In feudal Europe, urban areas developed from clusters of houses where

I’m going to say that B is the right answer. It’s the only one that correctly compares feudal Europe to ‘the American West’.

hi guys. I KNOW c is best but :
1=could someone explain "which" is refer to which noun ? it is a little confusing.
2=how can be parallel this sentence? = developed from+ noun+where... and from which

....."(B) In feudal Europe, urban areas developed from clusters of houses where peasants lived and from which they commuted to farmlands in the countryside, but in the American West homesteading policies"...

Here which clearly refers to clusters and parralelism is mainatained if you look carefully from clusters ..... And from which

We can logically understand the meaning and reference of which is clear is quite clear .

I hope.this helps

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I see . but any answer parallelism in GMAT that I SO far examine .....I cannot see this pattern ! all of pattern I see is " from which .....and from which"
but in this case it is not that pattern !

In feudal Europe, urban areas developed from clusters of houses where peasants lived and commuted to farmlands in the countryside, unlike homesteading policies in the American West that required residency on the land itself in order to obtain eventual ownership.


(A) In feudal Europe, urban areas developed from clusters of houses where peasants lived and commuted to farmlands in the countryside, unlike homesteading policies in the American West that

(B) In feudal Europe, urban areas developed from clusters of houses where peasants lived and from which they commuted to farmlands in the countryside, but in the American West homesteading policies

(C) Unlike feudal Europe where urban areas developed from clusters of houses where peasants lived and commuted to farmlands in the countryside, the American West's homesteading policies

(D) Unlike feudal Europe where urban areas developed from clusters of houses where peasants lived and commuted to farmlands in the countryside, the homesteading policies of the American West

(E) Urban areas developed from clusters of houses where peasants lived from which they commuted to farmlands in the countryside in feudal Europe, unlike the American West where homesteading policies

VeritasKarishma TheGMATCo AjiteshArun AnthonyRitz

I have doubt with the usage of 'Developed' in option B & every other choice.

'Urban areas developed from cluster houses'- I feel here developed is used as a Past participle & thus, I am unable to find verb.

Had not it must mention 'were developed' as a verb.

Another example from Merriam dictionary, which says 'developed' is a verb- Students developed taste for organic bread.- I understand here students did the action of developing taste. However, in the official question : Urban areas did not develop something but something was developed in Urban areas.

Please help in understanding where I am faltering and clear the gap. Thanks

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Hi gmatassassin88,

Develop can be used in multiple ways. For example, it can be used in both these ways:
1. "to cause (something) to grow or become bigger or more advanced"
In something like X will develop Y, we will see an X that performs the action of developing Y.

2. "to grow or become bigger or more advanced"
In this case, there will be no "X". Instead, we can directly introduce the thing that grew or became bigger/more advanced. The example in the dictionary entry I linked to is a good example of this ("a blossom develops from a bud").

AjiteshArun

I agree in both the options you mentioned - 1) will develop & 2) Blossoms develop from bud - 'Develop' is a verb.

However my concern is about'Develop-ed'.For example

1) Blossoms are developed from bud- 'are developed' is a verb.

2) Blossoms developed from bud/ Blossoms developed from bud seems healthy.- in this 'Developed' is a past participle/verb-ed modifier as in 'Urban areas developed from...'

Please help with your reasoning

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The point here is that "developed" as a verb can mean either "grew" or "caused to grow" -- not to mention "started to exist, experience, or possess."

The word absolutely can and does function as a verb in the sentence "urban areas developed from cluster houses." Replace with the verb "grew" and it makes perfect sense.

The word absolutely could have functioned as a passive participle in the sense of "grown" if the sentence had followed with another verb, for example in the case "urban areas developed from cluster houses are especially resilient." Replace with the participle "grown" and it makes perfect sense.

"Blossoms developed from buds": Subject "blossoms," simple past active voice verb "developed," direct object prepositional phrase "from buds."
"Blossoms developed from buds seem healthy": Subject "blossoms," passive participle phrase modifier "developed from buds," verb "seem," direct object adjective "healthy."

I hope this helps!

The -ed form may or may not be a verb, but that doesn't mean that developed cannot be used as a verb (it could just be the past tense of develop).

1. Blossoms developed from a bud. ← This complete sentence uses the past tense of develop. Developed is a verb.
2. Blossoms developed from a bud... ← Let's assume that this is not a complete sentence, and that developed is a past participle modifying Blossoms.

Both are valid interpretations, but (2) is somewhat unlikely, as it means that we think that the author wants to discuss a particular type of "blossoms" (those that developed from a bud) and not "blossoms" in general. This potential for confusion does not, however, mean that the author is not permitted to go with (1). Developed is valid as the past tense of develop, and the fact that the past participle of develop takes the same form as the past tense of develop cannot change that. In fact, if we take a different position on this, we will struggle with every single -ed we come across ("the children played in the park").

