On Page 25 in the MGMAT SC guide, the second problem asks if one of the statements are better than the other or if none are clear.

A) The driver took the people for a ride who had been waiting.
B) The driver took the people who had been waiting for a ride
C) Both of the above are not clear

I chose B since A implies that the ride had been waiting, which doesn't make sense.
B makes sense to me because the driver picked up the people who had been waiting, whether be it for 2 minutes or 2 weeks.

Also, the 2 minutes or 2 weeks waiting period may or may not end at the point when the driver picked them up. For instance, they could be waiting for 2 minutes, and then they were immediately picked up. Or, firstly, they could be waiting for 2 minutes, secondly they did some other activity, and then thirdly they were picked up.

B has some ambiguity but B is clearly better than A. Why does MGMAT say C is correct when the answer explanation states the the change of meaning from A to be is JUSTIFIED (rather than UNJUSTIFIED to make C correct) and state C is correct rather than B?

Explanation on page 27: #2 (C). In the original sentence, the modifier who had been waiting does not clearly modify the people. It appears, illogically, to modify the closer noun (the ride). The second version moves "who had been waiting" next to "the people", thus making clear that it is the people who "had been waiting". This change of meaning is JUSTIFIED.

Shouldn't the answer be B given the above explanation? Or is it because of the ambiguity or some other explanation that causes the answer to be C?

I think it's clear that the meaning of (A) is unclear: it seems that the "ride" had been waiting. So therefore moving "who had been waiting" next to "people" is JUSTIFIED, because it clears up the meaning: the "people" were the ones "who had been waiting."

However, not only did we move "who had been waiting" next to "people," but we also moved "for a ride" after "waiting." This move is UNJUSTIFIED because it becomes ambiguous what "for a ride" refers to.
- Did the driver take the people ... for a ride? (meaning the driver drove by the people and took them all for a ride) OR
- Did the driver take ... the people who were waiting for a ride? (meaning the driver only took those who were waiting for a ride. He didn't take the other people.)

So for (B), the placement of "who had been waiting" is logical. However, the placement of "for a ride" is not.

Therefore, (C) is correct: neither are clear.

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Ben Ku
Instructor
ManhattanGMAT

Hi Ben,

Thank you very much for an awesome reply. I did not realize that there would be an ambiguity from the placement of "for a ride". To clarify, the ambiguity lies between the following:
1) The driver took the people who were waiting (specifically) for a ride
2) The driver took the people who were waiting (perhaps to avoid the RAIN) for a ride

Well put, gkumar! That's exactly the difference.

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Emily Sledge
Instructor
ManhattanGMAT