Rivaling the pyramids of Egypt or even the ancient

This topic has expert replies
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 292
Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2009 8:39 am
Thanked: 6 times
Followed by:1 members

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

Rivaling the pyramids of Egypt or even the ancient cities of the Maya as an achievement, the army of terra-cotta warriors created to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife is more than 2,000 years old and took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to complete


a) the army of terra-cotta warriors created to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife is more than 2,000 years old and took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to complete

b) Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, was protected in his afterlife by an army of terracotta that was created more than 2,000 years ago by 700,000 artisans who took more than 36 yrs to complete it

c) it took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to create an army of terra-cotta warriers more than 2,000 years ago that would protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife

d) more than 2,000 years ago,700,000 artisans worked more than 36 years to create an army of terra-cotta warriors to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife

e) more than 36 years were needed to complete the army of terra-cotta warriors that 700,000 artisans created 2,000 years ago to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife

[spoiler]Source - OG 12; OA - A; I do not find anything wrong with B[/spoiler]
Last edited by pnk on Fri Jul 23, 2010 8:42 pm, edited 3 times in total.

User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 406
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2010 11:36 am
Location: Syracuse, NY
Thanked: 23 times
Followed by:4 members
GMAT Score:740

by tomada » Fri Jul 23, 2010 8:48 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

Are you concerned that you found nothing wrong with the OA?

pnk wrote:Rivaling the pyramids of Egypt or even the ancient cities of the Maya as an achievement, the army of terra-cotta warriors created to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife is more than 2,000 years old and took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to complete them


a) the army of terra-cotta warriors created to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife is more than 2,000 years old and took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to complete them

b) Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, was protected in his afterlife by an army of terracotta that was created more than 2,000 years ago by 700,000 artisans who took more than 36 yrs to complte it

c) it took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to create an army of terra-cotta warriers more than 2,000 years ago that would protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife

d) more than 2,000 years ago,700,000 artisans worked more than 36 years to create an army of terra-cotta warriors to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife

e) more than 36 years were needed to complete the army of terra-cotta warriors that 700,000 artisans created 2,000 years ago to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife

[spoiler]OA - A; I do not find anything wrong with A[/spoiler]

User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1172
Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 6:20 pm
Thanked: 74 times
Followed by:4 members

by uwhusky » Fri Jul 23, 2010 8:55 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

Since the opening clause is a adverbial participle modifier, I would always start off by looking for the subject and use it to form a sentence to see if it makes any sense.

A: the army of terra-cotta warriors is rivaling the pyramids of Egypt. - makes sense.
B: Qin Shi Huang is rivaling the pyramids - not so much, it might make sense if he's being compared to a pharaoh instead of pyramid.
C: it is ambiguous and not comparable.
D: more than 2000 years is not comparable.
E: same as D.

I think when it comes to modifier error, usually the answer can be determined by just that error alone. I might have to dig in OG again and see if I can find some exceptions to such observation.

By the way, D is grammatically correct if the sentence wasn't started with a modifier. But in terms of meaning, D's main focus is on how long ago it was built and the monumental task of building the warriors, not the warriors themselves.

User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 406
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2010 11:36 am
Location: Syracuse, NY
Thanked: 23 times
Followed by:4 members
GMAT Score:740

by tomada » Fri Jul 23, 2010 9:08 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

My only issue with statement 'A' was the inclusion of the word "them" as the final word. I'm not suggesting that the statement is grammatically incorrect, but I wonder if "them" is necessary.

uwhusky wrote:Since the opening clause is a adverbial participle modifier, I would always start off by looking for the subject and use it to form a sentence to see if it makes any sense.

A: the army of terra-cotta warriors is rivaling the pyramids of Egypt. - makes sense.
B: Qin Shi Huang is rivaling the pyramids - not so much, it might make sense if he's being compared to a pharaoh instead of pyramid.
C: it is ambiguous and not comparable.
D: more than 2000 years is not comparable.
E: same as D.

I think when it comes to modifier error, usually the answer can be determined by just that error alone. I might have to dig in OG again and see if I can find some exceptions to such observation.

By the way, D is grammatically correct if the sentence wasn't started with a modifier. But in terms of meaning, D's main focus is on how long ago it was built and the monumental task of building the warriors, not the warriors themselves.

User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1172
Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 6:20 pm
Thanked: 74 times
Followed by:4 members

by uwhusky » Fri Jul 23, 2010 9:18 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

tomada wrote:My only issue with statement 'A' was the inclusion of the word "them" as the final word. I'm not suggesting that the statement is grammatically incorrect, but I wonder if "them" is necessary.
I just checked the verb type of "complete" and it's a transitive, which means that it must be followed by a noun phrase. So "them" is actually necessary.

