Army of terra-cotta

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gmat_perfect: Legendary Member; Posts: 1083; Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 9:38 pmFollowed by: 14 members; Thanked: 127 times

by gmat_perfect » Mon Mar 15, 2010 5:46 am

Rivaling the pyramids of Egypt or even the ancient cities of the Maya as an achievement, the army of terra-cotta warriors created to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife is more than 2,000 years old and took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to complete.

A.the army of terra-cotta warriors created to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife is more than 2,000 years old and took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to complete
B.Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, was protected in his afterlife by an army of terra-cotta warriors that was created more than 2,000 years ago by 700,000 artisans who took more than 36 years to complete it
C.it took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to create an army of terra-cotta warriors more than 2,000 years ago that would protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife
D.more than 2,000 years ago, 700,000 artisans worked more than 36 years to create an army of terra-cotta warriors to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife
E.more than 36 years were needed to complete the army of terra-cotta warriors that 700,000 artisans created 2,000 years ago to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Mon Mar 15, 2010 5:46 am

girish3131: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 194; Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2010 5:18 am; Thanked: 2 times

by girish3131 » Mon Mar 15, 2010 6:10 am

IMO B

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prinit: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 183; Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2008 8:13 pm; Location: Greater NYC; Thanked: 14 times

by prinit » Mon Mar 15, 2010 6:33 am

gmat_perfect wrote:Rivaling the pyramids of Egypt or even the ancient cities of the Maya as an achievement, the army of terra-cotta warriors created to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife is more than 2,000 years old and took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to complete.

A.the army of terra-cotta warriors created to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife is more than 2,000 years old and took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to complete
B.Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, was protected in his afterlife by an army of terra-cotta warriors that was created more than 2,000 years ago by 700,000 artisans who took more than 36 years to complete it
C.it took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to create an army of terra-cotta warriors more than 2,000 years ago that would protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife
D.more than 2,000 years ago, 700,000 artisans worked more than 36 years to create an army of terra-cotta warriors to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife
E.more than 36 years were needed to complete the army of terra-cotta warriors that 700,000 artisans created 2,000 years ago to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife

My pick is B. The opening part requires who and only option B fulfills it.

I'm here to BTG

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kstv: Legendary Member; Posts: 610; Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 12:33 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 47 times

by kstv » Mon Mar 15, 2010 7:13 am

I find nothing wrong with A . It clearly and quickly mentioned what is being compared.
in B it appears Qin is being compared .
The pronoun it in C cannot be used before what it refers to is described.
D makes it appear that the comparison is 2000 years ago
E the years taken to complete is not what is amazing.

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fibbonnaci: MBA Student; Posts: 403; Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2009 7:32 pmFollowed by: 22 members; Thanked: 98 times

by fibbonnaci » Mon Mar 15, 2010 10:38 am

My answer- F (none of the above choices)!!!!!

C, D, and E can be eliminated due to modifier issues.
A lacks a pronoun 'it' at the end.
B- China's first emperor was protected [why past tense? does it mean he is not protected anymore? from when did we start getting information about when army stops protecting its kings in afterlife??]

All the options have errors.
What is the source of this question?

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gmatmachoman: Legendary Member; Posts: 2326; Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2008 3:54 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 173 times; GMAT Score:710

by gmatmachoman » Mon Mar 15, 2010 11:15 am

fibbonnaci wrote:My answer- F (none of the above choices)!!!!!

C, D, and E can be eliminated due to modifier issues.
A lacks a pronoun 'it' at the end.
B- China's first emperor was protected [why past tense? does it mean he is not protected anymore? from when did we start getting information about when army stops protecting its kings in afterlife??]

All the options have errors.
What is the source of this question?

@Fibo..
This SC is all time mess. Yeah u were very funny at cracking a JOKE!! "f"..hahahaha!!

https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/gmatprep-t6880.html

R&D on GMAT algorithm:

https://www.beatthegmat.com/r-d-on-gmat- ... tml#305739

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harshavardhanc: Legendary Member; Posts: 526; Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 11:47 pm; Location: India; Thanked: 68 times; GMAT Score:680

by harshavardhanc » Mon Mar 15, 2010 1:01 pm

gmatmachoman wrote:
fibbonnaci wrote:My answer- F (none of the above choices)!!!!!

C, D, and E can be eliminated due to modifier issues.
A lacks a pronoun 'it' at the end.
B- China's first emperor was protected [why past tense? does it mean he is not protected anymore? from when did we start getting information about when army stops protecting its kings in afterlife??]

All the options have errors.
What is the source of this question?
@Fibo..
This SC is all time mess. Yeah u were very funny at cracking a JOKE!! "f"..hahahaha!!

https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/gmatprep-t6880.html

I still didn't get it .

Why would you need "it" in the end.

