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Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged hapha

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Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged hapha [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 15 Oct 2018, 23:26
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Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was followed for all cities of the Indus Valley: with houses laid out on a north-south, east-west grid, and houses and walls were built of standard-size bricks.


(A) the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was followed for all cities of the Indus Valley: with houses

(B) the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard in arrangement, the same basic plan was used in all cities of the Indus Valley: houses were

(C) the arrangement of buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses

(D) Mesopotamian cities, in which buildings were arranged haphazardly, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses were

(E) Mesopotamian cities, which had buildings that were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was used for all cities in the Indus Valley: houses that were


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I have a doubts here:

Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which
were arranged haphazardly......

Does "which" refer to the subject i.e. "the buildings" or the closer noun i.e. "Mesopotamian cities"? Is there a rule that applies here?

TIA
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D

Originally posted by jagveerbrar on 18 Jan 2011, 12:02.
Last edited by Bunuel on 15 Oct 2018, 23:26, edited 1 time in total.
Renamed the topic and edited the question.
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Re: Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged hapha [#permalink] New post   13 Feb 2018, 05:06
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A) the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was followed for all cities of the Indus Valley: with houses

The word "unlike" is the first thing that should leap off the page at us. This is begging you for a nice, strict comparison. (And if you aren't 100% comfortable with comparisons, check out this video or this sequel.)

But the comparison doesn't work in (A): "Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities... the same basic plan was followed for all cities of the Indus Valley..." Nope, we can't really compare "buildings" to a "plan."

There's another minor problem, though. In general, colons are used to introduce examples or descriptions or definitions, and in this sentence, the colon introduces a more detailed description of "the basic plan". But there's really no reason to use the preposition "with" in front of that description. (And the really good news is that the nuances of colon or semicolon or dash usage are rarely tested on the GMAT. More on GMAT punctuation in this video.)

For what it's worth: I'm OK with the idea that "which were arranged haphazardly" could modify the entire phrase "buildings in Mesopotamian cities", and not the cities themselves. But the comparison error alone is definitely enough to disqualify (A).

Quote:
B) the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard in arrangement, the same basic plan was used in all cities of the Indus Valley: houses were

(B) has exactly the same comparison error as (A): "Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities... the same basic plan was used in all cities of the Indus Valley..." Nope, we still can't really compare "buildings" to a "plan."

I'm also not crazy about the phrase "which were haphazard in arrangement" -- it's a pretty inelegant way to say "which were arranged haphazardly." But I'm not certain that it's definitely WRONG. And I'm much more comfortable with the description after the colon, for whatever it's worth -- see the explanation for answer choice (A) for more on this issue.

Anyway, the comparison error is about as bad as it gets, so (B) is gone.

Quote:
C) the arrangement of buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses

(C) rearranges a bunch of stuff, but the comparison is still a mess: "Unlike the arrangement of buildings in Mesopotamian cities... the cities of the Indus Valley..." Nope, we can't compare "the arrangement" to "the cities."

There's also a little bit of a problem with the modifier "which were haphazard". Because "were" is plural, the sentence seems to be saying that either the cities or the buildings themselves were haphazard, and neither of those make sense: the arrangement was actually haphazard.

So we have two strong reasons to cross out (C).

Quote:
D) Mesopotamian cities, in which buildings were arranged haphazardly, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses were

Hurray, the comparison is acceptable now. "Unlike Mesopotamian cities... the cities of the Indus Valley..." Yup, that's cool.

And I don't see any other potential issues. The "which" modifier is clear as a bell now: "in which buildings were arranged haphazardly" clearly describes "Mesopotamian cities." The phrase after the colon is a perfectly reasonable description of the "basic plan."

Let's keep (D).

Quote:
E) Mesopotamian cities, which had buildings that were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was used for all cities in the Indus Valley: houses that were

And once again, the comparison is crap: "Unlike Mesopotamian cities... the same basic plan..." Nope.

And there are some other minor issues. The modifier "which had buildings that were arranged haphazardly" isn't WRONG, exactly, but it's a messy and wordy way to say "in which buildings were arranged haphazardly." Plus, the chunk after the colon is no longer parallel: "houses that were laid out on a... grid, and houses and walls were built of standard-size bricks." That's not OK: the noun phrase "houses that were laid out" is not parallel to the clause "houses and walls were built..."

