I think I've run into a situation where two different sources are saying two different things with respect to the rule about the word "and" following a comma.
In a Kaplan practice CAT, I was presented with the following question:
The Missouri Compromise of 1820, a legislative effort to mediate the radical differences between slaveholders and abolitionists, did no achieve its goal and thus is remembered by history as a failure, just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts to avert sectional civil war.
a. sentence as written
b. just the first of a half-dozen more attempts to avert
c. and the first attempt of more than a half-dozen attempts to avert
d. and just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts averting
e. and just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts aimed at averting
The correct answer is given as "A", which is fine. I chose "C" as did the highest percentage of test takers that have seen this question. The explanation provides the hard and fast rule "the clause that follows an 'and' after a comma should be an independent clause, having its own subject and predicate," and rules out choices c, d, and e on the basis that none of them follow "and" with an independent clause.
After finishing the Kaplan review, I decided it didn't do a good enough job summarizing the rules that will be covered by the test, so I pulled out my Manhattan GMAT Sentence Correction guide. In the chapter on Parallelism, there is discussion of this "and"/comma rule. Specifically, it says "...if you join 2 clauses with 'and', you can put an OPTIONAL comma before the 'and'. Doing so is especially recommended when the clauses are long, independent, or both."
The difference being that MGMAT seems to emphasize this as an optional rule whereas Kaplan eliminates out answer choices based on it. Furthermore, MGMAT testifies that it can apply to clauses either long, independent, or both, whereas Kaplan says the clause following the "and" MUST be independent.
I don't care who is right - I just care about which of these rules the ACTUAL GMAT will subscribe to.
I'm also willing to hear about where I'm misinterpreting something if that is the case!
Thanks.
In a Kaplan practice CAT, I was presented with the following question:
The Missouri Compromise of 1820, a legislative effort to mediate the radical differences between slaveholders and abolitionists, did no achieve its goal and thus is remembered by history as a failure, just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts to avert sectional civil war.
a. sentence as written
b. just the first of a half-dozen more attempts to avert
c. and the first attempt of more than a half-dozen attempts to avert
d. and just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts averting
e. and just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts aimed at averting
The correct answer is given as "A", which is fine. I chose "C" as did the highest percentage of test takers that have seen this question. The explanation provides the hard and fast rule "the clause that follows an 'and' after a comma should be an independent clause, having its own subject and predicate," and rules out choices c, d, and e on the basis that none of them follow "and" with an independent clause.
After finishing the Kaplan review, I decided it didn't do a good enough job summarizing the rules that will be covered by the test, so I pulled out my Manhattan GMAT Sentence Correction guide. In the chapter on Parallelism, there is discussion of this "and"/comma rule. Specifically, it says "...if you join 2 clauses with 'and', you can put an OPTIONAL comma before the 'and'. Doing so is especially recommended when the clauses are long, independent, or both."
The difference being that MGMAT seems to emphasize this as an optional rule whereas Kaplan eliminates out answer choices based on it. Furthermore, MGMAT testifies that it can apply to clauses either long, independent, or both, whereas Kaplan says the clause following the "and" MUST be independent.
I don't care who is right - I just care about which of these rules the ACTUAL GMAT will subscribe to.
I'm also willing to hear about where I'm misinterpreting something if that is the case!
Thanks.
