GMAT Sentence Correction: The growth of the railroads led to the abolition...

[Erin]

Sorry for the late reply; I've been kind of sick for the last week or so.

I'm going to try to answer the questions one by one so I don't get confused.

Originally Posted by khushi2020

The growth of the railroads led to the abolition of local times, which was determined by when the sun reached the observer’s meridian and differing from city to city, and to the establishment of regional times.

Here the verb is 'led'...so it is 'led to the abolition of local times and to the establishment of regional times'. So the phrase 'which....city' is a participle phrase?

Actually, it's not a phrase (phrases lack a subject and a verb) but a clause (clauses are basically sentences--they have a subject and a verb), but I'm not so sure that this is terribly important at the moment.

[Erin]

Originally Posted by khushi2020

Correct option - determined by when the sun reached the observer’s meridian and differing

Here 'determined' is the past participle (used because times is the object of determined as it answers the question 'what was determined when the sun reached the meridian?') and 'differing' is the present participle (used because times is the subject of differed as it answers the question 'what differed from city to city?')

Yes, you seem to have the idea of subjects and objects. Notice your test questions are using passive (What was determined...?) and active voice (What differered...?). This way, if it makes sense to you, should work just fine.

[Erin]

Originally Posted by khushi2020

If D were written like this:

which was determined by when the sun reached the observer’s meridian and differed

it would be fine. Then determined and differed would be parallel

Almost! You're right that we need a finite verb in here to make the elements parallel, but it's not determined and differed that are parallel; it's was determined and differed (they are both verbs/verb phrases).

Originally Posted by khushi2020

Is this still a participle phrase? Is 'times' still the object of 'determined' and subject of 'differed'?

A participial phrase, to put it simply, is just a group of words that starts with a participle (eating only once a day, taken just before bedtime, lost in the woods, spending more money than he should, etc.). And yes, the subjects and objects don't change.

Nice job! It seems you've figured these things out for yourself, but feel free to ask again for clarification.

[rd_eastbay]

Ok so my head is spinning from looking at this thread again and again. Can somebody explain to my why E, the official answer is better than C.

[Erin]

The growth of the railroads led to the abolition of local times, which was determined by when the sun reached the observer’s meridian and differing from city to city, and to the establishment of regional times.

(C) which were determined by when the sun reached the observer’s meridian and differing

Originally Posted by rd_eastbay

Ok so my head is spinning from looking at this thread again and again. Can somebody explain to my why E, the official answer, is better than C?

If C were correct as written (which is possible grammatically), it would mean this:

The growth of the railroads led to the abolition of local times, which were determined by when the sun reached the observer’s meridian and which were differing from city to city, and to the establishment of regional times.

In other words, which were determined would be parallel with which were differing; or, if it were "reduced," determined and differing would be parallel.

I think you'll agree that the verb tense of which were differing is incorrect, so C is out.

[rd_eastbay]

Thanks Erin. I understand now; looking at this with a fresh mind helps too.

So if (C) were

The growth of the railroads led to the abolition of local times, which were determined by when the sun reached the observer’s meridian and which differed from city to city, and to the establishment of regional times.

Then the sentence would be correct. Right??

Once again, thanks a lot!

Originally Posted by Erin

The growth of the railroads led to the abolition of local times, which was determined by when the sun reached the observer’s meridian and differing from city to city, and to the establishment of regional times.

(C) which were determined by when the sun reached the observer’s meridian and differing




If C were correct as written (which is possible grammatically), it would mean this:

The growth of the railroads led to the abolition of local times, which were determined by when the sun reached the observer’s meridian and which were differing from city to city, and to the establishment of regional times.

In other words, which were determined would be parallel with which were differing; or, if it were "reduced," determined and differing would be parallel.



I think you'll agree that the verb tense of which were differing is incorrect, so C is out.

[rd_eastbay]

Answering my own question, having looked at Erin's pointer to an earlier thread. Indeed the sentence quoted below is correct.

Originally Posted by rd_eastbay

Thanks Erin. I understand now; looking at this with a fresh mind helps too.

So if (C) were

The growth of the railroads led to the abolition of local times, which were determined by when the sun reached the observer’s meridian and which differed from city to city, and to the establishment of regional times.

Then the sentence would be correct. Right??

Once again, thanks a lot!

[khushi2020]

Nice job! It seems you've figured these things out for yourself, but feel free to ask again for clarification.

Thank you. I am truly complacent and wouldn't have taken the initiative to understand this better if you hadn't motivated me in the following sentence. (I hope this sentence is grammatically correct).

If that doesn't clear up your doubts, could you kindly explain to me in detail what's confusing you? It'll be a lot easier for me to explain if I know what's causing you trouble.

This is a great forum. I have learnt so much here....

[Erin]

So everybody's happy now? Wonderful. Let me savor the moment, LOL.

[rsr80]

hi cc2005,

thanks for your reply.

oh! so, should I understand that while "determined" is parallel with "differing" (based on "times" being object first and subject next), "which were determined" cannot be parallel with "differing" because it would then imply "which were differing" - a wrong usage.