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OG VR 18 : Long overshadowed by the Maya and Aztec

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by NandishSS » Mon Aug 06, 2018 8:38 pm

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A

B

C

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E

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Long overshadowed by the Maya and Aztec civilizations, historians are now exploring the more ancient Olmec culture for the legacy it had for succeeding Mesoamerican societies.

(A) historians are now exploring the more ancient Olmec culture for the legacy it had for succeeding Mesoamerican societies

(B) historians' exploration is now of the more ancient Olmec culture's legacy to the Mesoamerican societies succeeding them

(C) the legacy of the more ancient Olmec culture to the Mesoamerican societies that succeeded them is what historians are now exploring

(D) the more ancient Olmec culture is now being explored by historians for its legacy to succeeding Mesoamerican societies

(E) the Olmec culture is more ancient and had a legacy to succeeding Mesoamerican societies that historians are now exploring

OA: D

HI Experts,

What is the error in E?

A,B & C have Modifier issue.

Thanks
Nandish
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by ceilidh.erickson » Tue Aug 07, 2018 9:34 am
This question is testing MODIFIERS and MEANING.
Long overshadowed by the Maya and Aztec civilizations, historians are now exploring the more ancient Olmec culture for the legacy it had for succeeding Mesoamerican societies.

(A) historians are now exploring the more ancient Olmec culture for the legacy it had for succeeding Mesoamerican societies
(B) historians' exploration is now of the more ancient Olmec culture's legacy to the Mesoamerican societies succeeding them
(C) the legacy of the more ancient Olmec culture to the Mesoamerican societies that succeeded them is what historians are now exploring
(D) the more ancient Olmec culture is now being explored by historians for its legacy to succeeding Mesoamerican societies
(E) the Olmec culture is more ancient and had a legacy to succeeding Mesoamerican societies that historians are now exploring
Whenever a sentence begins with a participial modifier such as "Long overshadowed by the Maya and Aztec civilizations...", that must be followed by the SUBJECT being modified. The thing long overshadowed by other civilizations is the Olmec civilization, not historians.

(A) historians are now exploring the more ancient Olmec culture for the legacy it had for succeeding Mesoamerican societies
- incorrect subject. This implies that historians are being overshadowed.

(B) historians' exploration is now of the more ancient Olmec culture's legacy to the Mesoamerican societies succeeding them
- incorrect subject. This implies that historians' exploration is being overshadowed.

(C) the legacy of the more ancient Olmec culture to the Mesoamerican societies that succeeded them is what historians are now exploring
- incorrect subject. This implies that the legacy is being overshadowed.

(D) the more ancient Olmec culture is now being explored by historians for its legacy to succeeding Mesoamerican societies
- correct! "overshadowed" is modifying "Olmec culture."

(E) the Olmec culture is more ancient and had a legacy to succeeding Mesoamerican societies that historians are now exploring
- "overshadowed" is correctly modifying "Olmec culture," but...
- "legacy to succeeding" is so unidiomatic that it's nonsensical.
- the central meaning should be that historians are exploring the culture BECAUSE of its legacy to other cultures. This incorrectly makes parallel "is ancient and had a legacy" and puts the historians in a modifying clause.

D has clearer meaning and idiomatic usage, so that's the correct answer.
Ceilidh Erickson
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Harvard Graduate School of Education
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by vietnam47 » Wed Aug 21, 2019 2:13 am
NandishSS wrote:Long overshadowed by the Maya and Aztec civilizations, historians are now exploring the more ancient Olmec culture for the legacy it had for succeeding Mesoamerican societies.

(A) historians are now exploring the more ancient Olmec culture for the legacy it had for succeeding Mesoamerican societies

(B) historians' exploration is now of the more ancient Olmec culture's legacy to the Mesoamerican societies succeeding them

(C) the legacy of the more ancient Olmec culture to the Mesoamerican societies that succeeded them is what historians are now exploring

(D) the more ancient Olmec culture is now being explored by historians for its legacy to succeeding Mesoamerican societies

(E) the Olmec culture is more ancient and had a legacy to succeeding Mesoamerican societies that historians are now exploring


look at E.
"had a " is wrong. we need "have " to say about general truth. this is hard point. at present, legacy exists. one error
"that historian are exploring" refer to what?, societies or legacy. this is ambiguous / inferior. second error
"long overshadowed..." is fit with " Olmec culture is now being explored". "long overshadowwed..." is refering to subject of the main clause and work as adverb of the main clause. this phrase is not adjectival that modifies only the subject. the meaning relation between main action and adverb is CAUSAL. because it is long overshadowed, it is now being exploring. in choice e, the begining phrase dose not fit with "had legacy". there is no logical meaning relation between the first phrase and the main verb.
third error
finally, "for legacy" show the reason for being explored. this meaning is more logical than parallelism between "is anciant" and " had legacy".
forth error
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Re:

by gui_guimaraes » Fri Jun 26, 2020 6:30 am
ceilidh.erickson wrote: ↑
Tue Aug 07, 2018 9:34 am
 This question is testing MODIFIERS and MEANING.
Long overshadowed by the Maya and Aztec civilizations, historians are now exploring the more ancient Olmec culture for the legacy it had for succeeding Mesoamerican societies.

(A) historians are now exploring the more ancient Olmec culture for the legacy it had for succeeding Mesoamerican societies
(B) historians' exploration is now of the more ancient Olmec culture's legacy to the Mesoamerican societies succeeding them
(C) the legacy of the more ancient Olmec culture to the Mesoamerican societies that succeeded them is what historians are now exploring
(D) the more ancient Olmec culture is now being explored by historians for its legacy to succeeding Mesoamerican societies
(E) the Olmec culture is more ancient and had a legacy to succeeding Mesoamerican societies that historians are now exploring
Whenever a sentence begins with a participial modifier such as "Long overshadowed by the Maya and Aztec civilizations...", that must be followed by the SUBJECT being modified. The thing long overshadowed by other civilizations is the Olmec civilization, not historians.

(A) historians are now exploring the more ancient Olmec culture for the legacy it had for succeeding Mesoamerican societies
- incorrect subject. This implies that historians are being overshadowed.

(B) historians' exploration is now of the more ancient Olmec culture's legacy to the Mesoamerican societies succeeding them
- incorrect subject. This implies that historians' exploration is being overshadowed.

(C) the legacy of the more ancient Olmec culture to the Mesoamerican societies that succeeded them is what historians are now exploring
- incorrect subject. This implies that the legacy is being overshadowed.

(D) the more ancient Olmec culture is now being explored by historians for its legacy to succeeding Mesoamerican societies
- correct! "overshadowed" is modifying "Olmec culture."

(E) the Olmec culture is more ancient and had a legacy to succeeding Mesoamerican societies that historians are now exploring
- "overshadowed" is correctly modifying "Olmec culture," but...
- "legacy to succeeding" is so unidiomatic that it's nonsensical.
- the central meaning should be that historians are exploring the culture BECAUSE of its legacy to other cultures. This incorrectly makes parallel "is ancient and had a legacy" and puts the historians in a modifying clause.

D has clearer meaning and idiomatic usage, so that's the correct answer.
@ceilidh.erickson if "legacy to succeeding is unidiomatic" isn't it D wrong as well? Tks!
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