Along the major rivers that traverse the deserts of northeast Africa, the Middle East, and northwest India, the combination of a reliable supply of water and good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in at least 6,000 years.
(A) good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in
(B) good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured for
(c) of good growing conditions have encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endured for
(D) of good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured
(E) of good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, been enduring for
good farming (OG13 71)
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There is a redundancy in the written sentence (and also in D): 'combination' and 'both'. We need to use either one of them, not both at the same time.alex.gellatly wrote:Along the major rivers that traverse the deserts of northeast Africa, the Middle East, and northwest India, the combination of a reliable supply of water and good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in at least 6,000 years.
(A) good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in
(B) good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured for
(c) of good growing conditions have encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endured for
(D) of good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured
(E) of good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, been enduring for
A. endure in at least 6000 years indicates future. But the fact is that tranditions have endured for 6000 years.
B. Correct.
C/D/E - Incorrectly use 'of growing' meaning 'combination of X and of Y'. (correct usage: Combination of X and Y, where X and Y should be logically parallel)
D and E: Incorrectly use the phrases such as have endured as at least 6,000 years and have been enduring for at least 6,000 years.
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The 3:2 split here is:alex.gellatly wrote:Along the major rivers that traverse the deserts of northeast Africa, the Middle East, and northwest India, the combination of a reliable supply of water and good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in at least 6,000 years.
(A) good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in
(B) good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured for
(c) of good growing conditions have encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endured for
(D) of good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured
(E) of good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, been enduring for
"good growing conditions" vs "of good growing conditions".
Let's take a look at the latter.
"the combination of a reliable supply of water and of good growing conditions...". This one illogically distorts the meaning by making it seem as if there was a "reliable supply" of good growing conditions. This is, of course, wrong. Hence we eliminate C/D/E.
Between A and B,
"endure for" is the correct usage, while "endured in" is incorrect.
B is correct.
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Let's go option by option.alex.gellatly wrote:Along the major rivers that traverse the deserts of northeast Africa, the Middle East, and northwest India, the combination of a reliable supply of water and good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in at least 6,000 years.
(A) good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in
(B) good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured for
(c) of good growing conditions have encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endured for
(D) of good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured
(E) of good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, been enduring for
Option A:
the combination of X and Y both encouraged blah blah.
Here "combination" and "both" are redundant.
See the last part of the sentence. it indicates that we need present perfect tense; therefore, "endured in" is incorrect. ==> Eliminate A.
Option B:
This option corrects all the problems present in option A. Keep it.
Option C:
"Traditions that endured for" has used past tense "endured" instead of "have endured for". ==> Eliminate C.
Option D:
"Traditions that have endured" is correct but it lacks "for". ==> Eliminate D.
Option E:
"Traditions that have been enduring for" have used present perfect continuous tense, but we need present perfect tense. ==> Eliminate E.
The option B, the best choice, stands as the correct answer.
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Would love to have an expert chime in -
Is it correct to assume that the "farming traditions" are still ongoing - to justify usage of "have".
My questions is - can we justify the usage of "have" by this rule - "When we are talking now in the present - about something in the past - we use Present Perfect. "
e.g. They seem to have developed this habit before their extinction 600 years ago.
Is it correct to assume that the "farming traditions" are still ongoing - to justify usage of "have".
My questions is - can we justify the usage of "have" by this rule - "When we are talking now in the present - about something in the past - we use Present Perfect. "
e.g. They seem to have developed this habit before their extinction 600 years ago.
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Good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured for at least 6,000 years.sw222 wrote:Would love to have an expert chime in -
Is it correct to assume that the "farming traditions" are still ongoing - to justify usage of "have".
My questions is - can we justify the usage of "have" by this rule - "When we are talking now in the present - about something in the past - we use Present Perfect. "
e.g. They seem to have developed this habit before their extinction 600 years ago.
You are asking the wrong question.
The question you should ask is as follows:
Does HAVE ENDURED (present perfect) convey a sensical meaning?
One purpose of the present perfect is to express an action that started in the past and might continue in the present.
It is possible that the farming traditions that were encouraged in the past are still in effect right now, justifying the use of the present perfect.
Since a sensical meaning is conveyed, do not eliminate the answer choice.
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Hi GGNY
can you please explain why E is incorrect.
can you please explain why E is incorrect.
