Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
x2suresh wrote:
Unlike the original National Museum of Science and Technology in Italy, where the models are encased in glass or operated only by staff members, the Virtual Leonardo Project, an online version of the museum, encourages visitors to “touch” each exhibit, which thereby activates the animated functions of the piece.
(A) exhibit, which thereby activates
(B) exhibit, in turn an activation of
(C) exhibit, and it will activate
(D) exhibit and thereby activate
(E) exhibit which, as a result, activates
Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of the crucial part of this sentence is that touching each exhibit activates the animated functions of the piece.
Concepts tested here: Meaning + Modifiers + Pronouns + Grammatical Construction• "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma.
• In a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction.
• Information vital to the core meaning cannot be placed between commas.
• “that” is used to provide the information needed to preserve the core meaning of the sentence, and the “comma + which” construction is used to provide extra information.
A: Trap. This answer choice incorrectly refers to "each exhibit" with "which thereby activates", incorrectly implying that the exhibit
itself activates the animated functions of the piece; the intended meaning is that
the act of touching the exhibit activates the animated functions of the piece; please remember, "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma.
B: This answer choice incorrectly modifies "each exhibit" with "in turn an activation", illogically implying that each exhibit
is an activation of the animated functions of the piece; the intended meaning is that
the act of touching the exhibit activates the animated functions of the piece; please remember, in a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun.
C: This answer choice suffers from pronoun ambiguity, as the pronoun "it" lacks a clear referent.
D: Correct. This answer choice avoids the modification errors seen in Options A, B, and E, as it uses the phrase "and thereby activate", conveying the intended meaning - that the act of touching each exhibit activates the animated functions of the piece. Further, Option D avoids the pronoun error seen in Option C, as it uses no pronouns. Additionally, Option D avoids the grammatical construction error seen in Option E, as it places no information between commas. Besides, Option D avoids the modifier error seen in Option E, as it does not use "which".
E: This answer choice incorrectly modifies "each exhibit" with "which...activates", incorrectly implying that the exhibit
itself activates the animated functions of the piece; the intended meaning is that
the act of touching the exhibit activates the animated functions of the piece. Further, Option E incorrectly places information vital to the core meaning of the sentence - the fact that the animated functions of the piece are activated
as a result of visitors touching the exhibit - between two commas; please remember, information vital to the core meaning cannot be placed between commas. Additionally, Option E incorrectly uses "which" to refer to information vital to the core meaning of the sentence; please remember, “that” is used to provide the information needed to preserve the core meaning of the sentence, and the “comma + which” construction is used to provide extra information.
Hence, D is the best answer choice.To understand the concept of "Phrase Comma Subject" and "Subject Comma Phrase" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1minute):
To understand the concept of "Which" vs "That" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):
To understand the concept of "Extra Information Between Commas" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team