At a time when Queen Anne was so ill that she had to be

E is the right answer.

Simply take out A, B, D, because they are incoherent and wordy. E has two complete sentences; therefore, a comma before "and".

Posted from GMAT ToolKit

Whigs is plural; Hence we need their; B D are gone; B and D also use unidiomatic either and on after hovered.

Among A,C and E

A uses was hovering when a simple past tense would do; not a concise choice. The comma after and is incorrect; it should be before and.

C there is no comma before and; there is no need for commas before and after nervously

E, is the best choice
_________________

This appears to be a GMAT Hack question of the day. The official explanation from the website is as follows:

Answer: E There's a lot going on in this sentence. First, recognize that the pronoun "their" in the beginning of the underlined passage is correct, as it refers to the plural noun "the Whigs." That eliminates (B) and (D). Next, zero in on the comma. In the underlined passage, you should be able to read around the phrase "hovering nervously," meaning there is no comma separating the clauses "the Whigs had seized upon..." and "Defoe was between upholding...." Since the latter is a complete sentence, a comma should be present. Not only does this eliminate (A), it also knocks out (C) and (D). While both (C) contains commas around the word "nervously," they serve the same purpose as the commas around "hovering nervously" in (A). Choice (E) is the only one remaining, and it is correct.

i dont understand, pls help
in e, between upholding and his own sense
between a and b exist
so a and b must be parallel logically

pls tell me the comparative here. thanks

Please note the following 4 categories:
1. Simple gerunds
2. Complex gerunds
3. Action nouns
4. Concrete nouns

The strict rules are as follows:
1. Simple gerunds and complex gerunds cannot be parallel.
2. Only complex gerunds can be parallel to action nouns.

However there is no strict rule that simple gerund cannot be parallel to concrete nouns.

Hence simple gerund "upholding" and concrete noun "sense" used as parallel elements in "between X and Y " is NOT incorrect.

such questions don't come GMAT. this tests a good share of vocab.

Hi sir,
Can you please explain the concept that why ',' is required before and. thank you in advance.

Sent from my ONE A2003 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

At a time when Queen Anne was so ill that she had to be hoisted up between floors of her palace, the Whigs had seized upon their best gambit in the war between the parties and, hovering nervously, Defoe was between upholding the ministry's commitment to the Protestant succession and his own sense of how vital such a commitment must be.

(A) their best gambit in the war between the parties and, hovering nervously, Defoe was between

(B) its best gambit in the war between the parties, and nervously, Defoe hovered either

(C) their best gambit in the war between the parties and Defoe, nervously, hovered between

(D) its best gambit in the war between the parties and Defoe hovered nervously on

(E) their best gambit in the war between the parties, and Defoe hovered nervously between
_________________

Because we are NOT joining two elements in a clause, BUT two clause (complete sentences) here!
_________________

I thought Whigs is singular as "The" is used before it. Please help me understand how to distinguish between singular and plural.

1. Their, not its ---> B, D are out
2. Between A and B ---> A, B are out

Now between C and E.

3. ", nervously," - what is it? it makes us think that there are 2 sentences, but in this case the first one is not complete. It is not right.

E is good.

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.
_________________