The World Wildlife Fund has declared that

The World Wildlife Fund has declared that global warming, a phenomenon most scientist agree to be caused by human beings in burning fossil fuels, will create havoc among migratory birds by altering the environment in ways harmful to their habitat.

3 Explanations

▲

Anupam Chatterjee

Hi,

I got this question correct. I was stuck between answer choice B and C. I rejected B on the ground that - The phenomenon is caused by "burning of fossil fuel" not by "Fossil fuel burned by Human". Was my understanding incorrect? I also took consideration of "that" which is discussed in this Video Explanation.

Thanks!

May 18, 2018 • Comment

David Recine, Magoosh Tutor

It could be argued that the phrase "caused by fossils burned by human beings" is unnecessarily complex in terms of grammar, with its two consecutive "by" prepositional phrases. However, this is a very subtle distinction. The difference between "by fossil fuels burned by human beings" and "by human beings' burning of fossil fuels" is very small. And even though the phrasing for (B) is not quite as good as the phrasing for (C), the (B) phrasing could arguably be acceptable on the GMAT.

In short, it's impressive that you could pick up n that small detail, and your observation is correct. However, GMAT SC would never base the right or wrong answer just on that kind of minor detail alone.

May 18, 2018 • Reply

▲

Mike McGarry, Magoosh Tutor