In Man SC, the idiom " DESPITE TAKING frequent naps, I study effectively" is correct (in the idiom list). However, I just got the following question from Manhattan question bank. Probably because I am not a native speaker, it does not make sense for me. Can anyone explain to me?
Despite entering the courthouse with police escort, the lead attorney and his assistant, manhandled by an aggressive crowd of reporters that bombarded him with questions, was injured seriously enough to warrant immediate medical attention.
A. Despite entering the courthouse with police escort, the lead attorney and his assistant, manhandled by an aggressive crowd of reporters that bombarded him with questions, was injured seriously enough to warrant immediate medical attention.
B. Despite the fact that the lead attorney and his assistant entered the courthouse with police escort, they were manhandled by an aggressive crowd of reporters that bombarded the attorney with questions and injured him so seriously that he needed immediate medical attention.
C. Despite their entering the courthouse with police escort, the lead attorney and his assistant were manhandled by an aggressive crowd of reporters that bombarded him with questions, injuring him so seriously as to warrant immediate medical attention.
D. Despite the fact that they entered the courthouse with police escort, the lead attorney and his assistant, having been manhandled by an aggressive crowd of reporters, was bombarded with questions and injured seriously enough to warrant immediate medical attention.
E. Despite entering the courthouse with police escort, the lead attorney and his assistant were manhandled by an aggressive crowd of reporters that bombarded him with questions and injured him so seriously as to warrant immediate medical attention.
Man explanation:
The original sentence contains several errors. First, the subject of the original sentence is "the lead attorney and his assistant", yet the corresponding verb is "was injured". The subject and the verb do not agree in number – one is plural, the other singular. Second, "despite" is not properly used with a verb phrase. Instead, it requires a noun or noun phrase. For example, "Despite eating the apple..." is not correct, but "Despite his eating the apple..." is correct. Third, "injured seriously enough to warrant medical attention" is incorrect in this context. "X enough to Y" is used when the emphasis is on Y. "So X as to Y" is used when the emphasis is on X. For example, "I am tall enough to touch the ceiling" implies that the focus is on the fact of being able to touch the ceiling. "So tall as to be able to touch the ceiling" implies that the focus is on the fact of being tall. Finally, the use of the pronoun "him" is ambiguous, since it could refer to either the attorney or his assistant.
Despite entering the courthouse with police escort, the lead attorney and his assistant, manhandled by an aggressive crowd of reporters that bombarded him with questions, was injured seriously enough to warrant immediate medical attention.
A. Despite entering the courthouse with police escort, the lead attorney and his assistant, manhandled by an aggressive crowd of reporters that bombarded him with questions, was injured seriously enough to warrant immediate medical attention.
B. Despite the fact that the lead attorney and his assistant entered the courthouse with police escort, they were manhandled by an aggressive crowd of reporters that bombarded the attorney with questions and injured him so seriously that he needed immediate medical attention.
C. Despite their entering the courthouse with police escort, the lead attorney and his assistant were manhandled by an aggressive crowd of reporters that bombarded him with questions, injuring him so seriously as to warrant immediate medical attention.
D. Despite the fact that they entered the courthouse with police escort, the lead attorney and his assistant, having been manhandled by an aggressive crowd of reporters, was bombarded with questions and injured seriously enough to warrant immediate medical attention.
E. Despite entering the courthouse with police escort, the lead attorney and his assistant were manhandled by an aggressive crowd of reporters that bombarded him with questions and injured him so seriously as to warrant immediate medical attention.
Man explanation:
The original sentence contains several errors. First, the subject of the original sentence is "the lead attorney and his assistant", yet the corresponding verb is "was injured". The subject and the verb do not agree in number – one is plural, the other singular. Second, "despite" is not properly used with a verb phrase. Instead, it requires a noun or noun phrase. For example, "Despite eating the apple..." is not correct, but "Despite his eating the apple..." is correct. Third, "injured seriously enough to warrant medical attention" is incorrect in this context. "X enough to Y" is used when the emphasis is on Y. "So X as to Y" is used when the emphasis is on X. For example, "I am tall enough to touch the ceiling" implies that the focus is on the fact of being able to touch the ceiling. "So tall as to be able to touch the ceiling" implies that the focus is on the fact of being tall. Finally, the use of the pronoun "him" is ambiguous, since it could refer to either the attorney or his assistant.
