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

2/3 split
they , which and included usage is wrong in option A , B & C
(A) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery, [color=#ed1c24]they included[/color] ; usage of they is wrong
(B) Rituals were conducted in Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism’s monastery, which included ; s-v issue
(C) Dogen Zenji, who was the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in his monastery, conducted rituals including -ing verb issue



(E) In his monastery, Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals that included usage of his leads to pronoun error , and meaning issue


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

option D is correct

Let's check each option:

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

- This option has a pronoun ambiguity issue. "They" could refer to either "rituals" or "his monastery."

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

- This option creates a passive construction that is less direct and clear. Also, there is a misplaced modifier; it suggests that rituals were conducted in Dogen Zenji.

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

- This option introduces an unnecessary phrase "in his monastery" and uses the present participle "including," which changes the meaning slightly.

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

- This option provides a clear and concise construction. It correctly uses "that" to introduce the modifier.

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

- The phrase "In his monastery" doesn't add essential information to the sentence and can be omitted without changing the meaning.

Option (D) is the correct choice.

(A) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery, they included ==> Wrong due to they pronoun
(B) Rituals were conducted in Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism’s monastery, which included ==>wrong meaning
(C) Dogen Zenji, who was the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in his monastery, conducted rituals including ===> too wordy
(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 ==> Improper use of modifier
Correct choice D

Answer is D

A - this is a run on sentence with the use of 'they included,' which does not tie back to the prior sentence or start a new one

B - 'rituals were conducted' - passive voice, immediate no

C - 'who was the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in his monastery' makes it sound like he founded using the bhuddism in his monastery instead of founding as a whole

D - sentence makes sense, 'that included' connects clauses nicely, this is the one

E - Too many commas/split clauses, we can do better with answer 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.

(A) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery, they included - is incorrect because it uses a comma to connect two independent clauses, which is a comma splice error.

(B) Rituals were conducted in Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism’s monastery, which included - is incorrect because option B suggests that the rituals were conducted in Dogen Zenji himself, rather than in his monastery.
(C) Dogen Zenji, who was the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in his monastery, conducted rituals including - is incorrect because option C suggests that Dogen Zenji founded the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in his monastery, rather than being the founder of the school who conducted rituals in his monastery.

(D) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery that included - uses the correct relative pronoun "that" to introduce the dependent clause, providing essential information about the rituals. Correct.
(E) In his monastery, Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals that included - less clear and concise than option D.
Answer D

(A) Incorrect: This is a run on sentence. The comma should be replaced with a semicolon or a period or the sentence should be restructured.
(B) Incorrect: It suggests that the rituals were conducted inside Dogen Zenji himself which does not make sense. The phrase "Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism’s monastery" is awkward and confusing.
(C) Incorrect: It suggests that Dogen Zenji was the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in his monastery which is not the intended meaning. The phrase "in his monastery" should be associated with "conducted rituals" not "the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism."
(D) Correct: This is grammatically correct
(E) Incorrect: While this is grammatically correct, Option D is preferable to this.

Hence 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.

(A) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery, they included - disjointed sentence structure
(B) Rituals were conducted in Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism’s monastery, which included - makes it sound as if the rituals were conducted in the person instead of the monastery
(C) Dogen Zenji, who was the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in his monastery, conducted rituals including - in his monastery should come after the comma
(D) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery that included - choose D
(E) In his monastery, Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals that included - excessive comma usage

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 --> incorrect pronoun and the connector is omitted --> Wrong
(B) Rituals were conducted in Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism’s monastery, which included --> incorrect position of ", which " because it touches monastery and this choice make the statement wordy
(C) Dogen Zenji, who was the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in his monastery, conducted rituals including -->This change of possition of "in his monastery" changes the meaning
(D) Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals in his monastery that included --> Right
(E) In his monastery, Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism, conducted rituals that included
-->This change of possition of "in his monastery" changes the meaning

Right answer: D

(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

(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) 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.

(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

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.