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SC#04.

by gmat_perfect » Sun Dec 05, 2010 4:27 am
A controversial figure throughout most of his public life, the Black leader Marcus Garvey advocated that some Blacks return to Africa, the land that, to him, symbolized the possibility of freedom.

(A) that some Blacks return to Africa, the land that, to him, symbolized the possibility of freedom
(B) that some Blacks return to the African land symbolizing the possibility of freedom to him
(C) that some Blacks return to Africa which was the land which symbolized the possibility of freedom to him
(D) some Black's returning to Africa which was the land that to him symbolized the possibility of freedom
(E) some Black's return to the land symbolizing the possibility of freedom to him, Africa

[spoiler]OA: After discussion[/spoiler]
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by shovan85 » Sun Dec 05, 2010 7:40 am
IMO A

Symbolizing refers to "the return of Blacks to Africa" Discard B and E.

In D I cannot say why but "returning" is wrong.

Between C and A before usage of Which Comma is required and also which introduces unnecessary modifier, Usage of That is required for the land. Discard C
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by rishab1988 » Sun Dec 05, 2010 8:08 am
The correct answer should be A.

D - possessing a gerund is almost always awkward eg "the gut's trying"

In E Africa is modifying him.This is illogical.

C is correct -grammatically but a wordy way to say what A says.

in B the sentence structure is as follows:

Marcus Garvey-subject

the Black leader-adjective [appositive]

advocated -verb

that - relative clause

Blacks - subject

some - adjective

return-verb

to land-prepositional phrase

African-adjective [this is a weird way to say what Africa conveys.It creates ambiguity.Whether there is piece of land that belongs to an African or the land is actually Africa].For this reason B is wrong

Another error -symbolizing [this gives an indication that the land still symbolizes the possibility of freedom to marcus].

But the sentence is in past tense [advocated ].You just can't change tense whenever you like.

This error is also present in E
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by Jim@Grockit » Sun Dec 05, 2010 9:41 pm
gmat_perfect wrote:A controversial figure throughout most of his public life, the Black leader Marcus Garvey advocated that some Blacks return to Africa, the land that, to him, symbolized the possibility of freedom.

(A) that some Blacks return to Africa, the land that, to him, symbolized the possibility of freedom
(B) that some Blacks return to the African land symbolizing the possibility of freedom to him
(C) that some Blacks return to Africa which was the land which symbolized the possibility of freedom to him
(D) some Black's returning to Africa which was the land that to him symbolized the possibility of freedom
(E) some Black's return to the land symbolizing the possibility of freedom to him, Africa

[spoiler]OA: After discussion[/spoiler]
Choice D is also funny because "some Black's returning" is a possessive singular . . . like, Marcus Garvey just wanted some guy to go to Africa -- just one.
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by Rezinka » Sun Dec 05, 2010 11:25 pm
IMO A
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by nazar7ft » Mon Dec 06, 2010 1:25 am
A controversial figure throughout most of his public life, the Black leader Marcus Garvey advocated that some Blacks return to Africa, the land that, to him, symbolized the possibility of freedom.

(A) that some Blacks return to Africa, the land that, to him, symbolized the possibility of freedom
(B) that some Blacks return to the African land symbolizing the possibility of freedom to him
(C) that some Blacks return to Africa which was the land which symbolized the possibility of freedom to him
(D) some Black's returning to Africa which was the land that to him symbolized the possibility of freedom
(E) some Black's return to the land symbolizing the possibility of freedom to him, Africa

The splits:

1. Which:

In the GMAT land, "which" is used after COMMA. "COMMA + Which" is correct in GMAT.

This eliminates C and D.

2. Advocated that + clause:

We need a clause after "advocated that".

In the option B, the part after "that" does not have a clause. Eliminate it.

Another error in B is "African land", which is not equal to "Africa". African land may be a piece of land in Africa, but Africa is Africa.

3. E can be eliminated on the following errors:

--> Africa has been used as an appositive of "him".

--> Black's return is not correct. A single Black has been used instead of "blacks"

--> Land symbolizing is not correct. Here, land is ambiguous. This land may be any piece of land in the world. Scientists are working to find land in the Mars. May be a piece of land in the Mars. So, the use of "land symbolizing" is ambiguous.


Answer is A.
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