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A site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo 15 May 2023, 05:49
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rgoel2305
Can we eliminate option D and E on the basis that in both the options "site that" or "place that" is used whereas since site/place is a place, "where" should be used?
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Hello rgoel2305,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, no; the constructions used in Options D and E are correct; "that" can be used to link a noun that refers to a physical place to a modifier.

For example: "This is the city that never sleeps."

We hope this helps.
All the best!
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A site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo 17 May 2023, 10:41
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GMATNinja, could you please please help us with this question? There's a lot of confusion on what is the intended meaning of the sentence.

Please!

Thank you.
Plenty of nice juicy errors in this one.

Quote:
(A) A site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico, has been recently discovered where patterns of light and shadow were employed to establish the precise limits of the positions of the Sun and Moon over a nineteen-year cycle.
The sentence opens with the modifier in red, which appears to describe "a site." Whatever is being modified should come immediately afterwards. In this version, it sounds as though the "ancient pueblo dwellers" are "a site." That's nonsense. (A) is out.

Quote:
(B) A recently discovered site was once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico, where patterns of light and shadow were employed to establish the precise limits of the positions of the Sun and Moon over a nineteen-year cycle.
Exact same problem as (A). Eliminate (B).

Quote:
(C) At a recently discovered site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico, patterns of light and shadow were employed to establish the precise limits of the positions of the Sun and Moon over a nineteen-year cycle.
Notice that the opening modifier is different here. Typically, when a sentence begins with a prepositional phrase, as this one does, the phrase will describe an action. In other words, something happened "at a recently discovered site." According to this sentence, at this site the patterns of light and shadow were used to figure out some aspects of the positions of the sun and the moon. That seems perfectly logical. Hang on to (C).

Quote:
(D) Patterns of light and shadow were employed to establish the precise limits of the positions of the Sun and Moon over a nineteen-year cycle at a site that was recently discovered and was once used by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico.
While this option doesn't have the same modifier problem that (A) and (B) do, there are still some meaning issues.

First, the phrase, "cycle at a site" kind of makes it sound like the cycle itself is at the site. That doesn't work -- we're talking about a 19-year cycle involving the movement of the moon and the sun. No one is finding the time interval for celestial bodies at an ancient site.

Also, the end of the sentence tells us that the site was "once used by the Anasazi," but we're not told what the site was used for. Those logic/meaning issues are enough to kill (D).

Quote:
(E) Patterns of light and shadow were employed to establish the precise limits of the positions of the Sun and Moon over a nineteen-year cycle at a recently discovered place that the Anasazi, ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico, once used the site as an observatory.
Here, if you strip out the modifier in red, the end of the sentence becomes, "a recently discovered place that the Anasazi once used the site as an observatory." That's nonsense. Strike (E).

Because (C) is the only option without a meaning or logic problem, it's our winner.

I hope that helps!
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Agree with the answer, but I don't think B has the exact same problem as A. The part before the first comma in B is a full independent clause and so we shouldn't misconstrue it to be a modifier for "ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico" right?
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A site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo 27 May 2023, 10:55
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GMATNinja, could you please please help us with this question? There's a lot of confusion on what is the intended meaning of the sentence.

Please!

Thank you.

Plenty of nice juicy errors in this one.

Quote:
A site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico, has been recently discovered where patterns of light and shadow were employed to establish the precise limits of the positions of the Sun and Moon over a nineteen-year cycle.

The sentence opens with the modifier in red, which appears to describe "a site." Whatever is being modified should come immediately afterwards. In this version, it sounds as though the "ancient pueblo dwellers" are "a site." That's nonsense. (A) is out.

Quote:
A recently discovered site was once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico, where patterns of light and shadow were employed to establish the precise limits of the positions of the Sun and Moon over a nineteen-year cycle.

Exact same problem as (A). Eliminate (B).

{...}

Agree with the answer, but I don't think B has the exact same problem as A. The part before the first comma in B is a full independent clause and so we shouldn't misconstrue it to be a modifier for "ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico" right?
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You're right, it's not quite the same, as discussed here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/a-site-once- ... l#p2785968. Check that post out, and let us know if you have more questions!
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A site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo 16 Jul 2023, 01:44
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A site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico, has been recently discovered where patterns of light and shadow were employed to establish the precise limits of the positions of the Sun and Moon over a nineteen-year cycle.

(A) A site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico, has been recently discovered where patterns of light and shadow were employed to establish the precise limits of the positions of the Sun and Moon over a nineteen-year cycle.

(B) A recently discovered site was once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico, where patterns of light and shadow were employed to establish the precise limits of the positions of the Sun and Moon over a nineteen-year cycle.
(C) At a recently discovered site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico, patterns of light and shadow were employed to establish the precise limits of the positions of the Sun and Moon over a nineteen-year cycle.

