12 Days of Christmas GMAT Competition - Day 11: Under Emperor Justinia

Question

12 Days of Christmas GMAT Competition with Lots of Fun

Under Emperor Justinian,  the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent, controlling territory stretching from Western Europe to the Middle East.

(A) the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent, controlling territory stretching from Western Europe to the Middle East.

(B) the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent, which controlled territory stretching from Western Europe to the Middle East.

(C) the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent, controlling territory that was stretching from Western Europe to the Middle East.

(D) the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent, which controlled territory that stretched from Western Europe to the Middle East.

(E) the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent, controlling territory that had stretched from Western Europe to the Middle East.

JoshAtDreamScore · Accepted Answer

Solution:
This question tests modifiers. The Byzantine Empire controlled territory, the “extent” didn’t. An adverbial modifier conveys the correct meaning in A. The pronoun “which” distorts the meaning in B and D, suggesting that the “extent” controlled territory. C and E unnecessarily add verbs in the 2nd half of the sentence.

A: Correct
BD: Incorrect reference of "which controlled". Makes it sound like “extent controlled”.
C: Awkward wording: "that was stretching"
E: Incorrect verb tense - past instead of past perfect

Kinshook · Answer

Under Emperor Justinian,  the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent, controlling territory stretching from Western Europe to the Middle East.

which  has to refer to the adjacent word, it can not refer to far way  the Byzantine Empire 
Options B & D are incorrect.

Under Emperor Justinian,  the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent, controlling territory stretching from Western Europe to the Middle East. 
Under Emperor Justinian, the Byzantine Empire ....., controlling territory stretching from ... to ..... is a correct construction and conveys the intended meaning.
The sentence is grammatically correct and concise.
Correct

which  has to refer to the adjacent word, it can not refer to far way  the Byzantine Empire 
Incorrect

Use of  that was  is unnecessary and redundant. There is no need for using redundant  that was . Option A is concise and is a better choice.
Incorrect

which  has to refer to the adjacent word, it can not refer to far way  the Byzantine Empire 
Incorrect

Use of  that had stretched  is incorrect and verbose. There is no need for the use of past perfect tense. Option A is concise and is a better choice.
Incorrect

IMO A

ElninoEffect · Answer

(A) the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent,  controlling territory  stretching from Western Europe to the Middle East.
 -ing modifier seems to explain the how aspect of the first part. i.e how the empire reached its greatest extent.
 
(B) the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent,  which  controlled territory stretching from Western Europe to the Middle East.
 which seems to modify the extent , extent controlled the territory.? It's the empire that controlled it.

(C) the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent, controlling territory that  was  stretching from Western Europe to the Middle East.
 Use of past tense indicates that empire reached its greatest extent by controlling the territory  that was stretching  from x to y meaning after reaching its greatest extent the  territory was not extending.? Meaning changed.

(D) the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent, which controlled territory that stretched from Western Europe to the Middle East.
 Same as B

(E) the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent, controlling territory that  had stretched  from Western Europe to the Middle East.
 Now it means the land was stretched from x to y before the empire reached its greatest extent but while controlling the land the same condition was not present. Meaning change

behlmanmeet · Answer

Under Emperor Justinian,  the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent, controlling territory stretching from Western Europe to the Middle East.

Solution:

On an initial read, the sentence makes sense. "Its" correctly points to the singular "the Byzantine Empire". The verb-ing "controlling" makes sense with the Subject "the Byzantine Empire". Verb-ing "stretching" correctly modifies the noun "territory". From TO idiom is rightly used. So, the sentence in its original form seems correct.

(A) the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent, controlling territory stretching from Western Europe to the Middle East.:  Correct as stated above

(B) the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent, which controlled territory stretching from Western Europe to the Middle East.:  " which" immediately jumps out to me and seems to point to "extent", the usage is wrong.
 
(C) the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent, controlling territory that was stretching from Western Europe to the Middle East.:  " territory that was stretching" makes it seem like the territory was actively stretching at that point in time. This does not make much sense. This usage makes it seem as the territory was actively stretching but in what sense we might think, it can't be the literal act of stretching.

(D) the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent, which controlled territory that stretched from Western Europe to the Middle East.:  " which" immediately jumps out to me and seems to point to "extent", the usage is wrong.

(E) the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent, controlling territory that had stretched from Western Europe to the Middle East.:  "territory that had stretched" this again makes little sense because it makes it seem like the territory was literally stretching and we know that makes no sense.

Thus, the answer is A

SohGMAT2020 · Answer

Under Emperor Justinian,  the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent, controlling territory stretching from Western Europe to the Middle East.

(A) the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent, controlling territory stretching from Western Europe to the Middle East.  Correct : No errors, Controlling is an -ing modifier, which makes sense with the subject (Byzantine Empire ) and main verb (reached ) of the sentence

(B) the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest  extent, which  controlled territory stretching from Western Europe to the Middle East.  which is modifying extent, making the sentence non sensical : Incorrect

(C) the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent, controlling territory  that was stretching  from Western Europe to the Middle East.  The use of past continuous tense is wrong. It means that the territory was stretching at some point in the past but not now. Absurd!: Incorrect

(D) the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest  extent, which  controlled territory that stretched from Western Europe to the Middle East.  which is modifying extent, making the sentence non sensical : Incorrect

(E) the Byzantine Empire reached its greatest extent, controlling territory that had stretched from Western Europe to the Middle East.  : Again the use of past perfect is wrong for similar reason as C.

IMO A is correct

Bunuel · Answer

Dreamscore Official Explanation

A: Correct

BD: Incorrect reference of "which controlled"

C: Awkward wording: "that was stretching"

E: Incorrect verb tense - past instead of past perfect

12 Days of Christmas GMAT Competition - Day 11: Under Emperor Justinia

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

12 Days of Christmas GMAT Competition - Day 11: Under Emperor Justinia

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards