During the same period in which the Maya were developing a hieroglyphic system of writing, the Aztec people also developed a written language,
but it was not as highly sophisticated as that of the Maya and was more pictographic in nature.
Meaning Analysis: The Maya were developing a hieroglyphic system of writing. Around this period, the Aztec people started developing a written language as well. But this language of the Aztec people was not as sophisticates as the hieroglyphic system of the Maya people. This language created by the Aztec was more about pictures and graphic representations
The sentence stands correct. There is no grammatical error in the original sentence. Lets move to the answer choices and eliminate the rest.
Quote:
(A) but it was not as highly sophisticated as that of the Maya and was.
Correct.
Quote:
(B) but it was not as highly sophisticated as the Maya, being
There is a faulty comparison out here. Now the language "it" is being compared to a civilization "the Maya". This comparison is illogical. Moreover the usage of "being" is incorrect out here.
Usage of being (taught by @
eGMAT)
1) As a noun -
Being disrespectful to elders is not accepted
2) Passive Progressive tense - The tenants of the building
are being evacuated.
Quote:
(C) but, not as highly sophisticated as the Maya's, was
I think we can compare a simple noun to a possessive noun. However, if we keep the meaning in mind we can eliminate (C) based on the simple fact that this choice has placed a vital information of the sentence in a COMMA PAIR thus reducing its importance. If we scroll up and see the meaning analysis we can notice that the comparison (that is placed in a coma pair) is vital information in order for the reader to derive the meaning of the sentence.
Quote:
(D) not as highly sophisticated as that of the Maya, however, being
By removing "but" and "it" this choice makes the underlined portion a modifier modifying "language" and that is completely fine. However I am not okay with the usage of "being" Scroll to option (B) to check the usage. Also, I am, not sure if the placement of "however" is correct. I would prefer to place it before "not"
the Aztec people also developed a written language, however, not as highly sophisticated as that of the Maya....But of course, we already have "being" as a deterministic error and could reject this choice straight away.
Quote:
(E) not as highly sophisticated as the Maya's however, it was
This choice has a clear deterministic error. We have two ICs "the Aztec people..." and "it was more pictographic in nature" separated by a COMMA. We need a COMMA + FANBOYS to rectify this error.
Correct Choice:
(A)