In an unusual move for a Republican, the president's directive establi

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

E.

What should an introductory phrase followed by a comma prompt you to do? Check to see if the phrase correctly modifies what follows it. You can’t say that a directive is making “an unusual move for a Republican.” No, it’s a person, the president, that’s making the move. (E) says what the author of the sentence wants to say, clearly and simply. That’s preferable on the GMAT.

This question can be answered on the basis of three principles :

1. Identifying the subject : 'the President's directive' seems to be the subject.

2. Parallel Construction : Now, if we look at the non-underlined part, we can see that 'the Republican' is an entity which is similar to the subject. Since the error can only be pointed out in the underlined part, we need to find a subject which can be similar to 'the Republican' (which represents a community of people). Clearly, 'the President's directive' is no where similar to the 'the Republican'.
So, out of all the options, A and B can be easily eliminated. That leaves us with C,D & E, all having 'the president' as the subject.

3. Simple and complex sentences with a similar meaning. : Now, the last three options have similar meaning but E is the simplest of them all. Hence, E is correct.

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.