It is characteristic of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as of virtual

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Concepts tested here: Subject-Verb Agreement + Grammatical Constructions + Parallelism

• A comma cannot join two independent clauses; such usage leads to the error of comma splice; to correct this error, the comma must be replaced with semicolon or comma followed by a conjunction such as "and", "but" etc.
• Any elements linked by a conjunction ("as" in this case) must be parallel.

A: This answer choice incorrectly uses the singular verb "has" to refer to the plural noun "judgments". Further, Option A incorrectly uses a comma to join the independent clauses "It is characteristic ...American museum" and "the taste of local collectors has...art historian"; please remember, a comma cannot join two independent clauses; such usage leads to the error of comma splice; to correct this error, the comma must be replaced with semicolon or comma followed by a conjunction such as "and", "but" etc. Additionally, Option A fails to maintain parallelism between the clause "It is characteristic of the Metropolitan Museum of Art" and the phrase "of virtually every great American museum"; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("as" in this case) must be parallel.

B: This answer choice incorrectly uses the singular verb "has" to refer to the plural noun "judgments". Further, Option B fails to maintain parallelism between the clause "It is characteristic of the Metropolitan Museum of Art" and the phrase "of virtually every great American museum"; please remember, any elements linked by a conjunction ("as" in this case) must be parallel.

C: Correct. This answer choice correctly refers to the singular noun "taste" using the singular verb "has" and correctly uses the plural verb "have" to refer to the plural noun "judgments". Further, Option C correctly uses the "comma + conjunction ("that" in this sentence)" construction to join the independent clauses "It is characteristic ...American museum" and "the taste of local collectors has...art historian". Additionally, Option C maintains parallelism between the clauses "It is characteristic ...American museum" and "it is of virtually every great American museum".

D: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun "taste" with the plural verb "have".

E: This answer choice incorrectly uses the singular verb "has" to refer to the plural noun "judgments". Further, Option E incorrectly uses a comma to join the independent clauses "It is characteristic ...American museum" and "the taste of local collectors has...art historian"; please remember, a comma cannot join two independent clauses; such usage leads to the error of comma splice; to correct this error, the comma must be replaced with semicolon or comma followed by a conjunction such as "and", "but" etc.

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Comma Splices and Run-ons" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~6 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team