Now, I think that the difference between played and developed is that the second meaning of develop in the definition I linked to is not as common as played, which is a very common word. However, it is still a perfectly acceptable way to use develop, and (meaning issues aside), blossoms developed from a bud can be treated as a complete sentence.

In this particular question, urban areas developed from clusters of houses just means that clusters of houses eventually "grew into" a ~more advanced version/state (urban areas), probably as the result of decisions taken by a large number of people. This sentence doesn't care about those people though. It's focused solely on urban areas.

AjiteshArun

Thanks Sir,

Your continuous effort to help us improve is VITAL in my Gmat prep journey.

Hi AnthonyRitz

THANKS FOR MAKING IT ABSOLUTE CLEAR.

so- 1) Blossoms developed from buds- here 'developed' is past tense verb in active voice
2) Blossoms were developed from buds- here 'were developed' is a past tense verb in passive voice

i hope this is correct. This area led to all the confusion

Yes, that is absolutely correct.

Developed as it is used here is past tense, active. Were developed is past tense, passive.

In feudal Europe, urban areas developed from clusters of houses where peasants lived and commuted to farmlands in the countryside, unlike homesteading policies in the American West that required residency on the land itself in order to obtain eventual ownership.

Urban areas developed: IC
Homesteading policies : Noun

IC is not logically parallel to a noun. We need clause to clause or noun-to-noun comparison

B. In feudal Europe, urban areas developed from clusters of houses where peasants lived and from which they commuted to farmlands in the countryside, but in the American West homesteading policies
In X (IC1), but in Y (IC2) parallel

C. Unlike feudal Europe where urban areas developed from clusters of houses where peasants lived and commuted to farmlands in the countryside, the American West’s homesteading policies
Noun vs Clause comparison
Feudal Europe compared to policies

D. Unlike feudal Europe where urban areas developed from clusters of houses where peasants lived and commuted to farmlands in the countryside, the homesteading policies of the American West
Same as C

E. Urban areas developed from clusters of houses where peasants lived from which they commuted to farmlands in the countryside in feudal Europe, unlike the American West where homesteading policies

Connector AND missing – where peasants lived AND from which they commuted
Same error as A

In feudal Europe, urban areas developed from clusters of houses where peasants lived and commuted to farmlands in the countryside, unlike homesteading policies in the American West that required residency on the land itself in order to obtain eventual ownership.

(A) In feudal Europe, urban areas developed from clusters of houses where peasants lived and commuted to farmlands in the countryside, unlike homesteading policies in the American West that -> we are comparing " feudal Europe" to "homesteading policies". It is incorrect.

(B) In feudal Europe, urban areas developed from clusters of houses where peasants lived and from which they commuted to farmlands in the countryside, but in the American West homesteading policies -> Now comparison is better, "feudal Europe" to "the American West ". Further, "where peasants lived and from which they commuted " are parallel too. Let's keep it.

(C) Unlike feudal Europe where urban areas developed from clusters of houses where peasants lived and commuted to farmlands in the countryside, the American West's homesteading policies -> Same as A. Incorrect.

(D) Unlike feudal Europe where urban areas developed from clusters of houses where peasants lived and commuted to farmlands in the countryside, the homesteading policies of the American West -> Same as A. Incorrect.

(E) Urban areas developed from clusters of houses where peasants lived from which they commuted to farmlands in the countryside in feudal Europe, unlike the American West where homesteading policies -> Now, we are comparing, "Urban areas" to "the American West". It is not the intended meaning. Incorrect.

So, I think B.

Hi AnishPassi Sir, I have a doubt in Option b: We have 2 dependent clauses separated by 'and' 1) where peasants lived and 2)from which they commuted to farmlands in the countryside ...so here 1st clause starts with where and 2nd starts with which or from which, so how this usage is correct ? can you pls explain... ( the Below statement is from Manhattan SC guide - 4. Clauses
Only clauses starting with the same word should be made parallel. In general, clauses should not be
made parallel to anything besides another clause ) So is this an exception ?

Hi Kunal,

I do not agree with the statement that “ Only clauses starting with the same word should be made parallel”.

e.g.: John is running, and Bob is sleeping.

This sentence looks fine to me. The two clauses are not starting with the same word.

Here's another one:
The person WHO is running and WHOSE shoelaces are untied will probably fall.

In Option B, the two modifiers:
1. where peasants lived
2. from which they commuted to farmlands in the countryside

both are acting as noun modifiers for the same noun, so I do not see any problem with that.

Not sure whether that Manhattan statement is a part of a larger context, or maybe it has been edited in a later edition, but I think it is safe to discard that rule.