Archaeologists in Egypt have excavated a 5,000-year-old

Here is the structure of this sentence:

Archaeologists in Egypt have excavated a 5,000-year-old wooden hull that is the earliest surviving example of a “built” boat ... and that thus represents a major advance ...

The part in dashes is an aside, a non essential part of the sentence. In the middle of the sentence, the dashes must be in pair. Note that after the dash, we get a description of what a "built boat" is. The description gets over at "... fitted together." So the dash should close there. Hence, we will look at options (A) and (B) only.

(A) together—and that thus represents
(B) together—and this has represented

The excavation is done so we use present perfect. This excavation represents a major advance. We will not use present perfect 'has represented' because it still represents.

Also, we obtain a parallel structure with (A).

Archaeologists in Egypt have excavated a 5,000-year-old wooden hull - main clause
...that is the earliest surviving example of a “built” boat - 'that' relative clause modifying wooden hull
...that thus represents a major advance ... - 'that' relative clause modifying wooden hull

The two modifying clauses are parallel to each other.
Since the wooden hull is the earliest surviving example of a built boat, it represents a major advance over dugout logs. 'thus' is used to show 'therefore'. The second 'that clause' is an effect of the first 'that cause.'

Even if option (C) had a dash, we would have preferred (A).

(C) together, and it represents

(C) Archaeologists in Egypt have excavated a 5,000-year-old wooden hull that is the earliest surviving example of a “built” boat
and it represents a major advance ...

'and' would join two independent clauses here. 'it,' the subject of the second clause doesn't refer to the subject of the first. Still let's accept it and move ahead. 'It' represents 'wooden hull.'
Since they are two independent clauses, the relation between 'the earliest surviving example of a “built” boat' and 'represents a major advance' is lost. We could very well be talking about two entirely different properties of the hull.
Say "Archaeologists in Egypt have excavated a 5,000-year-old wooden hull that is the earliest surviving example of a “built” boat and it is quite breathtaking." I still dislike the use of 'it' for the wooden hull.

A.

Archaeologists in Egypt have excavated a 5,000-year-old wooden hull that is the earliest surviving example of example of a “built” boat—in other words, a boat constructed out of planks fitted together—and that thus represents a major advance, in terms of boat-building technology, over the dugout logs and reed vessels of more ancient vintage.

(A) together--and that thus represents
not clear what that represents
(B) together--and this has represented
no clear what this represents
(C) together, and it represents
Correct Answer, it refers back to wood
(D) together that was representing
not clear where punctuation "--" ends, also past continuous tense makes this choice awkward
(E) together to represent
not clear where punctuation "--" ends

sorry folks..I posted the wrong OA.

Have updated it now.

Read all the replies posted.
Still not clear why C is wrong

in (C) it is referring to - "....a boat constructed out of planks fitted together...."

but the intended meaning is to give stress on the fact that :

"Archaeologists in Egypt have excavated a 5,000-year-old wooden hull that is the earliest surviving example of a "built" boat...."

The 5000 year old wooden hull actually represents a major advance, in terms of boat-building technology.

a boat constructed out of planks fitted together is mentioned just to tell the public that how the wooden hull looks as of today's world boat.

You can parse this sentence as comprising of a list of two elements:
Archaeologists .. have excavated a... wooden hull :
1. that is the earliest surviving .. .blah blah..
and
2. that represents major advance.. blah blah..

"And" should ring alarm bells to check for parallelism.. That is the earliest surviving --> is a clause and when you have two parallel clauses they MUST start with same word (ex. relative pronoun).. hence you can't use answer choice starting with "it"

This problem is testing use of HYPHEN more than anything.

Most commonly, a hyphen/dash connects an independent clause with another, with a separate or interrupting thought plus a conjunction like or, but, yet, as, for, and after the second dash.

It works somewhat like parentheses or commas, but it is used where a stronger punctuation is needed. It can connect an independent clause with the 'interrupting' thought like so:

Case 1: Independent clause—thought—independent clause.
Case 2: Independent clause—thought.


Independent clause 1: Archaeologists in Egypt have excavated a 5,000-year-old wooden hull that is the earliest surviving example of a "built" boat
Thought: --in other words, a boat constructed out of planks fitted together--
Conjunction: and
Independent Clause 2: that thus represents a major advance, in terms of boat-building technology, over the dugout logs and reed vessels of more ancient vintage

C, D, E out as we can very well identify its case one--note use of "and"
B is out as in the later half of sentence use of present perfect tense is not required.


