Sentence Correction - Tough one

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by bubbliiiiiiii » Fri May 11, 2012 2:44 am
The sentence begins with a modifier describing the army and then gives the purpose of creation of army. Then in the sentence it describes how much effort was required to create the army.

This statement contains many modifiers. One must identify modifiers in order to identify the answer.

IMO B
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by krishna239455 » Fri May 11, 2012 11:22 pm
Experts please help.

Its difficult to understand the meaning of sentence itself.

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by vk_vinayak » Sat May 12, 2012 2:27 am
IMO C.

The army .... IS 2000 years old and took [] 36 years to complete.

IT in B is incorrect.

@krishna239455, Please try to write (copy-paste) the questions in the forums. It is difficult to download and review the questions, and not many people will be willing to do so.
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by krishna239455 » Sat May 12, 2012 3:12 am
Hi Vinayak

I agree with you. But since thequestions posted by me are from GMAT Prep Test, I cannot select those questions to Copy it and then post it here.
I take printscreen, paste it in paintbrush, edit it as required, paste it in MS Word and then post it here with attachment.

Is there any better way?

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by GMATGuruNY » Sat May 12, 2012 4:07 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 them. `

A. took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to complete them
B. took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to complete it
C. took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to complete
D. 700,000 artisans took more than 36 years to complete
E. to complete them took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years
In A and E, them (plural) does not agree with army (singular). Eliminate A and E.

In D, and 700,000 artisans took more than 36 years to complete has its own subject (artisans) and verb (took) and thus is an independent clause, which must be preceded by a comma.
More importantly, D does not convey the intended meaning.
The bridge took 5 years to build means that the BRIDGE was built.
Similarly:
The artisans took more than 36 years to complete implies the ARTISANS were completed.
Not the intended meaning. Eliminate D.

In B, it is not necessary. The army of terra-cotta warriors took more than 36 years to complete is sufficient. (Just as it is sufficient to say that the bridge took 5 years to build). Eliminate B.

The correct answer is C.
Last edited by GMATGuruNY on Sat May 12, 2012 5:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by vk_vinayak » Sat May 12, 2012 5:05 am
krishna239455 wrote:Hi Vinayak

I agree with you. But since thequestions posted by me are from GMAT Prep Test, I cannot select those questions to Copy it and then post it here.
I take printscreen, paste it in paintbrush, edit it as required, paste it in MS Word and then post it here with attachment.

Is there any better way?
The GMAT Prep questions are discussed in many forums. Just google it and you can find the questions; you can then copy-paste those.
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