For almost a hundred years after having its beginning in 1788 , England exiled some 160,000 criminals to Australia. (A) For almost a hundred years after having its beginning in 1788 (B) Beginning in 1788 for a period of a hundred years (C) Beginning a period of almost a hundred years, in 1788 (D) During a hundred years, a period beginning in 1788 (E) Over a period of a hundred years beginning in 1788 https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,963434,00.html Before Australia was Australia it was the antipodes, the opposite pole to civilization, an obscure and unimaginable place that was, literally, the end of the world. And before it became a nation, this orphan continent on which European history had left no mark at all became the site of a bizarre and dreadful social experiment. For almost a hundred years, beginning in 1788 , it served as a human trash heap where England exiled some 160,000 members of its criminal class. Aside from being wordy and awkward, choice A is illogical: because its refers grammatically to England , A states nonsensically that England had its beginning in 1788 . Choice B is similarly illogical, because the initial verb phrase Beginning in 1788... modifies England , the subject of the main clause. Choice C is imprecise, saying that England in 1788 was Beginning a period... but not conveying the sense that anything happened within that period. Choice D is awkward and unidiomatic, and nonsensically suggests that a hundred years is defined as a period beginning in 1788 . Precise and idiomatically phrased, choice E is best.

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For almost a hundred years after having its beginning in 1788, England

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Hovkial

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05 Oct 2020, 09:39

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OFFICIAL GMAT EXPLANATION

Aside from being wordy and awkward, choice A is illogical: because its refers grammatically to England, A states nonsensically that England had its beginning in 1788. Choice B is similarly illogical, because the initial verb phrase Beginning in 1788… modifies England, the subject of the main clause. Choice C is imprecise, saying that England in 1788 was Beginning a period… but not conveying the sense that anything happened within that period. Choice D is awkward and unidiomatic, and nonsensically suggests that a hundred years is defined as a period beginning in 1788. Precise and idiomatically phrased, choice E is best.

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Updated on: 16 Jan 2021, 10:03

Originally posted by Laksh47 on 15 Jan 2021, 10:03.
Last edited by Laksh47 on 16 Jan 2021, 10:03, edited 1 time in total.

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Could someone pls explain what all is wrong with option (C) and (D) in this question?

(C)
According to me, in option C, "beginning a period of almost 100 years" suggests that England had began the period of 100 years. Is this error analysis correct?

(D)
I feel the word "during" is incorrect here. "England exiled criminals "during" a hundred years" doesn't seem right.

GMATNinja VeritasKarishma your thoughts would be really helpful. Thanks

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28 May 2022, 08:42

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AndrewN
Please have a look at my reasoning below:-

Option A:- The meaning conveyed in this option statement is that England had its beginning in 1788. This is not the correct meaning. It was not England, but the exile that started in 1788 for a period of hundred years.

Option B:- Same meaning conveyed as option A.

Option C:- Same meaning conveyed as option A.

Option D:- The first part is between commas. "A period beginning in 1788" is an appositive. So the sentence becomes "During a hundred years, England exiled." We don't know which hundred years are we talking about. Hence, we needed the appositive phrase to be an essential part of the information.

Option E:- This is the correct answer choice. The period began in 1788 for hundred years, and during that period England exiled some criminals. Makes perfect sense.

Share your two cents and evaluation.

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28 May 2022, 08:58

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Hi krndatta,

I hope you are doing good.

You would be happy to know that "two experts", such as, "CrackverbalGMAT" and "BrentGMATPrepNow" have already posted solution to this question. Whose solutions can be accessed Here, and Here

Also, the official GMAT solution has also been posted to this question Here.

So, you have the opportunity to save time by not waiting for Andrew's response. Instead, you can compare your solution against these brilliant solutions already posted and see if you can improve on your analysis.

If you need any further help in "some specific aspect" of your analysis, then you can reach back again to experts for their help.

Best of luck for your preparation.

krndatta

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28 May 2022, 09:29

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PyjamaScientist

Yes, I am doing fine thank you. Hope you are doing well and keeping safe in the pandemic.

Firstly,
I am indeed happy that you informed me regarding the two expert solutions. I had read them and then drafted my response.

Secondly,
If official GMAT solutions were sufficient, then we would not have the GMAT Club website, along with the various experts, to share and discuss.

Thirdly,
I am in no hurry for a response. I shared my reasoning with AndrewN to receive his inputs and if there is a need to add anything. You would agree that everyone has a line of thought and adds something or the other.

Lastly, the website rules don't mention that we have a cap on the number of experts that can share their reasoning and analysis. The higher the number of experts share their reasoning and analysis, the better the GMAT club community as whole benefits.

Nevertheless, thank you for reaching out and good luck with your studies.

Best,
Karan

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28 May 2022, 10:54

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Hi krndatta,

1. I'm glad that you found my post helpful.

2. Assuming that GmatClub was founded due to insufficiency of official GMAT solutions is a stretch my CR trained brain inhibits me not to take.