So (E) is gone, and we're left with (D).
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Re: Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged hapha [#permalink] New post   02 Feb 2011, 15:28
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I have a doubts here:

Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which
were arranged haphazardly......

Does "which" refer to the subject i.e. "the buildings" or the closer noun i.e. "Mesopotamian cities"? Is there a rule that applies here?

TIA


The rule for "which," and for all other relative pronouns ("who," "that," etc.), is that it must modify the noun or noun idea immediately preceding it. A "noun idea" is a single idea composed of a noun with some associated modifiers, often a prepositional phrase, that may or may not involve another noun. In this case, the relative pronoun can modify either the immediately preceding noun or the immediately preceding noun idea.

So, in your example, "which" could modify either the "bulidings" (which it seems to here) or the "cities" -- either would be grammatically correct, depending on the logic of the sentence.
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Re: Explanation required for OG SC [#permalink] New post   10 May 2012, 06:24
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Hi There,

Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was followed for all cities of the Indus Valley: with houses laid out on a north-south, east-west grid, and houses and walls were built of standard-size bricks.



Error Analysis

1. “Unlike” tells us that this sentence presents a contrast. What follows “Unlike” is “the buildings in Mesopotamian cities”. Now, the “buildings” have been illogically contrasted with “the same basic plan” that is subject of the main clause. Hence, this sentence has parallelism error. We need to make both the contrasting entities parallel to make the contrast logical.

POE:

Choice A: the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was followed for all cities of the Indus Valley: with houses: Incorrect for the reason stated above.

Choice B: the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard in arrangement, the same basic plan was used in all cities of the Indus Valley: houses were: Incorrect as it repeats the parallelism error of Choice A.

Choice C: the arrangement of buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses: Incorrect as it contrasts “the arrangement of buildings…” with “the cities of the Indus Valley”. We again have illogical contrast here.

Choice D: Mesopotamian cities, in which buildings were arranged haphazardly, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses were: Correct. “Mesopotamian cities” have been correctly contrasted with “the cities of the Indus Valley”.

Choice E: Mesopotamian cities, which had buildings that were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was used for all cities in the Indus Valley: houses that were: Incorrect. “Mesopotamian cities” have been illogically contrasted with “that same basic plan”.



1. The sentence must present logical comparison or contrast.
2. The entities compared or contrasted must grammatically as well as logically parallel.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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Re: Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged hapha [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 11 Sep 2018, 05:58
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Hi There,

Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was followed for all cities of the Indus Valley: with houses laid out on a north-south, east-west grid, and houses and walls were built of standard-size bricks.



Error Analysis

1. “Unlike” tells us that this sentence presents a contrast. What follows “Unlike” is “the buildings in Mesopotamian cities”. Now, the “buildings” have been illogically contrasted with “the same basic plan” that is subject of the main clause. Hence, this sentence has parallelism error. We need to make both the contrasting entities parallel to make the contrast logical.

POE:

Choice A: the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was followed for all cities of the Indus Valley: with houses: Incorrect for the reason stated above.

Choice B: the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard in arrangement, the same basic plan was used in all cities of the Indus Valley: houses were: Incorrect as it repeats the parallelism error of Choice A.

Choice C: the arrangement of buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses: Incorrect as it contrasts “the arrangement of buildings…” with “the cities of the Indus Valley”. We again have illogical contrast here.

Choice D: Mesopotamian cities, in which buildings were arranged haphazardly, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses were: Correct. “Mesopotamian cities” have been correctly contrasted with “the cities of the Indus Valley”.

Choice E: Mesopotamian cities, which had buildings that were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was used for all cities in the Indus Valley: houses that were: Incorrect. “Mesopotamian cities” have been illogically contrasted with “that same basic plan”.



1. The sentence must present logical comparison or contrast.
2. The entities compared or contrasted must grammatically as well as logically parallel.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

Originally posted by egmat on 16 Feb 2014, 11:02.
Last edited by Bunuel on 11 Sep 2018, 05:58, edited 4 times in total.
Renamed the topic and edited the question.
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Re: Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged hapha [#permalink] New post   15 Jul 2017, 14:52
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Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was followed for all cities of the Indus Valley: with houses laid out on a north-south, east-west grid, and houses and walls were built of standard-size bricks.

