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GPREP SC- 23

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by abhasjha » Fri Aug 22, 2014 9:13 am
Prospecting for gold during the California gold rush was relatively easy task, because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement and ancient, gold bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for anybody with a pan or shovel.


A. because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement and ancient, gold bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for.


B. because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement and volcanic activity that thrust ancient, gold bearing riverbeds to the surface , and putting gold literally within reach of.

C. owing to erosion, prehistoric glacier movement and volcanic activity that had thrust ancient, gold bearing riverbeds to the surface , and putting gold literally within reach of.

D. since erosion, prehistoric glacier movement and volcanic activity that thrust ancient, gold bearing riverbeds to the surface, putting gold literally within reach for

E. since erosion, prehistoric glacier movement and ancient, gold bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach of.
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by [email protected] » Fri Aug 22, 2014 3:33 pm
Hi abhasjha,

This SC offers a list of 3 things that made "prospecting for gold....a relatively easy task." The 3 items in the list must be parallel. There's also an idiom here that allows for the quick elimination of a couple of answers.

1) Idiom: The word "reach" should be followed by the word "of" (not "for"). Eliminate A and D.

2) Parallelism: The 3-item list much present the items in the same "format", without any extra words. Answer B adds the word "that"; Answer C adds the words "that had"; eliminate them both.

Final Answer: E

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by GMATGuruNY » Sat Aug 23, 2014 2:26 am
abhasjha wrote:Prospecting for gold during the California gold rush was relatively easy task, because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement and ancient, gold bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for anybody with a pan or shovel.

A. because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement and ancient, gold bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach for.

B. because of erosion, prehistoric glacier movement and volcanic activity that thrust ancient, gold bearing riverbeds to the surface , and putting gold literally within reach of.

C. owing to erosion, prehistoric glacier movement and volcanic activity that had thrust ancient, gold bearing riverbeds to the surface , and putting gold literally within reach of.

D. since erosion, prehistoric glacier movement and volcanic activity that thrust ancient, gold bearing riverbeds to the surface, putting gold literally within reach for

E. since erosion, prehistoric glacier movement and ancient, gold bearing riverbeds thrust to the surface by volcanic activity put gold literally within reach of.
A: Prospecting was a relatively easy task...because of riverbeds
Not the intended meaning: the RIVERBEDS themselves did not cause prospecting to be easy.
Eliminate A.

B: that thrust...and putting
C: that had thrust...and putting
A conjunction such as and must connect PARALLEL FORMS.
Here, putting is not parallel with the preceding verbs (thrust and had thrust).
Eliminate B and C.

D: since erosion...that thrust ancient, goldbearing riverbeds to the surface...putting gold literally within reach
Here, since serves as a synonym for because.
When since serves this purpose, it must be followed by a CLAUSE.
A CLAUSE contains both a subject and a verb.
In D, the phrases in red serve as MODIFIERS.
As a result, erosion (subject) lacks a verb, with the result that since is not followed by a complete clause.
Eliminate D.

The correct answer is E.
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by GMATGuruNY » Sat Aug 23, 2014 2:43 am
Both within reach of and reach for are correct idioms, but they are used differently and convey different meanings.

The gold was WITHIN REACH OF John.
Conveyed meaning:
The gold was so close that John could stretch out his arm and take the gold.

John REACHED FOR the gold.
Conveyed meaning:
John stretched out his arm toward the gold.

In the SC above: putting gold literally within reach of anybody with a pan
Conveyed meaning:
Gold was so close that anybody with a pan could stretch out his arm and take the gold.
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