Question
In 1913, the largely self-taught Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan mailed 120 of his theorems to three different British mathematicians; only one, G. H. Hardy, recognized the brilliance of these theorems, but thanks to Hardy’s recognition, Ramanujan was eventually elected to the Royal Society of London.
Option A
Option B
Option C
Option D
Option E
(This question is from Official Guide. Therefore, because of copyrights, the complete question cannot be copied here. The question can be accessed at GMAT Club)
Solution
Sentence Analysis
- In 1913, (Prepositional phrase modifying the first independent clause)
- the largely self-taught Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan mailed (Subject: Srinivasa Ramanujan; Verb: mailed)
- 120 of his theorems (Object of the verb ‘mailed’)
- to three different British mathematicians; (prepositional phrase modifying the verb ‘mailed’)
- only one, G. H. Hardy, recognized the brilliance of these theorems, (Another Independent clause. Subject: ‘Only one’; Verb: recognized)
- but thanks to Hardy’s recognition, Ramanujan was eventually elected to the Royal Society of London. (Another Independent Clause. Subject: Ramanujan; Verb: was elected)
The sentence says that SR mailed 120 theorems to three mathematicians. Only of them recognized the value of these theorems. However, because of that person’s recognition, SR was eventually elected to Royal Society of London.
The sentence doesn’t have any errors.
Option Analysis
(A) Correct.
(B) Incorrect. For the following reasons:
- The reference of ‘they’ is highly unclear. ‘they’ can refer to either ‘mathematicians’ or ‘theorems’.
- In this structure, it is not clear who is G. H. Hardy. In option A, given the phrasing, it was clear that G. H. Hardy is one of the three mathematicians.
(C) Incorrect. For the following reasons:
- What G. H. Hardy recognized is not mentioned.
- Even in this structure, it is not clear whether G. H. Hardy is one of the three mathematicians.
- A comma after G. H. Hardy is missing.
(D) Incorrect. This option when placed in the sentence leads to the following structure:
but, only one G. H. Hardy, recognizing their brilliance, thanks to Hardy’s recognition, Ramanujan was eventually elected to the Royal Society of London.
This option is incorrect for the following reasons:
- The structure of the sentence is completely wrong. Ignoring the modifiers, there are two nouns ‘G. H. Hardy’ and ‘Ramanujan’ one after the other connected by just a comma. Even if we connect them with an ‘and’, the sentence wouldn’t have any logical meaning.
- The use of ‘but’ after semi-colon is not preferred. If ‘but’ has to be used, we don’t need a semi-colon. We can just use a ‘comma + but’ to separate two independent clauses.
(E) Incorrect. For the following reasons:
- ‘only one G. H. Hardy’ comically suggests that there were multiple G. H. Hardy, but only one of them recognized.
- What G. H. Hardy recognized is not mentioned.
- When inserted into the sentence, this option leads to a structure ‘but these theorems were brilliant thanks to Hardy’s recognition, Ramanujan was eventually elected …’, which is both grammatically and meaning-wise incorrect.
If you have any doubts regarding any part of this solution, please feel free to ask in the comments section.
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only one, G. H. Hardy, recognized the brilliance of these theorems, but…….. thanks to Hardy’s recognition, Ramanujan was eventually elected to the Royal Society of London.
In the option a if we consider information within the comma (but thanks to Hardy’s recognition) as additional information then I feel two ICs are not connected properly using FANBOYS.
only one, G. H. Hardy, recognized the brilliance of these theorems,Ramanujan was eventually elected to the Royal Society of London. (But is within the comma)
Hi Shekhar,
‘but thanks to Hardys recognition’ is not within double commas. There is a comma before ‘but’ and then there is a different comma after ‘recognition’. Since there is no color-coding of commas in English language, it is our job to figure out ‘which comma goes with which thing’ in a way that the sentence makes sense.
– Chiranjeev
Why is option C incorrect?
Meaning analysis:
These theorems were brilliant – Clause 2 ; Subject Theorems ; Verb – Brilliant
,But only one, G.H. Hardy recognized – Out of the three theorems G.H. Hardy recognized only one. (This is a continuation of clause 2)
;Thanks… Clause 3
While I agree with point 2 that you mentioned- Even in this structure, it is not clear whether G. H. Hardy is one of the three mathematicians. I do not feel there is any error in this structure (Thought the meaning conveyed is different from the original sentence)
Hi Hoozan,
Option C is wrong for errors 1 and 3 even if we do not take error 2 into consideration. Your analysis is not correct on the following points:
1. “were” is the verb for “theorems”. “Brilliant” is an adjective and can never be a verb.
2. If we consider that “only one” refers to one of the theorems, the sentence structure will be completely wrong. “Only one theorem G.H. Hardy recognized” is not standard English. “Only one was recognized by G.H. Hardy” and “G.H. Hardy recognized only one one” are correct constructions.
It’s a nice explanation. Thanks for sharing.
Is use of “but” correct in the Answer Choice A. “but” is usually meant to represent some contrasting statement, but that is not happening here. Can you please correct my understanding with the use of “but”?
There is some contrast here. The contrast is that even though only one person recognized his brilliance, he was eventually elected to a prestigious society.
Hi CJ,
I have a few questions:
[1] In option C/D/E – Do you think the placement of “but” changes the intended contrast?
i.e. the contrast that although only one of the 3 mathematicians recognized brilliance of RMJ’s theorem but that was enough to get him elected as a member of RSL is lost in option C, D, and E.
[2] In option D – what does verb-ing modifier “recognizing” modify? Does it modify “only one G H Hardy” or “Ramanujan” ?
1. There is indeed a change in contrast. However, the contrast presented in these options is also logical.
2. G.H. Hardy
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