3. You're absolutely right that AndrewN definitely "can" add alot to your analysis. So much that you'd be left astounded by his detailed beautifully crafted response. I have had that experience myself many times.

I didn't get your last part on cap on asking questions. Ofcourse, GmatClub forum is what it is today because of "healthy discussions" that take place on the platform, I myself love to ask doubts and answer doubts as much as I can on this platform for one purpose alone-- to gain and share knowledge. Just today I learned a thin line of difference between certain "prepositional phrase" and "present participles" through "specific discussion" on a question. As many others do.

But, a big but, if every aspirant started asking full critique of his/her entire "solution", this thread would soon turn from a place of "healthy discussions" to "lengthy tutoring" sessions. It might even start steering away tutors such as Andrew who come here not to "teach" but to "discuss/clear doubts" in their free time.

I hope you get the point. My best wishes to you.

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28 May 2022, 12:02

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krndatta

Your analysis looks accurate, krndatta. It is funny to me that everyone seems to want to gravitate to a grammatical explanation to get rid of answer choice (D) when I did not think in such terms. It is not that I am disputing the label, just that rather than think appositive → meaning issue, I started with meaning: What is the sentence conveying? I read a hundred years and a period beginning in 1788 as two separate continuations of the stem during:

a) during a hundred years (a strange way to phrase the idea that something occurred during a hundred-year span)
b) during a period beginning in 1788 (how long did this period last?)

Such phrasing is not out-of-bounds in written English. We can see sentences with transposable phrases or even clauses: Sometimes he went out for a run, sometimes he did not. But I digress...

I asked myself why the sentence would need two substandard phrases to convey the vital meaning, and I abandoned the answer choice then and there. (The question took me almost exactly a minute to answer.)

On a separate note, I appreciate the point that PyjamaScientist was driving at in his earlier responses. Truth be told, I do feel a little overwhelmed sometimes when I see four or five mentions from members in a single day. I feel bound, in a sense, to reply, since I am honored that someone would want to hear my thoughts, yet when those requests start stacking up, I feel like I am playing catchup on homework. As long as I feel I can have fun on the site and help others while participating, I will continue to contribute.

Thank you for thinking to ask me for my opinion.

- Andrew

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28 May 2022, 18:35

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PyjamaScientist

Thank you for responding to my earlier post.

1.I appreciate your concern for GMAT Club. It's not everyday that I ask AndrewN/ any other expert a full question analysis or option analysis, but I do get your point. And yes, almost all the times I am indeed left astounded. If you look at his analysis of this question and the way he has analyzed option D, you'll better understand what I was saying.

2. I am glad that you learned the thin line difference between a prepositional phrase and a present participle. Request you to share the link of the question stem here so that I can learn too.

3. AndrewN I am glad you responded to my question. I can't say for other members, but I do appreciate and understand your responses in entirety. My analysis/ thoughts get a check, which helps me in solving other questions. If my questions/doubts are overwhelming to you, I'll cut them down for you in future.

PyjamaScientist all the best for your preparation.

AndrewN keep sharing your wonderful analysis for the community.

Best,
Karan

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28 May 2022, 19:24

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AndrewN,

Can you please elaborate a bit on the below part? I am not understanding this part.
My initial analysis was that "a period beginning in 1788" is modifying "hundred years", but that was wrong I guess. I basically understood that you are eliminating option D because of the usage of two sub-standard phrases?

Quote:

Such phrasing is not out-of-bounds in written English. We can see sentences with transposable phrases or even clauses: Sometimes he went out for a run, sometimes he did not. But I digress...
I asked myself why the sentence would need two substandard phrases to convey the vital meaning, and I abandoned the answer choice then and there. (The question took me almost exactly a minute to answer.)

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29 May 2022, 08:31

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krndatta

Quote:

Hello again, krndatta. If you have queries, by all means, ask away. As long as I feel that a member is being respectful and not simply adopting an attitude of I have a question, and Andrew is a few keystrokes away, making multiple requests a day, I will respond when I can. To be clear on the above, you are correct: a period beginning in 1788 is modifying a hundred years as an appositive phrase. I was pointing out little more than that you could approach the same two phrases from a different perspective and still arrive at an accurate assessment, namely that answer choice (D) was subpar and could be eliminated next to the clearer answer choice (E).

- Andrew

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29 May 2022, 08:42

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AndrewN
Thank you for responding to my question earlier.
I do appreciate your concern.
Please feel free to respond whenever you can. If my queries are bothering you, my apologies.

Thank you for all your responses and help till date.

All the best

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23 Jul 2022, 00:04

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Dear Experts,

I'm not sure whether "over" literally requires "past or present perfect".

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23 Jul 2022, 12:14

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Tanchat

Dear Experts,

I'm not sure whether "over" literally requires "past or present perfect".

If the given time period—including its endpoint—is entirely in the past, the past tense should be used. (This is the case in the current problem.)

For time periods that continue up to the present, the present perfect ("has/have VERBed") is the correct tense. (E.g., Over the past 40 years, housing prices have increased at a greater rate than average wages.)

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09 Aug 2023, 11:09

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