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Spanish Inquisition

by saurabh2525_gupta » Thu Aug 25, 2011 5:31 am
More than any other single event in the history
of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition, instituted by
Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the
Spanish kings, is remembered for the burning of
persons condemned as heretics.
(A) More than any other single event in the
history of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition,
instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and
controlled by the Spanish kings, is
remembered
(B) More than any single event in the history
of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition,
instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and
controlled by the Spanish kings, was
remembered
(C) The Spanish Inquisition, instituted by
Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by
the Spanish kings, more than any event in
the history of Europe, is remembered
(D) More than any other single event in the
history of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition,
instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and
controlled by the Spanish kings, are
remembered
(E) The Spanish Inquisition, instituted by
Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by
the Spanish kings, are remembered more
than any single event in the history of
Europe

I chose the correct answer on this one by intuition. The fight was between A and C. Can somebody please explain why A is the preferred form of modifier than C.

Best Regards,
JOHN
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by mundasingh123 » Thu Aug 25, 2011 5:59 am
2 reasons for this
1)More than any other single event in the history is correct
More than any single event in the history : muddles the meaning
2) Opening phrase modifies the following subject and action
the placement of adverb phrase makes it difficult to understand what exactly is the adverb phrase " More than " modifying
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by aspirant2011 » Thu Aug 25, 2011 6:19 am
saurabh2525_gupta wrote:More than any other single event in the history of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings, is remembered for the burning of persons condemned as heretics.

(A) More than any other single event in the history of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings, is remembered ----- acts as a correct modifier & is near to the thing being modified i.e Spanish Inquisition

(C) The Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings, more than any event in the history of Europe, is remembered ----- two problems-

thing being modified is far away from the modifier
creates unnecessary fragmentation

I chose the correct answer on this one by intuition. The fight was between A and C. Can somebody please explain why A is the preferred form of modifier than C.

Best Regards,
JOHN
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by saurabh2525_gupta » Thu Aug 25, 2011 11:07 am
aspirant2011 wrote:
saurabh2525_gupta wrote:More than any other single event in the history of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings, is remembered for the burning of persons condemned as heretics.

(A) More than any other single event in the history of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings, is remembered ----- acts as a correct modifier & is near to the thing being modified i.e Spanish Inquisition

(C) The Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings, more than any event in the history of Europe, is remembered ----- two problems-

thing being modified is far away from the modifier
creates unnecessary fragmentation

I chose the correct answer on this one by intuition. The fight was between A and C. Can somebody please explain why A is the preferred form of modifier than C.

Best Regards,
JOHN
The explanation from the source says "The difference between these two is the placement of the phrase "more than any other single event in the history of Europe." Where is it better
placed? In (A) it clearly modifies "is remembered." In (C) it could just as easily modify "instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings." Choice (A) is clearer, so it's the best answer"

I was not able to follow this. This lead me to post this question.

@aspirant2011 - I agree with your explanation

@mundasingh123 - I could not get your second point. Can you please explain second point once again?

Best Regards,
JOHN
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by mundasingh123 » Thu Aug 25, 2011 11:11 am
Just as an opening -ing modifier modifies the subject and verb of the following clause , so too the adverbial modifier "More than ... " modifies the subject and action in the following clause
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by saurabh2525_gupta » Thu Aug 25, 2011 11:20 am
mundasingh123 wrote:Just as an opening -ing modifier modifies the subject and verb of the following clause , so too the adverbial modifier "More than ... " modifies the subject and action in the following clause
Agreed with this.

Here "More than.." is modifying the verb "is remembered" because it answers the question HOW about the verb. How is it remembered - "More than....". An adverbial modifier need not touch the verb it is modifying but its placement should not be ambiguous. "More than.." is not modifying Spanish Inquisition. Do we agree on this?

In choice "C", we are placing the modifier next to the verb it is modifying, yet it is incorrect. Why so?
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by mundasingh123 » Thu Aug 25, 2011 12:05 pm
saurabh2525_gupta wrote:
mundasingh123 wrote:Just as an opening -ing modifier modifies the subject and verb of the following clause , so too the adverbial modifier "More than ... " modifies the subject and action in the following clause
Agreed with this.

Here "More than.." is modifying the verb "is remembered" because it answers the question HOW about the verb. How is it remembered - "More than....". An adverbial modifier need not touch the verb it is modifying but its placement should not be ambiguous. "More than.." is not modifying Spanish Inquisition. Do we agree on this?

In choice "C", we are placing the modifier next to the verb it is modifying, yet it is incorrect. Why so?
agree with u
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by e-GMAT » Thu Aug 25, 2011 2:19 pm
Great discussion...

You guys are headed in the right direction. The placement of modifier "more than..." is an issue in Choice C because of how it is placed between two possible verbs (or verb-like words):

1: is remembered - we know this modifier should describe this verb.
2: instituted by and controlled by - this verb-ed modifier list is also placed in the vicinity of the modifier in question.

This placement results in ambiguity. It is no longer clear whether "more than..." modifies "is remembered" or "instituted..."

Now lets put this in context of a simple sentence:

More than any other food, macaroni-cheese, made with cheddar, is loved by kids of all ages.
Macaroni-cheese, made with cheddar, more than any other food, is loved by kids of all ages.

Hope this helps.

Payal
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by mundasingh123 » Thu Aug 25, 2011 9:45 pm
e-GMAT wrote:Great discussion...

You guys are headed in the right direction. The placement of modifier "more than..." is an issue in Choice C because of how it is placed between two possible verbs (or verb-like words):

1: is remembered - we know this modifier should describe this verb.
2: instituted by and controlled by - this verb-ed modifier list is also placed in the vicinity of the modifier in question.

This placement results in ambiguity. It is no longer clear whether "more than..." modifies "is remembered" or "instituted..."

Now lets put this in context of a simple sentence:

More than any other food, macaroni-cheese, made with cheddar, is loved by kids of all ages.
Macaroni-cheese, made with cheddar, more than any other food, is loved by kids of all ages.

Hope this helps.

Payal
Hi Payal
could we say that


Just as an opening -ing modifier modifies the subject and verb of the following clause , so too the adverbial modifier "More than ... " modifies the subject and action in the following clause
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by saurabh2525_gupta » Fri Aug 26, 2011 11:12 am
Hi Payal,

I agree with mundasingh123's and your explanation to some extent but there is a bone of contention.

"instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings" modifies The Spanish Inquisition.

"more than any event in the history of Europe" modifies "is remembered".

So in choice C, the modifiers are close to the subjects they modify. That is why it looks attractive although awkward.

What do you think?

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by GMATGuruNY » Mon Sep 05, 2011 5:20 am
saurabh2525_gupta wrote:More than any other single event in the history
of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition, instituted by
Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the
Spanish kings, is remembered for the burning of
persons condemned as heretics.
(A) More than any other single event in the
history of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition,
instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and
controlled by the Spanish kings, is
remembered
(B) More than any single event in the history
of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition,
instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and
controlled by the Spanish kings, was
remembered
(C) The Spanish Inquisition, instituted by
Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by
the Spanish kings, more than any event in
the history of Europe, is remembered
(D) More than any other single event in the
history of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition,
instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and
controlled by the Spanish kings, are
remembered
(E) The Spanish Inquisition, instituted by
Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by
the Spanish kings, are remembered more
than any single event in the history of
Europe

I chose the correct answer on this one by intuition. The fight was between A and C. Can somebody please explain why A is the preferred form of modifier than C.

Best Regards,
JOHN
I received a PM asking me to comment.

In D and E, are remembered (plural) doesn't agree with the Spanish Inquisition (singular). Eliminate D and E.

In B, was remembered changes the intended meaning, since the Spanish Inquisition IS still remembered for the burning of persons. Eliminate B.

In C, it is not crystal clear what is being modified by more than any EVENT. Also, since the Spanish Inquisition is being compared to OTHER events, the word other is necessary. To convey the intended meaning, C needs to say more than any OTHER event in the history of Europe. Eliminate C.

The correct answer is A.
Last edited by GMATGuruNY on Mon Sep 05, 2011 10:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by mundasingh123 » Mon Sep 05, 2011 6:46 am
Hi GmatGuruNY ,
could we say that


Just as an opening -ing modifier modifies the subject and verb of the following clause , so too the adverbial modifier "More than ... " modifies the subject and action in the following clause

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by prashant.mishra » Mon Sep 05, 2011 9:25 am
Yes... "More than..." is an adverb clause modifier...This modifier must have an independant clause in the sentence.

Mitch, am I right ?
mundasingh123 wrote:Hi GmatGuruNY ,
could we say that


Just as an opening -ing modifier modifies the subject and verb of the following clause , so too the adverbial modifier "More than ... " modifies the subject and action in the following clause

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by saurabh2525_gupta » Mon Sep 05, 2011 7:59 pm
Hi GMATGuruNY,

Thank you for taking time out and replying on the thread. I appreciate your contribution.

Thank you for the explanation. I was stuck between A and C.
Here "More than.." is modifying the verb "is remembered" because it answers the question HOW about the verb. How is it remembered - "More than....".
An adverbial modifier need not touch the verb it is modifying but its placement should not be ambiguous. I think "More than.." is not modifying Spanish Inquisition.

Please tell me where is the gap in my understanding.

Best Regards,
JOHN
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by GMATGuruNY » Mon Sep 05, 2011 11:10 pm
saurabh2525_gupta wrote:Hi GMATGuruNY,

Thank you for taking time out and replying on the thread. I appreciate your contribution.

Thank you for the explanation. I was stuck between A and C.
Here "More than.." is modifying the verb "is remembered" because it answers the question HOW about the verb. How is it remembered - "More than....".
An adverbial modifier need not touch the verb it is modifying but its placement should not be ambiguous. I think "More than.." is not modifying Spanish Inquisition.

Please tell me where is the gap in my understanding.

Best Regards,
JOHN
In C, the placement of more than any event makes its function less clear. The phrase could be modifying instituted and controlled (the two preceding actions) or is remembered (the action that follows). Since A avoids this confusion, we should eliminate C and choose A.
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