In 1982, archaeologists recovered Henry VIII's ship

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In 1982, archaeologists recovered Henry VIII's ship Mary Rose, which, having sunk in 1545, with more than 17,000 artifacts on board, everything from arrows and longbows to a barber-surgeon's chest containing items commonly used by sixteenth-century medics.

A)In 1982, archaeologists recovered Henry VIII's ship Mary Rose, which, having sunk in 1545, with more than 17,000 artifacts on board,
B)Henry VIII's ship Mary Rose sank in 1545 and, recovered by archaeologists in 1982, they found more than 17,000 artifacts on board,
C)When Henry VIII's ship Mary Rose, which sank in 1545, was recovered in 1982, archaeologists found more than 17,000 artifacts on board,
D)Having sunk in 1545, Henry VIII's ship Mary Rose was recovered in 1982 by archaeologists, finding more than 17,000 artifacts on board, with
E)Finding more than 17,000 artifacts on board, Henry VIII's ship Mary Rose, which sank in 1545, was recovered in 1982 by archaeologists and it had


I have a question, I eliminated B because of lack of parallelism, but what I didn't understand in the explanation why B was also wrong is that they in this sentence has no antecedent, because the placement of the modifier indicates that they were recovered by archaeologists. Can someone please elaborate further on this issue.
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by vinay1983 » Wed Oct 09, 2013 6:33 am
jose.mario.amaya wrote:In 1982, archaeologists recovered Henry VIII's ship Mary Rose, which, having sunk in 1545, with more than 17,000 artifacts on board, everything from arrows and longbows to a barber-surgeon's chest containing items commonly used by sixteenth-century medics.

A)In 1982, archaeologists recovered Henry VIII's ship Mary Rose, which, having sunk in 1545, with more than 17,000 artifacts on board,- Modifier issue.
B)Henry VIII's ship Mary Rose sank in 1545 and, recovered by archaeologists in 1982, they found more than 17,000 artifacts on board, Modifier issue "they" needs to be modifying "archaeologists" or refer to them and it has to come immediately before "they".Also the initial phrase seems very awkward in construction. (Comma after end) rare construction
C)When Henry VIII's ship Mary Rose, which sank in 1545, was recovered in 1982, archaeologists found more than 17,000 artifacts on board,Correct. Look at the construction. "which" usually introduces non essential information which it is doing now here. Also note the tense and usage "when the ship was found by the archaeologists, they found artifacts, from bow to arrows etc etc. concise, correct, meaningful
D)Having sunk in 1545, Henry VIII's ship Mary Rose was recovered in 1982 by archaeologists, finding more than 17,000 artifacts on board, with- having sunk is incorrect usage, more of passive voice here, subject is ship and not the process of sinking or sunk
E)Finding more than 17,000 artifacts on board, Henry VIII's ship Mary Rose, which sank in 1545, was recovered in 1982 by archaeologists and it had-Incorrect modifier. "Which" cannot modify "Mary" instead of "Ship"

I did not observe parallelism issue here. Also in B, see the construction "recovered by the archaeologists in 18xx" creates oddity here. Maybe that is why it might not have a clear antecedent.

What is the source?


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by jose.mario.amaya » Wed Oct 09, 2013 7:25 am
the source is gmat prep the new question pack, the gmatprep explanation for B says the conjunction and anticipates a second verb to parallel sank, instead, this sentence introduces a new clause, not a new verb. The subject of this new clause they has no antecent; it cannot refer to archeaologists, because the placement of the modifier indicates that they were recovered by archeaologist.

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by theCodeToGMAT » Wed Oct 09, 2013 7:45 am
{B} Henry VIII's ship Mary Rose sank in 1545 and, recovered by archaeologists in 1982, they found more than 17,000 artifacts on board, everything from arrows and longbows to a barber-surgeon's chest containing items commonly used by sixteenth-century medics.

