12 Days of Christmas GMAT Competition - Day 8: The Battle of Crecy was

Question

12 Days of Christmas GMAT Competition with Lots of Fun

The Battle of Crecy was one of the greatest English victories in the 100 year war, primarily because Edward III’s archery unit was armed with more advanced weaponry than  they had been in their earlier assaults  on France.

(A) they had been in their earlier assaults
(B) their earlier assaults had been
(C) they had been for any earlier assault
(D) in their earlier assaults
(E) for any earlier assault

kratos0906 · Answer

This is essentially a parallelism question. 
Edward III’s archery unit was armed with more advanced weaponry than what?

A- seems right. armed with advanced weaponry is being compared with how armed they were with advanced weaponry in previous assaults. 
B- Can't compare previous assaults with how armed the archery unit was. 
C- how armed they were for an assault vs in A, it's how armed they were in the assault. Kind of confusing but A sounds idiomatically better(not sure tbh)
D,E- same problem as B.

Hence, IMO A.

arya251294 · Answer

The meaning of the sentence is that E's unit was armed with more weapons  than ...."
the correct comparison would be to say - E's unit was armed with more weapons than it(E's unit) (singular)
options A, B, C, and D out

IMO the answer is E.

mysterymanrog · Answer

A) Logical comparison. Keep.

B) Comparing how the units were armed to previous assaults. Out.

C) Logical comparison. Keep.

D) Same as B. Out. 
D) Same as B. Out.

A vs C is quite tricky.

I am going with C. The expanded form is more logical - the unit was armed with more advanced weaponry than (the unit) they had been (armed with weaponry) for any any earlier assault.

snowbee15 · Answer

The Battle of Crecy was one of the greatest English victories in the 100 year war, primarily because Edward III’s archery unit was armed with more advanced weaponry than  they had been in their earlier assaults  on France.

(A) they had been in their earlier assaults 
 (B) their earlier assaults had been 
(C) they had been for any earlier assault
 (D) in their earlier assaults 
 (E) for any earlier assault

- the subject in this case is the archery unit 
- the archery unit being armed with "more advanced weaponry" is an event that has occurred in the past and this weaponry is better than what they had in their previous assaults i.e. this is the case of an action in the past before another action in the past so we need the past perfect in here this eliminates B D and E
- now we want to know if it is for any vs in their
  - for any of their earlier assaults is incorrect here because it doesn't make sense for them to be equipped more advanced weaponry than they been for .., this is illogical predication

Therefore,  A is the correct answer  because it makes logical sense and uses the appropriate tense

HarshaBujji · Answer

Here the problem is the usage of pronoun, This doesn't have a proper antecedent.

(A)  they  had been in their earlier assaults
(B)  their  earlier assaults had been
(C)  they  had been for any earlier assault
(D) in  their  earlier assaults
(E) for any earlier assault

Hence IMO E.

Lenel · Answer

(A) The Battle of Crecy was one of the greatest English victories in the 100 year war, primarily because Edward III’s archery unit was armed with more advanced weaponry than   they had been in their  earlier assaults  on France. - they and their has no reference, Eliminate
(B) The Battle of Crecy was one of the greatest English victories in the 100 year war, primarily because Edward III’s archery unit was armed with more advanced weaponry than  t heir earlier assaults  had been  on France. - their has no reference, Eliminate
(C) The Battle of Crecy was one of the greatest English victories in the 100 year war, primarily because Edward III’s archery unit was armed with more advanced weaponry than   they had been  for any earlier assault  on France. - they has no reference, Eliminate
(D) The Battle of Crecy was one of the greatest English victories in the 100 year war, primarily because Edward III’s archery unit was armed with more advanced weaponry than   in their earlier assaults   on France. - their has no reference, Eliminate
(E) The Battle of Crecy was one of the greatest English victories in the 100 year war, primarily because Edward III’s archery unit was armed with more advanced weaponry than  for any earlier assault  on France. - Correct meaning, Correct

Ans : E

Lizaza · Answer

This one is pretty straightforward: in the original prompt itself, the unit takes a singular form  'was'  - which means that grammatically, in the whole sentence we should treat the unit as one thing, not many people.
Therefore, we need to avoid using any references to plurals - so, any mentions of  'they'  and related words are wrong.
Fortunately for us, all four   options A-D   refer to the soldiers in plural - which, in this sentence, is incorrect.

Therefore,   the only right answer is E.

debjit1990 · Answer

Ans:E
a,b,c,d all are using plural form..we need singular for Edward III’s archery unit
(A) they had been in their earlier assaults
(B) their earlier assaults had been
(C) they had been for any earlier assault
(D) in their earlier assaults
(E) for any earlier assault...correct

Stanindaw · Answer

army unit is singular, they/their is wrong in A, B, C, D
E is the winner

Posted from my mobile device

rahulp11 · Answer

The Battle of Crecy was one of the greatest English victories in the 100 year war, primarily because Edward III’s archery unit was armed with more advanced weaponry than  they had been in their earlier assaults  on France.

