Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
bmwhype2 wrote:
From the earliest days of the tribe, kinship determined the way in which the Ojibwa society organized its labor, provided access to its resources, and defined rights and obligations involved in the distribution and consumption of those resources.
(A) and defined rights and obligations involved in the distribution and consumption of those resources
(B) defining rights and obligations involved in their distribution and consumption
(C) and defined rights and obligations as they were involved in its distribution and consumption
(D) whose rights and obligations were defined in their distribution and consumption
(E) the distribution and consumption of them defined by rights and obligations
Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that kinship determined the way in which the Ojibwa society organized its labor, provided access to its resources, and how it defined the rights and obligations involved in the distribution and consumption of those resources.
Concepts tested here: Meaning + Modifiers + Pronouns + Grammatical Construction• In a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction.
• "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma.
• The introduction of present participle ("verb+ing"- “defining” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.
• If a list contains only two elements, they must be joined by a conjunction.
A: Correct.1/ This answer choice uses the phrase "and defined rights and obligations involved in", avoiding the modifier errors seen in Options D and E and conveying the intended meaning - that kinship determined the way in which the Ojibwa society organized its labor and provided access to its resources, and
as a result kinship defined how
the Ojibwa society defined the rights and obligations involved in distributing and consuming resources.
2/ Option A avoids the pronoun error seen in Option C, as it uses no pronouns.
3/ Option A avoids the grammatical construction error seen in Options B, D, and E, as it produces a list of three elements rather than one of two elements.
B:1/ This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "defining rights and obligations"; the use of the "comma + present participle ("verb+ing" - "defining" in this case) construction incorrectly implies that kinship determined the way in which the Ojibwa society organized its labor and provided access to its resources, and
as a result kinship defined the rights and obligations involved in the distribution and consumption of those resources; the intended meaning is that kinship determined the way in which the Ojibwa society organized its labor and provided access to its resources, and
as a separate action kinship defined the rights and obligations involved in the distribution and consumption of those resources; remember, the introduction of present participle ("verb+ing"- “defining” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.
2/ Option B incorrectly uses a comma to join two elements in a list - "organized its labor" and "provided access to its resources"; remember, if a list contains only two elements, they must be joined by a conjunction.
C:1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the singular pronoun "its" to refer to the plural noun "resources".
D:1/ This answer choice incorrectly modifies the noun "resources" with the phrase "whose rights and obligations were defined in their distribution and consumption", illogically implying that the rights and obligations of
the resources were defined by how the resources were distributed and consumed; the intended meaning is that
kinship defined how
the Ojibwa society defined the rights and obligations involved in distributing and consuming resources; remember, "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma.
2/ Option D incorrectly uses a comma to join two elements in a list - "organized its labor" and "provided access to its resources"; remember, if a list contains only two elements, they must be joined by a conjunction.
E:1/ This answer choice incorrectly modifies the noun "resources" with the phrase "the distribution and consumption of them defined by rights and obligations", incorrectly conveying that the distribution of resources available to the Ojibwa society
was determined by rights and obligations; the intended meaning is that
kinship defined
how the Ojibwa society defined the rights and obligations involved in distributing and consuming resources; remember, in a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun.
2/ Option E incorrectly uses a comma to join two elements in a list - "organized its labor" and "provided access to its resources"; remember, if a list contains only two elements, they must be joined by a conjunction.
Hence, A is the best answer choice.To understand the concept of "Phrase Comma Subject" and "Subject Comma Phrase" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
To understand the concept of "Comma Plus Present-Participle for Cause-Effect Relationship", you may want to watch the following video (~3 minutes):
To understand the concept of "Who", "Whose", "Whom", "Which", and "Where" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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Updated on: 16 Apr 2019, 04:27
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(01:31)
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