Source: GMAT Prep
Though the artifacts of pre-Columbian civilization created a stir from the very first European contacts with the New World in the sixteenth century, it was not until the latter half of the nineteenth century that Western designers, artists, and crafters were inspired to imitate them.
A. it was not until the latter half of the nineteenth century that Western designers, artists, and crafters were inspired to imitate them
B. they did not inspire imitations of Western designers, artists, and crafters until it was the latter half of the nineteenth century
C. not until the latter half of the nineteenth century was it that they have inspired Western designers, artists, and crafters to imitation
D. until the latter half of the nineteenth century Western designers, artists, and crafters have not been inspired to imitate
E. they were not inspirations of Western designers, artists, and crafters imitations until the latter half of the nineteenth century
Artifacts of pre-Columbian civilization
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- kul512
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I opt for (A).
a. Best available option.
b. Parallelism in the subject. but did not inspire imitation seems wrong to me.
c. poor sentence formation.
d. It seems that something else not artifacts inspired them. Wrong use of have been.
e. poor subject formation.
I will opt for the option A.
a. Best available option.
b. Parallelism in the subject. but did not inspire imitation seems wrong to me.
c. poor sentence formation.
d. It seems that something else not artifacts inspired them. Wrong use of have been.
e. poor subject formation.
I will opt for the option A.
Sometimes there is very fine line between right and wrong: perspective.
Yep, A is the correct answer. The sentence correctly uses past tense for both past, completed time frames - 16th and 19th centuries.
I was deciding between A and B and mistakenly chose B, which is not correct. There is no referent for pronoun "it".
I was deciding between A and B and mistakenly chose B, which is not correct. There is no referent for pronoun "it".
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Though the artifacts of pre-Columbian civilization created a stir from the very first European contacts with the New World in the sixteenth century, it was not until the latter half of the nineteenth century that Western designers, artists, and crafters were inspired to imitate them.
A. it was not until the latter half of the nineteenth century that Western designers, artists, and crafters were inspired to imitate them
Correct Answer - I think "it" is just a place holder here; "was" is in simple past and used here correctly to describe the period latter half of the 19th century and also matches with the simple past "created"
B. they did not inspire imitations of Western designers, artists, and crafters until it was the latter half of the nineteenth century
"imitations by" is the correct idiom usage.
C. not until the latter half of the nineteenth century was it that they have inspired Western designers, artists, and crafters to imitation
"to imitation" is not idiomatic.
D. until the latter half of the nineteenth century Western designers, artists, and crafters have not been inspired to imitate
"have not been" is not the correct tense and also "to imitate" is unidiomatic.
E. they were not inspirations of Western designers, artists, and crafters imitations until the latter half of the nineteenth century
imitations is unidiomatic.
A. it was not until the latter half of the nineteenth century that Western designers, artists, and crafters were inspired to imitate them
Correct Answer - I think "it" is just a place holder here; "was" is in simple past and used here correctly to describe the period latter half of the 19th century and also matches with the simple past "created"
B. they did not inspire imitations of Western designers, artists, and crafters until it was the latter half of the nineteenth century
"imitations by" is the correct idiom usage.
C. not until the latter half of the nineteenth century was it that they have inspired Western designers, artists, and crafters to imitation
"to imitation" is not idiomatic.
D. until the latter half of the nineteenth century Western designers, artists, and crafters have not been inspired to imitate
"have not been" is not the correct tense and also "to imitate" is unidiomatic.
E. they were not inspirations of Western designers, artists, and crafters imitations until the latter half of the nineteenth century
imitations is unidiomatic.
If you cant explain it simply you dont understand it well enough!!!
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- ceilidh.erickson
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You bring up a really good point here! Most of the time, the GMAT requires every pronoun to have a specific antecedent.[email protected] wrote:So what does "it" in A refer to?
There are expressions in English that use "it" as a vague, general state of being:
It is 2 o'clock.
It wasn't my fault!
It's sunny outside.
In these cases, "it" doesn't have a specific antecedent. We can think of it maybe meaning something like "the situation."
Usually, the GMAT doesn't like this usage of "it." But occasionally they will use it in a correct answer, as in this case. Here, we have a set expression:
It was not until X that Y happened.
You may see "it" used without an antecedent in these kinds of expressions:
It was because of X that Y happened.
It has been widely believed that...
