Despite Japan’s relative isolation from world trade at the time, the

Question

Despite  Japan’s relative isolation from world trade at the time, the prolonged peace during the Tokugawa shogunate  produced an almost explosive expansion of commerce.

(A) Japan’s relative isolation from world trade at the time, the prolonged peace during the Tokugawa shogunate

(B) the relative isolation of Japan from world trade at the time and the Tokugawa shogunate’s prolonged peace, it

(C) being relatively isolated from world trade at the time, the prolonged peace during Japan’s Tokugawa shogunate

(D) Japan’s relative isolation from world trade at the time during the Tokugawa shogunate, prolonged peace

(E) its relative isolation from world trade then, prolonged peace in Japan during the Tokugawa shogunate

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mSKR · Answer

Hi  AndrewN  sir

A query:

What's the relation of "isolation during T shogunate" vs "peace during T shogunate"?

If D didn't have redundancy at the time and during the T shogunate.
then it would have been hard to eliminate D , is it?

Please suggest.

ravigupta2912 · Answer

Interesting discussion on the redundancy of "at the time" in option choice D. I still believe D is a straight elimination on meaning even if you remove "at the time".

Despite Japan’s relative isolation from world trade during the Tokugawa shogunate, prolonged peace produced an almost explosive expansion of commerce.

Despite X, Y

X = Japan's relative isolation from world trade during Tokugawa shogunate
Y = prolonged peace

There's nothing wrong in the answer choice from a grammatical standpoint but the comparison now is not as accurate. In option choice A, the comparison is between events in two different timelines "at the time" and "during Tokugawa shogunate" and hence, I feel, is more logical.

Would love to hear your views on this  AndrewN .

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  imSKR  and  ravigupta2912 . This marks the first time I have been named by different users back to back in the same thread. I agree that it would be harder, without background knowledge, to eliminate (D) if it were not for the redundancy issue, but that is exactly why such a redundancy occurs, so that there should be little doubt as to which way to lean. If (D) were written as proposed above, I would still argue that the  prolonged peace  does not seem to be a quality or characteristic of the time (of the Tokugawa shogunate), a notion that does appear to be the case in (A). Meaning trumps grammar, and (D) is a little murky, as if  peace  existed at any time before or during the Tokugawa shogunate, not that the shogunate produced a period of peace.

I hope that helps. Thank you for thinking to ask me.

- Andrew

ravigupta2912 · Answer

Hi  AndrewN  - sorry for the follow up question but when you say the following,

“If (D) were written as proposed above, I would still argue that the prolonged peace does not seem to be a quality or characteristic of the time (of the Tokugawa shogunate)”

do you mean that the way sentence is structured two actions in two different time sequences are compared? I’m trying to confirm if what I was thinking originally was broadly along the same lines.

Posted from my mobile device

AndrewN · Answer

No apologies necessary,  ravigupta2912 . I mean to say that a causal relationship seems to be outlined in (A), whereas such a relationship is missing in (D). Consider the following rearranged sentences:

(A)  The prolonged peace during the Tokugawa shogunate, despite Japan's relative isolation from world trade at the time, produced an almost explosive expansion of commerce .

(D)  During the Tokugawa shogunate, despite Japan's relative isolation from world trade at the time, prolonged peace produced an almost explosive expansion of commerce .

In the former,  the prolonged peace  appears to be a defining characteristic of the Tokugawa shogunate; in the latter, without the article  the  in front of  prolonged peace , the peace itself could have already been in place prior to the Tokugawa shogunate. We may be approaching the question from different angles, but in any case, the subtle meaning difference is  not  what I would lean on to disfavor (D), as I mentioned earlier.

Does that clarify the matter?

- Andrew

ravigupta2912 · Answer

Thanks  AndrewN . What I understand is that the article “the” is needed to convey a strong correlation between “prolonged peace” and “Tokugawa shogunate”. And that correlation is essential to explain the contrasting situation in the SAME timeline. And that is one reason (apart from redundancy) to eliminate D.

So I modify my original understanding of the sentence. Thanks again.

