tenses or parallelism (clueless)

Question

Q)2. Too old to bear arms himself, Frederick Douglass served as a recruiting agent, traveled through the North to exhort Black men to join the Union army.
[A] traveled through the North to exhort
and he traveled through the North and exhorted
[C] and traveling through the North exhorted
[D] traveling through the North and exhorted
[E] traveling through the North and exhorting

eagleeye · Answer

AJWILL wrote:Q)2. Too old to bear arms himself, Frederick Douglass served as a recruiting agent, traveled through the North to exhort Black men to join the Union army.
[A] traveled through the North to exhort
and he traveled through the North and exhorted
[C] and traveling through the North exhorted
[D] traveling through the North and exhorted
[E] traveling through the North and exhorting

In this case :
1. We have an introductory modifier, "Too old to bear arms himself".
2. We have a main independent clause, "Frederick Douglass served as a recruiting agent".
The sentence is best completed by a modifying phrase, which tells us what Frederick did as a recruiting agent. The most accurate and parallel phrase in this case is option "E" which uses the "verb+ing" form.

[A] traveled through the North to exhort
This one turns the sentence into a fragment. NO.

and he traveled through the North and exhorted
"he" is redundant. Parallelism is violated due to no commas and an extra "and".

[C] and traveling through the North exhorted
This one makes the sentence illogical by omitting a comma between North and exhorted.

[D] traveling through the North and exhorted
Not parallel. NO.

[E] traveling through the North and exhorting
This is the right answer. Parallel and modifies the main clause correctly.

Cheers!

kulhot · Answer

IMO (D).Please post the OA.

avik.ch · Answer

AJWILL wrote:Q)2. Too old to bear arms himself, Frederick Douglass served as a recruiting agent, traveled through the North to exhort Black men to join the Union army.
[A] traveled through the North to exhort
and he traveled through the North and exhorted
[C] and traveling through the North exhorted
[D] traveling through the North and exhorted
[E] traveling through the North and exhorting

In this case :
1. We have an introductory modifier, "Too old to bear arms himself".
2. We have a main independent clause, "Frederick Douglass served as a recruiting agent".
The sentence is best completed by a modifying phrase, which tells us what Frederick did as a recruiting agent. The most accurate and parallel phrase in this case is option "E" which uses the "verb+ing" form.

[A] traveled through the North to exhort
This one turns the sentence into a fragment. NO.

and he traveled through the North and exhorted
"he" is redundant. Parallelism is violated due to no commas and an extra "and".

[C] and traveling through the North exhorted
This one makes the sentence illogical by omitting a comma between North and exhorted.

[D] traveling through the North and exhorted
Not parallel. NO.

[E] traveling through the North and exhorting
This is the right answer. Parallel and modifies the main clause correctly.

Cheers!

Choose how you want to prepare

Get Ready for GMAT Test Day Faster with Live Online Classes

Target Test Prep EA OnDemand

Sep 6 to Dec 6, 2026

Target Test Prep GMAT OnDemand

tenses or parallelism (clueless)

Chicago Booth

GMAT Course Reviews

Admissions Consulting Reviews

FREE GMAT PREP RESOURCES

GMAT PREP DEAL TRACKER