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hi Guru
please correct me if i am wrong
i feel that the construction: the combination of X and of Y is wrong. do we really need to put that second "of" after "and"
Also please tell me as what is so outright wrong about present perfect continuous in E
please correct me if i am wrong
i feel that the construction: the combination of X and of Y is wrong. do we really need to put that second "of" after "and"
Also please tell me as what is so outright wrong about present perfect continuous in E
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A and D: To yield a parallel structure, both encouraged must be followed by and + VERB.alex.gellatly wrote:Along the major rivers that traverse the deserts of northeast Africa, the Middle East, and northwest India, the combination of a reliable supply of water and good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in at least 6,000 years.
(A) good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in
(B) good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured for
(c) of good growing conditions have encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endured for
(D) of good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured
(E) of good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, been enduring for
Eliminate A and D.
C and E: the combination OF a reliable supply and OF good growing conditions
Here, the of in red seems to imply that there are two distinct combinations:
the combination OF a reliable supply AND the combination OF good growing conditions
Not the intended meaning.
The required idiom is the combination of X and Y.
Eliminate C and E.
The correct answer is B.
E: have been enduring
have been + VERBing serves to express a CONTINUOUS ACTION.
Here, to endure means TO LAST.
To last is an action that -- on its own -- is continuous.
Since to endure on its own conveys a continuous action, the use of a continous tense seems redundant.
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Hi Mitch, do we have an agreement issue in C? Should "the combination OF X and OF Y" be plural or singular? I'm asking as I came across a problem in which "transpiration FROM soil and FROM plants" is considered singular.GMATGuruNY wrote:A and D: To yield a parallel structure, both encouraged must be followed by and + VERB.alex.gellatly wrote:Along the major rivers that traverse the deserts of northeast Africa, the Middle East, and northwest India, the combination of a reliable supply of water and good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in at least 6,000 years.
(A) good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in
(B) good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured for
(c) of good growing conditions have encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endured for
(D) of good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured
(E) of good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, been enduring for
Eliminate A and D.
C and E: the combination OF a reliable supply and OF good growing conditions
Here, the of in red seems to imply that there are two distinct combinations:
the combination OF a reliable supply AND the combination OF good growing conditions
Not the intended meaning.
The required idiom is the combination of X and Y.
Eliminate C and E.
The correct answer is B.
E: have been enduring
have been + VERBing serves to express a CONTINUOUS ACTION.
Here, to endure means TO LAST.
To last is an action that -- on its own -- is continuous.
Since to endure on its own conveys a continuous action, the use of a continous tense seems redundant.
Thank in advanced for your help.
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Correct!7l7t7 wrote:Hi Mitch, do we have an agreement issue in C? Should "the combination OF X and OF Y" be plural or singular? I'm asking as I came across a problem in which "transpiration FROM soil and FROM plants" is considered singular.Along the major rivers that traverse the deserts of northeast Africa, the Middle East, and northwest India, the combination of a reliable supply of water and good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in at least 6,000 years.
(c) of good growing conditions have encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endured for
Thank in advanced for your help.
In C, have encouraged (plural) does not agree with the combination (singular).
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(A) good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure inalex.gellatly wrote:Along the major rivers that traverse the deserts of northeast Africa, the Middle East, and northwest India, the combination of a reliable supply of water and good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in at least 6,000 years.
(A) good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in
(B) good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured for
(c) of good growing conditions have encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endured for
(D) of good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured
(E) of good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, been enduring for
The word COMBINATION implies that the two conditions combine to have an effect. So, the word BOTH is redundant. ELIMINATE A
(B) good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured for
Looks good.
Also, the present perfect tense have endured suggests that the "enduring" may continue into the future.
(C) of good growing conditions have encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endured for
The idiom is "a combination OF X AND Y", not "a combination OF X AND OF Y"
ELIMINATE
(D) of good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured
ELIMINATE
(E) of good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, been enduring for
ELIMINATE
Answer: B
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It would help if one can identify that this sentence required past perfect tense - "that have endured". Based on this, eliminate A, C and E
In (D), "both" is redundant.
So, answer is (B)
In (D), "both" is redundant.
So, answer is (B)
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Hello Everyone!
This is a great example of a GMAT question that focuses on idiomatic structure and parallelism! Let's take a closer look at the original question and highlight the major differences between options in orange:
Along the major rivers that traverse the deserts of northeast Africa, the Middle East, and northwest India, the combination of a reliable supply of water and good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in at least 6,000 years.
