London Bomb

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GmatKiss: Legendary Member; Posts: 2789; Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 12:19 amFollowed by: 43 members; Location: Chennai, India; Thanked: 206 times; GMAT Score:640

by GmatKiss » Sun May 27, 2012 2:49 am

Though the city had been bombed for fifty-seven nights in a row, the Blitz and the refusal to surrender London afterward took on almost mythic significance as evidence of British citizens’ ability to resist the will of Hitler and Nazi Germany.

the Blitz and the refusal to surrender London afterward took on
London’s Blitz and the refusal to surrender took after
the Blitz and the refusal of the city of London took over
London’s refusal to surrender after the Blitz took on
London’s refusal to surrender after the Blitz took up

Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sun May 27, 2012 2:49 am

vk_vinayak: Legendary Member; Posts: 502; Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:36 pmFollowed by: 21 members; Thanked: 99 times

by vk_vinayak » Sun May 27, 2012 9:04 pm

To me, it looks A.

- VK

I will (Learn. Recognize. Apply)

ice_rush: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 341; Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2012 6:59 pmFollowed by: 4 members; Thanked: 17 times; GMAT Score:720

by ice_rush » Sun May 27, 2012 9:22 pm

only (D) and (E) make any sense..I'd go with (D). I believe 'took on' should be correct in this usage.

eagleeye: Legendary Member; Posts: 520; Joined: Sat Apr 28, 2012 9:12 pmFollowed by: 49 members; Thanked: 339 times; GMAT Score:770

by eagleeye » Sun May 27, 2012 9:49 pm

The correct answer should be D. Let me explain:

First off, in the context of the sentence, the correct idiom is "took on",

"took after" means resemble
"took up" means to start a new hobby etc.

Therefore the correct answer can be either A or D.

the Blitz and the refusal to surrender London afterward took on almost mythic significance as evidence of British citizens’ ability to resist the will of Hitler and Nazi Germany.

Now the problem with A is that:
The refusal to surrender London is in fact an evidence of Britishers' ability to resist. However, the Blitz isn't so. With the AND construction in the underlined portion above, it seems that the Blitz also refers to their ability to resist, but the Blitz is only the event. Hence A is wrong.

Hence D. Also, D is more admirable due to its brevity and the correctness in only showing that London's refusal to surrender. Even though it seems that it changes the meaning, it does not, since London's refusal to surrender is the same as its people's refusal to surrender. This is one of those gmatland questions, where the correct answer is not necessarily the best one that could be ever constructed, but certainly better than the rest.

ronnie1985: Legendary Member; Posts: 626; Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2011 2:50 amFollowed by: 10 members; Location: Ahmedabad; Thanked: 31 times

by ronnie1985 » Mon May 28, 2012 12:30 am

IMO (A)

Follow your passion, Success as perceived by others shall follow you

slay3r: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 2; Joined: Sat May 26, 2012 9:59 am

by slay3r » Mon May 28, 2012 2:12 am

IMHO its D "Took on" is the most appropriate and the option D is the most concise of the available options.

jimmyjimmy: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 148; Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2012 1:08 pm; Thanked: 8 times

by jimmyjimmy » Mon May 28, 2012 5:35 pm

was searching some companion for C..

lathmanu: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 9; Joined: Wed May 09, 2012 10:01 pm; Thanked: 2 times

by lathmanu » Mon May 28, 2012 10:08 pm

What is the answer?

GmatKiss wrote:Though the city had been bombed for fifty-seven nights in a row, the Blitz and the refusal to surrender London afterward took on almost mythic significance as evidence of British citizens’ ability to resist the will of Hitler and Nazi Germany.

the Blitz and the refusal to surrender London afterward took on
London’s Blitz and the refusal to surrender took after
the Blitz and the refusal of the city of London took over
London’s refusal to surrender after the Blitz took on
London’s refusal to surrender after the Blitz took up

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