Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
stevegt wrote:
In 1850 Lucretia Mott published her Discourse on Women, arguing in a treatise for women to have equal political and legal rights and for changes in the married women’s property laws.
A. arguing in a treatise for women to have equal political and legal rights
B. arguing in a treatise for equal political and legal rights for women
C. a treatise that advocates women’s equal political and legal rights
D. a treatise advocating women’s equal political and legal rights
E. a treatise that argued for equal political and legal rights for women
Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of this sentence is that Lucretia Mott published her Discourse on Women, which is a treatise that argued for equal political and legal rights for women.
Concepts tested here: Meaning + Verb Forms + Parallelism• Any elements joined by a conjunction ("and" in this sentence) must be parallel.
• The simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past.
• In modifying a noun the present participle implies that the noun took an action that is present and continuous in nature in any time period.
• The introduction of present participle ("verb+ing"- “arguing” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.
• The infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb - "have" in this sentence) is the preferred construction for referring to the purpose/intent of an action.
A: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrases "arguing in a treatise" and "to have equal political and legal rights"; the use of the "comma + present participle ("verb+ing"- “arguing” in this case)" construction and infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb - "have" in this sentence) incorrectly implies that Lucretia Mott published her Discourse on Women, and
in doing so argued for women
for the purpose of having equal political and legal rights; the intended meaning is that Lucretia Mott published her Discourse on Women,
and it is a treatise that
argued in favor of equal political and legal rights for women; please remember, the introduction of present participle ("verb+ing"- “arguing” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship and the infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb - "have" in this sentence) is the preferred construction for referring to the purpose/intent of an action.
B: This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "arguing in a treatise" the use of the "comma + present participle ("verb+ing"- “arguing” in this case)" construction incorrectly implies that Lucretia Mott published her Discourse on Women, and
in doing so argued for equal political and legal rights for women; the intended meaning is that Lucretia Mott published her Discourse on Women,
and it is a treatise that argued for equal political and legal rights for women; please remember, the introduction of present participle ("verb+ing"- “arguing” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship
C: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between "women’s equal political and legal rights" and "for changes in the married women’s property laws"; please remember, any elements joined by a conjunction ("and" in this sentence) must be parallel.
D: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between "women’s equal political and legal rights" and "for changes in the married women’s property laws"; please remember, any elements joined by a conjunction ("and" in this sentence) must be parallel. Further, Option D incorrectly uses the present participle ("verb+ing" - "arguing" in this sentence) to refer to an event that concluded in the past; please remember, the simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past, and in modifying a noun the present participle implies that the noun took an action that is present and continuous in nature in any time period.
E: Correct. This answer choice modifies "Discourse on Women" with the phrase "a treatise that argued for equal political and legal rights for women", conveying the intended meaning - that Lucretia Mott published her Discourse on Women,
and it is a treatise that
argued in favor of equal political and legal rights for women. Further, Option E correctly uses the simple past tense verb "argued" to refer to an event that concluded in the past. Additionally, Option E correctly maintains parallelism between "for equal political and legal rights for women" and "for changes in the married women’s property laws".
Hence, E is the best answer choice.To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
To understand the concept of "Comma + Present Participle for Cause-Effect Relationship" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~3 minutes):
To understand the concept of "Infinitive vs Present Participles" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team