Sentence Correction

Construction of the Roman Colosseum, which was officially known as the Flavian Amphitheater, began in A.D. 69, during the reign of Vespasian, was completed a decade later, during the reign of Titus, who opened the Colosseum with a one-hundred-day cycle of religious pageants, gladiatorial games, and spectacles.

A. which was officially known as the Flavian Amphitheater, began in A.D. 69, during the reign of Vespasian,

B. officially known as the Flavian Amphitheater, begun in A.D. 69, during the reign of Vespasian, and

C. which was officially known as the Flavian Amphitheater, began in A.D. 69, during the reign of Vespasian, and

D. officially known as the Flavian Amphitheater and begun in A.D. 69, during the reign of Vespasian it

E. officially known as the Flavian Amphitheater, which was begun in A.D. 69, during the reign of Vespasian, and

OAC

Doubt: In OA which was officially known as the Flavian Amphitheater is a modifier, modifies the Roman Colosseum right?

The subject of the sentence is CONSTRUCTION, which has two verb Began and Was completed right? So why the BEGAN is in Active Form and WAS COMPLETED is in Passive Form? Both must be parallel form. Also please explain why AND is necessary in OA?

Many thanks in advance,

Kavin

Needgmat wrote:Doubt: In OA which was officially known as the Flavian Amphitheater is a modifier, modifies the Roman Colosseum right?

Right.

The subject of the sentence is CONSTRUCTION, which has two verb Began and Was completed right? So why the BEGAN is in Active Form and WAS COMPLETED is in Passive Form? Both must be parallel form.

Parallelism is not what you, along with many others, are conceiving it to be. For members of a list to be parallel they don't have to be exactly the same in every way. They more just have to perform basically the same function and make sense together.

Here's an example.

John ran out the door and was later seen still running toward New York.

John had two things going on.

He ran out the door.

He was later seen still running toward New York.

One is active. The other is passive. They still work as a list.

This list does not work.

Please leave a message with your name, number and tell us why you called.

You could cite lack of parallelism. name and number are nouns while tell us why you called is an imperative clause, but the more basic issue is that the conveyed meaning is nonsensical.

Please leave a message with your tell us why you called.

Also please explain why AND is necessary in OA?

You need AND to connect the two verbs in the list. Here's the sentence simplified.

Construction of the Roman Colosseum began in A.D. 69, during the reign of Vespasian, AND was completed a decade later.

I was in doubt between answer choices A and C, but after seeing the conjunction AND, it was clear to me that C was the right answer.

There were several splits in this questions.

1. which/no which - I spot this one first but wasn't sure whether I could still use it to my advantage. So I moved on.
2. began/begun - I knew it couldn't be 'begun'
3. and/no and - I knew something was missing so I went back to read the first item of the list and noticed that 'and' was needed.

Marty - would you say this is a 500-600 level question? It seems to me it is.

diegocml wrote:There were several splits in this questions.

Just remember to be careful with "splits" as there can be false splits involving something that does not work in one version but somehow works in another.

1. which/no which - I spot this one first but wasn't sure whether I could still use it to my advantage. So I moved on.

Perfect. That's the way to go. If you are not sure about a decision point, then seek another.

Marty - would you say this is a 500-600 level question? It seems to me it is.

That sounds about right. On GMAT Club, 65% got it right.