Posted from my mobile device

AndrewN · Answer

Yes,  ravigupta2912 , now we are on the same page. It is not as though (D) could not work in terms of the conveyed meaning, just that upon closer inspection, it appears to be presenting two detached facts, rather than the causal relationship outlined in the original sentence. Who would think a throwaway article such as  the  could make such a difference?

- Andrew

Smitc007 · Answer

I have read somewhere that the use of possessive (apostrophe) for living things are preferred, but the use of possessive for non-living things are not preferred. For example, Amy's cat, John' box. For non-living things: the button of the shirt (not shirt's button), the icing of the cake (not cake's icing).

"Japan's relative isolation"

I have eliminated some answer choices using this as an absolute rule. I am confused.

Is it really a rule?

GMATNinja GMATNinjaTwo,

"Japan's relative isolation"

I have eliminated some answer choices using this as an absolute rule. I am confused.

Is it really a rule?

GMATNinja   GMATNinja Two,

GMATNinja · Answer

You basically answered your own question.

It's not a rule. You can write about "America's political situation" and you can paint a "chair's leg," for example. The real takeaway here is that anytime you find yourself thinking "is Thing X a rule?" you'll want to avoid using Thing X as a decision point. If you see other concrete grammatical issues, great -- use those. Otherwise, default to logic, meaning, and clarity. I hope that clears things up!

mSKR · Answer

Hi  AndrewN   GMATNinja

One doubt again popped up in mind, Hope to get clarity on this.

In C, 1st phrase ( Despite xx the time) wrongly modifies prolonged peace. It wrongly gives the meaning that prolonged peace was being relatively isolated from world at the time.
But in A , it does not wrongly modify prolonged peace?
 
Why in A the meaning could be interpreted as : the prolonged peace was japan's relative isolated from world trade. 
Wrongly modify. 
Actually I rejected A with this approach in my first attempt.

2. Despite X was xxx, Y was yyy
I think X and Y should be of similar entities.
E.g. Despite He ran faster, I overcame him. ( He and I right comparison)
But I would not say: Despite not running fast, pain was not in his knees. I would prefer say: Despite not running fast, he xxx .( who was running fast - he: makes sense)
Similarly in A , whose Japan’s relative isolation from world trade at the time? Peace? - should not make sense.

Please clarify.

AndrewN · Answer

Here you go again,  imSKR , picking apart finer details when the larger picture is a better guide. My responses below.

No, the opening phrase in (A) is not the same as the one in (C). Notice that in the original sentence, we have a subject within that phrase,  Japan's relative isolation , whereas in (C), we delay that subject until the phrase has resolved (i.e. what was  relatively isolated ?). Furthermore, we can in (A) reasonably carry over our understanding that the sentence is commenting on Japan, even though it is not an absolute certainty. That is, since the opening phrase mentions the relative isolation of Japan and no other country within a  despite  framework, we are led to believe that the sentence after the comma will resolve some information pertaining to Japan. Again, (C) delays this vital information about location, so the sentence is not grounded in the same way by the time we cross the comma.

Where does this apparent rule of similar entities come from? Notice, too, that the original sentence does not adopt an -ing opening phrase. The contextual clues allow us to interpret the sentence in a similar way to the following:

1)  Despite Japan’s relative isolation from world trade at the time,  Japan's  prolonged peace during the Tokugawa shogunate produced an almost explosive expansion of commerce.

Or, if you prefer a more formal version:

2)  Despite the relative isolation  of Japan  from world trade at the time, the prolonged peace  in Japan  during the Tokugawa shogunate produced an almost explosive expansion of commerce.

The takeaway is not to apply so-called rules too strictly, particularly when you might be missing questions because of them. Focus on the overall meaning based on the information available. A microscopic look is fine at times, but just make sure you do not zoom in too much and miss the larger view.

I hope that helps. Thank you for thinking to ask me.

- Andrew

mSKR · Answer

Thanks  AndrewN  sir for recently pinpointing my weakness a number of times. 
I will cautiously remember your words "A microscopic look is fine at times, but just make sure you do not zoom in too much and  miss the larger view .-  by ANdrewN "

GMATNinja · Answer

Interesting question. While we'd normally caution against tweaking official options, in this case, I think it's worthwhile.