The sentence says

>the army is 2000 yrs old.
>the army took (some artisans) 36 yrs to complete.

What's wrong in saying this way?

IMO A is okay.

if you add it in the end :

->the army took 36 yrs to complete it. Weird isn't it?

Regards,
Harsha

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dbaner1: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 10; Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 8:39 am

by dbaner1 » Mon Mar 15, 2010 1:13 pm

I'd say its A

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reply2spg: Legendary Member; Posts: 1261; Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2008 3:46 am; Thanked: 27 times; GMAT Score:570

by reply2spg » Tue Mar 16, 2010 5:30 pm

@fibbo.....don't you think in B, second 'was' needs to be replaced by 'had'?

fibbonnaci wrote:My answer- F (none of the above choices)!!!!!

C, D, and E can be eliminated due to modifier issues.
A lacks a pronoun 'it' at the end.
B- China's first emperor was protected [why past tense? does it mean he is not protected anymore? from when did we start getting information about when army stops protecting its kings in afterlife??]

All the options have errors.
What is the source of this question?

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Phirozz: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 232; Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:47 pm; Thanked: 10 times

by Phirozz » Tue Mar 16, 2010 9:32 pm

fibbonnaci wrote:My answer- F (none of the above choices)!!!!!

C, D, and E can be eliminated due to modifier issues.
A lacks a pronoun 'it' at the end.
B- China's first emperor was protected [why past tense? does it mean he is not protected anymore? from when did we start getting information about when army stops protecting its kings in afterlife??]

All the options have errors.
What is the source of this question?

Whats wrong if a sentence is written in past tense, from the passage its clear that the event is sth related to past.
If its in present tense, sb could have argued is he still alive ?? Why its in present tense ?? If a sentence is written in past tense without violating any gramatical rules, I dont think we should look at tense.
I dont find any mistake with B. A is awkward.
So B is my take

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Phirozz: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 232; Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:47 pm; Thanked: 10 times

by Phirozz » Tue Mar 16, 2010 9:38 pm

@gmat_perfect

whats the OA ?

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Phirozz: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 232; Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:47 pm; Thanked: 10 times

by Phirozz » Tue Mar 16, 2010 10:13 pm

@gmat_perfect

whats the OA ?

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mohit11: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 293; Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2010 9:08 amFollowed by: 5 members; Location: India; Thanked: 36 times; GMAT Score:730

by mohit11 » Tue Mar 16, 2010 10:40 pm

gmat_perfect wrote:Rivaling the pyramids of Egypt or even the ancient cities of the Maya as an achievement, the army of terra-cotta warriors created to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife is more than 2,000 years old and took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to complete.

What should the bold portion refer to?
the army of terra-cotta
Qin Shi Huang
it took 700,000 artisans
it took 700,000 artisans
more than 36 years

You can clearly rule out C,D and E. Between A and B, the bold portion cannot refer to Qin Shi Huang. So A is the answer.

A.the army of terra-cotta warriors created to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife is more than 2,000 years old and took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to complete
B.Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, was protected in his afterlife by an army of terra-cotta warriors that was created more than 2,000 years ago by 700,000 artisans who took more than 36 years to complete it
C.it took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to create an army of terra-cotta warriors more than 2,000 years ago that would protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife
D.more than 2,000 years ago, 700,000 artisans worked more than 36 years to create an army of terra-cotta warriors to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife
E.more than 36 years were needed to complete the army of terra-cotta warriors that 700,000 artisans created 2,000 years ago to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife

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fibbonnaci: MBA Student; Posts: 403; Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2009 7:32 pmFollowed by: 22 members; Thanked: 98 times

by fibbonnaci » Tue Mar 16, 2010 11:41 pm

B is definitely wrong. you use past tense to depict an event that has completed. here do we know that the army is not protecting the king in his afterlife as on today? do we have tat info? NO
Hence we cannot use past tense.

If this question appears on my exam screen then among the options, i would choose A. All the others are blatantly wrong.

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harshavardhanc: Legendary Member; Posts: 526; Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 11:47 pm; Location: India; Thanked: 68 times; GMAT Score:680

by harshavardhanc » Wed Mar 17, 2010 12:53 am

fibbonnaci wrote:B is definitely wrong. you use past tense to depict an event that has completed. here do we know that the army is not protecting the king in his afterlife as on today? do we have tat info? NO
Hence we cannot use past tense.

there is no harm in changing the tense until and unless we HAVE to. Take for e.g :

-> you are 25 yrs old.
-> you were born 25 yrs ago.

the tense is different, but both the sentences convey nearly the same meaning.

Similarly, the original sentence says that the army is 2000 yrs old.

B says, the army was created 2000 yrs ago.

So, you cannot eliminate B on the basis of "tense-reasoning" .

Observe that there are so many pronouns in B which don't have clear antecedents. That can be one of the reasons to forgo B.

Regards,
Harsha

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