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The ancient anasazi

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The ancient anasazi

by SmarpanGamt » Sat May 29, 2010 12:15 pm
The ancient Anasazi harvested such native desert vegetation as the purple-flowered bee
plant, what they now commonly call wild spinach in northern Arizona and other parts of
the southwestern United States.
A. what they now commonly call
B. a plant that they now commonly call
C. now commonly called
D. and is now commonly called
E. which it is now commonly called

Please discuss
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by FightWithGMAT » Sat May 29, 2010 12:40 pm
SmarpanGamt wrote:The ancient Anasazi harvested such native desert vegetation as the purple-flowered bee
plant, what they now commonly call wild spinach in northern Arizona and other parts of
the southwestern United States.
A. what they now commonly call
B. a plant that they now commonly call
C. now commonly called
D. and is now commonly called
E. which it is now commonly called

Please discuss
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IMO C

I read "the Anasazi" as a ancient community................so, "they" in A and B does not have any noun (plural).
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by priyankasahni » Sat May 29, 2010 1:39 pm
FightWithGMAT wrote:
SmarpanGamt wrote:The ancient Anasazi harvested such native desert vegetation as the purple-flowered bee
plant, what they now commonly call wild spinach in northern Arizona and other parts of
the southwestern United States.
A. what they now commonly call
B. a plant that they now commonly call
C. now commonly called
D. and is now commonly called
E. which it is now commonly called

Please discuss
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IMO C

I read "the Anasazi" as a ancient community................so, "they" in A and B does not have any noun (plural).
The answer should be (C) because "they" in A and B doesn't refer to any noun and similarly "it" in E; furthermore with "and" in option D the subject of the previous clause that is Ancient anasazi will get carried over implying that Anasazi is now commonly called...
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by Patrick_GMATFix » Sat May 29, 2010 2:43 pm
FightWithGMAT wrote:I read "the Anasazi" as a ancient community................so, "they" in A and B does not have any noun (plural).
priyankasahni wrote:The answer should be (C) because "they" in A and B doesn't refer to any noun
I also like C, but the reasons presented above are not necessarily sufficient to eliminate A & B. There are many instances in which "the people" can be a plural noun, such as "The Chinese", "The French" or "The Dutch". All these nouns can be plural subjects. I don't know whether "The Anasazi" falls in this category (nouns whose singular and plural forms are identical).

My 2cents,
-Patrick
Last edited by Patrick_GMATFix on Sat May 29, 2010 3:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by priyankasahni » Sat May 29, 2010 3:34 pm
Patrick_GMATFix wrote:
FightWithGMAT wrote:I read "the Anasazi" as a ancient community................so, "they" in A and B does not have any noun (plural).
priyankasahni wrote:The answer should be (C) because "they" in A and B doesn't refer to any noun
I also like C, but the reasons presented above are not necessarily sufficient to eliminate C. There are many instances in which "the people" can be a plural noun, such as "The Chinese", "The French" or "The Dutch". All these nouns can be plural subjects. I don't know whether "The Anasazi" falls in this category (nouns whose singular and plural forms are identical).

My 2cents,
-Patrick
Well if you go by that logic even then it makes no sense to say that "what The Anasazi (they) now commonly call..."in A and "a plant that the anasazi now commonly call..."in B
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by Patrick_GMATFix » Sat May 29, 2010 3:54 pm
Hi priyankasahni,

You may have missed the point my post. My first sentence says that I like C so I wasn't saying that your choice is incorrect at all.

My post is not about saying that C is wrong, but pointing out that if A & B are wrong, it may not be because they use "they" to refer to the Anasazi

-Patrick
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by priyankasahni » Sun May 30, 2010 1:10 am
Patrick_GMATFix wrote:Hi priyankasahni,

You may have missed the point my post. My first sentence says that I like C so I wasn't saying that your choice is incorrect at all.

My post is not about saying that C is wrong, but pointing out that if A & B are wrong, it may not be because they use "they" to refer to the Anasazi

-Patrick
Patrick i did get your point the first time and therefore all i am trying to suggest is that replace the noun with The Anasazi,which you beleive to be the antecedent for "they", and you will realize that the sentence doesn't any make sense.

Peace
Priyanka
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by priyankasahni » Sun May 30, 2010 1:12 am
priyankasahni wrote:
Patrick_GMATFix wrote:Hi priyankasahni,

You may have missed the point my post. My first sentence says that I like C so I wasn't saying that your choice is incorrect at all.

My post is not about saying that C is wrong, but pointing out that if A & B are wrong, it may not be because they use "they" to refer to the Anasazi

-Patrick
Patrick i did get your point the first time and therefore all i am trying to suggest is that replace the noun with The Anasazi,which you beleive to be the antecedent for "they", and you will realize that the sentence doesn't any make sense.

Peace
Priyanka
PS: In my post I am trying to eliminate options A B D E and once thats done C stands out to be a clear winner. :)
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by SmarpanGamt » Sun May 30, 2010 11:16 am
priyankasahni wrote:
priyankasahni wrote:
Patrick_GMATFix wrote:Hi priyankasahni,

You may have missed the point my post. My first sentence says that I like C so I wasn't saying that your choice is incorrect at all.

My post is not about saying that C is wrong, but pointing out that if A & B are wrong, it may not be because they use "they" to refer to the Anasazi

-Patrick
Patrick i did get your point the first time and therefore all i am trying to suggest is that replace the noun with The Anasazi,which you beleive to be the antecedent for "they", and you will realize that the sentence doesn't any make sense.

Peace
Priyanka
I was confussed with E and C, and opted for E where " which" modifies " plant" but after your explanation "it" is redundant and confuse anticident.

Thanks
PS: In my post I am trying to eliminate options A B D E and once thats done C stands out to be a clear winner. :)
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by STJ » Mon Dec 30, 2013 2:39 pm
Hi Can someone explain why B would be wrong? I still don't get it. Thank you!
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by siddhu161 » Mon Dec 30, 2013 4:36 pm
Hi STJ,

B is wrong because -
1. Sentence states 'ancient' Anasazi harvest'ed', so they 'now' commonly 'call' is not very good choice.
2. also 'a plant they' are unnecessary words that are not required.

Hope you are getting me.
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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Jan 03, 2014 11:23 pm
SmarpanGamt wrote:The ancient Anasazi harvested such native desert vegetation as the purple-flowered bee
plant, what they now commonly call wild spinach in northern Arizona and other parts of
the southwestern United States.
A. what they now commonly call
B. a plant that they now commonly call
C. now commonly called
D. and is now commonly called
E. which it is now commonly called
In A and B, they seems to refer to the ancient Anasazi, implying the following:
The ANCIENT Anasazi NOW call the bee plant "wild spinach".
Here, ancient and now contradict each other.
Eliminate A and B.

D: The ancient Anasazi harvested...and is now commonly called wild spinach.
Here, the subject of is called (singular) seems to be the ancient Anasazi (plural).
Eliminate D.

In E, it lacks a clear referent.
Eliminate E.

The best answer is C.
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