The un-underlined portion of the sentence has the superlative comparison term "greatest", so there must have been many victories therefore many assaults. We require "assaults" in the comparison. Eliminate C & E

(A)  they had been in their earlier assaults  -  Correct  
(B)  their earlier assaults had been  - Comparison Error between archery unit and assaults
(C)  they had been for any earlier   assault  - eliminated
(D)  in their earlier assaults  - Comparison Error
(E)  for any earlier   assault  - eliminated

rajtare · Answer

(A) they had been in their earlier assaults  - Incorrect - they has no referent, correct pronoun to be used here is their 
(B) their earlier assaults had been  - Incorrect- usage of had been is redundant as earlier makes the time sequence clear 
(C) they had been for any earlier assault -  - Incorrect - they has no referent, correct pronoun to be used here is their 
(D) in their earlier assaults  - Correct 
(E) for any earlier assault  - Incorrect - Archery unit is compared with earlier assaults

szcz · Answer

(A) they had been in their earlier assaults
Incorrect pronoun. Unit is singular.
(B) their earlier assaults had been
Same as A
(C) they had been for any earlier assault
Same as A
(D) in their earlier assaults
Same as A
(E) for any earlier assault
Correct option.

Catman · Answer

The Battle of Crecy was one of the greatest English victories in the 100 year war, primarily because Edward III’s archery unit was armed with more advanced weaponry than they had been in their earlier assaults on France.

Structure is was armed with X than Y.
(A) they had been in their earlier assaults "Correct comparison with verb tense."

(B) their earlier assaults had been "Incorrect comparison between weaponry and assual."

(C) they had been for any earlier assault "Incorrect assault is singular but we have to choose plural."

(D) in their earlier assaults incorrect comparison between weaponry and assault."

(E) for any earlier assault " incorrect comparison between weaponry and assault."

Hence IMO A.

dsp9846 · Answer

OA)A 
The Battle of Crecy was one of the greatest English victories in the 100 year war, primarily because Edward III’s archery unit was armed with more advanced weaponry than they had been in their earlier assaults on France.

(A) they had been in their earlier assaults

(B) their earlier assaults had been 
--> comparison between archery unit to assaults ; archery unit(person) should compared with another person

(C) they had been for any earlier assault 
-->comparing the archery unit with they(English) but logical would be to say the English were armed in their assaults not any assault on France.

(D) in their earlier assaults 
--> comparison between archery unit to assaults ; archery unit(person) should compared with another person

(E) for any earlier assault 
--> comparison between archery unit to assaults ; archery unit(person) should compared with another person

rxb266 · Answer

The Battle of Crecy was one of the greatest English victories in the 100 year war, primarily because Edward III’s archery unit was armed with more advanced weaponry  than they had been in their earlier assaults  on France.

(A) they had been in their earlier assaults
The plural “they” cannot replace the singular word “Edward III’s archery unit”. –  Incorrect.

(B) their earlier assaults had been
Here the comparison made is illogical. Here “assaults” has been compared with “weaponry” -  Incorrect.

(C) they had been for any earlier assault
This construction is awkward and unnecessarily wordy. The plural “they” cannot replace the singular word “Edward III’s archery unit” –  Incorrect.

(D) in their earlier assaults
There are no obvious errors present in this choice. I would keep this as a  Contender.

(E) for any earlier assault
The article “for” is incorrectly used here. –  Incorrect.

Answer: Option D

Suvankar8250 · Answer

'Edward III’s archery unit WAS armed' indicates that the subject here, which is Edward III's archery unit, is singular. Therefore this information would help us to rule out options.

Option A : The usage of 'they' is wrong since it refers back to Edward III's archery unit, which is singular.
Option B : advanced weaponry is compared with earlier assaults, which is wrong. Moreover, usage of 'their' is incorrect since the subject is singular.
Option C : The usage of 'they' is wrong since it refers back to Edward III's archery unit, which is singular.
Option D : Usage of 'their' is incorrect since the subject is singular.

Option E : A proper comparison was made between weaponry of the current assault with the weaponry of the earlier assaults. Even no plural subject was used like 'they' or 'their'.

Option E is correct.

Suraj0184 · Answer

The Battle of Crecy was one of the greatest English victories in the 100 year war, primarily because Edward III’s archery unit was armed with more advanced weaponry than  they had been in their earlier assaults  on France.

(A) they had been in their earlier assaults
 Edward III’s archery unit is singular; hence Subject-Verb agreement error

(B) their earlier assaults had been
 use of 'their' is incorrect, since Edward III’s archery unit is singular; hence Subject-Verb agreement error

(C) they had been for any earlier assault
 Edward III’s archery unit is singular; hence Subject-Verb agreement error

(D) in their earlier assaults
 S-V agreement error in this option also

(E) for any earlier assault
 correct option; since plural pronoun not used in this option

IMO, (E) will be the correct choice

rn1112 · Answer

The Battle of Crecy was one of the greatest English victories in the 100 year war, primarily because Edward III’s archery unit was armed with more advanced weaponry than  they had been in their earlier assaults  on France.

(A) they had been in their earlier assaults

Use of 'they' being plural is incorrect

(B) their earlier assaults had been

here also, Use of 'their' being plural form is incorrect

(C) they had been for any earlier assault

here also, Use of 'they' being plural form is incorrect

(D) in their earlier assaults

in this option also, Use of 'their' being plural form is incorrect

(E) for any earlier assault

correct version, due to no use of plural 'they/their in this option

Thus the correct option will be (E)

nikhil553 · Answer

The Battle of Crecy was one of the greatest English victories in the 100 year war, primarily because Edward III’s archery unit was armed with more advanced weaponry than they had been in their earlier assaults on France.

(A)  they  had been in their earlier assaults
(B ) their  earlier assaults had been
(C)  they  had been for any earlier assault
(D) in  their  earlier assaults
(E) for any earlier assault - correct answer

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12 Days of Christmas GMAT Competition - Day 8: The Battle of Crecy was

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12 Days of Christmas GMAT Competition - Day 8: The Battle of Crecy was

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