Hello Everyone!
Let's take a quick look over this question and highlight the major differences between the options in orange. That way, we can decide how to best tackle this question and get to the right answer quickly!
Elizabeth Barber, the author of both Prehistoric Textiles, a comprehensive work on cloth in the early cultures of the Mediterranean, and also of Women's Work, a more general account of early cloth manufacture, is an expert authority on textiles in ancient societies.
(A) also of Women's Work, a more general account of early cloth manufacture, is an expert authority on
(B) also Women's Work, a more general account of cloth manufacture, is an expert authority about
(C) of Women's Work, a more general account about early cloth manufacture, is an authority on
(D) of Women's Work, a more general account about early cloth manufacture, is an expert authority about
(E) Women's Work, a more general account of early cloth manufacture, is an authority on
After a quick glance over the options, it's clear there are two places we can focus on:
1. How they begin: also of / also / of / none
2. How they end: expert authority on / expert authority about / authority on
Let's start with #1 on our list because it deals with idioms. Whenever we use the word "both" to combine two things, it should be structured like this:
both X and Y
That's it. As long as X and Y are parallel objects, that's all you need to say. So let's take a closer look at each option to see if any of them follow this rule, and toss out the ones that don't:
(A) also of Women's Work, a more general account of early cloth manufacture, is an expert authority on --> both X and also of Y = WRONG
(B) also Women's Work, a more general account of cloth manufacture, is an expert authority about --> both X and also Y = WRONG
(C) of Women's Work, a more general account about early cloth manufacture, is an authority on --> both X and of Y = WRONG
(D) of Women's Work, a more general account about early cloth manufacture, is an expert authority about --> both X and of Y = WRONG
(E) Women's Work, a more general account of early cloth manufacture, is an authority on --> both X and Y = CORRECT!
There you go - option E is the ONLY one that follows the idiom's structure correctly!
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If you were to tackle #2 on the list first, this is how it would break down:
(A) also of Women's Work, a more general account of early cloth manufacture, is an expert authority on
This is INCORRECT because it's redundant to say both "expert" and "authority." They essentially mean the same thing, and using both doesn't add anything to the overall meaning.
(B) also Women's Work, a more general account of cloth manufacture, is an expert authority about
This is INCORRECT for two reasons. First, it's redundant to use both "expert" and "authority." Second, it's not idiomatically correct to say someone is an "expert about" a topic. They are an "expert ON" a topic.
(C) of Women's Work, a more general account about early cloth manufacture, is an authority on
This is OKAY if we only focus on the ending - it doesn't have the redundancy or idiom problems we saw in A & B.
(However, we know this is ultimately INCORRECT because it doesn't use the "both X and Y" idiomatic structure correctly.)
(D) of Women's Work, a more general account about early cloth manufacture, is an expert authority about
This is INCORRECT because it's redundant to say both "expert" and "authority." It also doesn't use the correct idiom "expert on."
(E) Women's Work, a more general account of early cloth manufacture, is an authority on
This is CORRECT! It doesn't use any redundancies, and it uses the correct "expert on" idiomatic structure!
We still end up going with option E as the correct choice! You would still have to choose between options C & E in the end, but since C doesn't use the right idiomatic structure, it's still going be ruled out.
Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
