Sentence Correction

There is a LOT going on in this sentence. As is often the case, each of the incorrect answer choices has more than one error to disqualify it. But it's wisest to find one reason for each and move on.

Choice A: The first thing that strikes me about this answer choice are the words introducing the underlined portion: as she was a staunch advocate. The more concise (and easy-to-read) wording would omit as she was and simply put a staunch advocate right next to the noun it describes, Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The phrase in her suggestion that ... also stands out as awkward, wordy, and unidiomatic. A perceptive reader may even anticipate that the better turn of phrase would be "by suggesting that...".

Choice B: The beginning phrase, as she was, is wrong just as it was in choice A. Removing this phrase would more aptly put a staunch advocate immediately after the noun described, Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The wording at the end, by her suggestion of drunkenness being, is also clumsy and overly wordy: of drunkenness being is not the idiomatic completion of this phrase. Although not every verb form ending in "-ing" is wrong, the GMAT does use such language to create answer choices lacking in concision.

Choice C: This choice begins with a different but still unnecessary phrase, in being, that comes between Elizabeth Cady Stanton and its appositive (modifying) noun phrase, a staunch advocate. The wording at the end, just as in choice B, ends unidiomatically: the phrase with the suggestion would not be followed by of drunkenness being.

Choice D: This choice removes the unnecessary words before a staunch advocate. The wording at the end, by suggesting that drunkenness be, is entirely correct and idiomatic. It doesn't have the clumsy being that follows drunkenness in choices B and D. The verb be is in the present subjunctive, which is the correct and preferred verb mood in an indirect command or request (by suggesting that).

Choice E: The word she after the first comma appears to be the subject of the sentence, but it's redundant and thus wrong: the subject of the sentence is Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The phrase in suggesting at the end is less idiomatic than by suggesting in choice D. The indirect command or request introduced by in suggesting that is better followed by a verb in the subjunctive (be) than by the modal verb should be used here. In fact, a grammarian would consider "should" to be redundant here, because the sense of obligation conveyed by "should" is already present in the word "suggesting".

Choice D is thus best because of the more concise wording at the beginning and by the proper use of the subjunctive at the end, a hallmark of formal written English in certain circumstances.

The above explanations for the answer choices don't cover everything that's wrong! Here are some more details on some of the choices. A: This one also uses the modal verb should be where the subjunctive be would be preferable. C: The past perfect verb, had scandalized, mangles the chronology of the sentence. It implies that her "scandalizing suggestion" predated something else, but the sense makes it clear that it happened during her presidency, making the simple past tense more logical.

If you'd like further details on any grammatical point I've introduced here, I'm happy to follow up.

Terry Serres
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The Princeton Review
Certified Instructor, Content Developer