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Missouri Compromise

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Missouri Compromise

by imskpwr » Mon Jul 09, 2012 11:26 pm
The Missouri Compromise of 1820, a legislative effort to mediate the radical differences between slaveholders and abolitionists, did not achieve its goal and thus is remembered by history as a failure, just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts to avert sectional civil war.

a. just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts to avert

b. just the first of a half-dozen more attempts to avert

c. and the first attempt of more than a half-dozen attempts to avert

d. and just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts averting

e. and just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts aimed at averting

Source: Kaplan
OA: After discussion only.

Please mention gmat specific reasons only with your answers.
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by Kasia@EconomistGMAT » Tue Jul 10, 2012 1:54 am
Answers c,d and e compare a clause with a phrase
Answer b contains an extra word "more" and thus is stylistically flawed.
Answer a is correct.
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by mv12 » Tue Jul 10, 2012 11:11 am
Other than A and D , other options can be ruled out .

And A looks fine to me as compared to D and thus is my pick.

Please provide OA so that we can crosscheck.
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by patanjali.purpose » Tue Jul 10, 2012 12:00 pm
imskpwr wrote:The Missouri Compromise of 1820, a legislative effort to mediate the radical differences between slaveholders and abolitionists, did not achieve its goal and thus is remembered by history as a failure, just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts to avert sectional civil war.

a. just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts to avert

b. just the first of a half-dozen more attempts to avert

c. and the first attempt of more than a half-dozen attempts to avert

d. and just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts averting

e. and just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts aimed at averting

Source: Kaplan
OA: After discussion only.

Please mention gmat specific reasons only with your answers.
Many ways we can answer this:

WAY 1) COMMA before JUST suggests that phrase (JUST...WAR) is a modifier. The sentence is trying to trick us by suggesting that IS REMEMBERED BY HISTORY AS A FAILURE, AND xx - this means A FAILURE and XX (any option) are parallel. If they were parallel, we do not need COMMA. Drop C/D/E.

WAY 2) Reading original sentence we get a feeling that the phrase "JUST...WAR" should modify either MISSOURI COMPROMISE or A FAILURE. This cannot modify (logically) the entire previous clause. Since this modifier emphasizes FAILURE, it should modify FAILURE (not Missouri Compromise) - this makes sense because we have a COMMA before JUST. Therefore drop C/D/E

WAY 3) Since the ATTEMPTS were done with a purpose to avert civil war - we need to use TO AVERT (nothing else). Drop D/E.

Problem with C is missing JUST and problem with B is inappropriate use of MORE (it should modify HALF-DOZEN).

IMO A
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by rahulgoyal34 » Tue Jul 10, 2012 10:11 pm
Kasia@MasterGMAT wrote:Answers c,d and e compare a clause with a phrase
Answer b contains an extra word "more" and thus is stylistically flawed.
Answer a is correct.
Can you please elaborate on your answer and explanation with some more examples?
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by Kasia@EconomistGMAT » Wed Jul 11, 2012 12:59 am
Answers c,d and e use conjunction "and." Let's take a closer look at the structure of the three answers:
The Missouri Compromise...did not achieve its goal AND (thus) is remembered by history as a failure, AND ...
We can clearly see that what should follow the second AND is a VERB. However, the three answer choices use phrases.
Compare:
Pineapples strengthen your health and containing a lot of vitamins. - INCORRECT
Pineapples strengthen your health and contain a lot of vitamins.
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by thestartupguy » Wed Jul 11, 2012 9:16 am
patanjali.purpose wrote:
imskpwr wrote:The Missouri Compromise of 1820, a legislative effort to mediate the radical differences between slaveholders and abolitionists, did not achieve its goal and thus is remembered by history as a failure, just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts to avert sectional civil war.

a. just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts to avert

b. just the first of a half-dozen more attempts to avert

c. and the first attempt of more than a half-dozen attempts to avert

d. and just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts averting

e. and just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts aimed at averting

Source: Kaplan
OA: After discussion only.

