Despite there being no fundamental difference in shipbuilding traditio

A. Despite there being no fundamental difference in shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia from the ones [Being usage]
B. Despite no fundamental difference between the shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia from those [ Idiom issue – between X and Y]
C. With shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia not fundamentally different from those [ Requires contrast – “With” does not provide sentence contrast ]
D. With the shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia having no fundamental difference from the ones [ Requires contrast – “With” does not provide sentence contrast ]
E. Although shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia were not fundamentally different from those [Hold it]


Answer: E

I think the answer should be E.

Dun know how to explain though

Answer is E.

In A , ones' is wrong, as ship build tradition in singluar.

In B between is wrong, as it between can be used to compare x with y , and not x with y's.


Others like C, D distort the meaning.

Only E option provides the contrast..

Despite there being no fundamental difference in shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia from the ones in other parts of Northern Europe, archaeological evidence shows that Viking ships were lighter, slimmer, faster, and thus probably more seaworthy than the heavier vessels used by the English at that time.
A. Despite there being no fundamental difference in shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia from the ones
B. Despite no fundamental difference between the shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia from those
C. With shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia not fundamentally different from those
D. With the shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia having no fundamental difference from the ones
E. Although shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia were not fundamentally different from those

Can somebody explain the difference between B and E. However, i feel in option B "those" refers to the shipbuilding traditions correctly. There is a subtle difference between despite and although usage. Despite is used for a negative sense, whereas Although is used for positive sense. Let me know if my understanding is correct. I would appreciate if some one can explain the grammatical flaws

You are concentrating on the wrong decision point. Although and despite can be used interchangeably here. The issue is the incorrect usage of the idiom between X and Y in B. It uses the idiom between X from Y. This is incorrect.
Hope this helps.

Despite there being no fundamental difference in shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia from the ones in other parts of Northern Europe, archaeological evidence shows that Viking ships were lighter, slimmer, faster, and thus probably more seaworthy than the heavier vessels used by the English at that time.
A. Despite there being no fundamental difference in shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia from the ones
B. Despite no fundamental difference between the shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia from those
C. With shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia not fundamentally different from those
D. With the shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia having no fundamental difference from the ones
E. Although shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia were not fundamentally different from those

The split between 'Despite', 'With' & Although and 'the ones' & 'Those'.
'The ones' is awkward so eliminate D & A
Left with B, C & E
Now this is contrasting sentence so with can not be use to contrast so eliminate C
now Despite used as 'first positive outcome than contrasting negative one'
and Although used as 'first negative outcome than contrasting positive one'
now the negative outcome is that the technique are same for both the viking and other region but positive is that the voking ships are better and lighter so Although is qualifying the task and hence
E is the best answer

Despite there being no fundamental difference in shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia from the ones in other parts of Northern Europe, archaeological evidence shows that Viking ships were lighter, slimmer, faster, and thus probably more seaworthy than the heavier vessels used by the English at that time.

(A) Despite there being no fundamental difference in shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia from the ones -> as difference is established as we speak -> Distorts the meaning of the sentence
(B) Despite no fundamental difference between the shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia from those -> between requires and.
(C) With shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia not fundamentally different from those -> with modifies the next noun "evidence" which doesn't make any sense
(D) With the shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia having no fundamental difference from the ones -> Same issue as that of option C)
(E) Although shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia were not fundamentally different from those -> Looks good.

Despite there being no fundamental difference in shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia from the ones in other parts of Northern Europe, archaeological evidence shows that Viking ships were lighter, slimmer, faster, and thus probably more seaworthy than the heavier vessels used by the English at that time.

(A) Despite there being no fundamental difference in shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia from the ones -- usage of being is incorrect

(B) Despite no fundamental difference between the shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia from those -- difference between X and Y is correct idiom

(C) With shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia not fundamentally different from those - when you start a sentence with "With ...", this modifier should modify the subject and/or action of the following clause. Here the with illogically modifies evidence.

With three separate walls around its exterior, the city was nearly impregnable to enemy attacks.
in this case, it's the city that has "three separate walls around its exterior", and this modifier is intimately related to the following clause (it's the reason why the city is impregnable to enemy attacks); hence, this "with" modifier is used correctly.

(D) With the shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia having no fundamental difference from the ones - same as C

(E) Although shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia were not fundamentally different from those - Correct

Answer E
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) The split between 'Despite', 'With' & Although and 'the ones' & 'Those'.
Use of 'The ones' is awkward so we can eliminate D & A
Now we are Left with B, C & E
Now this is contrasting sentence and we cannot use “with” in a contrasting statement like this. So, we can eliminate C
Despite used as 'first positive outcome than contrasting negative one' in statement B.
and Although used as 'first negative outcome than contrasting positive one' in statement E.
now the negative outcome is that the technique are same for both the Viking and other regions but positive is that the Viking ships are better and lighter. So, “Although” is a better usage. Hence,
E is the answer.

've marked E as the answer but could any one please explain is it r8 to have past and present in one sentence - " were not fundamentally different......, archaeological evidence shows that " ? Thanks
in advance .

Hi Soumya, there is no grammatical requirement for the entire sentence to be in the same tense.

For example, following is correct:

Peter now regrets that he did not work hard for the exam.

Peter now regrets
- Simple Present

he did not work hard for the exam.
- Simple Past
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The problem with straying into unchartered waters is that we tend to miss the core point because of the enormity of the context.

First of all, we must remember that in all sentences that start with a modifier such as in A, B, C, and D, we must first check whether the appropriate subject is present after the end of the modifier. That is the simple reason that we can dismiss A, B, and C and in one slash.
However, this rule does not pertain to complex sentences where a subordinate clause. starts the sentence. After the dependent clause, we can have any independent sentence with its own appropriate subject.

Skywlaker did hunt about it in his POE about choice C. That reason holds good for the other three wrong choices too.

The other errors are there definitely. However, whether one wants to use the grammar route or other routes is one's own choice.
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"with+noun+doing/do-ed/noun modifier" can work as an adverb modifying the main clause. in this case, the "with..." phrase can have many different meaning relation with the main clause. specifically, the with-phrase can show

reason of the main action. with-phrase is similar to because-clause
context of the main action
result of the main action.

contrast meaning is not allowed in this pattern. so, choice C and D are wrong.

Despite there being no fundamental difference in shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia from the ones in other parts of Northern Europe, archaeological evidence shows that Viking ships were lighter, slimmer, faster, and thus probably more seaworthy than the heavier vessels used by the English at that time.

(A) Despite there being no fundamental difference in shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia from the ones "Despite there being no fundamental difference..." is too wordy, "Despite no fundamental difference..." is sufficient. That apart, one can say "difference between X and Y", or, as in this case, we want to denote difference in possessives, we can say "difference in X in A and B". This sentence uses "difference in X in A from X in B", which is wordy and awkward. Eliminate.

(B) Despite no fundamental difference between the shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia from those "difference between X in A from those in B" is incorrect, need to use "and" instead of "from". Eliminate.

(C) With shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia not fundamentally different from those "With" completely removes the contrast that follows - need a contrasting transitionary word in the sentence. Eliminate.

(D) With the shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia having no fundamental difference from the ones Same error as in (D). Eliminate.

(E) Although shipbuilding traditions in Viking-Age Scandinavia were not fundamentally different from those Correct answer.

Hope this helps.
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