Good call on catching this, and I would probably skip using them myself!

User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 406
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2010 11:36 am
Location: Syracuse, NY
Thanked: 23 times
Followed by:4 members
GMAT Score:740

by tomada » Fri Jul 23, 2010 9:26 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

Hmm, I'm not convinced that "them" is necessary at the end of the statement, but I guess that'll be my problem when I take the GMAT.

uwhusky wrote:
tomada wrote:My only issue with statement 'A' was the inclusion of the word "them" as the final word. I'm not suggesting that the statement is grammatically incorrect, but I wonder if "them" is necessary.
I just checked the verb type of "complete" and it's a transitive, which means that it must be followed by a noun phrase. So "them" is actually necessary.

Good call on catching this, and I would probably skip using them myself!

User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1172
Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 6:20 pm
Thanked: 74 times
Followed by:4 members

by uwhusky » Fri Jul 23, 2010 9:31 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

https://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/verbs.htm

"First, some verbs require an object to complete their meaning: "She gave _____ ?" Gave what? She gave money to the church. These verbs are called transitive."

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/complete

Main Entry: 2complete
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): com·plet·ed; com·plet·ing

Hopefully above reference is sufficient to explain why it is necessary.

GMAT Instructor
Posts: 1578
Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 8:02 am
Thanked: 128 times
Followed by:34 members
GMAT Score:760

by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Fri Jul 23, 2010 9:42 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

uwhusky wrote:https://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/verbs.htm

"First, some verbs require an object to complete their meaning: "She gave _____ ?" Gave what? She gave money to the church. These verbs are called transitive."

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/complete

Main Entry: 2complete
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): com·plet·ed; com·plet·ing

Hopefully above reference is sufficient to explain why it is necessary.
You're about to kill it.
https://www.beatthegmat.com/the-retake-o ... 51414.html

Brandon Dorsey
GMAT Instructor
Veritas Prep

Buy any Veritas Prep book(s) and receive access to 5 Practice Cats for free! Learn More.

User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 318
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2009 3:55 am
Thanked: 12 times

by nikhilkatira » Fri Jul 23, 2010 8:05 pm

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

This question is from OG 12 question no. 61 and option A doesn't have "them ".

Also "them" can't refer to army ( collective noun )
Best,
Nikhil H. Katira

Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 292
Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2009 8:39 am
Thanked: 6 times
Followed by:1 members

by pnk » Fri Jul 23, 2010 8:43 pm

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

Thanks. Corrected.

Pls explain problem with B

User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 318
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2009 3:55 am
Thanked: 12 times

by nikhilkatira » Fri Jul 23, 2010 9:34 pm

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

nikhilkatira wrote:This question is from OG 12 question no. 61 and option A doesn't have "them ".

Also "them" can't refer to army ( collective noun )
OG says option B has dangling modifier issue but I eliminated Option B because the contruction of sentence is wordy
( passive also )

If you look at Option A and B, you can make out the difference.
Best,
Nikhil H. Katira

User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 278
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2009 1:17 pm
Location: Bangalore,India
Thanked: 17 times

by loveusonu » Fri Jul 23, 2010 11:23 pm

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

Isn't IT redundant in option B?
Sonu
--------
When you want something desperately, the whole Universe conspires in helping to give it to you - The Alchemist

User avatar
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 51
Joined: Mon May 10, 2010 11:55 pm
Thanked: 4 times

by surajgarg » Sat Jul 24, 2010 12:43 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

The sentence starts with "Rivaling the pyramids of Egypt or even the ancient cities of the Maya as an achievement"

Now ask the question - What is 'rivaling' the pyramids and ancient cities of Maya?

It should be something immediately after the comma.

From the choices the best that fits is 'the army of terra cotta...'

The initial part of the sentence is modifying the subject immediately after the comma.

Legendary Member
Posts: 784
Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2011 3:51 am
Thanked: 114 times
Followed by:12 members

by patanjali.purpose » Thu Jun 02, 2011 10:54 pm

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

Pls explain why "Rivaling the pyramids of Egypt or even the ancient cities of the Maya as an achievement" cannot modify Qin Shi Huang.

Secondly, if 'Qin Shi Huang' is not a human being - then is the usage of 'china's first emperor' correct in A

Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Feb 23, 2011 2:34 am

by pras4gmat » Sat Jun 04, 2011 7:11 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

This question is from GMAT prep and correct answer is C
From concision perspective "it" is not required