Please mention gmat specific reasons only with your answers.
Many ways we can answer this:

WAY 1) COMMA before JUST suggests that phrase (JUST...WAR) is a modifier. The sentence is trying to trick us by suggesting that IS REMEMBERED BY HISTORY AS A FAILURE, AND xx - this means A FAILURE and XX (any option) are parallel. If they were parallel, we do not need COMMA. Drop C/D/E.

WAY 2) Reading original sentence we get a feeling that the phrase "JUST...WAR" should modify either MISSOURI COMPROMISE or A FAILURE. This cannot modify (logically) the entire previous clause. Since this modifier emphasizes FAILURE, it should modify FAILURE (not Missouri Compromise) - this makes sense because we have a COMMA before JUST. Therefore drop C/D/E

WAY 3) Since the ATTEMPTS were done with a purpose to avert civil war - we need to use TO AVERT (nothing else). Drop D/E.

Problem with C is missing JUST and problem with B is inappropriate use of MORE (it should modify HALF-DOZEN).

IMO A
In addition, the clause 'attempts aimed at averting' is unidiomatic. I like 'attempts to avert' better
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by KapTeacherEli » Thu Jul 12, 2012 10:30 am
imskpwr wrote:The Missouri Compromise of 1820, a legislative effort to mediate the radical differences between slaveholders and abolitionists, did not achieve its goal and thus is remembered by history as a failure, just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts to avert sectional civil war.

a. just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts to avert

b. just the first of a half-dozen more attempts to avert

c. and the first attempt of more than a half-dozen attempts to avert

d. and just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts averting

e. and just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts aimed at averting

Source: Kaplan
OA: After discussion only.

Please mention gmat specific reasons only with your answers.
Hi imskpwr,

The GMAT doesn't test punctuation directly, but it does expect you to know that there are two correct ways to use ", and" in a sentence.

The comma-and structure can be used as the last item of a list of three or more similar ideas. That's clearly not the case here. Comma-and can also joint two clauses together. But (C), (D), and (E) all fail to introduce a new subject, or "main noun," into the second half of sentence, so they aren't clauses. All three are wrong.

That leaves us to choose between (A) and (B). They're very similar, moving mostly the word "more." But the location of "more" in (B) turns out not to make sense. "more attempts" means, by definition, attempts other than the one you're discussing. So saying that the Missouri Compromise was the "the first" means it's in the group but "of more attempts" means it's not in the group. This is contradictory! So, (A) must be correct.
Last edited by KapTeacherEli on Sat Jul 14, 2012 9:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by imskpwr » Sat Jul 14, 2012 4:39 am
KapTeacherEli wrote:
imskpwr wrote:The Missouri Compromise of 1820, a legislative effort to mediate the radical differences between slaveholders and abolitionists, did not achieve its goal and thus is remembered by history as a failure, just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts to avert sectional civil war.

a. just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts to avert

b. just the first of a half-dozen more attempts to avert

c. and the first attempt of more than a half-dozen attempts to avert

d. and just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts averting

e. and just the first of more than a half-dozen attempts aimed at averting

Source: Kaplan
OA: After discussion only.

Please mention gmat specific reasons only with your answers.
Hi imskpwr,

The GMAT doesn't test punctuation directly, but it does expect you to know that there are two correct ways to use ", and" in a sentence.

The comma-and structure can be used as the last item of a list of three or more similar ideas. That's clearly not the case here. Comma-and can also joint two clauses together. But (C), (D), and (E) all fail to introduce a new subject, or "main noun," into the sentence, so they aren't clauses. All three are wrong.

That leaves us to choose between (A) and (B). They're very similar, moving mostly the word "more." But the location of "more" in (B) turns out not to make sense. "more attempts" means, by definition, attempts other than the one you're discussion. So saying that the Missouri Compromise was the "the first" means it's in the group but "of more attempts" means it's not in the group. This is contradictory! So, (A) must be correct.
Thanks!
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