Let's take a look at your alternative version of (D):

While this version is better, it's still problematic. "During the Tokugawa shogunate" seems to describe "world trade." That seems okay. But when is the prolonged peace happening? Also during the Tokugawa shogunate? Before? Shortly after? Without a modifier describing the peace, it isn't clear.

And while I wouldn't say this ambiguity is definitively wrong, it's muddy enough that I'm making a note of it and seeing whether another option clears up the confusion.

Contrast this with (A):

Now, because "during the Tokugawa shogunate" is modifying the "prolonged peace" and "at the time" is modifying "world trade," it's 100% clear that the two events are happening simultaneously. So while (D) might not contain a concrete error, it's not as clear or logical as (A), and (A) is still our winner.

I hope that helps!

priyanshu14 · Answer

Dear  daagh   GMATNinja   VeritasKarishma , Kindly explain " at the time" in detail. I am still not getting clarity, why A is correct?

KarishmaB · Answer

(A) is definitely superior to all other options.

What is the core of the sentence?

Prolonged peace during the Tokugawa shogunate produced an almost explosive expansion of commerce.

So the prolonged peace experienced during the TS period (1603-1867 as per Britannica) produced explosive growth. 
This growth was experienced despite isolation from world trade (normally, if a country is isolated, there are no imports and exports and hence explosive growth is surprising).

So this is what the sentence is telling you:

Despite isolation at the time, peace during TS period produced explosive growth.

Peace was experienced during TS period. That produced growth. At that time, Japan was isolated. Isolation could have continued later too or could have been earlier too. But the point is that at that time, there was isolation and still the prolonged peace produced explosive growth.

Let's look at the other options:

(B) the relative isolation of Japan from world trade at the time and the Tokugawa shogunate’s prolonged peace, it

Incorrect. Despite isolation, peace produced growth. Not despite isolation and peace, it produced growth. (What is "it" anyway??)

(C) being relatively isolated from world trade at the time, the prolonged peace during Japan’s Tokugawa shogunate

No contrast. Isolation from world trade is expected to hurt growth, not help in growth. So a contrast word (such as despite) is needed.

(D) Japan’s relative isolation from world trade at the time during the Tokugawa shogunate, prolonged peace

First of all, use of "at the time" as well as "during" is awkward here. 
When I say "at the time", it is referring to a time specified elsewhere. Then I should not clarify with "during TS period" immediately afterwards. 
e.g. Many years ago, I took 3 months of karate classes. I was 10 at the time. 
("at the time" refers to the time when I took karate classes)

In option (A), "during TS period" appears in the main clause so I understand that "at the time" is referring to the TS period.

Also, this option does not specify when prolonged peace led to explosive growth. It says - 
Despite isolation during the TS period, prolonged peace produced explosive growth.

The link is established between isolation and TS period but not between prolonged peace and TS period. So the logic of the sentence goes for a toss. We don't know when peace produced growth. It could imply that 
isolation happened during TS period and despite that, 10 years later, peace produced explosive growth.

I would need to write something like this:
Despite isolation during the TS period, prolonged peace at the time produced explosive growth.

Certainly, (A) is much clearer and true to the actual meaning.

(E) its relative isolation from world trade then, prolonged peace in Japan during the Tokugawa shogunate

"its" seems to refer to prolonged peace. I need Japan after comma.
Despite its isolation, Japan witnessed growth ...

Answer (A)

karnavora1 · Answer

Correct, there seems to be no issue here

The "it" after the comma makes no sense and there is no clarity in what it is referring to

A clear modifier error here, Japan should've come after the comma

At the time and during make it redundant

The sentence starts with "its", again doesn't refer to anything

Answer is A

VarunTaneja · Answer

"its" doesn't have an antecedent

PriyamRathor · Answer

Hi  EducationAisle  ,Ashish .

I Pm'ed my email-id and got a pdf of the relevant section from your Team.

As far as I can remember, one more problematic area,"  The usage of THAT ", has been nicely explained by you.
Its PDF is also available.  (I think the same is attached in your answer to one of the official question. Sorry , I cannot recall the question)

Thank you for your contribution to this community and your amazing answers.

Disclaimer - I am not a student of Ashish or have taken any course from Education Aisle till this post

VerbalBot · Answer

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Despite Japan’s relative isolation from world trade at the time, the

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