To many citizens of Napoleonic-era France, before Haiti was

Ans is A

B compares Haiti to Dominique
C Confusing modifier issue
D long and awkard
E wrong tense

IMO A.

In B and C - "there was" not needed and both choices have awkward construction.
E - don't need past perfect and passive construction.

To many citizens of Napoleonic-era France, before Haiti was Haiti, it was Dominique, a small province of France that produced sugar cane, rum, and tobacco.


(A) before Haiti was Haiti, it was Dominique
(B) Haiti was Dominique, before there was a Haiti
(C) before there was Haiti, it was Dominique
(D) Haiti was what was known as Dominique
(E) Haiti was what had been referred to as Dominique

I am not sure about A) Can any of the experts reply on this?

I picked up D) and my reasoning is
I can convert the sentence as
Haiti was what was known to many citizens of Napoleonic-era France as Dominique, a small province....

Can somebody explain if the OA is A) .

The category says it is a GMAT Prep question, but I haven't seen the question in all the GMAT Prep questions that I have solved.

Trust me!! GMAT questions aren't really all that 'great' always...they could end up being quite wierd at times!

Anyways..A, though wierd, is the only choice that fits in best!!

The original sentence categorically says that before Haiti was known as Haiti, it was known as Dominique (a small province...) to (whom?) the citizens of France. A does the job well.

D, on the other hand, says that

To many citizens of Napoleonic-era France, Haiti was what was known (to the Germans/Americans/French/Indians...or to the entire world? no clarity to whom Haiti was known as Dominique, we cannot explicitly attribute this knowledge of Haiti being known as Dominique to the French) as Dominique, a small province of France that produced sugar cane, rum, and tobacco.
Second, note that the sentence intends to convey that a region known as Dominique to the French before was so until it actually became Haiti. Today, it is known to the French as a probably bigger or a different small region, Haiti, which probably is not the same as the earlier Dominique was..Point is that Haiti may or may not be equal to Dominique . D just says that Haiti was itself known as Dominique (i.e. Haiti=Dominique, a fact one cannot be quite sure of)...and a meaning not intended to be conveyed.

Hence, A wins.

Not an expert as such, but I see A is a clear winner here.

To many citizens of Napoleonic-era France, before Haiti was Haiti, it was Dominique, a small province of France that produced sugar cane, rum, and tobacco.


(A) before Haiti was Haiti, it was Dominique
(B) Haiti was Dominique, before there was a Haiti
(C) before there was Haiti, it was Dominique
(D) Haiti was what was known as Dominique
(E) Haiti was what had been referred to as Dominique

Solution:-
B) the sentence in the latter half must be describing Dominique, here it does Haiti - clearly illogical
C) would be correct to say "To many citizens of Napoleonic-era France, before there ever was Haiti, there was Dominique, a small..." ie there and it are at a mismatch
D & E) meaning not maintained. They both say that Haiti was referred to as Dominique, but it should have been clear that it was called Dominique before it was called Haiti

Coming to the right answer:-
(A) before Haiti was Haiti, it was Dominique
While this choice may seem odd, it can be seen as :-
To many citizens of Napoleonic-era France, before Haiti was (called) Haiti, it was (called) Dominique, a small province of France that produced sugar cane, rum, and tobacco.

in B, Haiti is not fit with "a small province..."
in C, before there war Haiti, there can not be a Haiti, so , it can not be Dominique.
in D. there is no sequence. meaning is different.
choice E
honestly, i think over E a long time , looking for meaning error. I am not clear about this choice. expert help, pls,

EducationAisle

How would you go about such type of questions? I selected D. Please help.

As daagh Sir mentions above, this question seems to be a copy of the exact similar 'Australia' question.

So, most likely an unofficial question.

EducationAisle

This is the question I was talking about in other post. Here before is connecting to clauses.

Yes, before can be used as a subordinating conjunction, though this sentence does not seem to be an official sentence.

Makes sense, thanks.

I am not sure. It is tagged with GMATPREP, so I assumed these tags are ok.

Can someone explain why Option B is wrong? Bunuel CrackVerbal

Hi Experts

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other experts

I want to know what's the role of the below highlighted sentence

To many citizens of Napoleonic-era France, before Haiti was Haiti, it was Dominique, a small province of France that produced sugar cane, rum, and tobacco

Is it a just a phrase? if yes then what's the role of it. Just giving us the more information and nothing else?

Vatsal7794

It's an adverbial modifier that applies to the main clause. Haiti was known as Dominique. To whom? To many citizens of Napoleonic-era France.

Thanks for replying DmitryFarber


I get that "Known" is verbed or adverbial modifier

But nowhere in the sentence ,the word "Known" is mentioned.
Although i can infer it from the sentence but still not sure why should I infer that?

Vatsal7794 I have an uncle named Brian. Whenever I call him by his first name, he says "that's Uncle Brian to you".
So: to me, Brian is Uncle Brian.
Do you see the analogy here?
To citizens of France, before Haiti was Haiti, it was Dominique.