Dear Friends,
I was having problems in answering the following question.
The Achaemenid empire of Persia reached the Indus Valley in the fifth century B.C., bringing the Aramaic script with it, from which was derived both northern and southern Indian alphabets.
(A) the Aramaic script with it, from which was derived both northern and
(B) the Aramaic script with it, and from which deriving both the northern and the
(C) with it the Aramaic script, from which derive both the northern and the
(D) with it the Aramaic script, from which derives both northern and
(E) with it the Aramaic script, and deriving from it both the northern and
Please help.
OA after some discussions.
My choice was option E
Regards
Deano.
5-Day Free Trial
5-day free, full-access trial TTP
Available with Beat the GMAT members only code
MORE DETAILS
Aramaic script
This topic has expert replies
-
Dean Jones
- Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
- Posts: 239
- Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2010 8:40 am
- Location: India
- Thanked: 5 times
- Followed by:2 members
- GMAT Score:690
GMAT/MBA Expert
-
Brent@GMATPrepNow
- GMAT Instructor
- Posts: 16207
- Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pm
- Location: Vancouver, BC
- Thanked: 5254 times
- Followed by:1268 members
- GMAT Score:770
This is one of those difficult situations where the verb comes before its corresponding subject.Dean Jones wrote:Dear Friends,
I was having problems in answering the following question.
The Achaemenid empire of Persia reached the Indus Valley in the fifth century B.C., bringing the Aramaic script with it, from which was derived both northern and southern Indian alphabets.
(A) the Aramaic script with it, from which was derived both northern and
(B) the Aramaic script with it, and from which deriving both the northern and the
(C) with it the Aramaic script, from which derive both the northern and the
(D) with it the Aramaic script, from which derives both northern and
(E) with it the Aramaic script, and deriving from it both the northern and
Notice that we have the verb phrase "was derived." To find its corresponding subject, we should ask, "What was derived?"
The answer to this question is "the northern and southern Indian alphabets."
Hmm, so these alphabets was derived?
Since alphabets is plural, we need "were derived."
Unfortunately, this is not one of the answer choices.
Answer choice C correctly matches the plural "alphabets" with the plural verb "derive."
In other words, "the alphabets derive from the Aramaic script" - perfect.
Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
-
GmatVerbal
- Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
- Posts: 138
- Joined: Thu Nov 12, 2009 10:07 am
- Thanked: 19 times
- Followed by:3 members
Again, this one of those logical prediction questions:
IMO-C;
it refers to "The Achaemenid empire of Persia" so the phrase starting with "from which" should correctly modify the script;
In relative clause from which... Both northern and southern indian alphabets is a compound subject;
IMO-C;
it refers to "The Achaemenid empire of Persia" so the phrase starting with "from which" should correctly modify the script;
In relative clause from which... Both northern and southern indian alphabets is a compound subject;
-
LalaB
- Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
- Posts: 425
- Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2010 9:00 am
- Thanked: 56 times
- Followed by:7 members
- GMAT Score:690
@Dean Jones
E is not good, since here " with it the Aramaic script" u assumed that it =Empire, but later here "and deriving from it both the northern and", u use it again, and it seems as if the empire derives from itself both alphabets
E is not good, since here " with it the Aramaic script" u assumed that it =Empire, but later here "and deriving from it both the northern and", u use it again, and it seems as if the empire derives from itself both alphabets
-
GmatKiss
- Legendary Member
- Posts: 2789
- Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 12:19 am
- Location: Chennai, India
- Thanked: 206 times
- Followed by:43 members
- GMAT Score:640
The Achaemenid empire of Persia reached the Indus Valley in the fifth century B.C., bringing the Aramaic script with it, from which was derived both northern and southern Indian alphabets.
(A) the Aramaic script with it, from which was derived both northern and
(B) the Aramaic script with it, and from which deriving both the northern and the
(C) with it the Aramaic script, from which derive both the northern and the
(D) with it the Aramaic script, from which derives both northern and
(E) with it the Aramaic script, and deriving from it both the northern and
IMO:C
(A) the Aramaic script with it, from which was derived both northern and
(B) the Aramaic script with it, and from which deriving both the northern and the
(C) with it the Aramaic script, from which derive both the northern and the
(D) with it the Aramaic script, from which derives both northern and
(E) with it the Aramaic script, and deriving from it both the northern and
IMO:C
