Sentence Correction

Hi,plz explain

imo E
A) comma which is modifying incorrect sub
B) and also incorrect ; that was --->sub verb agreement error
C)cahnges mesaning
D)in addition is incorrect

The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, were, according to legend, heard around the world, but news of these shots, which were sent by swift messenger, took four days in reaching New York City as well as another additional eleven days to reach Charleston, South Carolina.

A.shots, which were sent by swift messenger, took four days in reaching New York City as well as another additional eleven days

B.shots that was sent by swift messenger took four days in order to reach New York City, and also another eleven days

C.shots that were sent by swift messenger took four days to reach New York City and another eleven days

D.shots took four days by swift messenger in order to reach New York City and another eleven days in addition

E.shots took four days by swift messenger to reach New York City and another eleven days.


A - which refers to Shots. Hence this option is incorrect.
B - In order to is wordy and should be avoided. GMAT prefers succinct sentences.
C. Were - refers to singular subject News, hence this option is incorrect.
D - In order to is wordy
E- Succinct option and maintains the sentence structure - Our winner.

IMO B

"the news took 4 days by messenger" is not logic

The first shots of the American Revolution, fired at Lexington and Concord. Massachusetts, were, according to legend, heard around the world, but news of these shots, which were sent by swift messenger, took four days in reaching New York City as well as another additional eleven days to reach Charleston, South Carolina.

A. shots, which were sent by swift messenger, took four days in reaching New York City as well as another additional eleven days
B. shots that was sent by swift messenger took four days in order to reach New York City, and also another eleven days
C. shots that were sent by swift messenger took four days to reach New York City and another eleven days
D. shots took four days by swift messenger in order to reach New York City and another eleven days in addition
E. shots took four days by swift messenger to reach New York City and another eleven days

What is the reason behind elimination of B? Is there any reason besides "in order to" being wordy?

Also, with E, it seems as if the news was sent to only New York and not Charleston by a swift messenger.

Please comment.

TheGraduate wrote:What is the reason behind elimination of B? Is there any reason besides "in order to" being wordy?

Also, with E, it seems as if the news was sent to only New York and not Charleston by a swift messenger.

Please comment.

Error 1: news...that was sent by swift messenger
Conveyed meaning:
There were MANY TYPES OF NEWS -- news that appeared in the local newspaper, news that was discussed on the street corner, news that was spread by carrier pigeon -- but the sentence is discussing only one of these many types of news:
news that was sent by swift messenger.
Not the intended meaning.
In the SC above, there was only one type of news:
NEWS OF THESE SHOTS.

Incorrect: Mary took three days in order to finish the job.
Correct: Mary took three days to finish the job.
Correct idiom: X took Y amount of time to do Z.

Error 2: news...took four days in order to reach New York City
The portion in red is unidiomatic.

Error 3: took four days...and also another eleven days
Here, the usage of also is redundant.

Eliminate B.

GMATGuruNY wrote:

TheGraduate wrote:What is the reason behind elimination of B? Is there any reason besides "in order to" being wordy?

Also, with E, it seems as if the news was sent to only New York and not Charleston by a swift messenger.

Please comment.

Error 1: news...that was sent by swift messenger
Conveyed meaning:
There were MANY TYPES OF NEWS -- news that appeared in the local newspaper, news that was discussed on the street corner, news that was spread by carrier pigeon -- but the sentence is discussing only one of these many types of news:
news that was sent by swift messenger.
Not the intended meaning.
In the SC above, there was only one type of news:
NEWS OF THESE SHOTS.

Still require a little more clarification.
B says "new of these shots". But why can we not qualify the "news" further with "that was sent by swift messenger". Is it because "that" is supposed to introduce a restrictive modifier/clause and would change the meaning associated with the "news"?

TheGraduate wrote:

GMATGuruNY wrote:

TheGraduate wrote:What is the reason behind elimination of B? Is there any reason besides "in order to" being wordy?

Also, with E, it seems as if the news was sent to only New York and not Charleston by a swift messenger.

Please comment.

Error 1: news...that was sent by swift messenger
Conveyed meaning:
There were MANY TYPES OF NEWS -- news that appeared in the local newspaper, news that was discussed on the street corner, news that was spread by carrier pigeon -- but the sentence is discussing only one of these many types of news:
news that was sent by swift messenger.
Not the intended meaning.
In the SC above, there was only one type of news:
NEWS OF THESE SHOTS.

Still require a little more clarification.
B says "new of these shots". But why can we not qualify the "news" further with "that was sent by swift messenger". Is it because "that" is supposed to introduce a restrictive modifier/clause and would change the meaning associated with the "news"?

The purpose of a that-modifier is to distinguish ONE TYPE of X from OTHER TYPES OF X.
SC95 in the OG12: troughs that remain stationary
Here, the that-modifier in blue serves to distinguish troughs THAT REMAIN STATIONARY from troughs THAT DON'T REMAIN STATIONARY.

B: news of these shots that was sent by swift messenger
Here, the that-modifier in red implies that news of these shots THAT WAS SENT BY SWIFT MESSENGER must be distinguished from news of these shots THAT WAS NOT SENT BY SWIFT MESSENGER.
Not the intended meaning.
There were not different types of news of these shots.
Thus, the usage of the red that-modifier is inappropriate.

The intention here is to convey HOW news of these shots TOOK FOUR DAYS to reach New York City, as expressed by the OA:
News of these shots took four days by swift messenger to reach New York City.
Here, by swift messenger logically serves to modify took, conveying HOW news of these shots TOOK FOUR DAYS to reach New York City.