In addition to being China's first administrators, in the sense that

Question

In addition to being China's first administrators, in the sense that they developed a coherent bureaucracy for their empire,  the first literate culture in East Asia were the Shang, and they were well known for crafting  ornate bronze ritual vessels.

(A) the first literate culture in East Asia were the Shang, and they were well known for crafting

(B) the first literate culture in East Asia were the Shang, well known as the crafters of

(C) the Shang, as the first literate culture in East Asia, is well known for its crafting

(D) the Shang were the first literate culture in East Asia and are well known as the crafters of

(E) the Shang were the first literate culture in East Asia and well known for its crafted

https://archive.archaeology.org/0005/newsbriefs/shang.html

The Shang were the first literate culture in East Asia and are well known for crafting  ornate bronze ritual vessels. They were also China's first administrators, developing a coherent bureaucracy for their empire, and were able to marshall the human labor required to build rammed earth walls such as those found at the Huanbei Shang City.

anairamitch1804 · Accepted Answer

In the given sentence, the
modifier is "In addition to being". By the touch rule this modifier modifies, "The first literate culture".

Is the first literate culture, China's first administrator? No! The Shang was!

The opening modifier "in addition to being..." must modify the subject of the independent clause. The only logical subject is "the Shang." We can eliminate A and B.

In English, collective nouns for ethnic groups / families/dynasties / proper names for sports teams, etc, will be plural (unlike other collective nouns): 
The Welsh have delightful accents. 
The Medici were avid art collectors. 
The Heat (basketball team) play in Miami.

So in this sentence, "the Shang" must be plural. Eliminate C. 
In E, "and" should connect two verbs. However, "and well known" is a participial modifier. This isn't parallel. 
The correct answer is D.

jaynayak · Answer

Will go with D.

Only D maintains the subject verb agreement. From the non-underlined part, the use of "they" makes it clear the Shanq will be plural.

A. the first literate culture in East Asia were the Shang, and they were well known for crafting  Modifier problem 
B. the first literate culture in East Asia were the Shang, well known as the crafters of  Modifier problem 
C. the Shang, as the first literate culture in East Asia,  is  well known for  its  crafting  S-V disagreement 
D. the Shang were the first literate culture in East Asia and are well known as the crafters of 
E. the Shang were the first literate culture in East Asia and well known for  its  crafted  S-V disagreement

zoom612 · Answer

D.

 In addition to  being Chinaâ€™s first  administrators , in the sense that they developed a coherent bureaucracy for their empire....

freetheking · Answer

consider SV agreement and "known for" vs "known as".

I'm not sure this one is retired or not!

u2lover · Answer

can we say "known as someone"? "known for something", but "known TO BE someone"... so D's construction is wrong in that case... thanks for the :idea:

D or E... "its" in E isn't that clear, so I will stick with D despite "known" part

MA · Answer

D. i guess both work. but what "it" stands for in E? if it is for shang, which is used as plural, its wrong...

buzzgaurav · Answer

Picking D.
Correct S-V agreement.
' its ' in E seems wrong.

In addition to being Chinaâ€™s  first administrators , in the sense that they developed a coherent bureaucracy for their empire,  the Shang were  the first literate culture in East Asia and are well known as the crafters of ornate bronze ritual vessels.

freetheking · Answer

I think E has two errors.
1. verb tense
2. pronoun
the Shang were the first literate culture in East Asia and  (were)  well known for  its  crafted

What if this sentence revised as follow

the Shang were the first literate culture in East Asia and are well known for their crafted

still D stands??

sharadGmat · Answer

"known as" perfectly alright to use.. "its" in E refers to Shang. But Shang is pluaral as suggested by first part of the sentence - " the sense that  they  developed "

Futuristic · Answer

D for me
The Shang were, not the Shang was. C is out. 
A, B out, because introductory phrase must be followed by that which it modifies.
E "for its crafted" is incorrect, since Shang is plural

b14kumar · Answer

It's perfectly alright.

"Sherlock Holmes is  known as  one of the greatest detectives."

D is clear winner here.

Underlined portion should start with the name of "Chinaâ€™s first administrators".

So A,B and C are out.

In E, "its" is incorrect pronoun. It should be plural.

Regards,
Brajesh

haas_mba07 · Answer

D. the Shang were the first literate culture in East Asia and are well known as the crafters of


"China's first administrators" cannot modify "literate". It has to be "the Shang".

Norrow choices: C, D, E

C is wrong due to "is" should be plural are/were

E does not have any reference for "well known for its crafted"

Answer: D

raj0774 · Answer

I WAS CONFUSED BETWEEN D &E , BUT IN E ITS REFER TO SUBJECT .AND AS SUBJECT IS PLURAL ,ACCORDING TO S-V AGREEMENT ,IT SHOULD BE LEFT REPLACED BY THEIR ..SO D IS RULED OUT.

pramendrapandeya · Answer

D is correct answer, wrong usages of its and it in C and E.

NandishSS · Answer

HI  broall  ,  Vyshak  ,

Please tag as GMATPrep EP2. Have got the question in today mock.

styxnexus · Answer

That's a great explanation maá'm, IMO option D should have been something like this, because they were a thing of past. Please explain me if I am thinking wrong.
D. the Shang were the first literate culture in East Asia and  were    are  ] well known as the crafters of

egmat · Answer

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

Since the Shang are still popular for as the crafters ornate bronze ritual vessels , usage of simple present tense verb are is correct. This information is a general fact about the Shang that will remain unchanged in all times. Hence, we see the usage of are . Hope this helps.

Thanks. Shraddha

sucal000 · Answer

Shang were the first literate culture...
Shang are the first literate culture...
Is the 1st sentence suggesting that that shang are no longer the 1st ?
Is the 2nd sentence more appropriate? ?

Posted from my mobile device

egmat · Answer

Hello sucal000 , Thank you for the query.

Between the two sentences that you have presented in your post, the first one is indeed better because the second sentence seems to suggest that the Shangs are still alive. But from the context of the sentence, we know that this is not the case. Hope this helps.

Thanks. Shraddha

In addition to being China's first administrators, in the sense that

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

In addition to being China's first administrators, in the sense that

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards