While most of the earliest known ball courts in Mesoamerica

[saswata4s]

While most of the earliest known ball courts in Mesoamerica date to 900-400 b.c., waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attest to the fact that the Mesoamerican ballgame was well established by the mid-thirteenth century b.c.

(A) waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attest
(B) waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and the painting of representations of ballplayers on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attests
(C) waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and ceramics painted with representations of ballplayers found at San Lorenzo attests
(D) the finding of waterlogged latex balls at El Manati and the painting of representations of ballplayers on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attests
(E) the finding of waterlogged latex balls at El Manati and of representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics at San Lorenzo attest

OA: A

[GMATGuruNY]

While most of the earliest known ball courts in Mesoamerica date to 900-400 b.c., waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attest to the fact that the Mesoamerican ballgame was well established by the mid-thirteenth century b.c.

(A) waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attest
(B) waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and the painting of representations of ballplayers on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attests
(C) waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and ceramics painted with representations of ballplayers found at San Lorenzo attests
(D) the finding of waterlogged latex balls at El Manati and the painting of representations of ballplayers on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attests
(E) the finding of waterlogged latex balls at El Manati and of representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics at San Lorenzo attest

A compound subject is composed of two nouns or noun phrases connected by and.
Generally, a compound subject is considered PLURAL.
B: waterlogged latex balls...and the painting...attests
C: waterlogged latex balls...and ceramics...attests
D: the finding...and the painting...attests
In each of these options, attests (singular) does not agree with the compound subject in red (plural).
Eliminate B, C and D.

E: the finding of waterlogged latex balls...and of representations...attest
Here, attest (plural) does not agree with the finding (singular).
Eliminate E.

The correct answer is A.

[Mo2men]

While most of the earliest known ball courts in Mesoamerica date to 900-400 b.c., waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attest to the fact that the Mesoamerican ballgame was well established by the mid-thirteenth century b.c.

(A) waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attest
(B) waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and the painting of representations of ballplayers on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attests
(C) waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and ceramics painted with representations of ballplayers found at San Lorenzo attests
(D) the finding of waterlogged latex balls at El Manati and the painting of representations of ballplayers on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attests
(E) the finding of waterlogged latex balls at El Manati and of representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics at San Lorenzo attest

A compound subject is composed of two nouns or noun phrases connected by and.
Generally, a compound subject is considered PLURAL.
B: waterlogged latex balls...and the painting...attests
C: waterlogged latex balls...and ceramics...attests
D: the finding...and the painting...attests
In each of these options, attests (singular) does not agree with the compound subject in red (plural).
Eliminate B, C and D.

E: the finding of waterlogged latex balls...and of representations...attest
Here, attest (plural) does not agree with the finding (singular).
Eliminate E.

The correct answer is A.

Dear Mitch,
Can I reject E also for the reason that there is no parallelism:

'While .....know ball , the finding......'. Here, the contrast between 'ball courts' and 'the finding' which is nonsensical.

Am I right?


Thanks

[GMATGuruNY]

Dear Mitch,
Can I reject E also for the reason that there is no parallelism:

'While .....know ball , the finding......'. Here, the contrast between 'ball courts' and 'the finding' which is nonsensical.

The issue here is less about parallelism and more about logic.
The OA draws a contrast between most of the earliest known ball courts and latex balls.
E draws a contrast between most of the earliest known ball courts and the finding.
The contrast in the OA seems more logical.

[gui_guimaraes]

While most of the earliest known ball courts in Mesoamerica date to 900-400 b.c., waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attest to the fact that the Mesoamerican ballgame was well established by the mid-thirteenth century b.c.

(A) waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attest
(B) waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and the painting of representations of ballplayers on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attests
(C) waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and ceramics painted with representations of ballplayers found at San Lorenzo attests
(D) the finding of waterlogged latex balls at El Manati and the painting of representations of ballplayers on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attests
(E) the finding of waterlogged latex balls at El Manati and of representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics at San Lorenzo attest

A compound subject is composed of two nouns or noun phrases connected by and.
Generally, a compound subject is considered PLURAL.
B: waterlogged latex balls...and the painting...attests
C: waterlogged latex balls...and ceramics...attests
D: the finding...and the painting...attests
In each of these options, attests (singular) does not agree with the compound subject in red (plural).
Eliminate B, C and D.

E: the finding of waterlogged latex balls...and of representations...attest
Here, attest (plural) does not agree with the finding (singular).
Eliminate E.

The correct answer is A.

Dear Mitch,
Can I reject E also for the reason that there is no parallelism:

'While .....know ball , the finding......'. Here, the contrast between 'ball courts' and 'the finding' which is nonsensical.

Am I right?

NO! The construction in E is parallel :
(E) the finding of waterlogged latex balls at El Manati [color=]and[/color] of representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics at San Lorenzo attest
Thanks