His inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers

Question

Project SC Butler: Day 153: Sentence Correction (SC2) 
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His inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers, even with it, General Washington leading  an effective war against British forces in America, defeating one of the most powerful nations on the earth.

A. His inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers, even with it, General Washington leading

B. With his army of civilian soldiers, inexperienced and poorly equipped, General Washington led

C. Despite being inexperienced and poorly equipped, General Washington’s army of civilian soldiers led

D. General Washington led his inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers into

E. Despite his inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers, General Washington led

Message from    generis   :  we are lucky to have a guest poster today! I posted SC #1. 
This question, posted by    bebs  ,   is SC #2 .

generis · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION I am writing this official explanation as closely to the original as I feel comfortable doing. MEANING ANALYSIS • His inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers -- even with it, -- General Washington leading an effective war against British forces in America, defeating one of the most powerful nations on the earth. Because there are major structural issues with this sentence, the meaning is not absolutely clear. As far as we can discern at the moment, 1) General Washington's army was inexperienced and ill-equipped 2) GW fought an effective war against the British 3) "even with it" probably refers to the army of civilian soldiers but its placement and phrasing are bizarre. Contrast already exists because his army is in bad shape. They are civilians. They are taking on a powerful nation. Although contrast inherently exists in the content, making that "contrary to expectation" aspect very clear is wise: GW led a ragtag army, and he and they defeated a superpower . This "even with it" phrase is trying to make that contrast explicit. ERROR ANALYSIS • There is no verb for the subject General Washington • The phrase His inexperienced . . . is not connected properly to the rest of the sentence, leading to unclear meaning. ANSWER CHOICES A. His inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers, even with it, General Washington leading • option A contains the same errors as those discussed in the analysis section ELIMINATE B. With his army of civilian soldiers, inexperienced and poorly equipped, General Washington led • Possible meaning error: "with" does not really express contrast. • we know only that GW, along with his raggedy troops, led an effective war. • We will keep looking to see whether a better option exists, one that contains both clarity and explicit contrast KEEP C. Despite being inexperienced and poorly equipped, General Washington’s army of civilian soldiers led • This choice presents contrast but is illogical. Why mention General Washington unless he is . . . well, the person who led the attack? • the army did not lead the attack on the British. The general led the attack. D. General Washington led his inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers into • possible meaning error: same as that in B. KEEP E. Despite his inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers, General Washington led • This choice seems clear, grammatical, and logical • Despite is a preposition that must be followed by a noun or noun phrase • Despite conveys this meaning: even though GW and his soldiers faced difficulties, they were unaffected by those difficulties—they still won the war. -- Correct: Despite having spent 27 years in solitary confinement for leading the protest against South African racial apartheid, Nelson Mandela did not emerge as a bitter or cynical man. (Even though Mandela was imprisoned and alone for 27 years, his character was unaffected by the brutal and lengthy punishment.) Compare B and E -- option B uses essentially the same words as those in E except that with replaces despite -- option B makes it sound matter-of-fact that GW and his raggedy troops won a war against a powerful nation. With = together with a raggedy band of civilians, GW led . . . . Option E is better. -- B states the facts but does not emphasize the contrast. -- Logically and stylistically it makes more sense to emphasize the stark contrast. That last fact becomes even more evident when we see D. -- D is grammatical. -- D also lacks the dynamism and contrast present in option E. Option D does not use "despite." The sentence drones. Strategic part to keep in mind: two of the three remaining options do not emphasize contrast. One of three does emphasize contrast. The difference between B and D is not significant. D is the better sentence, but not by much. Make a decision. As a matter of strategy, the one option that is different from the other two nearly indistinguishable option must be the answer. Alternatively, decide that it makes more sense to emphasize stark contrast than not to do so. (Compare D and E. D is too matter-of-fact.) The correct answer is E. COMMENTS sharathnair14 , welcome to Butler.

Some of these answers are very well-explained. I am happy for the people who will read this thread. I am grateful to our guest. He did me a favor. (These questions are hella hard to find, folks.) I demonstrated that I appreciated his efforts. Perhaps you could do the same. He posted the question. At the top. First post. bebs , thank you for providing a good question with which people can see that three grammatical sentences are not all equal. Kudos to those who posted explanations.

Lampard42 · Answer

A - even with it - what is the antecedent of it - incorrect + looks awkward 
B - not sure what inexperienced and poorly equipped modifiers - army or Washington?
C - army didn’t led ! Washington did
D - into effective war - incorrect 
E - correct

IMO E

Posted from my mobile device

TheNightKing · Answer

My Approach : Take 5 seconds to check first and last work of the underlined sentence to get a feel of what is happening.

A.I am not very sure of what it is referring to? I guess Army. But is it the best construction? No. Also it has to modify GW which makes it even more awkward. So I guess not a good enough reason but we will have a better choice hopefully.

B. ,inexperienced and poorly equipped, : We are already looking for a modifier for GW. Now a modifier for the army may or may not be an essential one but makes the whole construction awkward.

C. GW led the war and not the army. That is one. The usage of being is the second. So C is out.

D. Honestly this choice looks good to me. I am not sure of the usage of the word "into" but may be will check E and then pick one.

E. Clean and Simple. The phrase "Despite his inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers" modifies GW. The usage of led is simple and fine. So I will pick E over D.

IMO E.
Thank you!

Annet1524 · Answer

His inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers, even with it, General Washington leading an effective war against British forces in America, defeating one of the most powerful nations on the earth.