(D) Patterns of light and shadow were employed to establish the precise limits of the positions of the Sun and Moon over a nineteen-year cycle at a site that was recently discovered and was once used by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico.

(E) Patterns of light and shadow were employed to establish the precise limits of the positions of the Sun and Moon over a nineteen-year cycle at a recently discovered place that the Anasazi, ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico, once used the site as an observatory.

The core theme of the passage is the discovery of ancient site. That it was used as a laboratory or some patterns were used to establish some things are incidental to the discovery as far as this topic is concerned. Hence, we must give the status of the verb to the discovery rather than for other things. Any modifier status such as the 'recently discovered' as in B, C,and E alter the original intent.
In D, the main verb is 'were employed rathr than has bben discocered"
A, by employing the verb 'has been discovered' for the subject of the site is the correct choice.
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I agree with you daagh but others seem to be indicating C is the correct option, despite it shifting the main focus of the sentence. Can you please advise if it is correct to reconcile the ambiguity by giving more importance to the issue of "Where" than the "focus of the sentence"?
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A site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo 18 Jul 2023, 02:23
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KarishmaB
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A site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico, has been recently discovered where patterns of light and shadow were employed to establish the precise limits of the positions of the Sun and Moon over a nineteen-year cycle.

(A) A site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico, has been recently discovered where patterns of light and shadow were employed to establish the precise limits of the positions of the Sun and Moon over a nineteen-year cycle.- incorrect, the relative pronoun 'where' is too far from 'site' to which it should refer

(B) A recently discovered site was once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico, where patterns of light and shadow were employed to establish the precise limits of the positions of the Sun and Moon over a nineteen-year cycle. - incorrect, the relative pronoun 'where' is too far from 'site' to which it should refer

(C) At a recently discovered site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico, patterns of light and shadow were employed to establish the precise limits of the positions of the Sun and Moon over a nineteen-year cycle.- Correct

(D) Patterns of light and shadow were employed to establish the precise limits of the positions of the Sun and Moon over a nineteen-year cycle at a site that was recently discovered and was once used by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico.- incorrect, meaning change- Anasazi used the site as observatory is missing here

(E) Patterns of light and shadow were employed to establish the precise limits of the positions of the Sun and Moon over a nineteen-year cycle at a recently discovered place that the Anasazi, ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico, once used the site as an observatory.- incorrect, meaning change

AjiteshArun , GMATNinja , MagooshExpert , GMATGuruNY , VeritasPrepBrian , MartyTargetTestPrep , DmitryFarber , VeritasKarishma , generis , EducationAisle , other experts - please enlighten

1. Can we use the reason stated in option a and b to eliminate them?
2. Can you please provide a POE for this question?

Yes, the where clauses used in (A) and (B) do not clearly modify the site. They are too far away to make sense.
In (D), Anasazi used the site as an observatory is missing.

In (E), use of 'the site'
... at a recently discovered place that the Anasazi once used the site as an observatory. - is incorrect
... at a recently discovered place that the Anasazi once used as an observatory. - would be fine
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Hi. Ma,am,

Could you please confirm if the use of present perfect “has been discovered” used in option A is correct? Could you shed some light on the same?
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A site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo 29 Aug 2023, 20:22
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Rocknrolla21
GMATNinja, could you please please help us with this question? There's a lot of confusion on what is the intended meaning of the sentence.

Please!

Thank you.
Plenty of nice juicy errors in this one.

Quote:
(A) A site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico, has been recently discovered where patterns of light and shadow were employed to establish the precise limits of the positions of the Sun and Moon over a nineteen-year cycle.
The sentence opens with the modifier in red, which appears to describe "a site." Whatever is being modified should come immediately afterwards. In this version, it sounds as though the "ancient pueblo dwellers" are "a site." That's nonsense. (A) is out.

Quote:
(B) A recently discovered site was once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico, where patterns of light and shadow were employed to establish the precise limits of the positions of the Sun and Moon over a nineteen-year cycle.

Exact same problem as (A). Eliminate (B).

Show more
Hi GMATNinja,
I have 2 questions...
In these choices, why can't "A (recently discovered) site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi" be the subject, and "ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico" be the (non-essential) modifier?

More importantly, how hard are these questions really? Am I so bad that I just get deflated looking at 50+ words all underlined, or these are the questions that are there so that you can just guess and move ahead there by saving your 2 minutes for other doable stuff? (I know the answer is going to be diff from person to person, but let's say I was aiming for a 720-750ish score)
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A site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo 31 Aug 2023, 16:00
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Saupayan
Hi GMATNinja,

I have 2 questions...

In these choices, why can't "A (recently discovered) site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi" be the subject, and "ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico" be the (non-essential) modifier?