Let's try to understand the sentence, there is a COMPARISION error in this sentence. As the sentence is trying to compare the "buildings in Mesopotamian cities" with "the same basic plan" which is not a logical comparison. Also, in the second part of the sentence, "with houses" is not parallel to "walls were".

A) the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was followed for all cities of the Indus Valley: with houses

- Reason mentioned as per above

B) the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard in arrangement, the same basic plan was used in all cities of the Indus Valley: houses were

Once again "buildings in Mesopotamian cities" is compared with "the same basic plan" which is not a logical comparison. Also, relative clause which is referring to Mesopotamian cities, meaning, Mesopotamian cities were haphazard in arrangement and not the buildings. In this answer choice, the parallelism error is fixed by correctly using "houses were" which is parallel to "walls were"

C) the arrangement of buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses

In this sentence, "arrangement of buildings in Mesopotamian cities" is compared with "the cities of the Indus Valley". Also, relative clause which is referring to Mesopotamian cities, meaning, Mesopotamian cities were haphazard in arrangement and not the buildings. Also, there is a parallelism error where "houses" is not parallel "walls were"

D) Mesopotamian cities, in which buildings were arranged haphazardly, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses were

This is a correct sentence. Here "Mesopotamian cities" is compared with "the cities of the Indus Valley". Also, it is clear that buildings were arranged haphazardly, and in the second part of the sentence, the phrase "houses were" is now parallel to "walls were"

E) Mesopotamian cities, which had buildings that were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was used for all cities in the Indus Valley: houses that were

In this sentence "Mesopotamian cities" is compared with "the same basic plan" which is not a logical comparison. Also the phrase "houses that were" is not parallel to "walls were"


Hence, Answer is D

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Re: Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged hapha [#permalink] New post   27 Jul 2017, 08:25
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Abdul29 wrote:
Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was followed for all cities of the Indus Valley: with houses laid out on a north-south, east-west grid, and houses and walls were built of standard-size bricks.

A) the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was followed for all cities of the Indus Valley: with houses
B) the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard in arrangement, the same basic plan was used in all cities of the Indus Valley: houses were
C) the arrangement of buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses
D) Mesopotamian cities, in which buildings were arranged haphazardly, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses were
E) Mesopotamian cities, which had buildings that were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was used for all cities in the Indus Valley: houses that were


When a sentence begins with "Unlike...." we must ensure that we are comparing two things that can be logically compared. To do this, we'll stop at the comma and ask the question that the opening modifier raises. If the sentence is properly constructed, the part that immediately follows the comma will answer that question in a logical manner.

A) Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged haphazardly, STOP!
Question: What is unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities?
Reading on, we get....the same basic plan ...
The same basic plan is unlike the buildings????
This makes no sense.
ELIMINATE A

B) Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard in arrangement, STOP!
Question: What is unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities?
Reading on, we get....the same basic plan ...
The same basic plan is unlike the buildings????
This makes no sense.
ELIMINATE B

C) Unlike the arrangement of buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard, STOP!
Question: What is unlike the arrangement of buildings?
Reading on, we get....the cities of the Indus...
The cities are unlike the arrangement of buildings????
This makes no sense.
ELIMINATE C

D) Unlike Mesopotamian cities in which buildings were arranged haphazardly, STOP!
Question: What is unlike Mesopotamian cities?
Reading on, we get....the cities of the Indus...
The cities of the Indus Valley are unlike Mesopotamian cities
Makes sense.
KEEP D

E) Unlike Mesopotamian cities which had buildings that were arranged haphazardly, STOP!
Question: What is unlike Mesopotamian cities?
Reading on, we get....the same basic plan...
The same basic plan is unlike Mesopotamian cities???
Makes no sense.
ELIMINATE E

Answer: D

Cheers,
Brent
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Re: Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged hapha [#permalink] New post   27 Jul 2017, 11:36
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ydmuley wrote:
Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was followed for all cities of the Indus Valley: with houses laid out on a north-south, east-west grid, and houses and walls were built of standard-size bricks.