ISSUE 1:
Henry VIII's ship Mary Rose sank in 1545 --> this is a Independent clause
they found more than 17,000 artifacts on board --> this is a Independent clause.
You cannot join Independent clause to another Independent Clause with "AND"; doing so makes the sentence a run-on sentence..


ISSUE 2:
", recovered by archaeologists in 1982, they found"
here, "recovered by archaeologists in 1982" is acting as a modifier..
Also, a meaning issue... "they" were not recovered by Archaeologist.


ISSUE 3:
Parallelism issue
Henry VIII's ship Mary Rose "sank" .... and "they found"
SANK --> VERB
we need another VERB after "and" to make VERB parallel to VERB
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by GMATGuruNY » Wed Oct 09, 2013 12:02 pm
B) Henry VIII's ship Mary Rose sank in 1545 and, RECOVERED by archaeologists in 1982, THEY found more than 17,000 artifacts on board,
The structure here is as follows:
CLAUSE A + CONJUNCTION + CLAUSE B.
In this structure, any modifier that follows the conjunction must serve to modify CLAUSE B.
Here, the conjunction and is followed by the modifier recovered by archaeologists.
The implication is that recovered is serving to modify they (the subject of CLAUSE B).
If they is standing in for archaeologists, the result is a nonsensical meaning: that the ARCHAEOLOGISTS were recovered by archaeologists.
Eliminate B.
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by richachampion » Sun Jul 30, 2017 10:41 pm
GMATGuruNY wrote:
B) Henry VIII's ship Mary Rose sank in 1545 and, RECOVERED by archaeologists in 1982, THEY found more than 17,000 artifacts on board,
The structure here is as follows:
CLAUSE A + CONJUNCTION + CLAUSE B.
In this structure, any modifier that follows the conjunction must serve to modify CLAUSE B.
Here, the conjunction and is followed by the modifier recovered by archaeologists.
The implication is that recovered is serving to modify they (the subject of CLAUSE B).
If they is standing in for archaeologists, the result is a nonsensical meaning: that the ARCHAEOLOGISTS were recovered by archaeologists.
Eliminate B.
Sir, Please help me with the usage of "with" here in the option D.
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by GMATGuruNY » Mon Jul 31, 2017 5:41 am
richachampion wrote:Sir, Please help me with the usage of "with" here in the option D.
Generally, COMMA + with serves to introduce something that accompanies or facilitates the preceding action.
D: finding more than 17,000 artifacts on board, with everything from arrows and longbows to a barber-surgeon's chest.
Here, the portion in red seems to imply that everything from arrows and longbows to a barber-surgeon's chest ACCOMPANIED the act of finding more than 17,000 artifacts.
Not the intended meaning.
Since the arrows, longbows and chest were AMONG the 17,000 artifacts, they could not have ACCOMPANIED the artifacts.
Eliminate D.
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by sudhirmadaan » Mon Jul 31, 2017 11:08 pm
GMATGuruNY wrote:
richachampion wrote:Sir, Please help me with the usage of "with" here in the option D.
Generally, COMMA + with serves to introduce something that accompanies or facilitates the preceding action.
D: finding more than 17,000 artifacts on board, with everything from arrows and longbows to a barber-surgeon's chest.
Here, the portion in red seems to imply that everything from arrows and longbows to a barber-surgeon's chest ACCOMPANIED the act of finding more than 17,000 artifacts.
Not the intended meaning.
Since the arrows, longbows and chest were AMONG the 17,000 artifacts, they could not have ACCOMPANIED the artifacts.
Eliminate D.
hello Sir, I couple of doubts with this question.
1) you mentioned "COMMA + with serves to introduce something that accompanies or facilitates the preceding action."
Does that mean in original choice comma+with is modifying having sunk or anything I am missing here.

2) In original choice "archaeologists recovered Henry VIII's ship" But in C , correct answer,
When Henry VIII's ship was recovered in 1982, archaeologists found .... we dont know if archaeologists recovered it.

Please help me.