it's some exact group of people/things, except (= minus) some subgroup of those people/things.
i.e., it makes no sense to use "except", unless you know EXACTLY which things you're starting from.
you can't say "A, except B" unless you know precisely what is in "A".

examples:
all of the green clothes, except the ones in sizes 3X and larger, were gone by march 15.
--> this works, because it's an exact set (ALL of the green clothes), minus an exact subset (the ones in 3X and larger sizes).

most of the green clothes, except the ones in sizes 3X and larger, were gone by march 15.
--> this doesn't work.
again, i'm a native speaker with extensive formal reading/writing experience, so, to be perfectly honest, my PRIMARY justification for this statement is "i just know this is wrong, and i'd bet money on it".
but that doesn't work for the gmat, or for non-native speakers, so here's an attempt at explaining:
when we say "most of the green clothes" we actually have NO precise idea which green clothes we're talking about. therefore, since this set is imprecise to start with, this set "except" some of its members is basically a meaningless characterization.

--

[ugenderr]

Thanks a lot Ron for explaining it nicely. I got the point.

I have one question regarding option A though.
last part of this option "but not the largest" can modify "earth" --all the way back to main clause-- or is this part definitely modifying "meteors"? I thought the last part is "but not the largest" dangling and can go either way..

am I correct? Thanks for your time.