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During the Hundred Days conflict, the Royal British Navy

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During the Hundred Days conflict, the Royal British Navy

by Mike@Magoosh » Thu Jan 16, 2014 1:30 pm
During the Hundred Days conflict, the Royal British Navy blockaded all the ports of France, and also prevented Napoleon to escape to North America after his defeat at Waterloo.
(A) and also prevented Napoleon to escape
(B) but prevented Napoleon from escaping
(C) thereby preventing Napoleon from escaping
(D) for the purpose of preventing Napoleon to escape
(E) and, correspondingly, preventing Napoleon from escaping

For a full discussion of the different kinds of Verbals, as well as the OA & OE of this particular question, see:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2014/verbals-on ... orrection/

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by VivianKerr » Thu Jan 16, 2014 9:36 pm
Great question, Mike! Just want to point out, I think it's 100% possible to get this one right without knowing a thing about Verbals (though they definitely come in handy!).

I'd start with "Meaning" here -- since blockading all of France and preventing Napoleon's escape are similar ideas, we don't need a contrast word like "but" so (B) is out. There's nothing to indicate the blockade was intended solely for the purpose of stopping Napoleon's escape (it did so, but "for the purpose" is extreme), so (D) also has a confusing meaning.

So how does the average test-taker choose between (A), (C), and (E)? Ordinarily, we'd want to pick (A) since it's the only remaining choice that is parallel (the Navy BLOCKADED and PREVENTED), BUT "prevented to escape" doesn't make any sense. You idiomatically "prevent FROM" not "prevent TO." (A) is out.

Between (C) and (E), "correspondingly" again creates an unusual meaning. It's not that the act of blockading "corresponds" to the prevention of Napoleon's mistake. Rather, it's more logical that the intended meaning is that the blockade was the means by which Napoleon's escape was prevented. (C) is correct.

Error #1 - Meaning
Error #2 - Idiom ("prevent from")
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