Sentence Correction

jsche229 wrote:In the correct answer (B), how is the antecedent of "they" artisan's? Artisan's is acting as an adverbial modifier for "Creative Energy." How is this correct?

"They" refers to the "Buddha images" enshrined in the temples.

David, thanks much. Silly question. More importantly, bad sign I've been studying too long and need to take a break. Appreciate it!

jsche229 wrote:David, thanks much. Silly question. More importantly, bad sign I've been studying too long and need to take a break. Appreciate it!

Not a silly question at all. An important takeaway: the test-day killer isn't what we don't know. It's failing to recognize what we do know

Hello Everyone!

This looks like a great example of one of the tougher questions you might see on the GMAT! Let's start by taking a quick look at the options, and highlight in orange the major differences we can focus on to start:

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.

(A) 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
(B) much of the local artisans' creative energy was expended on the creation of Buddha images and on construction and decoration of the temples in which they were enshrined
(C) much of the local artisans' creative energy was expended on the creation of Buddha images as well as constructing and decoration of the temples in which they were enshrined
(D) creating images of Buddha accounted for much of the local artisans' creative energy, and also constructing and decorating the temples enshrining them
(E) the creating of Buddha images accounted for much of the local artisans' creative energy as well as construction and decoration of the temples that enshrined them

After a quick glance over the options, we have a few things we can focus on:

1. expended for / expended on / accounted for (idioms & meaning)
2. and / as well as
3. how each ends (possible issues with parallelism & intended meaning)

Let's start with #1, which focuses on choosing the right verb for the job! We have two verb options here, and we need to choose the correct one to convey the intended meaning. The verbs "expended" and "accounted for" mean slightly different things here:

the artisans' energy was expended on/for creating Buddha images = artisans used up a lot of creative energy to create these pieces of art
creating Buddha images accounted for the artisans' energy = artisans got their creative energy by making artwork about Buddha

For this sentence, it makes more sense to say that the artists used up their creative energy by creating so many pieces of Buddha imagery. It doesn't make logical sense to say that artists gained even more creative energy by creating tons of artwork - that's not really how creative energy works. Therefore, we can rule out options D & E because the verb "accounted for" changes the intended meaning.

Now, let's look at the other part of #1: expended for vs. expended on. It is not idiomatically correct to say that people "expend energy for" a task. It IS correct to say that people "expend energy on" a task! Let's see how each option handles this:

(A) 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
(B) much of the local artisans' creative energy was expended on the creation of Buddha images and on construction and decoration of the temples in which they were enshrined
(C) much of the local artisans' creative energy was expended on the creation of Buddha images as well as constructing and decoration of the temples in which they were enshrined

We can also rule out option A because "expended for" isn't idiomatically correct.

Now that we're left with only 2 options, let's take a closer look at parallelism. Remember that when we talk about a list of 2+ items, they both should be written using parallel wording, verb tense, structure, etc. Let's see how each option handles this:

(B) much of the local artisans' creative energy was expended on the creation of Buddha images and on construction and decoration of the temples in which they were enshrined

This is CORRECT! The phrases "on the creation of Buddha images" and "on construction and decoration of the temples" are written using parallel structure and wording!

(C) much of the local artisans' creative energy was expended on the creation of Buddha images as well as constructing and decoration of the temples in which they were enshrined

This is INCORRECT because the items are not worded using parallelism! The three actions (creation / constructing / decoration) aren't worded the same. We also don't like using "as well as" in place of the much less wordy "and" here. Remember - the GMAT prefers concise language whenever possible, so why use 3 words when 1 will do?

There you have it - option B is the correct choice!


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