Within the boundaries of artistic rivalry lies a sense of family the

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

• Meaning/Structure?

The artistic creativity that compels musicians creates competition (rivalry) among them but also creates a sense of belonging to a special kind of family, one whose members all have the talent to make music. (The "shared genetic inheritance, or accident" refers to the source of musicians' artistic ability and creative urge.)

Structure? Everything after the colon both encapsulates and adds detail to the previous clause. Whatever precedes a colon must be a full independent clause. Whatever comes after the colon does not have to be an independent clause.

See below the POE for lay/lie analysis.

• Options B and E incorrectly use LAY rather than LIE

Present tense lay means to put something down. Lay requires a direct object.

Present tense lie means to reside or be found in. (Lie also means to recline or to tell a falsehood.) "Lie" never takes a direct object.

"Reside or be found in"? Something abstract such as creativity or talent can lie [be found, reside] in or within another noun.

Rewrite: If you examine the artistic rivalry among musicians, you will find that their giftedness both drives the rivalry and somewhat ironically creates a sense of belonging to a special family whose members can all make music.

The sense of family does not lay within the boundaries of artistic rivalry. The sense of family lies within those boundaries.

-- Eliminate B and E

• Options C and D have misplaced modifiers

-- the shared genetic inheritance, or accident, that enables musicians to make music is a modifier of "sense of family,"
but in C and D, the modifier describes the boundaries of artistic rivalry.
Such description is nonsensical.

-- Although not strictly an idiom, "inside of" is suspect.
Correct: She went inside the house.
Suspect, usually Incorrect: She went inside of the house

-- Contrary to popular belief, GMAC sometimes does use the possessive for things, such as rivalry’s in option D
Such use, however, needs to be more justified than it is in this instance.
Abstract nouns such as "rivalry" are not great candidates for the possessive case

Eliminate C and D

• The best answer is A.

• LIE or LAY?

This distinction is often hard even for native speakers.

You may want to try a mnemonic.

To lIe means to resIde in something or to reclIne.
The letter "i" in lie, reside, and recline is a long vowel that sounds like EYE.
This saying is very famous: Beauty lies [resides] in the eyes of the beholder. (Google it!)

To lAy means to plAce something (usually somewhere). The vowel, "A," is long and is pronounced as it is in the word day.

Lie does not take a direct object.

As the word is used in this sentence, LIE means:
"(of something abstract) reside or be found.
The solution lies in a return to traditional values.
See Oxford Dictionary online, here.

LIE can also mean to tell a falsehood or to recline.

LAY
Lay, present tense, means to put something down. [i]Lay requires a direct object. Lay what? And often, lay [something] where?
I laid a blanket on him.

• EXAMPLES

LIE
[abstract]
-- Hope often lies in the knowledge that possibility exists.
-- Creativity lies in the mysterious urge to reinterpret the meaning of human existence.
-- Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.
-- The responsibility for the alarming rise in U.S. hate crimes LIES partly with leaders whose constant public scorn for certain groups emboldens others.
-- The source of her constant willingness to challenge bullies lies in her conviction that silence encourages bullies.

[concrete]
-- I lie in the bed.
-- The eggs lie in the nest.
-- The book lies on the coffee table.

LAY
-- Lay your pencil down; the test is over.
-- Chickens lay eggs in nests.
-- When she refinishes old chairs, after the last coat of paint seems dry, she lays a sheet over the chair for a few days.

• Read about the difference

For more on the distinction between LAY and LIE, go here.

COMMENTS

Kudos to Prateekj05