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Re: As one of history's greatest painters and an important contributor to
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19 Apr 2021, 06:12
There are a few tempting trap answers in this question. Choice (D) in particular seems attractive with “even though” setting up the sentence to indicate a contrast between Van Gogh’s accomplishments and his commencing painting at a relatively late age. Another aspect of choice (D) and some other incorrect choices that makes them tempting is the use of the straightforward active voice “he produced” rather than the passive voice “his best-known works were produced.” At the same time, only the choice that uses the passive voice makes sense, as all the other choices convey illogical meanings.
As one of history's greatest painters and an important contributor to the foundations of modern art, Vincent Van Gogh was not painting before his late twenties, and produced most of his best-known works during his final two years.
(A) As one of history's greatest painters and an important contributor to the foundations of modern art, Vincent Van Gogh was not painting before his late twenties and produced most of his best-known works
This choice conveys the illogical meaning that, as one of history’s greatest painters, Vincent Van Gogh was not painting.
Also, the use of the past continuous wording “was not painting before his late twenties” does not convey a clear meaning. It doesn’t clearly indicate that he did not paint until his late twenties. Rather it expresses that, at some point before his late twenties, he was not painting.
(B) As one of history's greatest painters and as an important contributor to the foundations of modern art, Vincent Van Gogh would not begin painting until his late twenties, and he produced most of his best-known works
With its nicely parallel wording, “as one of history’s … and as an important …,” this choice may be tempting. Also, it may “sound right” because it uses the active voice “he would not begin to paint.” At the same time, this version conveys the illogical meaning that, as one of history’s greatest painters, Van Gogh would not begin painting until his late twenties, as if he was already one of history’s greatest painters before he began.
(C) Though one of history's greatest painters and an important contributor to the foundations of modern art, Vincent Van Gogh had not begun to paint before his late twenties, producing most of his best-known works
This version conveys the illogical meaning that, though Van Gogh was one of history’s greatest painters, he had not begun to paint before his late twenties, as if he had been one of history’s greatest painters when he had not begun to paint.
Also, the wording “had not begun to paint before his late twenties” conveys a muddled meaning that does not really make sense, and the sentence does not successfully indicate that he actually did begin to paint upon reaching his late twenties. All the sentence says is that, before his late twenties, he had not begun.
Also, as a result of the use of the closing modifier, “producing some of his best-know works …,” the sentence conveys the nonsensical meaning that Van Gogh had not begun painting, producing some of his best-known works.
Incorrect ans ..
(D) Even though he was one of history's greatest painters and an important contributor to the foundations of modern art, Vincent Van Gogh did not begin painting until his late twenties, and he produced most of his best-known works
This choice may be tempting, as “even though” nicely sets up the sentence to describe a contrast between Van Gogh’s accomplishments and his commencing painting at a relatively late age, and as the active voice “he produced” may “sound right.” However, this version conveys the illogical meaning that, even though Van Gogh was one of history’s greatest painters, he did not start painting until his late twenties, as if he was one of the greatest painters before he started painting.
Incorrect Answer
(E) One of history's greatest painters and an important contributor to the foundations of modern art, Vincent Van Gogh did not begin painting until his late twenties, and most of his best-known works were produced
This choice may not seem as appealing as some others because it contains a somewhat “funny sounding” appositive “one of history's greatest painters and an important contributor” and the passive voice wording “most of his best-known works were produced.” All the same, it effectively conveys a logical meaning.
Correct Answer
Correct answer: E