In 1995 Richard Stallman, A well-known Critic of the Patent System, Testified in Patent Office Hearings that, a Colleague of his has Managed to Win a Patent for One of Kirchhoff’s Laws, an Observation About Electric Current First Made in 1845 and Now Included in Virtually Every Textbook of Elementary Physics.

Question: In 1995 Richard Stallman, a well-known critic of the patent system, testified in Patent Office hearings that, a colleague of his has managed to win a patent for one of Kirchhoff’s laws, an observation about electric current first made in 1845 and now included in virtually every textbook of elementary physics.

1. Laws, an observation about electric current first made in 1845 and
2. Laws, which was an observation about electric current first made in 1845 and it is
3. Laws, namely, it was an observation about electric current first made in 1845 and
4. Laws, an observation about electric current first made in 1845, it is
5. Laws that was an observation about electric current, first made in 1845, it is

“In 1995 Richard Stallman, a well-known critic of the patent system, testified in Patent Office hearings that, a colleague of his has managed to win a patent for one of Kirchhoff’s laws, an observation about electric current first made in 1845 and now included in virtually every textbook of elementary physics.”- is a GMAT sentence correction question. This particular GMAT sentence correction topic has been taken from the book ‘The Official Guide of GMAT Verbal Review, 2nd Edition, 2009’. This question checks Parallelism, Comparison of two elements and Modifiers. GMAT Sentence Correction questions comprise 11-16 questions to be completed within 65 minutes. Each Sentence Correction question contains a sentence with an underlined portion that includes 0-2 errors.

Answer: A

Explanation: The following concepts are tested in the sentence:

1. Meaning
2. Tenses
3. Grammatical construction
4. Parallelism
5. Awkwardness

Option A: Correct
This option is correct because it accurately modifies “one of Kirchhoff’s laws” with “an observation about electric current first made in 1845 and now included in virtually every textbook of elementary physics”. It conveys the intended meaning that a colleague of Richard Stallman managed to win the patent to one of Kirchhoff’s laws, which is an observation about the electric current that was first made in 1845. This option also correctly uses a comma to join “In 1995 Richard….laws” and the dependent clause “an observation…. Physics”. So, Option A is correct

Option B: Incorrect
This option is incorrect because it uses the simple past tense verb “was” to refer to the piece of information that has a permanent nature. This type of information should be conveyed by using simple present tense and simple past tense should be used to refer to the events that have concluded in the past. So, Option B is incorrect.

Option C: Incorrect
This option is incorrect because it changes the meaning of the sentence by using “namely”. The sentence was an observation about electric current and the use of namely leads to an incoherent meaning. Also, this option incorrectly uses a comma to join two independent clauses “In 1995 Richard…..laws” and “namely…..physics”. So, Option C is incorrect.

Option D: Incorrect
This option is incorrect because it uses a comma to join two independent clauses “In 1995 Richard…..laws” and “it is now…...physics”. Always remember that two independent clauses can not be joined by using a comma. It must be replaced by a semicolon and followed by a conjunction such as “and” or “but”. So, Option D is incorrect

Option E: Incorrect
This option is incorrect because it changes the meaning of the sentence by using the phrase “that was an observation about electric current”. This phrase incorrectly implies that Richard Stallman’s colleague managed to win a patent on the specific Kirchhoff’s law that was an observation about electric current, which is not the case. So, Option E is incorrect.

Suggested GMAT Sentence Correction Samples

• Not Trusting Themselves to Choose Wisely Among the Wide array of Investment Opportunities on the Market, Stockbrokers are Helping many People who Turn to them to Buy Stocks that could be Easily Bought Directly.
• Fossils of the Arm of a Sloth Found in Puerto Rico in 1991, and Dated at 34 Million Years Old, Made it the Earliest known Mammal of the Greater Antilles Island.
• Nobody Knows Exactly How many Languages there are in the World, Partly Because of the Difficulty of Distinguishing Between a Language and the Sub-Languages or Dialects Within It
• Reporting that One of its Many Problems had been the Recent Extended Sales Slump in Women's Apparel, the Seven-Store Retailer said it would Start a Three-Month Liquidation Sale in all of its Stores.
• According to Recent Studies Comparing the Nutritional Value of Meat from Wild Animals and Meat from Domesticated Animals, Wild Animals have Less Total Fat than do Livestock Fed on Grain and more of a Kind of Fat they Think is Good for Cardiac Health.
• Hurricanes at First Begin Traveling from East to West, because that Direction is the way the Prevailing Winds in the Tropics Blow, but they then Veer off Toward Higher Latitudes
• As Criminal Activity on the Internet Becomes More and More Sophisticated, Not only are Thieves able to Divert Cash from Company Bank Accounts
• Because an Oversupply of Computer Chips has Sent Prices Plunging, the Manufacturer has Announced that it will Cut Production by Closing its Factories for Two Days a Month.
• Thelonious Monk, who was a Jazz Pianist and Composer, Produced a Body of Work both Rooted in the Stride-Piano Tradition of Willie (The Lion) Smith and Duke Ellington, Yet in Many ways he Stood Apart from the Mainstream Jazz Repertory.
• Proponents of Artificial Intelligence say they will be able to make Computers that can Understand English and Other Human Languages, Recognize Objects, and Reason as an Expert does—Computers that will be used to Diagnose Equipment Breakdowns, Deciding Whether to Authorize a Loan, or Other Purposes such as these.
• Created in 1945 to Reduce Poverty and Stabilize Foreign Currency Markets, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have, According to Some Critics
• Plants are More Efficient at Acquiring Carbon than are Fungi, in the Form of Carbon Dioxide, and Converting it to Energy-Rich Sugars.
• Elizabeth Barber, the Author of Both Prehistoric Textiles, a Comprehensive Work on Cloth in the Early Cultures of the Mediterranean
• In Ancient Thailand, Much of the Local Artisans' Creative Energy was Expended for the Creation of Buddha Images and When they Constructed and Decorated the Temples that Enshrined them.
• In an Experiment, Two Different Types of Recorded Music were Played
• This Museum does not Grant People the Right to Use Images of Items in its Collection in Online Publications
• November is Traditionally the Strongest Month for Sales of Light Trucks.
• Seldom More Than 40 Feet Wide and 12 Feet Deep, but It Ran 363 miles Across the Rugged Wilderness of Upstate New York
• As an actress and, more importantly, as a teacher of acting, Stella Adler was one of the most influential artists in the American theater, who trained several generations of actors including Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro.
• Starfish, With Anywhere from Five to Eight arms, Have a Strong Regenerative Ability, and If One arm is Lost it Quickly Replaces It, Sometimes by the Animal Overcompensating and Growing an Extra One or Two.