GMAT Practice Question (One of Hundreds)
In the 1970s word leaked that the Tuskegee Institute had performed experiments in which researchers withheld medicine from African American males with syphilis in order to learn how the disease progresses, and in the process, the researchers had caused the deaths of dozens of men.
Correct Answer: A
Make sure that all modifiers are placed in the most logical positions in order to avoid confusion. Make sure the sentence is as clear and concise as possible.
This sentence states the material in the most concise and clear manner possible. The modifiers acting as adjectives directly follow the nouns that they modify, and other modifiers are placed close to the words they modify in order to avoid confusion.
- This sentence states the material in the most concise and clear manner possible. The modifiers acting as adjectives directly follow the nouns that they modify, and other modifiers are placed close to the words they modify in order to avoid confusion.
- The placement of the prepositional phrase from many African American males allows for confusion. The sentence intends to state that the medicine was withheld from many African American males, but the construction of the sentence could make it seem as though the syphilis came from the African American males. The participial phrase beginning with killing does not have a noun preceding it to modify. It is a dangling modifier and incorrect. Them is a vague pronoun and has no clear antecedent.
- The placement of the clause beginning with in which allows for confusion. The intended antecedent for which is experiments, but African Americans could easily be mistaken for the antecedent. The prepositional phrase by receiving the correct treatment seems to refer to researchers, who did not receive any treatment. The placement of the prepositional phrase from the researchers could cause confusion. Although the intention of the sentence is to indicate that the treatment was received from the researchers, the prepositional phrase seems to indicate that the syphilis was from the researchers.
- The placement of the clause beginning with in which allows for confusion. The intended antecedent for which is experiments, but African Americans could easily be mistaken for the antecedent. The placement of the prepositional phrase from the researchers could cause confusion. Although the intention of the sentence is to indicate that the treatment was received from the researchers, the prepositional phrase seems to indicate that the syphilis was from the researchers.
- Causing is in the incorrect tense; it is not parallel with the verb withheld, which states the action of the researchers in the first part of the sentence.