Jazz Singer

[AnjaliOberoi]

Deliberately imitating the technique of Louis Armstrong, jazz singer Billie Holiday's
approach to singing was to use her voice like an instrument, in that she ranged freely
over the beat, flattened out the melodic contours of tunes, and, in effect, recomposed
songs to suit her range, style, and artistic sensibilities.
A. Billie Holiday's approach to singing was to use her voice like an instrument, in that
she ranged freely over the beat, flattened
B. Billie Holiday's approach to singing was to use her voice in a similar way to how
other musicians play instruments, in ranging freely over the beat, flattening
C. Billie Holiday approached singing by using her voice like other musicians played
instruments, ranging freely over the beat, flattening
D. Billie Holiday used her voice in the same way that other musicians use their
instruments, in that she ranged freely over the beat, flattening
E. Billie Holiday approached singing by using her voice like other musicians
instruments, ranging freely over the beat, flattening

OA C

[GMATGuruNY]

Deliberately imitating the technique of Louis Armstrong, jazz singer Billie Holiday's
approach to singing was to use her voice like an instrument, in that she ranged freely
over the beat, flattened out the melodic contours of tunes, and, in effect, recomposed
songs to suit her range, style, and artistic sensibilities.
A. Billie Holiday's approach to singing was to use her voice like an instrument, in that
she ranged freely over the beat, flattened
B. Billie Holiday's approach to singing was to use her voice in a similar way to how
other musicians play instruments, in ranging freely over the beat, flattening
C. Billie Holiday approached singing by using her voice like other musicians played
instruments, ranging freely over the beat, flattening
D. Billie Holiday used her voice in the same way that other musicians use their
instruments, in that she ranged freely over the beat, flattening
E. Billie Holiday approached singing by using her voice like other musicians
instruments, ranging freely over the beat, flattening

A and B: Deliberating imitating the technique, Billie Holiday's approach...
Here, imitating seems modify Billie Holiday's approach, implying that the APPROACH was imitating the technique.
Not the intended meaning.
Eliminate A and B.

C: like other musicians played
Like + subject + verb is ALWAYS WRONG.
Eliminate C.

E: ranging freely, flattening out
Here, a conjunction such as and is required to connect the two modifying phrases.
Eliminate E.

The correct answer is D.

The core of the OA:
Billie Holiday USED her voice and RECOMPOSED songs.
The rest of the sentence serves to modify this core meaning.

..used her voice in the same way, in that she ranged freely over the beat, flattening out the melodic contours of tunes...
Here:
The prepositional phrase in that she ranged freely serves to describe HOW Billie Holiday used her voice.
The COMMA + VERBing modifier flattening refers to the preceding subject (she) and serves to indicate that -- when Billie Holiday ranged over the beat -- she was at the same time FLATTENING out the melodic contours.

For more on the use of in that, check my 2nd post here:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/teratomas-t109924.html
For more on COMMA + VERBing modifiers, check my post here:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/ing-verb-mod ... 14885.html