BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem
TTP OnDemand GMAT Video Course
Featured Course

Target Test Prep GMAT OnDemand

Scott Woodbury-Stewart’s private virtual classroom — 400 hours of master-class video lessons for the GMAT Focus Edition.

  • 715+ score guarantee — highest in the industry (99th percentile)
  • 52 chapters · 1,500+ lessons · 4,000+ practice questions
  • 400 hours of video · 1,500+ instructor-led HD smartboard lessons
  • 300,000+ students accepted to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Booth & Sloan & more
  • 24/7 live support + weekly Zoom office hours with GMAT instructors
  • TTP AI Assist — 24/7 AI-powered virtual tutor for instant help
  • 1,200+ flashcards + AI-powered study assistant & daily calendar
  • OnDemand, LiveTeach & GMAT Bootcamp formats available
  • Also: GRE, SAT Math & Executive Assessment courses
  • MBA Admissions Consulting now available
  • 🏆 2025 EdTech Breakthrough Award: Test Prep Solution Provider of the Year
  • 200,000+ students served
  • 5-day free trial — $0 to start, no auto-billing, cancel anytime
★★★★★ 5.0 (559 reviews)
130-pt guarantee
$0 to start then $127/mo
Start Free 5-Day Trial Read 559 Reviews →

Tricky1

Expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 115
Joined: Fri Dec 26, 2008 2:18 amFollowed by: 1 member
Location: india
Thanked: 3 times
by geet » Fri Jul 17, 2009 3:40 am
The single-family house constructed by the Yana, a Native American people who lived in what is now northern California, was conical in shape, its framework of poles overlaid with slabs of bark, either cedar or pine, and banked with dirt to a height of three to four feet.

A. banked with dirt to a height of
B. banked with dirt as high as that of
C. banked them with dirt to a height of
D. was banked with dirt as high as
E. was banked with dirt as high as that of
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Source: — Sentence Correction |
Legendary Member
Posts: 1035
Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:56 pmFollowed by: 1 member
Thanked: 104 times

by scoobydooby » Fri Jul 17, 2009 4:51 am
A.

The single-family house ...was X and Y

X: conical in shape: adjective phrase
Y banked with dirt: past partciple used as an adjective to describe the house.

X and Y are parallel. so A is correct.

B: unidiomatic
C: "them" is misplaced.
D and E just not parallel
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 166
Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2009 10:41 pm
Thanked: 9 times
GMAT Score:770

by raghavsarathy » Fri Jul 17, 2009 4:53 am
IMO - A

D and E are out for parallelism reasons "its framework of poles overlaid with slabs of bark" is not parallel with "was banked with dirt"

in C "them" does not have a clear reference.

B/n A and B , A is definetly more concise and clear
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 116
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2009 9:26 am
Location: New Jersey
Thanked: 7 times
GMAT Score:660

by Sher1 » Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:57 am
I think it should be D. Parallelism should be between was conical in shape and was .......ABE are parallel to the modifier of the main clause.

Also don't think A is idiomatic.
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Legendary Member
Posts: 876
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:14 am
Thanked: 13 times

by ketkoag » Fri Jul 17, 2009 1:42 pm
scoobydooby wrote:A.

The single-family house ...was X and Y

X: conical in shape: adjective phrase
Y banked with dirt: past partciple used as an adjective to describe the house.

X and Y are parallel. so A is correct.

B: unidiomatic
C: "them" is misplaced.
D and E just not parallel
I think answer should be A but the parallel structure should be the bold part in the sentence below :

The single-family house constructed by the Yana, a Native American people who lived in what is now northern California, was conical in shape, its framework of poles overlaid with slabs of bark, either cedar or pine, and banked with dirt to a height of three to four feet.