Hence A.

HTH

My reasoning-
A - looks okay keep
B- "represented" - doesn't it represent to this day. At-least that's what the author is trying to say - Eliminate
C- "It" - can mean the discovery/ Egypt - Ambiguous - eliminate
D- "was" - why? - Eliminate
E- "to represent" means to say the purpose of construction is "to represent" - an advancement in technique- Eliminate
Thus - "A"

I used POE
(A) together--and that thus represents Although sounds awkward imo it maintains ||ism- "...that is the earliest...and that.." and preserves the intended meaning
(B) together--and this has represented
(C) together, and it represents. "it" cannot refer to the act of excavating a 5,000-year-old wooden hull that eventually led to a major advance in blah blah
(D) together that was representing This is clearly out
(E) together to represent There's no intent/purpose

Hi Prachi, from a meaning clarity perspective, let’s ask the question: What represents a major advance?

The answer clearly is wooden hull. Now, notice the structure of the original sentence:

a 5,000-year-old wooden hull that is the earliest surviving example of a "built boat"…and that thus represents…

The repetition of that is a clear indication that whatever the first that refers to, the second that also refers to the same entity (wooden hull). Hence, the meaning is very clear and in fact, this is a classical example illustrating the merits of repetition of that.

In C, the sentence says: and it represents. At the very least, it is not really very clear what it refers to.

Also, notice that the original sentence takes a bit of a pause after example of a built boat. The reason the sentence takes this pause is because before proceeding further, the sentence wants to make clear what a built boat is: a boat constructed out of planks fitted together. This (in case you care) is called a parenthetical construct. The parenthetical construct in this sentence, starts with a dash and so, from a symmetry perspective, it should end with a dash as well. Only options A and B have the dash to make the end of this parenthetical construct.

This would be another factor that weighs against C.

No, "thus" is alright.

Archaeologists have excavated a hull that is the example and that represents....
The pronoun "that" refers to "hull" - the demonstrative adjective "this" does not fit in in any way.

The word "thus" is used to depict that because the hull is the earliest example, it represents a major advance.

(Moreover "this" cannot be used without a noun after it - e.g. "this hull" - but such usage too would be wrong since the pronoun "that" already refers to "hull" - using ""this hull" would a repetition of the same.)

Merged topics. Please, search before posting questions!

Archaeologists in Egypt have excavated a 5,000-year-old wooden hull that is the earliest surviving example of a “built” boat—in other words, a boat constructed out of planks fitted together—and that thus represents a major advance, in terms of boat-building technology, over the dugout logs and reed vessels of more ancient vintage.

A. together—and that thus represents parallel and no other errors. keep it in
B. together—and this has represented has represented changes the meaning. Besides, 'and this' is not parallel to 'that is.''This is also vague
C. together, and it represents not parallel
D. together that was representing changes the meaning and is not parallel
E. together to represent 'to represent' changes meaning; the boat never intended to represent anything

Similar to this question here https://gmatclub.com/forum/qotd-based-on-records-from-ancient-athens-250821.html

Another similar question herehttps://gmatclub.com/forum/research-has-shown-that-when-speaking-individuals-who-have-110203.html

Here we need to focus on 4 Concepts:
1. Difference between the single dash and double dash
2. Dash that inscribes description/ additional information of a noun just before the first dash.
3. Finding Parallelism
4. Whether 'that thus' is correct?

1. Difference between the single dash and double dash
Single Dash works as a tool to add extra information of a noun preceding the dash.
There are two types of single dashes - en dash(smaller in length) and em dash(longer in length)
en dash (smaller in length) is used as a connector eg. connecting two numbers (year 1969-70)
em dash (longer in lenght) is often used to quote example. eg. I am worried about two things -- wild animals and dark weather.

Double Dash works like a comma. Words between two dashes modify a noun preceding the first dash. (see below)

2. Dashes that inscribes description/ additional information of a noun just before the first dash.
Archaeologists have excavated a “built” boat, a boat constructed out of planks fitted together, and have observed something.....
above sentence can be rewritten as
Archaeologists have excavated a “built” boat- a boat constructed out of planks fitted together- and have observed something.....