Let's try to understand the sentence, there is a COMPARISION error in this sentence. As the sentence is trying to compare the "buildings in Mesopotamian cities" with "the same basic plan" which is not a logical comparison. Also, in the second part of the sentence, "with houses" is not parallel to "walls were".

A) the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was followed for all cities of the Indus Valley: with houses

- Reason mentioned as per above

B) the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard in arrangement, the same basic plan was used in all cities of the Indus Valley: houses were

Once again "buildings in Mesopotamian cities" is compared with "the same basic plan" which is not a logical comparison. Also, relative clause which is referring to Mesopotamian cities, meaning, Mesopotamian cities were haphazard in arrangement and not the buildings. In this answer choice, the parallelism error is fixed by correctly using "houses were" which is parallel to "walls were"

C) the arrangement of buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses

In this sentence, "arrangement of buildings in Mesopotamian cities" is compared with "the cities of the Indus Valley". Also, relative clause which is referring to Mesopotamian cities, meaning, Mesopotamian cities were haphazard in arrangement and not the buildings. Also, there is a parallelism error where "houses" is not parallel "walls were"

D) Mesopotamian cities, in which buildings were arranged haphazardly, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses were

This is a correct sentence. Here "Mesopotamian cities" is compared with "the cities of the Indus Valley". Also, it is clear that buildings were arranged haphazardly, and in the second part of the sentence, the phrase "houses were" is now parallel to "walls were"

E) Mesopotamian cities, which had buildings that were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was used for all cities in the Indus Valley: houses that were

In this sentence "Mesopotamian cities" is compared with "the same basic plan" which is not a logical comparison. Also the phrase "houses that were" is not parallel to "walls were"


Hence, Answer is D

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Hello ydmuley,

You have presented a great analysis for this official question. Keep up the good work. :)

I would just like to add my two cents regarding your analysis related to the usage of which in Choice B and C.

ydmuley wrote:
B) the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard in arrangement, the same basic plan was used in all cities of the Indus Valley: houses were

Also, relative clause which is referring to Mesopotamian cities, meaning, Mesopotamian cities were haphazard in arrangement and not the buildings. In this answer choice, the parallelism error is fixed by correctly using "houses were" which is parallel to "walls were"

C) the arrangement of buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses

Also, relative clause which is referring to Mesopotamian cities, meaning, Mesopotamian cities were haphazard in arrangement and not the buildings. Also, there is a parallelism error where "houses" is not parallel "walls were"


IMHO, the relative pronoun modifier which in both Choice B and Choice C logically refers to the buildings and the arrangement of buildings respectively. It is so because in both the choice, the prepositional phrases in Mesopotamian cities is meant to modify the buildings and the arrangement of buildings respectively. This prepositional phrase cannot be placed anywhere else in the sentence without violating the intended meaning of the sentence.

Hence, the relative pronoun modifier which in Choices B and C can jump over this prepositional phrases to refer to the buildings and the arrangement of buildings respectively.

At e-GMAT, we call such modification the modification of a slightly far away noun by a noun modifier. For more details, explanations, and official examples on this topic, you can review or article named Noun Modifiers can Modify slightly far away noun in the following link: https://gmatclub.com/forum/noun-modifiers-can-modify-slightly-far-away-noun-135868.html


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha
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Re: Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged hapha [#permalink] New post   27 Jul 2017, 12:01
egmat wrote:

IMHO, the relative pronoun modifier which in both Choice B and Choice C logically refers to the buildings and the arrangement of buildings respectively. It is so because in both the choice, the prepositional phrases in Mesopotamian cities is meant to modify the buildings and the arrangement of buildings respectively. This prepositional phrase cannot be placed anywhere else in the sentence without violating the intended meaning of the sentence.

Hence, the relative pronoun modifier which in Choices B and C can jump over this prepositional phrases to refer to the buildings and the arrangement of buildings respectively.

At e-GMAT, we call such modification the modification of a slightly far away noun by a noun modifier. For more details, explanations, and official examples on this topic, you can review or article named Noun Modifiers can Modify slightly far away noun in the following link: https://gmatclub.com/forum/noun-modifiers-can-modify-slightly-far-away-noun-135868.html

Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha


Thanks Shraddha egmat for those kind words!

