gprep sc- 34

[abhasjha]

Constructed at least as early as the Sui dynasty (A.D, 581-618), the Altar
of Heaven is the oldest known altar used in Chinese state religious practice,
more than 1,000 years older than a similar one in Beijing, it is the only altar
found so far that predates the Qing dynasty (A.D. 1644-1912).

A. Constructed at least as early as the Sui dynasty (A.D. 581-618), the Altar of Heaven is the oldest known altar used in Chinese state religious practice, more than 1,000 years older than a similar one in Beijing, it is

B. Constructed at least as early as the Sui dynasty (A.D. 581-618), the Altar of
Heaven, the oldest known altar used in Chinese state religious practice, is more
than 1,000 years older than a similar one in Beijing and is

C. The Altar of Heaven, having been constructed at least as early as the Sui dynasty (A.D. 581-618) and the oldest known altar used in Chinese state religious practice, is more than 1,000 years older than a similar one in Beijing and

D. The Altar of Heaven, which was constructed at least as early as the Sui dynasty
(A.D. 581-618) and is the oldest known altar used in Chinese state religious
practice, more than 1,000 years older than a similar one in Beijing and is

E. The oldest known altar used in Chinese state religious practice, more than 1,000
years older than a similar one in Beijing, the Altar of Heaven, which was
constructed at least as early as the Sui dynasty (A.D. 581-618) and is

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HI abhasjha,

The length of this SC, along with the multiple commas, point to Modification as the primary grammar rule to focus on. Here, we're told a number of facts about "the Altar of Heaven", so we have to pick an answer that properly presents all these facts, uses proper modification and doesn't mess up any parallelism that must occur when dealing with multiple facts.

Since the answers don't share many "common pieces" in "common spots", I opted to eliminate answers piece-meal.

Answer A: The opening modifier correctly modifies "the Altar of Heaven", but the rest of this answer doesn't have the "is" that we need (in front of the phrase "more than 1000 year older..." and includes an extra "it." Eliminate A.

Answer C: The phrase "having been constructed" is incorrect. We're dealing with a simple past event, so we need "constructed" or "was constructed."

Answer D: The modifier "more than 1,000 years older...." appears to modify "Chinese state religious practice...", which is incorrect.

Answer E: The opening phrase does not correctly modify the phrase that follows it.

Final Answer: B

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