More importantly, how hard are these questions really? Am I so bad that I just get deflated looking at 50+ words all underlined, or these are the questions that are there so that you can just guess and move ahead there by saving your 2 minutes for other doable stuff? (I know the answer is going to be diff from person to person, but let's say I was aiming for a 720-750ish score)
Show more
AnthonyRitz (hi, Anthony!) wrote a great explanation of (A) in this post. Check it out, and let us know if you still have questions!

As for your second question: it's generally a very bad idea to just skip a question because it looks or feels hard at first. That long SC question with 50+ underlined words might end up having several easy decision points that allow you to quickly eliminate two or three or maybe even four answer choices.

Most people's time management issues stem from spending way too long chasing a handful of tougher questions. If you can avoid getting stubborn on a small handful of questions, then you should have time to invest a minute or two in every question -- try your best to figure it out (regardless of how hard it looks), and then let go as soon as you realize that it isn't going anywhere. This is especially important if you're shooting for a 700+ score.

I hope that helps a bit, and have fun studying!
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A site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo 31 Aug 2023, 16:34
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Hi GMATNinja,

I have 2 questions...

In these choices, why can't "A (recently discovered) site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi" be the subject, and "ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico" be the (non-essential) modifier?

More importantly, how hard are these questions really? Am I so bad that I just get deflated looking at 50+ words all underlined, or these are the questions that are there so that you can just guess and move ahead there by saving your 2 minutes for other doable stuff? (I know the answer is going to be diff from person to person, but let's say I was aiming for a 720-750ish score)
AnthonyRitz (hi, Anthony!) wrote a great explanation of (A) in this post. Check it out, and let us know if you still have questions!

As for your second question: it's generally a very bad idea to just skip a question because it looks or feels hard at first. That long SC question with 50+ underlined words might end up having several easy decision points that allow you to quickly eliminate two or three or maybe even four answer choices.

Most people's time management issues stem from spending way too long chasing a handful of tougher questions. If you can avoid getting stubborn on a small handful of questions, then you should have time to invest a minute or two in every question -- try your best to figure it out (regardless of how hard it looks), and then let go as soon as you realize that it isn't going anywhere. This is especially important if you're shooting for a 700+ score.

I hope that helps a bit, and have fun studying!
Show more

Indeed amazing explanation for A. Thanks so much, GMATNinja. I have added another person to my ever-growing list of people to follow on GMATClub. If only Verbal were as easy as Quant 😅 Also thanks for your sage advice on time investment.

One last thing on this topic before I am completely into spamming territory:
So does your POE for A and B still hold? And if YES, why can "ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico" not be the modifier for the first part of the sentence, instead of it being the other way round? (If the reasoning involves too much grammar minutia which is unlikely to ever appear again, you can just say so. I don't need to know the reason in that case)
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A site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi, ancient pueblo 10 Sep 2023, 07:25
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Saupayan
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Hi GMATNinja,

I have 2 questions...

In these choices, why can't "A (recently discovered) site once used as an observatory by the Anasazi" be the subject, and "ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico" be the (non-essential) modifier?

More importantly, how hard are these questions really? Am I so bad that I just get deflated looking at 50+ words all underlined, or these are the questions that are there so that you can just guess and move ahead there by saving your 2 minutes for other doable stuff? (I know the answer is going to be diff from person to person, but let's say I was aiming for a 720-750ish score)

AnthonyRitz (hi, Anthony!) wrote a great explanation of (A) in this post. Check it out, and let us know if you still have questions!

As for your second question: it's generally a very bad idea to just skip a question because it looks or feels hard at first. That long SC question with 50+ underlined words might end up having several easy decision points that allow you to quickly eliminate two or three or maybe even four answer choices.

Most people's time management issues stem from spending way too long chasing a handful of tougher questions. If you can avoid getting stubborn on a small handful of questions, then you should have time to invest a minute or two in every question -- try your best to figure it out (regardless of how hard it looks), and then let go as soon as you realize that it isn't going anywhere. This is especially important if you're shooting for a 700+ score.

I hope that helps a bit, and have fun studying!

Indeed amazing explanation for A. Thanks so much, GMATNinja. I have added another person to my ever-growing list of people to follow on GMATClub. If only Verbal were as easy as Quant 😅 Also thanks for your sage advice on time investment.

One last thing on this topic before I am completely into spamming territory:

So does your POE for A and B still hold? And if YES, why can "ancient pueblo dwellers of New Mexico" not be the modifier for the first part of the sentence, instead of it being the other way round? (If the reasoning involves too much grammar minutia which is unlikely to ever appear again, you can just say so. I don't need to know the reason in that case)
Show more
You're very welcome, and thanks for the follow-up question!

The upshot is that the modifier in (A) isn't clear. Two readers might interpret it two different ways, and that's not good. The wording in (C) is much less open to interpretation.

Combining that with the points made by Anthony, we have plenty of reasons to pick (C) over (A).
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