Aramaic script

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Dean Jones: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 239; Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2010 8:40 amFollowed by: 2 members; Location: India; Thanked: 5 times; GMAT Score:690

by Dean Jones » Sat Dec 17, 2011 7:47 am

Dear Friends,

I was having problems in answering the following question.

The Achaemenid empire of Persia reached the Indus Valley in the fifth century B.C., bringing the Aramaic script with it, from which was derived both northern and southern Indian alphabets.
(A) the Aramaic script with it, from which was derived both northern and
(B) the Aramaic script with it, and from which deriving both the northern and the
(C) with it the Aramaic script, from which derive both the northern and the
(D) with it the Aramaic script, from which derives both northern and
(E) with it the Aramaic script, and deriving from it both the northern and

Please help.

OA after some discussions.

My choice was option E

Regards
Deano.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sat Dec 17, 2011 7:47 am

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Brent@GMATPrepNow: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 16207; Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pmFollowed by: 1268 members; Location: Vancouver, BC; Thanked: 5254 times; GMAT Score:770

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sat Dec 17, 2011 8:02 am

Dean Jones wrote:Dear Friends,

I was having problems in answering the following question.

The Achaemenid empire of Persia reached the Indus Valley in the fifth century B.C., bringing the Aramaic script with it, from which was derived both northern and southern Indian alphabets.
(A) the Aramaic script with it, from which was derived both northern and
(B) the Aramaic script with it, and from which deriving both the northern and the
(C) with it the Aramaic script, from which derive both the northern and the
(D) with it the Aramaic script, from which derives both northern and
(E) with it the Aramaic script, and deriving from it both the northern and

This is one of those difficult situations where the verb comes before its corresponding subject.
Notice that we have the verb phrase "was derived." To find its corresponding subject, we should ask, "What was derived?"
The answer to this question is "the northern and southern Indian alphabets."
Hmm, so these alphabets was derived?

Since alphabets is plural, we need "were derived."
Unfortunately, this is not one of the answer choices.

Answer choice C correctly matches the plural "alphabets" with the plural verb "derive."
In other words, "the alphabets derive from the Aramaic script" - perfect.

Cheers,
Brent

Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com

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GmatVerbal: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 138; Joined: Thu Nov 12, 2009 10:07 amFollowed by: 3 members; Thanked: 19 times

by GmatVerbal » Sun Dec 18, 2011 8:46 pm

Again, this one of those logical prediction questions:
IMO-C;

it refers to "The Achaemenid empire of Persia" so the phrase starting with "from which" should correctly modify the script;
In relative clause from which... Both northern and southern indian alphabets is a compound subject;

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eccentric: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 88; Joined: Tue Jul 15, 2008 1:43 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 3 times; GMAT Score:590

by eccentric » Mon Dec 19, 2011 7:17 am

What is source of this question? I can see issue with each answer choice!!!

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LalaB: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 425; Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2010 9:00 amFollowed by: 7 members; Thanked: 56 times; GMAT Score:690

by LalaB » Mon Dec 19, 2011 9:22 am

@Dean Jones

E is not good, since here " with it the Aramaic script" u assumed that it =Empire, but later here "and deriving from it both the northern and", u use it again, and it seems as if the empire derives from itself both alphabets

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GmatKiss: Legendary Member; Posts: 2789; Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 12:19 amFollowed by: 43 members; Location: Chennai, India; Thanked: 206 times; GMAT Score:640

by GmatKiss » Mon Dec 19, 2011 10:36 am

The Achaemenid empire of Persia reached the Indus Valley in the fifth century B.C., bringing the Aramaic script with it, from which was derived both northern and southern Indian alphabets.
(A) the Aramaic script with it, from which was derived both northern and
(B) the Aramaic script with it, and from which deriving both the northern and the
(C) with it the Aramaic script, from which derive both the northern and the
(D) with it the Aramaic script, from which derives both northern and
(E) with it the Aramaic script, and deriving from it both the northern and

IMO:C

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