If "which" is correctly referring to the logical subject, the only error with B and C is with respect to parallelism, right?
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Re: Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged hapha [#permalink] New post   27 Jul 2017, 12:11
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ydmuley wrote:

Thanks Shraddha egmat for those kind words!

If "which" is correctly referring to the logical subject, the only error with B and C is with respect to parallelism, right?



Hello ydmuley,

Choice B has the comparison error only.

In Choice C, IMHO, the helping verb were is missing before laid for the subject houses as colon is generally followed by an independent clause as we see in the correct answer choice of this official question.


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha
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Re: Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged hapha [#permalink] New post   13 Feb 2018, 05:36
IMO D

A) the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was followed for all cities of the Indus Valley: with houses - which does not modify 'buildings'. Chuck

B) the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard in the arrangement, the same basic plan was used in all cities of the Indus Valley: houses were- which does not modify 'buildings'. Chuck

C) the arrangement of buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses - which does not modify 'the arrangement'. chuck

D) Mesopotamian cities, in which buildings were arranged haphazardly, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses were - Correct. in which modifies the 'meso cities'. The 'plan' is also explained after colon.

E) Mesopotamian cities, which had buildings that were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was used for all cities in the Indus Valley: houses that were - Info. about the Indus valley was described after the colon. It is rather the plan of the city not the city itself. Chuck
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Re: Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged hapha [#permalink] New post   15 Feb 2018, 07:27
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Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was followed for all cities of the Indus Valley: with houses laid out on a north-south, east-west grid, and houses and walls were built of standard-size bricks.

A) the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was followed for all cities of the Indus Valley: with houses

B) the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard in arrangement, the same basic plan was used in all cities of the Indus Valley: houses were

C) the arrangement of buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses

D) Mesopotamian cities, in which buildings were arranged haphazardly, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses were

E) Mesopotamian cities, which had buildings that were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was used for all cities in the Indus Valley: houses that were



The source of this question is OG 2016. Question number is 35. Below is the explanation from OG.

A Illogically contrasts the buildings in Mesopotamian cities with the same
basic plan; not clear whether which were arranged haphazardly modifies
cities or buildings; with houses lacks parallelism and is confusing.

B Illogically contrasts the buildings in Mesopotamian cities with the same
basic plan; does not clarify what which were haphazard in arrangement
modifies.

C Illogically contrasts the arrangement of buildings with the cities of the
Indus Valley; not clear whether which were haphazard modifies buildings
or cities; houses not followed by a verb.

D Correct. In this sentence, Mesopotamian cities are properly contrasted
with the cities of the Indus Valley; in which buildings were arranged
haphazardly expresses the idea clearly; and houses is followed by were as
required.

E Illogically contrasts Mesopotamian cities with the same basic plan; houses
that were lacks parallelism and is confusing.
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Re: Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged hapha [#permalink] New post   20 Feb 2018, 20:26
Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was followed for all cities of the Indus Valley: with houses laid out on a north-south, east-west grid, and houses and walls were built of standard-size bricks.

A) the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was followed for all cities of the Indus Valley: with houses - “Unlike” tells us that this sentence presents a contrast. What follows “Unlike” is “the buildings in Mesopotamian cities”. Now, these “buildings” have been illogically contrasted with “the same basic plan” that is subject of the main clause ; usage of which -- not clear what does which refer to ; structural error -- colon used to join independent clauses

B) the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard in arrangement, the same basic plan was used in all cities of the Indus Valley: houses were - same as A

C) the arrangement of buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses - This option illogically presents the contrast between “the arrangement of the buildings” and “the cities of the Indus Valley”. These two entities are not logically parallel ; structural error

D) Mesopotamian cities, in which buildings were arranged haphazardly, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses were - Correct

E) Mesopotamian cities, which had buildings that were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was used for all cities in the Indus Valley: houses that were - This sentence illogically presents the contrast between “Mesopotamian cities” and “the same basic plan”.
This choice repeats the structural error of Choice C. The noun after the colon “houses” does not have a verb.


Answer D
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Re: Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged hapha [#permalink] New post   31 Mar 2018, 03:32
Hey GMATNinja,

Is the usage of a independent clause after colon correct?

