The first English settlers to establish a permanent colony

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aspirant2011: Legendary Member; Posts: 1574; Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:52 am; Thanked: 88 times; Followed by:13 members

The first English settlers to establish a permanent colony

by aspirant2011 » Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:51 am

The first English settlers to establish a permanent colony in America did it not at Plymouth but
along the shore of the James River west of Chesapeake Bay.

A. it not at Plymouth but
B. so not at Plymouth but
C. not at Plymouth but instead
D. not at Plymouth but did so
E. it not at Plymouth but rather

[spoiler]OA: Will be posted later. Please explain each answer choice[/spoiler]

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:51 am

gsinghal: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 68; Joined: Sun Apr 11, 2010 3:22 am; Followed by:1 members

by gsinghal » Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:14 am

IMO B

The first English settlers to establish a permanent colony in America did so not at Plymouth but
along the shore of the James River west of Chesapeake Bay.

did what? establish a permanent colony. did so clearly states that settlers established their colonies not at plymouth but along....

C & E use but instead & but rather : unnecessary

A : it is not clear.

D : awkward : did not at at plymouth but did so... does not states what they did not do earlier but did so after

Thanks
Gautam

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aspirant2011: Legendary Member; Posts: 1574; Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:52 am; Thanked: 88 times; Followed by:13 members

by aspirant2011 » Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:18 am

gsinghal wrote:IMO B

The first English settlers to establish a permanent colony in America did so not at Plymouth but
along the shore of the James River west of Chesapeake Bay.

did what? establish a permanent colony. did so clearly states that settlers established their colonies not at plymouth but along....

C & E use but instead & but rather : unnecessary

A : it is not clear.

D : awkward : did not at at plymouth but did so... does not states what they did not do earlier but did so after

Thanks
Gautam

Hi Gautam,

Can you clear one thing i.e to what all "it" in option A refer to?????

Also, are C and E wrong because "but is already a transition verb and by introducing another transition verb instead or rather with but it causes redundancy"??????

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Brian@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1031; Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 1:23 pm; Location: Malibu, CA; Thanked: 716 times; Followed by:255 members; GMAT Score:750

by Brian@VeritasPrep » Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:48 am

Great explanation, Gautam - thanks!

And to aspirant's question:

Can you clear one thing i.e to what all "it" in option A refer to?????

Exactly! Because we can't find a clear or logical antecedent for "it" to refer back to in either A or E, that's why those answer choices are incorrect. "So" serves this purpose better (almost like a pronoun for a verb), and that's why B is correct.

Brian Galvin
GMAT Instructor
Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep

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