During the same period in which the Maya were developing a

Question

During the same period in which the Maya were developing a hieroglyphic system of writing, the Aztec people also developed a written language,  but it was not as highly sophisticated as that of the Maya and was  more pictographic in nature.

(A) but it was not as highly sophisticated as that of the Maya and was 
(B) but it was not as highly sophisticated as the Maya, being 
(C) but, not as highly sophisticated as the Maya's, was 
(D) not as highly sophisticated as that of the Maya, however, being 
(E) not as highly sophisticated as the Maya's however, it was

A

My question is, for option C, why is it wrong? Is it because that after the conjunction but, you need to have a concrete subject and verb? but we can usually construct a sentence such as : I enjoy watching movie but hate watching television shows- this sentence is correct. Is the issue here we have a complete sentence in the first part, and a comma follow by conjuction but, we need a subj + verb?
Would really appreciate any assistance,
Thankss

Hoozan · Accepted Answer

(E) not as highly sophisticated as the Maya's however, it was Here the pronoun "it" is the subject that refers to "written language" and "was" is the verb to this subject. Thus if we continue reading the non underlined portion we get "it was more photographic in nature" --> Independent clause. Now if you read the previous portion of the sentence you will find "the Aztec people also developed a written language" another Independent clause Grammar Rule: We connect two ICs by using COMMA + FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) Now if you notice in (E) we just have a COMMA while in (A) we have a ",but" Also, by using "that of" (A) makes the comparison much clear as compared to "Maya's" in (E) I hope this helps

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mikeCoolBoy · Answer

Hi C is wrong because the appositive "not as highly sophisticated as the Maya's" needs to be placed close to what it modifies "written language"

Consider the following just made up example

Jason bought a car,not as expensive as that of his brother, and a house but had to sell everything because he lost his job.

here the appositive "not as expensive as that of his brother" modifies the car. If you move the appositive

Jason bought a car and a house but, not as expensive as that of his brother, had to sell everything because he lost his job.

here is unclear what the appositive refers to.

Let me know if this helps.

geturdream · Answer

C is wrong because there is no concrete subject after the conjunction BUT.
The example you have given is correct but it is different than what we have

I enjoy watching movie but hate watching television shows 
The two sentences  I enjoy watching movie  and  I hate watching television shows  are joined by the conjunction. So for both the sentences the subject is I and you can omit that from the second one due to redundancy

But here the sentence is 
the Aztec people also developed a written language but,  not as highly sophisticated as the Maya's,  was more pictographic in nature.

can you determine the subject of the later sentence. Here we are trying to say the language was more pictographic in nature. But from C you cannot say the subject be the language.

A clears the problem by using it
it was not as highly sophisticated as that of the Maya and was more pictographic in nature.
Here for the second sentence you can skip the subject because its implied that the subject be the language(it).

Correct me if i am wrong

seed · Answer

A. but it was not as highly sophisticated as that of the Maya and was 
B. but it was not as highly sophisticated as the Maya, being 
C. but, not as highly sophisticated as the Maya's, was 
D. not as highly sophisticated as that of the Maya, however, being 
E. not as highly sophisticated as the Maya's however, it was

GMATNinja  For option A, is the below substitution for "it" and "that" correct? If yes, then is it ok for "that" to refer "hieroglyphic system"? Isn't it far away.

During the same period in which the Maya were developing a hieroglyphic system of writing, the Aztec people also developed a written language, but it  (written language)  was not as highly sophisticated as that  (hieroglyphic system)  of the Maya and was more pictographic in nature.

egmat · Answer

Hello seed , I will be glad to help you out with this one.

Yes, your understanding of the pronoun reference in the original sentence is correct. Hope this helps.

Thanks. Shraddha

Hoozan · Answer

During the same period in which the Maya were developing a hieroglyphic system of writing, the Aztec people also developed a written language,  but it was not as highly sophisticated as that of the Maya and was  more pictographic in nature.

Meaning Analysis:   The Maya were developing a hieroglyphic system of writing. Around this period, the Aztec people started developing a written language as well. But this language of the Aztec people was not as sophisticates as the hieroglyphic system of the Maya people. This language created by the Aztec was more about pictures and graphic representations

The sentence stands correct. There is no grammatical error in the original sentence. Lets move to the answer choices and eliminate the rest.

Correct.

There is a faulty comparison out here. Now the language "it" is being compared to a civilization "the Maya". This comparison is illogical. Moreover the usage of "being" is incorrect out here.

Usage of being  (taught by @eGMAT)
1) As a noun -  Being disrespectful  to elders is not accepted
2) Passive Progressive tense - The tenants of the building  are being evacuated .