So, when you see "it" used this way, be aware that it may be indicative of a wrong answer, but don't use it as a reason to eliminate an answer choice.
Ceilidh Erickson
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Harvard Graduate School of Education
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For more on "it" as a vague, general pronoun, see:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/pronoun-ante ... tml#698420
https://www.beatthegmat.com/businesses-a ... tml#719296
https://www.beatthegmat.com/researchers- ... tml#637478
https://www.beatthegmat.com/pronoun-ante ... tml#698420
https://www.beatthegmat.com/businesses-a ... tml#719296
https://www.beatthegmat.com/researchers- ... tml#637478
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Mitch,
I have read your post about it - https://www.beatthegmat.com/sentence-str ... tml#764472
- Here in A, "it" refers to that clause - Western designers, artists, and crafters were inspired to imitate them, right?
Implying - Western designers, artists, and crafters were inspired to imitate them not until the latter half of the nineteenth century (this doesn't distort the meaning)
- While in B: There is no that-clause, a whether-clause, or an infinitive phrase that appears later. So no clear referent for the pronoun "it"
- But in c, it can stand for "they have inspired Western designers, artists, and crafters to imitation", implying sensible meaning - they have inspired Western designers, artists, and crafters to imitation not until the latter half of the nineteenth century, while OE says there is no referent for it here.
Could you please explain?
I have read your post about it - https://www.beatthegmat.com/sentence-str ... tml#764472
- Here in A, "it" refers to that clause - Western designers, artists, and crafters were inspired to imitate them, right?
Implying - Western designers, artists, and crafters were inspired to imitate them not until the latter half of the nineteenth century (this doesn't distort the meaning)
- While in B: There is no that-clause, a whether-clause, or an infinitive phrase that appears later. So no clear referent for the pronoun "it"
- But in c, it can stand for "they have inspired Western designers, artists, and crafters to imitation", implying sensible meaning - they have inspired Western designers, artists, and crafters to imitation not until the latter half of the nineteenth century, while OE says there is no referent for it here.
Could you please explain?
nicktim wrote:Source: GMAT Prep
Though the artifacts of pre-Columbian civilization created a stir from the very first European contacts with the New World in the sixteenth century, it was not until the latter half of the nineteenth century that Western designers, artists, and crafters were inspired to imitate them.
A. it was not until the latter half of the nineteenth century that Western designers, artists, and crafters were inspired to imitate them
B. they did not inspire imitations of Western designers, artists, and crafters until it was the latter half of the nineteenth century
C. not until the latter half of the nineteenth century was it that they have inspired Western designers, artists, and crafters to imitation
D. until the latter half of the nineteenth century Western designers, artists, and crafters have not been inspired to imitate
E. they were not inspirations of Western designers, artists, and crafters imitations until the latter half of the nineteenth century
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In each of the following sentences, it serves to stand in for the delayed subject in blue:aji12 wrote:Mitch,
I have read your post about it - https://www.beatthegmat.com/sentence-str ... tml#764472
- Here in A, "it" refers to that clause - Western designers, artists, and crafters were inspired to imitate them, right?
Implying - Western designers, artists, and crafters were inspired to imitate them not until the latter half of the nineteenth century (this doesn't distort the meaning)
- While in B: There is no that-clause, a whether-clause, or an infinitive phrase that appears later. So no clear referent for the pronoun "it"
- But in c, it can stand for "they have inspired Western designers, artists, and crafters to imitation", implying sensible meaning - they have inspired Western designers, artists, and crafters to imitation not until the latter half of the nineteenth century, while OE says there is no referent for it here.
Could you please explain?
IT is easy to like Mary.
IT was not until last year that John began studying.
IT is unclear who won the game.
This sort of usage requires that it appear BEFORE the main verb and that the delayed subject appear AFTER the main verb.
C: Not until the latter half of the nineteenth century was it that they have inspired Western designers.
Here, it appears AFTER the main verb (was).
As a result, the referent for it is unclear.
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Followed here and elsewhere by over 1900 test-takers.
I have worked with students based in the US, Australia, Taiwan, China, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia -- a long list of countries.
My students have been admitted to HBS, CBS, Tuck, Yale, Stern, Fuqua -- a long list of top programs.
As a tutor, I don't simply teach you how I would approach problems.
I unlock the best way for YOU to solve problems.
For more information, please email me (Mitch Hunt) at [email protected].
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