The peaks of a mountain range

[serGINho]

6505

The peaks of a mountain range, acting like rocks in a streambed, produce ripples in the air flowing over them; the resulting flow pattern, with crests and troughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are known as "standing waves."

 

(A) crests and troughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are

(B) crests and troughs that remain stationary despite the rapidly moving air that forms them, is

© crests and troughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, is

(D) stationary crests and troughs although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are

(E) stationary crests and troughs although they are formed by rapidly moving air, is

[lost_into_wild]

option C

[vikram_k51]

The peaks of a mountain range, acting like rocks in a streambed, produce ripples in the air flowing over them; the resulting flow pattern, with crests and troughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are known as "standing waves."

 

(A) crests and troughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are------>'flow pattern' is singular

 

(B) crests and troughs that remain stationary despite the rapidly moving air that forms them, is------->the use 'despite ...forms' is incorrect,should be 'despite....forming'

 

© crests and troughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, is----->ok

 

(D) stationary crests and troughs although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are--------->flow pattern is singular

 

(E) stationary crests and troughs although they are formed by rapidly moving air, is-------->ok,but 'they' does n ot have a clear antecedent

 

Of C and E,E is more concise but for 'they';C seems more clear though wordy

 

will go with C

[john333]

flow pattern is singular so it requires "is" rather than plural "are".

 

Among B, C and E,

 

B incorrectly and illogically may state that air that forms them is called standing waves.

 

Between C and E,

I will go for C as E is a passive construction.

 

Comments?

[cartera]

The peaks of a mountain range, acting like rocks in a streambed, produce ripples in the air flowing over them; the resulting flow pattern, with crests and troughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are known as "standing waves."

 

(A) crests and troughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are------>'flow pattern' is singular

 

(B) crests and troughs that remain stationary despite the rapidly moving air that forms them, is------->the use 'despite ...forms' is incorrect,should be 'despite....forming'

 

© crests and troughs that remain stationary although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, is----->ok

 

(D) stationary crests and troughs although the air that forms them is moving rapidly, are--------->flow pattern is singular

 

(E) stationary crests and troughs although they are formed by rapidly moving air, is-------->ok,but 'they' does n ot have a clear antecedent

 

Of C and E,E is more concise but for 'they';C seems more clear though wordy

 

will go with C

 

what about them? if they does not have a clear antecendent, then them neither.

[john333]

Cartera,

 

I guess the point of difference is not "they" and "them".

As u pointed, both have a clear referent.

 

ActiveC wins over passive E.

When we have 2 grammatically correct sentences , 1 active and other passive then we must go for active construction...

[cartera]

Great, found Erin's post on this question:

 

http://www.www.urch.com/forums/gmat-sentence-correction/4042-beastly-sc-og.html#post14882

 

The [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] is basically trying to say that it sounds funny if you attach an "although... thing" clause to a "with... thing." I'm simplifying here, and trying not to use grammatical terms, but that's really what [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] is saying.

 

For example:

 

Carl, with his new shoes and hat although they weren't very expensive, entered the room proudly.

 

Doesn't this sentence sound funny? This part:

 

although they weren't very expensive

 

is trying to modify (or explain a bit more about) this part:

 

with his new shoes and hat

 

But it doesn't work, does it?

 

It doesn't work because the "although... part" should be connected to a complete idea (i.e., a sentence), not just a "minor point" in the sentence.

 

To correct the example I just gave you, we would need to rewrite the sentence entirely:

 

Although Carl's new shoes and hat were not very expensive, he was very proud of them.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Well, let me ask you first--does this sentence sound funny to you?

 

Carl, with his new shoes and hat although they weren't very expensive, entered the room proudly.

 

In the end, it will always be easy to explain and to understand using one's "ear" for grammar, but if you're still working to develop your "ear," grammar rules can help you a bit, too.

 

In the sentence I gave you above, it sounds funny because we are using "although" to contrast with a noun. Remember, "although" is used between two parts to show that the two parts have some sort of contrast. We have many such words in English (although, despite, but, however, to name a few), but they are all used in different ways, and are not completely interchangeable.

 

In the sentence above, we are constrasting a sentence ("they weren't very expensive") with a noun phrase ("new shoes and hat "). The idea that I expressed in the sentence is really a parenthetical idea (in other words, extra information or a "by the way" idea), so the sentence should be changed to something like this:

 

Carl, with his new shoes and hat (which actually weren't very expensive), entered the room proudly.

 

This sentence shouldn't sound funny.

 

Finally, let me show you a correct usage of "even though," a close synonym of "although":

 

I studied all night, even though I was very tired.

 

These two parts ("I studied all night" and "I was very tired") are in contrast and are complete ideas, which is why it doesn't sound funny to use "although" here.

 

HTH

 

I agree with you 100%, and understand how you feel.

 

GMAT tends to test much more "elusive" grammar concepts than do some other tests (such as TOEFL), and I've found in my years of teaching TOEFL and GMAT, that in the end, contact with the language (could be reading a lot, not necessarily living in an English speaking country) seems to help raise one's GMAT SC score more than does memorizing lots of rules.

 

Just my two cents, of course!

[mitzi]

 

(B) crests and troughs that remain stationary despite the rapidly moving air that forms them, is------->the use 'despite ...forms' is incorrect,should be 'despite....forming'

 

Any reason to use "forming"? Thanks a lot!

[serGINho]

the oa is C