A. His inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers,  even with it,  General Washington leading -  strange constructure

B. With his army of civilian soldiers, inexperienced and poorly equipped, General Washington led -  changes the meaning

C . Despite being inexperienced  and poorly equipped, General Washington’s army of civilian soldiers led -  wrong structure

D. General Washington led his inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers into -  changes the meaning

E. Despite his inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers, General Washington led -  Correct meaning and structure

XyLan · Answer

Sentence Structure  
 Subject  -  Verb :
  Despite his inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers,  
 General Washington   led  an effective war against British forces in America,
 defeating one of the most powerful nations on the earth.

Issues:  
 The verb for the subject(  General Washington ) is missing.
The original phrase intends to highlight a contrast that even though the army was a novice, General Washington led it to an effective war!

We will try to keep a similar meaning, if we get 2 grammatically coherent choices.
 A    The subject is missing the verb

Answer choice analysis   
A. His inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers, even with it, General Washington  leading 
   The subject is missing the verb

B. With his army of civilian soldiers, inexperienced and poorly equipped, General Washington led
   The contrast is missing.  B  states generic information that GW led to an effective war with his novice army.

C. Despite being inexperienced and poorly equipped,  General Washington’s army of civilian soldiers  led
   Unlike the army, GW led to an effective war. OUT

D. General Washington led his inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers  into 
   The contrast is missing.  D  states generic information that GW led his novice army into an effective war.

E. Despite his inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers,  General Washington led 
   Sweet.  E  strikes all the right chords.  E  is the champ!

ahabib · Answer

A. His inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers,  even with it , General Washington leading

Sentence doesn't make sense

B.  With his army of civilian soldiers , inexperienced and poorly equipped, General Washington led

A modifier should be followed by what it is  modifying

C. Despite  being  inexperienced and poorly equipped, General Washington’s army of civilian soldiers led

Incorrect use of "being"

D. General Washington led his inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers  into

"Led into" is the incorrect idiom.

"Into" is also used when speaking about a physical/tangible action, which this is not.

E. Despite his inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers, General Washington led

Correct

ccheryn · Answer

His inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers, even with it, General Washington leading  an effective war against British forces in America, defeating one of the most powerful nations on the earth.

A. His inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers, even with it, General Washington leading  (wrong due to run on sentence no verb)

B. With his army of civilian soldiers, inexperienced and poorly equipped, General Washington led   (poorly worded and the contrast meaning is not conveyed. hence wrong)

C. Despite being inexperienced and poorly equipped, General Washington’s army of civilian soldiers led  (wrong intended meaning army didnt led )

D. General Washington led his inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers into  ( wrong in intended meaning, contrast is not emphasised. hence wrong)
 
E. Despite his inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers, General Washington led ( correct choice, despite provides the required opposing effect, verb led and defeating verbing modifier gives the additional information. so perfect choice)

sharathnair14 · Answer

Always spend some time to understand what the sentence intends to say. 
General Washington once led an army that consisted of civilians, who were inexperienced and poorly equipped. This was a war they were bound to lose, but, despite the odds, they managed to win the war against the british.

Do you notice the contrast in the sentence?

Quickly running through the answers.

A. This sentence is a fragment. You've committed a terrible mistake if you picked this. It simply doesn't have a verb, let alone not having concise structure. And a poor way to show contrast with "even with it".  OUT

B. First things first. The contrast here is missing. The modifier "inexperienced and poorly equipped" is ambiguous.  OUT

C. Being inexperienced is the wrong usage of 'being' in SC. Being can only be correctly used 1. in the passive continuous tense. and 2. As a Noun. Here, it is used as a verb. That is a well-known fact around here. And Ofcourse, was it the army or General Washington who led this war? Obvious Error.  OUT

D. Where's the contrast here? Sounds like monotone. Boring, and doesn't communicate the real meaning of the sentence. The war was won despite all the odds. Usage of "led into" is an incorrect idiom. For these two reasons, this is  OUT

E. This is the best option. Precisely presented, Contrasting nature, correct idiom usage. Perfection.   CORRECT

J2S2019 · Answer

Imo correct answer is E

A. His inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers, even with it, General Washington leading - " It" is not a proper pronoun usage; Run on sentence , Verb is missing in the sentence.

B. With his army of civilian soldiers, inexperienced and poorly equipped, General Washington led -  Contrast meaninig is not conveyed properly

C. Despite being inexperienced and poorly equipped, General Washington’s army of civilian soldiers led -  Meaning call, GW led the war, not the army.

D. General Washington led his inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers into -  Contrast meaninig is not conveyed properly
 
E. Despite his inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers, General Washington led -  Correct

amarsinha · Answer

A. His inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers, even with it, General Washington leading - no verb.

B. With his army of civilian soldiers, inexperienced and poorly equipped, General Washington led - inexperienced and poorly equipped mentioned for civilian soldiers after comma doesn't make sense. It should be inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers.

C. Despite being inexperienced and poorly equipped, General Washington’s army of civilian soldiers led - General Washington led the war. changes the meaning.

D. General Washington led his inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers into - led his army into war...changes the meaning

E. Despite his inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers, General Washington led - seems correct.

amitanshumaity · Answer

His inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers, even with it, General Washington leading an effective war against British forces in America, defeating one of the most powerful nations on the earth.

Meaning: GW led an effective war against the British although he had an inexperienced and poorly equipped army.

The sentence uses contrast to present the information and the contrast must be therefore maintained in the correct answer choice.
Also, the information presented in the original sentence is jumbled up. So we need to restructure the sentence to present the information correctly and concisely.

option B. It discards the contrast keyword such as despite, although and presents plain information which distorts the meaning of the actual sentence.

Option E: It uses keyword Despite ( Consider a replacement for 'Even' in the original sentence)

Also, it maintains correct diction.
IMHO E

VerbalBot · Answer

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His inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

His inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers

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