(A) good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in
(B) good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured for
(C) of good growing conditions have encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endured for
(D) of good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured
(E) of good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, been enduring for
After a quick glance over the options, there are 3 main things we can focus on:
1. good / of good (parallelism/idioms)
2. both encouraged / encouraged / have encouraged (verb tense/idioms)
3. endure in / endured for / endured / enduring for (idioms)
Since #1 on our list will eliminate 2-3 options right away, let's start there. When we look at the sentence as a whole, we see that we're talking about a combination of 2 items here: a reliable supply of water and good growing conditions. The proper idiomatic structure for this would be the following:
a combination of X and Y
Let's see which options do this correctly, and rule out the ones that don't:
(A) good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in --> a combination of X and Y both = WRONG
(B) good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured for --> a combination of X and Y = GOOD
(C) of good growing conditions have encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endured for --> a combination of X and of Y = WRONG
(D) of good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured --> a combination of X and of Y both = WRONG
(E) of good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, been enduring for --> a combination of X and of Y = WRONG
There you go! Option B is the correct choice because it's the only one that uses the proper idiomatic format for "a combination of X and Y!"
**********
Wonder what would've happened if we focused on another part of the list instead? Let's see what would happen if we focused on #3 on our list: endure in / endured for / endured / enduring for:
(A) good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in
This is INCORRECT. It's not idiomatically correct to say something "endures in" a certain number of years. We say that things "endure for" a certain number of years!
(B) good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured for
This is still CORRECT because it's proper to say something "endured for" a number of years. Also, by using past perfect tense (have endured), it's clear that these farming traditions started 6,000 years ago, and they're still being used today.
(C) of good growing conditions have encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endured for
This is INCORRECT because it uses plain past tense, which means the farming traditions started in the past and ended in the past. The intended meaning of the original sentence was to say that these traditions started in the past and are still going on today.
(D) of good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured
This is INCORRECT because it doesn't make sense to say that farming traditions "endured 6,000 years." It's not idiomatically correct - we say that things "endured for" an amount of time.
(E) of good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, been enduring for
While this is OKAY, based on the idiomatic "enduring for" and the use of present perfect continuous tense, we would eventually have to rule it out as INCORRECT because it doesn't use the idiomatic "combination of X and Y" structure correctly.
In the end, option B is still the correct choice!
Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
This is a great example of a GMAT question that focuses on idiomatic structure and parallelism! Let's take a closer look at the original question and highlight the major differences between options in orange:
Along the major rivers that traverse the deserts of northeast Africa, the Middle East, and northwest India, the combination of a reliable supply of water and good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in at least 6,000 years.
(A) good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in
(B) good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured for
(C) of good growing conditions have encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endured for
(D) of good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured
(E) of good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, been enduring for
After a quick glance over the options, there are 3 main things we can focus on:
1. good / of good (parallelism/idioms)
2. both encouraged / encouraged / have encouraged (verb tense/idioms)
3. endure in / endured for / endured / enduring for (idioms)
Since #1 on our list will eliminate 2-3 options right away, let's start there. When we look at the sentence as a whole, we see that we're talking about a combination of 2 items here: a reliable supply of water and good growing conditions. The proper idiomatic structure for this would be the following:
a combination of X and Y
Let's see which options do this correctly, and rule out the ones that don't:
(A) good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in --> a combination of X and Y both = WRONG
(B) good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured for --> a combination of X and Y = GOOD
(C) of good growing conditions have encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endured for --> a combination of X and of Y = WRONG
(D) of good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured --> a combination of X and of Y both = WRONG
(E) of good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, been enduring for --> a combination of X and of Y = WRONG
There you go! Option B is the correct choice because it's the only one that uses the proper idiomatic format for "a combination of X and Y!"
**********
Wonder what would've happened if we focused on another part of the list instead? Let's see what would happen if we focused on #3 on our list: endure in / endured for / endured / enduring for:
(A) good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endure in
This is INCORRECT. It's not idiomatically correct to say something "endures in" a certain number of years. We say that things "endure for" a certain number of years!
(B) good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured for
This is still CORRECT because it's proper to say something "endured for" a number of years. Also, by using past perfect tense (have endured), it's clear that these farming traditions started 6,000 years ago, and they're still being used today.
(C) of good growing conditions have encouraged farming traditions that, in places, endured for
This is INCORRECT because it uses plain past tense, which means the farming traditions started in the past and ended in the past. The intended meaning of the original sentence was to say that these traditions started in the past and are still going on today.
(D) of good growing conditions both encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, endured
This is INCORRECT because it doesn't make sense to say that farming traditions "endured 6,000 years." It's not idiomatically correct - we say that things "endured for" an amount of time.
(E) of good growing conditions encouraged farming traditions that have, in places, been enduring for
While this is OKAY, based on the idiomatic "enduring for" and the use of present perfect continuous tense, we would eventually have to rule it out as INCORRECT because it doesn't use the idiomatic "combination of X and Y" structure correctly.
In the end, option B is still the correct choice!
Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.