Sentence Correction

A group of paleontologists recently announced that a site in Utah has yielded fossils of some of the biggest armored dinosaurs ever found, and they are at least 25 million years older than those of any similar dinosaur type that previously was found in North America.

(A) and they are at least 25 million years older than those of any similar dinosaur type that previously was
(B) and that they were at least 25 million years older than any similar dinosaur type previously
(C) and the fossils are at least 25 million years older than any similar dinosaur types that previously were
(D) fossils that are at least 25 million years older than those of any similar dinosaur type previously
(E) fossils at least 25 million years older than similar dinosaur types that were previously

[spoiler]OA:D[/spoiler]

Please explain why are the wrong options wrong.

Thanks.

gmat_perfect wrote:A group of paleontologists recently announced that a site in Utah has yielded fossils of some of the biggest armored dinosaurs ever found, and they are at least 25 million years older than those of any similar dinosaur type that previously was found in North America.

(A) and they are at least 25 million years older than those of any similar dinosaur type that previously was
(B) and that they were at least 25 million years older than any similar dinosaur type previously
(C) and the fossils are at least 25 million years older than any similar dinosaur types that previously were
(D) fossils that are at least 25 million years older than those of any similar dinosaur type previously
(E) fossils at least 25 million years older than similar dinosaur types that were previously

[spoiler]OA:D[/spoiler]

Please explain why are the wrong options wrong.

Thanks.

A>>they is ambiguous
B>> they is ambiguous
C>> comparison done between fossils and dinosaur types. Those should be used as in D
D>> the second clause is used as appositive. fossils is written again to emphasize
I remeber a sentence in OG 12 on similar lines.....where the sentences structure was like this
Lawyer gave example of newton's laws, laws that are........

E>> that is necessary to point out that we are talking about particular fossils

Can someone help clarify how the appositive is used correctly in D?

I thought appositives must be next to the noun they are modifying. Since "fossils" is restated is this an exception to the rule? An explanation would help tremendously. Thanks!

does they in B ambiguous

adi_800 wrote:does they in B ambiguous

Yes it is ambiguous. Other issues with B are -

1) comparing fossils to "dinosaur type".
2) use of "were"

fukushima.ryan wrote:Can someone help clarify how the appositive is used correctly in D?

I thought appositives must be next to the noun they are modifying. Since "fossils" is restated is this an exception to the rule? An explanation would help tremendously. Thanks!

There are bunch of names for these modifiers, and I am confused often on which name is referring to which. With that said, I'll introduce you the Absolute Phrase =). You can refer to page 237 in MGMAT SC guide for more details on this clause's particular usage.

A B C E: fossils compare with types
D: types compare with types

uwhusky wrote:

fukushima.ryan wrote:Can someone help clarify how the appositive is used correctly in D?

I thought appositives must be next to the noun they are modifying. Since "fossils" is restated is this an exception to the rule? An explanation would help tremendously. Thanks!

There are bunch of names for these modifiers, and I am confused often on which name is referring to which. With that said, I'll introduce you the Absolute Phrase =). You can refer to page 237 in MGMAT SC guide for more details on this clause's particular usage.

Thanks for the reference. I'll take a look again.