12 Days of Christmas GMAT Competition - Day 7: Dogen Zenji, the

Going with E

(A) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery, they included
This is a run-on sentence. There should be a semi-colon before "they"
(B) Rituals were conducted in Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism’s monastery, which included
Wrong. Rituals can't be conducted in a person
(C) Dogen Zenji, who was the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in his monastery, conducted rituals including
Wrong. This makes it sound as if the participation of monks and laymen, etc are rituals
(D) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery that included
Wrong. This makes it sound as if it's the monastery that includes the participation of both monks and payment, etc
(E) In his monastery, Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals that included
Right!

(A) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery, they included

Run on sentence. Two independent clauses connected by comma. Eliminate.

(B) Rituals were conducted in Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism’s monastery, which included

which incorrectly modifies monastery.

(C) Dogen Zenji, who was the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in his monastery, conducted rituals including

The person is still the founder. hence, past tense is not warranted.

(D) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery that included

Same error as B. That incorrectly modifies monastery.

(E) In his monastery, Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals that included

Correct, conveys the correct meaning.

IMO E

(A) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery, they included
"they" should start with a semicolon

(B) Rituals were conducted in Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism’s monastery, which included
passive mode is wrong in this case

(C) Dogen Zenji, who was the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in his monastery, conducted rituals including
it says that Dogen Zenji founder the school is his monastery, while the meaning should be that the rituals were celebrated is his monastery

(D) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery that included
CORRECT

(E) In his monastery, Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals that included
the sentence is very disorganized

IMO D

Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery, they included the participation of both monks and laymen, the practicing of zazen meditation, and the veneration of the metaphysical concepts of Bussho and Uji.


they should refer to rituals but is used to refer to persons. Two independent clauses are separated by comma. (Run on sentence).
Incorrect


Dogen Zenji was the the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism. Rituals were conducted in his monastery and not in Dogen Zenji.
Incorrect


Placement of in his monastery is incorrect
Usage of who was is redundant.
Incorrect


Usage of that after in his monastery makes it ambiguous.
It is unclear whether that refers to his monastery or to rituals
Incorrect


Concise and correct in meaning.
Removes ambiguity present in option D.

IMO E

(A) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery, they included
I/C: "they"
(B) Rituals were conducted in Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism’s monastery, which included
I/C: unneccesssarily passive form
(C) Dogen Zenji, who was the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in his monastery, conducted rituals including
I/C: meaning change
(D) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery that included
I/C: meaning change
(E) In his monastery, Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals that included
C: all referrals are proper and giving actual meaning.

(D) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery that included

Answer: D

(A) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery, they included
they refers to what ? - incorrect

(B) Rituals were conducted in Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism’s monastery, which included
which included - incorrect

(C) Dogen Zenji, who was the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in his monastery, conducted rituals including
who was the founder - verbose not needed

(D) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery that included
Correct form, Dongen Zenji conducted rituals ...

(E) In his monastery, Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals that included
Split with in his monastery conducted rituals or dogen zenji conducted rituals.

A - Pronoun issue and fragment -> Who is "They"
B - Meaning & Modifier -> Rituals were conducted in "Monastery" not Dogen Zenji
C - Modifier issue -> "in his monastery" wrongly modifies "the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism"
D - Modifier issue -> that included wrongly modifies monastery

Hence, E is the correct answer

A) Seems alright for now.
B) Rituals cannot be conducted in a person.
C) Seems as if Dogen Zenji was the founder only in his monastery and not a founder outside.
D) This seems correct but the 'that' after monastery seems to suggest that the monastery included the three things instead of the rituals.
E) It seems that Dogen Zenji is the monastery.

I will go with option D.

Let us start with option elimination:

Read sentence by hiding comma to comma in this case and see whether it is giving any meaning or not .

(A) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery, they included -> Is there any meaning after hiding comma to comma, no meaning, so not the answer.
(B) Rituals were conducted in Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism’s monastery, which included -> Now one thing this a passive voice, our sentence is framed in active voice, so let us go with active voice. Also framing of sentence is not right, So not our answer.
(C) Dogen Zenji, who was the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in his monastery, conducted rituals including -> The sentence is wrong as it is saying that Dogen Zenji was the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in his monastery, he founded the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism not in his monastry.
(D) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery that included -> Right answer.
(E) In his monastery, Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals that included -> Read sentence by hiding comma to comma, you wont get proper meaning. so not correct.

Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery, they included the participation of both monks and laymen, the practicing of zazen meditation, and the veneration of the metaphysical concepts of Bussho and Uji.

(A) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery, they included
2 ICs cannot be connected by just a comma

(B) Rituals were conducted in Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism’s monastery, which included
Rituals included participation not the monastery

(C) Dogen Zenji, who was the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in his monastery, conducted rituals including
It doesn’t make sense modify Buddhism by in his monastery. We want to say he conducted rituals in his monastery

(D) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery that included
E is better than D. Here that incorrectly modifies monastery instead of rituals


(E) In his monastery, Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals that included
The modification is correct here and the movement of prep phrase at the start does not change the meaning

Ans E

Posted from my mobile device

(A) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery, they included
-- 'they is not a correct antecedent'

(B) Rituals were conducted in Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism’s monastery, which included
-- 'conducted in Dogen Zenji' is incorrect

(C) Dogen Zenji, who was the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in his monastery, conducted rituals including
-- the dependent clause would not require "who". Also "founder....in his monastery" is incorrect

(D) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery that included
-- correct structure

(E) In his monastery, Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals that included
-- "his" reference is prior to the noun it is referring to

Option D

(A) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery, they included Run On
(B) Rituals were conducted in Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism’s monastery, which included wrongly refers that rituals were conducted in a person
(C) Dogen Zenji, who was the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in his monastery, conducted rituals including Soto school was founded in the monastry
(D) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery that included that may ambiguously refer to monastery
(E) In his monastery, Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals that included Correct

Ans E

Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery, they included the participation of both monks and laymen, the practicing of zazen meditation, and the veneration of the metaphysical concepts of Bussho and Uji.

(A) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery, they included
(B) Rituals were conducted in Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism’s monastery, which included
(C) Dogen Zenji, who was the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in his monastery, conducted rituals including
(D) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery that included
(E) In his monastery, Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals that included

Solution: The original underlined phrase is wrong because of the use of 'they' in the third clause. Here use of they is ambiguous as there is no reference to the pronoun here and it breaks the sentence structure and meaning.

(A) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery, they included
Explanation: As discussed above, this is INCORRECT

(B) Rituals were conducted in Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism’s monastery, which included
Explanation: This option is wrong as it changes the intended meaning of the original sentence. Here rituals are conducted by Dogen and not in Dogen. Also the second clause is wrongly structured as it changes the intended meaning as well. INCORRECT

(C) Dogen Zenji, who was the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in his monastery, conducted rituals including
Explanation: This option is wrong as it changes the intended meaning of the original sentence. Here 'in his monastery' in the first clause alters the meaning of the clause. Also 'including' is wrong. INCORRECT

(D) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery that included
Explanation: This option is right as it conveys the intended meaning of the original sentence. Here, the sentence structure and modifier placement is correct. Here relative pronoun 'that' in the third clause refers to the rituals and conveys the meaning that the rituals included the participation of other disciplines. This is right. CORRECT

(E) In his monastery, Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals that included
Explanation: This option is wrong as the use of 'his' in the beginning of the sentence is ambiguous here. 'His' may refer to Dogen or it may also refer to someone else in whose monastery Dogen conducted the rituals. INCORRECT

Option D is the right answer.

(A) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery, they included ~ ambiguity due to "they", they can refer to the riutals or monastery
(B) Rituals were conducted in Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism’s monastery, which included ~ Passive voice not preferred in GMAT .Also 'which' refers to the monastery which is not the correct meaning.
(C) Dogen Zenji, who was the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in his monastery, conducted rituals including ~who was makes the sentence wordy,
(D) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery that included ~ In this monastery should be placed close to the subject Dogen Zenji. Between D and E , E is the better choice.
(E) In his monastery, Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals that included ~ Logically correct and conveys a clear meaning.

IMO E.

Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery, they included the participation of both monks and laymen, the practicing of zazen meditation, and the veneration of the metaphysical concepts of Bussho and Uji.

(A) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery, they included
comma splice error

(B) Rituals were conducted in Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism’s monastery, which included
incorrect modifier; monastery didn't include thepartcipation

(C) Dogen Zenji, who was the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in his monastery, conducted rituals including
modifier error; rituals that included is the better option


(D) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery that included
incorrect modifier; monastery didn't include the partcipation

(E) In his monastery, Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals that included
correct option; correct modifier usage


(E) is the answer