Tale of Two Cities

This topic has expert replies
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 185
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2010 3:06 am
Thanked: 6 times

Tale of Two Cities

by gmatnmein2010 » Mon Feb 08, 2010 10:50 pm
By the year 2000, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens' gripping book portraying the suffering of the proletariat under the brutal subjugation of the French aristocracy had around 200 million copies in print, making it more than that of almost any other English book ever written.

A) book portraying the suffering of the proletariat under the brutal subjugation of the French aristocracy had around 200 million copies in print, making it more than
B) book portraying the suffering of the proletariat under the brutal subjugation of the French aristocracy had around 200 million copies in print, which is more than
C) book portraying the suffering of the proletariat under the brutal subjugation of the French aristocracy, had around 200 million copies in print, more than
D) book portraying the suffering of the proletariat under the brutal subjugation of the French aristocracy, had around 200 million copies in print, making it more than
E) book portraying the suffering of the proletariat under the brutal subjugation of the French aristocracy had around 200 million copies in print and is more than

Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 15
Joined: Tue Aug 12, 2008 7:00 am

by siddarth » Mon Feb 08, 2010 11:16 pm
gmatnmein2010 wrote:By the year 2000, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens' gripping book portraying the suffering of the proletariat under the brutal subjugation of the French aristocracy had around 200 million copies in print, making it more than that of almost any other English book ever written.

A) book portraying the suffering of the proletariat under the brutal subjugation of the French aristocracy had around 200 million copies in print, making it more than
B) book portraying the suffering of the proletariat under the brutal subjugation of the French aristocracy had around 200 million copies in print, which is more than
C) book portraying the suffering of the proletariat under the brutal subjugation of the French aristocracy, had around 200 million copies in print, more than
D) book portraying the suffering of the proletariat under the brutal subjugation of the French aristocracy, had around 200 million copies in print, making it more than
E) book portraying the suffering of the proletariat under the brutal subjugation of the French aristocracy had around 200 million copies in print and is more than
IMO-B, the sentence is trying to say that the number of prints for this book is more than any other.

User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 1560
Joined: Tue Nov 17, 2009 2:38 am
Thanked: 137 times
Followed by:5 members

by thephoenix » Mon Feb 08, 2010 11:51 pm
the s/c is very complicate initially the error was not easy to spot , whenever i used to face such a situation i then start checking or rather comparing the options in order to look for changes done....the beauty of GMAT s/c is that the option will have difference either in the start or in the end.on quick glance u will find that its 2-3 split
in two of the option there is a comma after aristocracy and in rest 3 there is no comma ---> so this is the clue
now if we use comma then the phrase Charles Dickens' gripping book portraying the suffering of the proletariat under the brutal subjugation of the French aristocracy will become a modifying phrase and will modify phrase A tale of two cities.However Without a comma after aristocracy, the modifying phrase is not properly separated from the subject (A Tale of Two Cities) and verb (had).hence we need a comma so 3 options without comma are eliminated i.e A,B,and E
now b/n C and D,in D the sentence improperly compares unlike parts AND the pronoun it toward the end of the sentence has no clear antecedent,hence eliminated
so C sud be the ans

User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 777
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2010 4:02 am
Location: Mumbai, India
Thanked: 117 times
Followed by:47 members

by komal » Sun Feb 14, 2010 8:41 am
gmatnmein2010 wrote:By the year 2000, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens' gripping book portraying the suffering of the proletariat under the brutal subjugation of the French aristocracy had around 200 million copies in print, making it more than that of almost any other English book ever written.

A) book portraying the suffering of the proletariat under the brutal subjugation of the French aristocracy had around 200 million copies in print, making it more than -
Incorrect : Without a comma after aristocracy, the modifying phrase is not properly separated from the subject (A Tale of Two Cities) and verb (had).

B) book portraying the suffering of the proletariat under the brutal subjugation of the French aristocracy had around 200 million copies in print, which is more than
Incorrect : The pronoun it in the phrase making it more than does not have a clear antecedent (although it probably refers to A Tale of Two Cities).

C) book portraying the suffering of the proletariat under the brutal subjugation of the French aristocracy, had around 200 million copies in print, more than
Correct : The modifying phrase between the subject and verb is set off by a comma; the unclear and unnecessary pronoun it has been removed;

D) book portraying the suffering of the proletariat under the brutal subjugation of the French aristocracy, had around 200 million copies in print, making it more than
Incorrect : the sentence improperly compares unlike parts; the pronoun it toward the end of the sentence has no clear antecedent

E) book portraying the suffering of the proletariat under the brutal subjugation of the French aristocracy had around 200 million copies in print and is more than
Incorrect : There is no comma between aristocracy and had to set off the modifying phrase; the phrase and is more than is awkward as there is no clear subject to which the verb is refers


Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2019 9:47 pm
Followed by:2 members

by Nick0203 » Tue Jan 15, 2019 1:06 am
Before "had" a comma is required else it would become a Run on sentence. Options A, B and E are incorrect for this reason. In option D, "it" cannot be books. The comparison would be incorrect. Option C is perfect.