I don't think that house....was conical....and banked is parallel..
Also, as per this question, i don't think that a house is banked with mud.. it is the framework that is banked with mud..
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 57
Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2009 8:59 am

by dikku07 » Fri Jul 17, 2009 4:00 pm
in my opinion D
as high as goes to show height. what is OA?
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 129
Joined: Tue May 19, 2009 9:12 am
Thanked: 8 times

by cata1yst » Fri Jul 17, 2009 6:43 pm
Sher1 wrote:I think it should be D. Parallelism should be between was conical in shape and was .......ABE are parallel to the modifier of the main clause.

Also don't think A is idiomatic.
I totally agree.

IMO D is the most parallel of the bunch.


What is the OA?
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Legendary Member
Posts: 1161
Joined: Mon May 12, 2008 2:52 amFollowed by: 1 member
Location: Sydney
Thanked: 23 times

by mehravikas » Fri Jul 17, 2009 6:46 pm
IMO - D
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 115
Joined: Fri Dec 26, 2008 2:18 amFollowed by: 1 member
Location: india
Thanked: 3 times

by geet » Fri Jul 17, 2009 8:32 pm
well, guys their is controversy over the answer...
it must be between A and D and i thought to clear it at BTG but controversy remains here also. :( .

expert opinion needed!!!!
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Legendary Member
Posts: 752
Joined: Sun May 17, 2009 11:04 pm
Location: Tokyo
Thanked: 81 times
GMAT Score:680

Re: Tricky1

by tohellandback » Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:36 pm
geet wrote:The single-family house constructed by the Yana, a Native American people who lived in what is now northern California, was conical in shape, its framework of poles overlaid with slabs of bark, either cedar or pine, and banked with dirt to a height of three to four feet.

A. banked with dirt to a height of
B. banked with dirt as high as that of
C. banked them with dirt to a height of
D. was banked with dirt as high as
E. was banked with dirt as high as that of
IMO D
because in A "banked with dirt" modifies "slabs of bark"
The powers of two are bloody impolite!!
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Legendary Member
Posts: 1161
Joined: Mon May 12, 2008 2:52 amFollowed by: 1 member
Location: Sydney
Thanked: 23 times

by mehravikas » Mon Aug 24, 2009 1:50 am
This is a GMAT Prep problem - OA is A
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2009 4:42 am

I will go with D

by mankabra » Mon Aug 24, 2009 5:32 am
Hi,

D is parallel.House.. was conical and was banked.

Can you please let us know the correce answer, as there is a bit of confusion here
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 43
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 4:04 pm
Location: Toronto
Thanked: 4 times
GMAT Score:680

by sbasha » Mon Aug 24, 2009 7:45 am
It is A.

Here the parallelism applies to later part of the sentence "its framework of poles" but not to " single-family house"
Regards

Syed Basha
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 76
Joined: Fri Dec 26, 2008 8:18 am
Thanked: 3 times

by srivas » Mon Aug 24, 2009 8:32 am
The single-family house constructed by the Yana, a Native American people who lived in what is now northern California, was conical in shape, its framework of poles overlaid with slabs of bark, either cedar or pine, and banked with dirt to a height of three to four feet.

A. banked with dirt to a height of
B. banked with dirt as high as that of
C. banked them with dirt to a height of
D. was banked with dirt as high as
E. was banked with dirt as high as that of

was colonial -- was banked
Gmat710,, Hyd
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 134
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 7:44 pm
Thanked: 14 times

by m&m » Mon Aug 24, 2009 8:44 am
I too picked D during my GMATprep test. But upon reviewing A, it is gramatically correct and, the original sentence must maintain the same meaning as the correct answer unless the meaning is flawed due to the error.

In A it says...
1) house constructed by Yana was conical in shape
1a) its framework (of conical shape) of poles overlaid with slabs of bark AND
1b) its framework was also banked with dirt to a height...


in D is says...
1) house constructed by Yana was conical in shape
1a) its framework (of conical shape) of poles overlaid with slabs of bark
2) house constructed was ALSO banked with dirt to height...


since A is not wrong both grammatically and logically we must use same logic in A even though D is not necessarily wrong (IMO)

hope that helps
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Post new topic Locked