GWD一道语法求解

sweetbecky

For the first time in the modern era, non-Hispanic Whites are officially a minority in California, which amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from nearly there-quarters only a decade ago.

1. which amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from nearly three-quarters only a decade ago
   
2. which amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from a decade ago, when it was nearly three-quarters
   
3. and that amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from a decade ago, when they were nearly three-quarters
   
4. amounting to a little less than half the population of the state, down from nearly three-quarters a decade ago
   
5. amounting to a little less than half the population of the state, down from what it was a decade ago by nearly three-quarters
   
   这题，A中有only， 而D中没有，所以我鉴于only不可随便扔掉的原则，选择了D，可是正确答案是A
   
   不大明白，求解是，因为觉得amounting其实也存在就近修饰California 的可能，和A中的which存在同样的弊端
   

dingzhiyu

prep08语法笔记：

206. (GWD-13-30)
For the first time in the modern era, non-Hispanic Whites are officially a minority in California, which amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from nearly three-quarters only a decade ago.
A.    which amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from nearly three-quarters only a decade ago
B.    which amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from a decade ago, when it was nearly three-quarters
C.    and that amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from a decade ago, when they were nearly three-quarters
D.    amounting to a little less than half the population of the state, down from nearly three-quarters a decade ago    
E.    amounting to a little less than half the population of the state, down from what it was a decade ago by nearly three-quarters

题目释义：.., non-Hispanic Whites are...., amounting to..., down from...
考点：
句子结构
选项分析：
A. which无所指，前面没有成分可以与amounts to连接（the numbers of non-Hispanic Whites in California才可以）；only修饰a decade ago错误。
B. which无所指；down from a decade ago逻辑意思不合理；it无所指。
C. and that amounts中that无所指；they无指代对象。
D. Correct；amounting做状语修饰前面整个主系表结构；对于only的省略见“补充说明”
E. down from what it was a decade ago比较对象不合理, 应该是人口数与人口数比,而不是人口与时间；it无所指；what it was很wordy and awkward；down from…by改变原句含义。
补充说明：
1. 代词指代：
代词不一定是就近指代（但过远一定不好），通常代词指代对象的查找顺序为：
(1) 主从句中：先指代主语的核心词，再指代宾语或表语的核心词，最后指代修饰语中的名词。
(2) 并列句中：有2个或3个句子并列，第2个或第3个句子中的代词应该优先指代第1句中主句的名词。
2. only 强调副词，至于其是否省略，要根据其作用而定。
down from ... 本来就是一分句，不是主要成分，所以only在其中的作用也有限，仅是强调时间状语而已。
所以，是否强调from a decade ago没有显著区别。

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sweetbecky

which为什么不能指代minority呢？

dingzhiyu

which为什么不能指代minority呢？

-- by 会员 sweetbecky (2012/8/25 11:26:33)

http://forum.chasedream.com/GMAT_SC/thread-628540-1-1.html?postid=15680583&searchmode=TopicContent&searchtext=non Hispanic Whites

2楼~

zenglh1988

For the first time in the modern era, non-Hispanic Whites are officially a minority in California, which amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from nearly there-quarters only a decade ago.

which amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from nearly three-quarters only a decade ago
which amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from a decade ago, when it was nearly three-quarters
and that amounts to a little less than half the population of the state, down from a decade ago, when they were nearly three-quarters
amounting to a little less than half the population of the state, down from nearly three-quarters a decade ago
amounting to a little less than half the population of the state, down from what it was a decade ago by nearly three-quarters

这题，A中有only， 而D中没有，所以我鉴于only不可随便扔掉的原则，选择了D，可是正确答案是A

不大明白，求解是，因为觉得amounting其实也存在就近修饰California 的可能，和A中的which存在同样的弊端

-- by 会员 sweetbecky (2012/8/24 22:51:45)

现在分词短语在句末，而且被逗号与前面的句子隔开，这种情况在GMAT中只作状语修饰主句，可以是伴随，或结果。
which如果指代a minority的话，改变了句子意思，原句是要强调的是no-Hispanic White的数量变化，而不是强调a minority数量的变化（a minority在这里不能指代no-Hispanic White，因为a minority在这里并没有作为no-Hispanic White的同位语出现，而是系表结构中的表语）；而且a minority会导致与nearly three quarters only a decade ago意思上的矛盾。