Sentence Correction

At the time of the Mexican agrarian revolution, the most radical faction, that of Zapata and his followers, proposed a return to communal ownership of land, to what had been a pre-Columbian form of ownership respected by the Spaniards.
(A) land, to what had been a pre-Columbian form of ownership respected by the Spaniards
(B) land, a form of ownership of the pre-Columbians and respected by the Spaniards
(C) land, respected by the Spaniards and a pre-Columbian form of ownership
(D) land in which a pre-Columbian form of ownership was respected by the Spaniards
(E) land that had been a pre-Columbian form of ownership respected by the

why oa is A not Bor E?

I think B is wrong because the answer needs to be in the past perfect tense. Both A and E are in the past perfect tense, but I really don't see why A is the answer and not E, so if someone else can shed light on that it would be greatly appreciated.

Option E suggests that the land had been a pre-columbian form of ownership.
It should be the communal ownership which had been a pre-columbian form of ownership. Hence the option should be A

osirus0830 wrote:I think B is wrong because the answer needs to be in the past perfect tense. Both A and E are in the past perfect tense, but I really don't see why A is the answer and not E, so if someone else can shed light on that it would be greatly appreciated.

@ osirus0830: You mean the choice B would be OK if it is written like this...... land, a form of ownership of the pre-Columbians and had been respected by the Spaniards

please comment.

Why isn't the answer C?

real2008 wrote:

osirus0830 wrote:I think B is wrong because the answer needs to be in the past perfect tense. Both A and E are in the past perfect tense, but I really don't see why A is the answer and not E, so if someone else can shed light on that it would be greatly appreciated.

@ osirus0830: You mean the choice B would be OK if it is written like this...... land, a form of ownership of the pre-Columbians and had been respected by the Spaniards

please comment.

Yes, that would have been grammatically correct. Where did you get this question? I hope its not from the official guide, because this is really poorly written to the point that its almost unfair. When you have a return to something the following clause should have illustrated what they were transitioning from. As it stands, that sentence is really awkward. While, I guess its not technically grammatically incorrect by choosing option A, it is definitely awkward and poorly written.

Hey there has been lot of discussion going on with this one.
Please suggest which one to go for.

The OA is A. But E looks much better than A

https://www.urch.com/forums/gmat-sentenc ... ution.html

https://www.urch.com/forums/gmat-sentenc ... 153-a.html

Searched other forum for a good explanation. But in vain. Can anyone explain why A beats E?

Tx

Can we have the experts comment on this one please.

I think there is some sort of meaning error tht we are missing out.

Experts opine please!

I think E is correct ..

On my first pass I obviously picked E. But after re reading I realised that since E is using land that so the succeding clause is actually modifying land. to what on the other hand refers to communal ownership of land. I am nt at all sure. Experts please comment. Ian,Stacy anyone listening ? Please bail us out

this question is in GMATPREP and the OA is E
please check your sources before posting....

analyst218 wrote:this question is in GMATPREP and the OA is E
please check your sources before posting....

I have a booklet in my hands that states that OA is A. Please do not assume that we are being careless. In my case this is my only reference and I guess I have to trust it and so do all the people posting here.

Where did you get that answer? Maybe your material is updated? Or a revised version?

GMATPREP source mba.com

mba.com is where u register for gmat and get ur score.

i dont know what booklet, but go with mba.com please

real2008 wrote:At the time of the Mexican agrarian revolution, the most radical faction, that of Zapata and his followers, proposed a return to communal ownership of land, to what had been a pre-Columbian form of ownership respected by the Spaniards.
(A) land, to what had been a pre-Columbian form of ownership respected by the Spaniards
(B) land, a form of ownership of the pre-Columbians and respected by the Spaniards
(C) land, respected by the Spaniards and a pre-Columbian form of ownership
(D) land in which a pre-Columbian form of ownership was respected by the Spaniards
(E) land that had been a pre-Columbian form of ownership respected by the

why oa is A not Bor E?

can an expert pls explain this ans referring to each given option?!

Thanx in advance!