Hello Everyone!
There have already been some great discussions about modifiers, transitions, and wordiness on this question. Let's tackle this question from a different angle and narrow it down to the right answer! Before we dive in, let's take a closer look at the original question and highlight any major differences in orange:
The Olympic Games helped to keep peace among the pugnacious states of the Greek world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival's month.
(A) world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival's month
(B) world, proclaiming a sacred truce during the festival's month
(C) world when they proclaimed a sacred truce for the festival month
(D) world, for a sacred truce was proclaimed during the month of the festival
(E) world by proclamation of a sacred truce that was for the month of the festival
After a quick glance over the options, a few things stand out that we can focus on:
1. transition after "world": in that / proclaiming / when they / for / by proclamation of
2. the festival's month / the festival month / the month of the festival
3. during vs. for
Let's start with #3 on our list: during vs. for. Since this is an "x or y" situation, we know it will likely eliminate 2-3 options quickly, so it's a great place to start. It may seem like these two words can be used interchangeably, but when it comes to discussing time and events, they mean different things:
during = discussing something that happens within a time period (We went skiing during our 2-month long school break.)
for = discussing the duration of time an event happens (We studied for our final exams for 12 hours straight.)
Since we are talking about something that happens within a certain time period (a truce being proclaimed during the games), we need to keep options that use "during" and toss any options that use "for":
(A) world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival's month
(B) world, proclaiming a sacred truce during the festival's month
(C) world when they proclaimed a sacred truce for the festival month
(D) world, for a sacred truce was proclaimed during the month of the festival
(E) world by proclamation of a sacred truce that was for the month of the festival
We can eliminate options C & E because they use "for" instead of "during" to indicate that the truce occurs within the time frame that the games take place.
Next, let's focus on #2 on our list: the festival's month / the festival month / the month of the festival. This is another issue of idiom structure that focuses on how we discuss events which take place during a certain time:
the festival's month = the month belongs to the festival (...which doesn't really sound right, does it?)
the month of the festival = the festival takes place during a specific month (...which makes more sense, don't you think?)
My daughter's birthday takes place during the spring break's week. --> BAD
My daughter's birthday takes place during the week of her spring break. --> GOOD
In English, it makes more sense to say an event takes places during "the month of" rather than saying the month is owned by an event.
(A) world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival's month
(B) world, proclaiming a sacred truce during the festival's month
(D) world, for a sacred truce was proclaimed during the month of the festival
We can eliminate options A & B because the use the incorrect idiom structure "during the festival's month" to discuss an event that happens within a certain time frame.
There you go - option D is the correct choice! It's the only one that uses proper idiomatic structures to discuss events and timing!
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