Sentence Correction

Our archeological team which consisted of 30 specialists traveled to the Amazon to
search for advanced civilizations that were thought to have thrived in the thick jungle.
a) team which consisted of 30 specialists traveled
b) team, consisting of 30 specialists, were traveling
c) team, that consisted of 30 specialists, traveled
d) team which were consisting of 30 specialists are traveling
e) team of 30 specialists which were to travel

[spoiler]a or C? i chose A and the answer is C and i dont get it[/spoiler]

diebeatsthegmat wrote:Our archeological team which consisted of 30 specialists traveled to the Amazon to
search for advanced civilizations that were thought to have thrived in the thick jungle.
a) team which consisted of 30 specialists traveled
b) team, consisting of 30 specialists, were traveling
c) team, that consisted of 30 specialists, traveled
d) team which were consisting of 30 specialists are traveling
e) team of 30 specialists which were to travel

[spoiler]a or C? i chose A and the answer is C and i dont get it[/spoiler]

I believe C is wrong: the commas separating the clause 'that consisted of 30 specialists' indicate that this clause is non-restrictive, but the relative pronoun 'that' indicates a restrictive clause. With a few minor exceptions, the relative pronoun 'that' should not be preceded by a single comma. I would go for A as well.

What's the source?

Geva,
correct me if I am wrong but I think A and C both are wrong.
that introduces restrictive clause and should not be preceded by COMMA.
which is a non-restrictive and SHOULD BE PRECEDED BY COMMA.

B is wrong because ... team ... were travelling = wrong
D = .. team which were .. = wrong
E = ... specialists which were ... = which is not applicable for human being

Hi Geva,

Don't you think that in A "which" should have been preceded by a comma.

aspirant2011 wrote:Hi Geva,

Don't you think that in A "which" should have been preceded by a comma.

Also true, to a certain extent. In everyday speech, it wouldn't be wrong to use which for a defining or non-defining clause. Our research into the GMAC materials show that they tend to keep the convention that which is used for non defining, that for defining.

So A is a better option than C, but also incorrect according to GMAT standards. Not a very good question, this.