From the earliest days of the tribe, kinship determined the way in whi

Question

From the earliest days of the tribe, kinship determined the way in which the Ojibwa society organized its labor, provided access to its resources,  and defined rights and obligations involved in the distribution and consumption of those resources .

(A) and defined rights and obligations involved in the distribution and consumption of those resources

(B) defining rights and obligations involved in their distribution and consumption

(C) and defined rights and obligations as they were involved in its distribution and consumption

(D) whose rights and obligations were defined in their distribution and consumption

(E) the distribution and consumption of them defined by rights and obligations

The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 10th Edition, 2003

Practice Question  
Question No.: SC 33
Page: 658

egmat · Accepted Answer

https://vimeo.com/32303701

egmat · Answer

Hi @avi12,

Your confusion is pretty valid. In our education system we have not been taught to use comma before “and”. However, it is a little different in GMAT. Whenever the entities in a parallel list are joined by commas and “and”, there is always a comma after the second last entity in the list. This comma is then followed by “and”. Every comma makes it preceding entity an independent entity. This usage is common all across the SC parallelism questions in every official source.

Hence the usage of comma before “and” is not incorrect in choice A.

Hope this helps.
Thnaks.
Shradhha

perfectstranger · Answer

Well I admit that I firstly choosed B instead of A .

A)organized....provided and...defined Paralelism
B) Defining is not paralel to organized and provided. First here I thought since '', providing'' modifies to whole sentence which preecede it, the phrase did not distort the paralelism and meaning . Yet , I was wrong.
C Since passive voice is used OUT (No passive is used in the sentence) Last sentence ends with ''resources'' and its here looks like modifying resources rather than society.
D whose is used for people not resources OUT
E no explanation but illogical

avi12 · Answer

Isn't a comma before the conjunction  and  incorrect usage?

At first I picked option (A) as it maintains the parallelism but seeing the comma before and I got confused.

Please clarify.

Sachin9 · Answer

Hi e-gmat,
You said that in the following

whose rights and obligations were defined in their distribution and consumption

Whose refers to resources, my doubt is whether the rule for which ( which is that 'which' should touch the noun it modifies) also applies to that, whose, etc?

Regards,
Sach

egmat · Answer

Hi Sachin, "Whose" is also a relative pronoun just like "which", "that", etc. It also modifies the preceding noun entity. In choice D, "whose" is preceded by "resources" and hence illogically modifies this noun entity. Hope this helps.

Thanks. Shraddha

Sachin9 · Answer

Thanks Shraddha, 
So the same rule applies for all relative pronouns( which, that, whose, who,etc ) ?

egmat · Answer

Hi Sachin,

That's correct. Realtive pronouns refers to the preceding noun entity that can be a single-word noun or a noun phrase.

Thanks.
Shraddha

marcovg4 · Answer

According to MGMAT SC Book, WHOSE can in fact modify either people or things. They provide the following example:
The town whose water supply was contaminated.

This is exactly why I chose D, I thought that WHOSE was flexible with this issue.

What am I missing.

Thanks

Zarrolou · Answer

From the earliest days of the tribe, kinship determined the way in which the Ojibwa society  organized  its labor,  provided  access to its resources, and  defined  rights and obligations involved in the distribution and consumption of those resources.

A)All parallel

(D)(resources), whose rights and obligations were defined in their distribution and consumption

D is not parallel, but "whose" in this context is logically flawed. "the resources whose rights and obligations" => the resources do not have rights and obligations. Hope it's clear

dbcjr66 · Answer

Dear Mike,

From the earliest days of the tribe, kinship determined the way in which the Ojibwa society organized its
labor, provided access to its resources, and defined rights and obligations involved in the distribution and
consumption of those resources.

(A) and defined rights and obligations involved in the distribution and consumption of those resources
(8) defining rights and obligations involved in their distribution and consumption
(C) and defined rights and obligations as they were involved in its distribution and consumption
(D) whose rights and obligations were defined in their distribution and consumption
(E) the distribution and consumption of them defined by right sand obligations

Please help me to understand the structure of this sentence

1. Subject: Kinship
 Verb: determined

2.Subject: Ojibwa society 
 Verb: Organized , provided , defined

3. Participle: Involved

3. What is the antecedence of those? I cannot find any plural noun in the sentence.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear dbcjr66 , I'm happy to help. :-)

1. Subject: Kinship Verb: determined Correct! This is the main subject and verb of the whole sentence. 2.Subject: Ojibwa society Verb: Organized , provided , defined Correct! This is the S & V inside the subordinate clause beginning with " which ." Three verbs correctly in parallel. 3. Participle: Involved Correct! The participial phrase " involved in the distribution and consumption of those resources " is noun-modifier, an adjectival phrase, modifying the nouns " defined rights and obligations ." 4. What is the antecedence of "those"? I cannot find any plural noun in the sentence. Keep in mind that the words " this " and " that " and " these " and " those " have more than one role. They can act as demonstrative pronouns , which means they would stand in place of a noun and would have to have a clear antecedent; or, they can act as demonstrative noun-modifiers , simply modifying a noun. In the phrase " these resources ", the word "these" is a noun-modifier, modifying the noun it touches, " resources ", and it's plural because the noun is plural. The phrase, " these resources ", refers back to the " resources " mentioned earlier in the sentence. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

SonalSinha803 · Answer

(A) and defined rights and obligations involved in the distribution and consumption of those resources - seems right to be because of its parallel structure. Keep.

