Marine biologist Dr. James Chen studies gray whale populations along the Pacific coast. Migrating up to 12,000 miles annually between...
GMAT Standard English Conventions : (Grammar) Questions
Marine biologist Dr. James Chen studies gray whale populations along the Pacific coast. Migrating up to 12,000 miles annually between feeding and breeding grounds, _____
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Dr. Chen has documented that gray whales undertake one of the longest migrations of any mammal.
one of the longest migrations of any mammal is undertaken by gray whales, according to Dr. Chen's documentation.
Dr. Chen's documentation shows gray whales undertaking one of the longest migrations of any mammal.
gray whales undertake one of the longest migrations of any mammal, according to Dr. Chen.
Let's begin by understanding the meaning of this sentence. We'll use our understanding of pause points and segment the sentence as shown - understanding and assimilating the meaning of each segment bit by bit!
Sentence Structure
- Marine biologist Dr. James Chen
- studies gray whale populations
- along the Pacific coast.
- studies gray whale populations
- Migrating up to 12,000 miles annually
- between feeding and breeding grounds,
- [?] (varies in choices)
- between feeding and breeding grounds,
Understanding the Meaning
Let's start with the first sentence:
- 'Marine biologist Dr. James Chen studies gray whale populations along the Pacific coast.'
- This is straightforward: Dr. Chen is a scientist who studies gray whales.
Now the second sentence starts with a describing phrase:
- 'Migrating up to 12,000 miles annually between feeding and breeding grounds,'
This phrase is painting a picture of something that migrates incredible distances each year.
Now here's where we need to fill in the blank right after this phrase.
Let's look at our choices:
- A: Dr. Chen has documented...
- B: one of the longest migrations... is undertaken...
- C: Dr. Chen's documentation shows...
- D: gray whales undertake...
What do we notice about the structure here?
- When you start a sentence with a describing phrase like 'Migrating up to 12,000 miles,'
- whatever comes right after the comma MUST be the thing that's doing that action
- WHO or WHAT is migrating?
Let's think through this:
- Is Dr. Chen migrating? No - he's studying the whales.
- Is the documentation migrating? No - that doesn't make sense.
- Is "the migration" itself migrating? No - that's circular and illogical.
- Are the gray whales migrating? YES - that's exactly who migrates!
So we need gray whales to be the subject right after the comma.
The correct answer is Choice D: "gray whales undertake one of the longest migrations of any mammal, according to Dr. Chen."
This properly connects the describing phrase about migrating to the creatures who actually do the migrating - the gray whales themselves.
GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED
Placing Introductory Describing Phrases Correctly
When you start a sentence with a describing phrase that contains an action (especially one using an -ing verb form, called a participial phrase in grammar terms), the subject that comes immediately after the comma MUST be the person or thing doing that action. If it's not, you create a "dangling modifier" - a description that's disconnected from what it's supposed to describe.
The Pattern:
- Describing phrase with action, + [the thing doing that action]
Example 1:
- Wrong: "Running through the park, my phone fell out of my pocket."
- This says the phone was running (phones can't run!)
- Correct: "Running through the park, I dropped my phone."
- Now "I" am the one running
Example 2:
- Wrong: "Baking in the oven, Sarah smelled the cookies."
- This says Sarah was baking in the oven
- Correct: "Baking in the oven, the cookies filled the kitchen with their aroma."
- Now "the cookies" are what's baking
In this question:
- "Migrating up to 12,000 miles annually..." must be followed by gray whales
- Because the gray whales are the ones doing the migrating
- Not Dr. Chen, not his documentation, not "the migration" itself
Dr. Chen has documented that gray whales undertake one of the longest migrations of any mammal.
✗ Incorrect
"Dr. Chen has documented that gray whales undertake one of the longest migrations of any mammal."
- This creates a misplaced modifier error
- It makes Dr. Chen the subject right after "Migrating up to 12,000 miles"
- This incorrectly suggests that Dr. Chen is the one migrating
- But Dr. Chen doesn't migrate - the whales do
one of the longest migrations of any mammal is undertaken by gray whales, according to Dr. Chen's documentation.
✗ Incorrect
"one of the longest migrations of any mammal is undertaken by gray whales, according to Dr. Chen's documentation."
- This creates a misplaced modifier error
- It makes "the migration" the subject right after the describing phrase
- This illogically suggests that the migration itself is migrating
- A migration can't migrate - only the whales can
Dr. Chen's documentation shows gray whales undertaking one of the longest migrations of any mammal.
✗ Incorrect
"Dr. Chen's documentation shows gray whales undertaking one of the longest migrations of any mammal."
- This creates a misplaced modifier error
- It makes "documentation" the subject right after "Migrating up to 12,000 miles"
- This incorrectly suggests that the documentation is migrating
- Documentation can't migrate - only living creatures can
gray whales undertake one of the longest migrations of any mammal, according to Dr. Chen.
✓ Correct
Correct as explained in the solution above.