Sentence Correction

adi_800 wrote:There are two versions of the same sentence with different OA...This one is from GMAT prep...

In addition to her work on the Miocene hominid fossil, Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology through her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and through her painstaking documentation of East African cave paintings.

A) Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology through her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and through her painstaking documentation of

B) Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology by her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting

C) Mary Leakey was a contributor to archaeology by discovering the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and with her painstaking documentation of

D) Mary Leakey's contributions to archaeology include her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting

E) Mary Leakey's contributions to archaeology include her discovering the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstaking documentation of

OA is A

In addition to her work on the Miocene hominid fossil record, Mary Leakey contributed to archaeology with her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting East African cave paintings.

A) Leakey contributed to archaeology with her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstakingly documenting

B) Leakey contributed to archaeology by her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and by painstakingly documenting

C) Leakey was a contributor to archaeology with her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activvity and with her painstaking documentation of

D) Leakey's contributions to archaeology include her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and her painstaking documentation of

E) Leakey's contributions to archaeology include discovering the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and painstaking documentation of

OA is D

Any reason why we have different OAs...when the underlined part is ALMOST the same...
Only difference being in first ver. underlined part starts with Mary Leakey and second ver. it starts with Leakey....

The Jock wrote:I am always going to select D for this question. These two different versions could be some mistake but if I apply grammar rules I would always select D here.

"In addition to her work" kind of prompted me to use Possessive form Mary Leakey's contributions.

lunarpower wrote:

for instance, if i started out with "Adding onto her work on the miocene fossil record, ..." then the following noun MUST be "mary leakey". if the modifier is prepositional, though, you've got a great deal more flexibility.

lunarpower wrote:

for instance, if i started out with "Adding onto her work on the miocene fossil record, ..." then the following noun MUST be "mary leakey". if the modifier is prepositional, though, you've got a great deal more flexibility.

Leakey's contributions to archaeology include her discovery of the earliest direct evidence of hominid activity and her painstaking documentation of


What about the rest of the "her" in the main clause? Arent they lacking an antecedent since the main subject is leakey's contribution instead of leakey herself.