(B) defining rights and obligations involved in their distribution and consumption - not parallel. Incorrect. Listing should have "and" which also indicates that it is incorrect.

(C) and defined rights and obligations ((as they were)) involved in its distribution and consumption - incorrect.

(D) ((whose)) rights and obligations were defined in their distribution and consumption - whom does whose modify ?? Resources ?? Incorrect meaning.

(E) the distribution and consumption ((of them)) defined by rights and obligations
- incorrect.

Hence, A is the only plausible answer.

Sent from my Lenovo K53a48 using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

Ankit110 · Answer

Hi E-gmat,

In option B, the underlined potion  defining rights and obligations involved in their distribution and consumption  could be the result/outcome of the term  provided access to its resources. 
If yes then i do not see any problem with option B.

Also is it possible that the word THEIR in underlined portion of option B could refer back to resources or labor?

Request you to please clarify my doubts.

Thanks
Ankit

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi Ankit,

1. Even if we go with that as the correct (intended) meaning, we'll end up with a structural issue. Take a look at the sentence that B will create (ignoring the opening modifier):

Kinship determined the way in which the Ojibwa society  organized  its labor,  provided  access to its resources,  defining rights and obligations involved in their distribution and consumption .

Because the  defining  bit has now become a modifier, we are left with a list of only two items, but more importantly, a list of only two items without an  and , or anything else, to join them.

2. The  their  (plural) could refer to  resources  (plural), but not to  labor  (singular).

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

What are the items in the list here?

The Ojibwa society  organized …  provided … and  defined …

We can straightaway  eliminate Options B, D and E  since these aren’t parallel.

Now  Option C  has the ambiguous pronoun ‘they’.  Eliminate.

Option A  is the best choice.

Hope this helps!

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem: 
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that kinship determined the way in which the Ojibwa society organized its labor, provided access to its resources, and how it defined the rights and obligations involved in the distribution and consumption of those resources.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Modifiers + Pronouns + Grammatical Construction

• In a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction.
• "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma.
• The introduction of present participle ("verb+ing"- “defining” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.
• If a list contains only two elements, they must be joined by a conjunction.

A:   Correct. 
1/ This answer choice uses the phrase "and defined rights and obligations involved in", avoiding the modifier errors seen in Options D and E and conveying the intended meaning - that kinship determined the way in which the Ojibwa society organized its labor and provided access to its resources, and   as a result     kinship   defined how   the Ojibwa society   defined the rights and obligations involved in distributing and consuming resources.
2/ Option A avoids the pronoun error seen in Option C, as it uses no pronouns. 
3/ Option A avoids the grammatical construction error seen in Options B, D, and E, as it produces a list of three elements rather than one of two elements.

B: 
1/ This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "defining rights and obligations"; the use of the "comma + present participle ("verb+ing" - "defining" in this case) construction incorrectly implies that kinship determined the way in which the Ojibwa society organized its labor and provided access to its resources, and   as a result   kinship defined the rights and obligations involved in the distribution and consumption of those resources; the intended meaning is that kinship determined the way in which the Ojibwa society organized its labor and provided access to its resources, and   as a separate action   kinship defined the rights and obligations involved in the distribution and consumption of those resources; remember, the introduction of present participle ("verb+ing"- “defining” in this case) after comma generally leads to a cause-effect relationship.
2/ Option B incorrectly uses a comma to join two elements in a list - "organized its labor" and "provided access to its resources"; remember, if a list contains only two elements, they must be joined by a conjunction.

C: 
1/ This answer choice incorrectly uses the singular pronoun "its" to refer to the plural noun "resources".

D: 
1/ This answer choice incorrectly modifies the noun "resources" with the phrase "whose rights and obligations were defined in their distribution and consumption", illogically implying that the rights and obligations of   the resources   were defined by how the resources were distributed and consumed; the intended meaning is that   kinship   defined how   the Ojibwa society   defined the rights and obligations involved in distributing and consuming resources; remember, "who/whose/whom/which/where", when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun just before the comma.
2/ Option D incorrectly uses a comma to join two elements in a list - "organized its labor" and "provided access to its resources"; remember, if a list contains only two elements, they must be joined by a conjunction.

E: 
1/ This answer choice incorrectly modifies the noun "resources" with the phrase "the distribution and consumption of them defined by rights and obligations", incorrectly conveying that the distribution of resources available to the Ojibwa society   was determined   by rights and obligations; the intended meaning is that   kinship   defined   how the Ojibwa society defined   the rights and obligations involved in distributing and consuming resources; remember, in a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun.
2/ Option E incorrectly uses a comma to join two elements in a list - "organized its labor" and "provided access to its resources"; remember, if a list contains only two elements, they must be joined by a conjunction.

Hence, A is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Phrase Comma Subject" and "Subject Comma Phrase" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqgMtdyK2D4

To understand the concept of "Comma Plus Present-Participle for Cause-Effect Relationship", you may want to watch the following video (~3 minutes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVLneikI70Q

To understand the concept of "Who", "Whose", "Whom", "Which", and "Where" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMYpyHDVVOo

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

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From the earliest days of the tribe, kinship determined the way in whi

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