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Visby is the largest city

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Visby is the largest city

by paes » Mon Jun 07, 2010 8:54 am
Visby is the largest city on the Swedish island of Gotland; arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and has become a World Heritage Site..

A. arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and has become a World Heritage Site.
B. it is arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and, as a result of this, has become a World
Heritage Site.
C. arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, it has become a World Heritage Site.
D. it has become a World Heritage Site, and arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia.
E. is arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, a World Heritage Site.

[spoiler]OA later.
Hint : It is C or D.
Please give your answer with explanation.[/spoiler]
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by uwhusky » Mon Jun 07, 2010 8:58 am
With that semi-column you really only have two options: B or D.

D is precise and my choice over B.
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by gmatmachoman » Mon Jun 07, 2010 9:06 am
Pick D.

No ambiguity of pronoun "it". In C, we are not sure of what "it" refers to!

B is akward/wordy.
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by ansh.kumar » Mon Jun 07, 2010 9:30 am
dont we need a verb in ^d^ before ,arguably, and arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia. modifying WHAT?.
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by uwhusky » Mon Jun 07, 2010 9:33 am
"it has become a World Heritage Site, and arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia."

And is the connecting word connecting the two clauses, and "it" is the pronoun referring to Visby that is the main subject.
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by FightWithGMAT » Mon Jun 07, 2010 9:58 am
paes wrote:Visby is the largest city on the Swedish island of Gotland; arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and has become a World Heritage Site..

A. arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and has become a World Heritage Site.
B. it is arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and, as a result of this, has become a World
Heritage Site.
C. arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, it has become a World Heritage Site.
D. it has become a World Heritage Site, and arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia.
E. is arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, a World Heritage Site.

[spoiler]OA later.
Hint : It is C or D.
Please give your answer with explanation.[/spoiler]
A--> Should be a Independent Clause..Need subject.
B--> Changes the meaning. There is no relation between the two thing ....becoming world heritage and being the best-preserved medieval town
C--> arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia..seems a modifier (a part of independent clause after the semicolon) modifying "It".....but what this modifier or "It" points to??? Can not comprehend that .....parallel construction is also not there.

D-->Seems the answer.
Visby is................; it has........... Here, logically, we can say that "it" points to Visby.

and yes....."and arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia" is a absolute phrase...... pointing to Visby.

E--> Same issue as is with A
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by paes » Mon Jun 07, 2010 4:59 pm
Everybody is selecting D.
Even I selected D

But the OA is C.

It is saying that
D : does not refer back to the subject in the second part of the sentence -> ..and arguably
which I don't agree.

Can some expert help on this.
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by uwhusky » Mon Jun 07, 2010 5:06 pm
It appears to be another one of those bad questions. The two choices appear to be saying the the same thing, except that C has the modifier in front, but with "it" leading the sub-clause, to me that makes "it" ambiguous.
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by pnk » Mon Jun 07, 2010 10:51 pm
Visby is the largest city on the Swedish island of Gotland; arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and has become a World Heritage Site..

A. arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and has become a World Heritage Site. (lack subject - can't stand on its own)
B. it is arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and, as a result of this, has become a World (changes meaning...though llel)
Heritage Site.
C. arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, it has become a World Heritage Site. (it refers to 'Visby' - both playing the same role in their respective clasues...therefore no ambiguity. 'It' can't refer to Island of Gotland; It has...site = independent clause) - correct
D. it has become a World Heritage Site, and arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia. (both elements not llel - this sentence means => it has become a World Heritage Site, and arguably it has become the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia; minor error - comma before 'and' shows thr could be a different subject than 'it' for medieval town=> comma not required)
E. is arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, a World Heritage Site. (no subject; world modifies Scandinavia)

Time: 2 mins though
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by RumpelThickSkin » Tue Jun 08, 2010 1:51 am
Bad question or not I don't know but here is my reasoning

D - is just not parallel so easy to omit. Also, in this sentence - It does not have a clear referent. Is it referring to the ISLAND or VISBY NOT CLEAR HERE.

C. arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, it has become a World Heritage Site.

The IT referent is clear. Think about it guys - It not clearly refers to the city VISBY and not the ISLAND. As it has already been mentioned that Visby is the largest city in the ISLAND.
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by RumpelThickSkin » Tue Jun 08, 2010 1:51 am
Bad question or not I don't know but here is my reasoning

D - is just not parallel so easy to omit. Also, in this sentence - It does not have a clear referent. Is it referring to the ISLAND or VISBY NOT CLEAR HERE.

C. arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, it has become a World Heritage Site.

The IT referent is clear. Think about it guys - It not clearly refers to the city VISBY and not the ISLAND. As it has already been mentioned that Visby is the largest city in the ISLAND.
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by Sankeerthana » Thu Feb 13, 2014 7:56 pm
Hi,

The answer is C. One thing to keep in mind here is that whenever you see a semicolon, both the phrases on wither side of the semicolon must be independent clauses(i.e. each must have a subject and a verb and must act as standalone sentences).

A. arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and has become a World Heritage Site. =>No subject

B. it is arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, and, as a result of this, has become a World Heritage Site. => Changes the meaning. The sentence does not state that the reason for it being called a heritage town is because of its preservation. These are 2 correlated phenomenon, not causal

C. arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, it has become a World Heritage Site. =>This option is the most clear. Subject = "it", verb = "become", modifier for it = "arguably..Scandanavia". Here, "it" refers to Visby ->it is the main subject of the entire sentence.

D. it has become a World Heritage Site, and arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia. => Changes meaning. A has X and Y. it has become..., and (has) arguably here has cannot apply to the 2nd phrase..Visby does not have the best-preserved town in Scandanavia, it IS. Additionally the comma is unnecessary.

E. is arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, a World Heritage Site. => No subject
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by parveen110 » Thu Feb 13, 2014 9:14 pm
Sankeerthana wrote:

D. it has become a World Heritage Site, and arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia. => Changes meaning. A has X and Y. it has become..., and (has) arguably here has cannot apply to the 2nd phrase..Visby does not have the best-preserved town in Scandanavia, it IS. Additionally the comma is unnecessary.

E. is arguably the best-preserved medieval town in Scandinavia, a World Heritage Site. => No subject
Hi Sankeerthana, Could you pls explain why 'arguably' will not apply to second phrase in option D? thanks.
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