3. Finding Parallelism
In a given sentence:
Archaeologists in Egypt have excavated a 5,000-year-old wooden hull that is the earliest surviving example of a “built” boat—in other words, a boat constructed out of planks fitted together—and that thus represents a major advance, in terms of boat-building technology, over the dugout logs and reed vessels of more ancient vintage.
we need to identify parallelism.
Let's follow the process:
i) I observed conjunction 'and'
ii) after the conjunction, I have that thus
iii) I am trying to identify the first part to which (ii) can be parallel
iv) I observed that is
v) I need to understand the meaning and correct application of parallelism-
Archaeologists have excavated old wooden hull that is .... and that thus .....
Re-reading:
5000 year old Wooden Hull
that is (the earliest surviving example of a “built” boat)
and
that thus (represents a major advance, in terms of boat-building technology)

4. Whether 'that thus' is correct?
It is not wrong!

Let's look into other options!

Archaeologists in Egypt have excavated a 5,000-year-old wooden hull that is the earliest surviving example of a “built” boat—in other words, a boat constructed out of planks fitted together—and that thus represents a major advance, in terms of boat-building technology, over the dugout logs and reed vessels of more ancient vintage.

(A) together—and that thus represents
Correct!

(B) together—and this has represented

Revised Sentence -
Archaeologists in Egypt have excavated a 5,000-year-old wooden hull that is the earliest surviving example of a “built” boat—in other words, a boat constructed out of planks fitted together—and this has represented a major advance, in terms of boat-building technology, over the dugout logs and reed vessels of more ancient vintage.

Explanation-
('and this' is wrong. Meaning wise 'this' refers back to wooden hull that represented a major advance? 5000 year old itself is not a major advance. Rather, excavating such boat represents a major advance. Additionally, using past tense is wrong. Had there been a noun 'excavation', we could have used 'this' to refer back that noun. Hence, eliminated)

(C) together, and it represents

Revised Sentence -
Archaeologists in Egypt have excavated a 5,000-year-old wooden hull that is the earliest surviving example of a “built” boat—in other words, a boat constructed out of planks fitted together, and it represents a major advance, in terms of boat-building technology, over the dugout logs and reed vessels of more ancient vintage.

Explanation-
('it' refers back to wooden hull. Thus, meaning wise distorted as quoted in B above, hence, eliminated)

(D) together that was representing

Revised Sentence -
Archaeologists in Egypt have excavated a 5,000-year-old wooden hull that is the earliest surviving example of a “built” boat—in other words, a boat constructed out of planks fitted together that was representing a major advance, in terms of boat-building technology, over the dugout logs and reed vessels of more ancient vintage.

Explanation-
Here that refers to what? planks? and 'was representing' means something was true in past not in present. Hence, distorts meaning! Eliminated!

(E) together to represent

Revised Sentence -
Archaeologists in Egypt have excavated a 5,000-year-old wooden hull that is the earliest surviving example of a “built” boat—in other words, a boat constructed out of planks fitted together to represent a major advance, in terms of boat-building technology, over the dugout logs and reed vessels of more ancient vintage.

Explanation-
'to represent' suggests planks fitted together with a purpose to represent a major advance. Distorted meaning. Eliminated~

GMAT Experts can please correct me - GMATNinja , RonPurewal , VeritasKarishma , carcass , souvik101990 , daagh

(Please offer kudos if you find above reply beneficial)

This question is based on Parallelism and Construction.

The underlined portion of the sentence gives a description of the 5000-year-old hull. The sentence contains two pieces of information about the hull – that it is the earliest surviving example of a built boat and that it represents a major advance.

Option A is the only one that maintains the parallel structure. So, A is the best of all the options.

Option B lacks parallelism. To maintain parallelism, the demonstrative pronoun ‘that’ must be repeated to refer to the hull. The use of the pronoun ‘this’ in Option B affects parallelism and so, Option B can be eliminated.

The dash is missing in this option. The dash is necessary because it separates the extra piece of information, which is a description of a built boat, from the rest of the sentence. There must be a dash before and after the phrase. Furthermore, this option also lacks parallelism because the pronoun ‘it’ substitutes the pronoun ‘that’. So, Option C can also be eliminated.

This option lacks the dash and the conjunction ‘and’, which joins the two clauses in the sentence. The past continuous tense ‘was representing’ is inappropriate in this sentence as it is not a continuous action. So, Option D can be eliminated.

This option also lacks parallelism. The infinitive ‘to represent’ is not parallel to the clause “that is the earliest surviving example of a “built” boat”. The dash is missing in this option too. So, Option E can be eliminated.

Therefore, A is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.