Hi MGMAT Staff,

The following SC problems are from the MGMAT guide (page 79 - Modifiers Problem Set).



Q9. The quick-witted hostess pitched a tent over the garden party, a way to protect the guests from the imminent rain.

Guide Ans -> The quick-witted hostess pitched a tent that protected the guests at the garden party from the imminent rain.

Is the following answer also correct? -> The quick-witted hostess pitched a tent over the garden party to protect the guests from the imminent rain.

Q15. Obstinate and surly, the manager's attitude alienated his employees.

Guide Ans -> The manager's obstinate and surly attitude alienated his employees.

Are the following answers also correct? -> Obstinate and surly, the manager alienated his employees with his attitude. OR -> The manager alienated his employees with his obstinate and surly attitude.

Thanks for your help.

Guest

all of your new sentences are correct.

in fact, your rephrasing of the tent sentence is arguably better than ours, because it preserves the exact meaning of the original better (i.e., she pitched the tent with the intent of protecting the guests from the rain). our new version goes so far as to say that the tent definitely did protect the guests, whereas your version retains the more conservative phrasing of the original.

duly noted.

Sir,even the original sentence (manhattan SC guide,pg 81)
15) Obstinate and surly, the manager's attitude alienated his employees.
seems correct to me.Though the corrected version:
The manager's obstinate and surly attitude alienated his employees.
is more direct with the adjectives-obstinate and surly-placed immediately before the noun-attitude-they modify.
Please comment-can we claim the original sentence to be correct.

Hi Ron,

Can HIS in the above sentence refer to Manager's.

as in .......The manager's obstinate and surly attitude alienated the manager's employees.

I'll step in for Ron:

Yes, "his" is a possessive pronoun whose antecedent is "manager's."

Parveen: "obstinate and surly" are better placed directly next to the noun the modify, "attitude."