I think we can compare a simple noun to a possessive noun. However, if we keep the meaning in mind we can eliminate (C) based on the simple fact that this choice has placed a vital information of the sentence in a COMMA PAIR thus reducing its importance. If we scroll up and see the meaning analysis we can notice that the comparison (that is placed in a coma pair) is vital information in order for the reader to derive the meaning of the sentence.

By removing "but" and "it" this choice makes the underlined portion a modifier modifying "language" and that is completely fine. However I am not okay with the usage of "being" Scroll to option (B) to check the usage. Also, I am, not sure if the placement of "however" is correct. I would prefer to place it before "not"

the Aztec people also developed a written language, however, not as highly sophisticated as that of the Maya....

But of course, we already have "being" as a deterministic error and could reject this choice straight away.

This choice has a clear deterministic error. We have two ICs "the Aztec people..." and "it was more pictographic in nature" separated by a COMMA. We need a COMMA + FANBOYS to rectify this error.

Correct Choice:  (A)

ShravaniPP · Answer

I am still not clear why E is wrong? 
Is it a comparison error or a modifier error?

Vatsal7794 · Answer

Hi Experts

Good Morning.

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Can you please help me in eliminating option E

Between option A and E I thought E is more succinct.

For E - I hope in E "however, it was ...." is dependent clause .. If "the Aztec people also... "and "however, it was ...." both are independent clause then this option will be wrong.

Can you please have a look at my reasoning and correct it?

And I hope there is nothing wrong in comparison in option E
".....written language not as highly sophisticated as the Maya's ...." My interpretation is "Written language is compared with Maya's writing"

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Here's the (E) version.

During the same period in which the Maya were developing a hieroglyphic system of writing, the Aztec people also developed a written language,  not as highly sophisticated as the Maya's however, it was  more pictographic in nature.

As you said, the comparison expressed by "written language, not as highly sophisticated as the Maya's" is logical.

However, as you suggested, "the Aztec people developed a written language" and "however, it was more pictographic in nature" are two independent clauses. Since those two clauses are connected by a comma only, this version is an incorrectly constructed comma splice.

Thus, we can eliminate choice (E) with confidence.

Vatsal7794 · Answer

Thanks  MartyTargetTestPrep

"However" , does not starts the dependent clause. Right?

My thinking was as Although , while, .etc.. Starts the dependent clause. Same way however also starts the dependent clause.

It's wrong right?

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

Correct. "However" is not a subordinating conjunction. Thus, it does not represent the beginning of a dependent clause.

himanshu0123 · Answer

does apostrophe in E] function the same way as 'that of' in A] ?

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  himanshu0123 ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, yes; the apostrophe is used to form the possessive form of the noun "the Maya", and the use of the possessive noun serves the same function as the phrase "that of".

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

RonTargetTestPrep · Answer

Yes, both of these forms function grammatically as possessives.

The choice between them will rarely follow anything more concrete than stylistic conventions, which will NEVER be tested on the GMAT exam. 
(Stylistic writing conventions, like all matters of style in any activity at all anywhere, are built on cultural literacy and intuitive understanding from one specific culture or even from just one segment of one culture. The inclusion of stylistic conventions on formal writing, for whom that cultural segment is highly educated native users of English, would massively bias the test against all English learners—an outcome that the GMAT's creators are so intent on eradicating that they have already overhauled SC quite thoroughly since 25 years ago. Also, stylistic conventions aren't rules; they're just conventions, and so 'violations' of them do not constitute actual errors.)

For some nouns there isn't even an applicable stylistic guideline, so that the decision is solely about the expression of the writer's purely personal writing style.

RonTargetTestPrep · Answer

To add to the above remarks about this decision: 
The GMAT will not test  decisions between these forms  of possessive constructions, for the reasons articulated above.

This type of split  COULD , however, appear  as a required step  in a GMAT SC problem  if one of the two options is ungrammatical or is nonsense —for reasons that will not be tied specifically to  _____'s  or to  OF _____ .

As an example off top of head,
 If "OF _____" is used with a meaning that is NOT possessive, then a purported alternative using  _____'s  (or  ____s'  if plural) will just be WRONG, as  's  (or  s' ) has no job other than to create possessive nouns. 
e.g., 
In the phrase  your conception of MBA admissions , there is a possessive: "your". 
"... of  MBA admissions" is not possessive, nor could it ever be in any other context (since the 1MBA admissions process does not own anything).

VerbalBot · Answer

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During the same period in which the Maya were developing a

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