Option D does that and hence my concern
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Re: Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged hapha [#permalink] New post   01 Jun 2018, 19:25
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pikolo2510 wrote:
Hey GMATNinja,

Is the usage of a independent clause after colon correct?

Option D does that and hence my concern

Sorry pikolo2510, I'm probably WAY too late for this to be useful (especially since you're a Spring Training winner -- congrats!), but just in case it helps somebody else: it's completely fine to have an independent clause after a colon. You can also have other things after a colon, such as lists of examples or quotations (though I don't think we'll ever see a quote in a GMAT SC sentence). But independent clauses are fine, too.

I hope this helps!
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Re: Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged hapha [#permalink] New post   11 Jan 2019, 12:33
jagveerbrar wrote:
Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was followed for all cities of the Indus Valley: with houses laid out on a north-south, east-west grid, and houses and walls were built of standard-size bricks.


(A) the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was followed for all cities of the Indus Valley: with houses

(B) the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard in arrangement, the same basic plan was used in all cities of the Indus Valley: houses were

(C) the arrangement of buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses

(D) Mesopotamian cities, in which buildings were arranged haphazardly, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses were

(E) Mesopotamian cities, which had buildings that were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was used for all cities in the Indus Valley: houses that were


In comparison, Apple from apple tree and apple from orange tree :) still makes sense! If first apple come from this world and the 2nd apple come from out of the world, the comparison still makes sense. Because, at the end of the day, we need apple to make comparison.
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Re: Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged hapha [#permalink] New post   23 Feb 2019, 00:59
Answer is D, Comparision between two cities.
Is this a 500 level question?
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Re: Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged hapha [#permalink] New post   26 Apr 2020, 13:03
mbapharma : Yes, the question levels are dependent on the choices.A question is considered harder when the choices somehow resemble one another, unlike in this question where the answer choice stood apart from other choices very well.Unlike
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Re: Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged hapha [#permalink] New post   03 May 2020, 23:59
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As soon as you see a word such as ‘unlike’, you should realise that Comparisons is the concept that is in play.

Once we have this down, we can go through the options and eliminate the incorrect comparisons to get to the best choice.

Option A – Unlike the buildings in … cities … the same basic plan was…
The option incorrectly compares buildings with plan.
Eliminate.

Option B – Unlike the buildings in … cities … the same basic plan…
Option B does the same thing as Option A: compares buildings with plan.
Eliminate.

Option C – Unlike the arrangement of buildings … the cities of Indus..
The option compares the arrangement of buildings with the cities which is incorrect.
Eliminate.

Option D – Unlike the Mesopotamian cities … the cities of Indus…
This is the right comparison that we need. Let’s hold on to this.

Option E – Unlike the Mesopotamian cities … the same basic plan…
The option incorrectly compares cities to basic plan.
Eliminate.

Option D is the best choice.

Hope this helps!
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Re: Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged hapha [#permalink] New post   16 Aug 2020, 16:54
(A) the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was followed for all cities of the Indus Valley: with houses
(1) wrong comparison – “buildings…the [same basic] plan…”; (2) illogical meaning – presumably, the “buildings” were arranged haphazardly and not the “cities” themselves

(B) the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard in arrangement, the same basic plan was used in all cities of the Indus Valley: houses were
(1) wrong comparison – “buildings…the [same basic] plan…”; (2) illogical meaning – presumably, the “buildings” were haphazard in arrangement and not the “cities” themselves

(C) the arrangement of buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were haphazard, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses
(1) wrong comparison – “Unlike the arrangement…the cities…”; (2) illogical meaning – how can “cities” (or even “buildings”) be “haphazard”

(D) Mesopotamian cities, in which buildings were arranged haphazardly, the cities of the Indus Valley all followed the same basic plan: houses were
Best option

(E) Mesopotamian cities, which had buildings that were arranged haphazardly, the same basic plan was used for all cities in the Indus Valley: houses that were
(1) wrong comparison – “Unlike Mesopotamian cities…the same basic plan…”; (2) illogical meaning – “…cities, which had buildings…” sounds as though they (the cities) possessed these buildings; (3) lack of parallelism – “…: houses THAT WERE laid out…, and houses and walls WERE built…”
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Re: Unlike the buildings in Mesopotamian cities, which were arranged hapha [#permalink]
16 Aug 2020, 16:54
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