In preparation for the cold winter months, it was the usual custom fo

Question

In preparation for the cold winter months,  it was the usual custom for prehistoric people to gather and preserve, with smoke or by salting it, as much meat that they could during the summer .

(A) it was the usual custom for prehistoric people to gather and preserve, with smoke or by salting it, as much meat that they could during the summer.

(B) prehistoric people usually gathered as much meat as they could during the summer, preserving it either by smoking or salting

(C) it was the usual custom of prehistoric people to gather and preserve, either with smoke or by salting, as much meat that they could during the summer

(D) prehistoric people had the usual custom of gathering and preserving as much meat, either by smoking or salting it, as they could during the summer

(E) it was usually that prehistoric people would gather and preserve as much meat as they could, which was either smoked or salted during the summer

gauravkaushik8591 · Accepted Answer

(B) prehistoric people usually  gathered as much meat  as they could during the summer,  preserving it  either by smoking or salting

This means that they gathered by preserving meat.

(D) prehistoric people had the usual custom of  gathering and preserving as much meat , either by smoking or salting it, as they could during the summer

This means that they gathered and preserved meat.

IMO D. Because you gather and then preserve. You don't gather by preserving something.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

First, the  Modifier  during the summer is intended to modify the actions of gathering and preserving meat, but is placed instead between two constructions that it doesn’t modify. As a result, the sentence appears to be saying that the cold winter months occurred during the summer, or else that the actions described were only customary during the summer. Also, the initial modifier (in preparation for the cold winter months) should be placed next to the action that it modifies. The original also has problems with  Parallelism:  with smoke and by salting it are not properly parallel. Finally, usual custom is a redundant construction.

(A)  This choice is incorrect as it repeats the original sentence.

(B)  CORRECT.   Both modifiers are placed correctly: in preparation for the cold winter months is correctly placed next to the actions that it describes, as is during the summer. Additionally, by smoking and by salting are properly parallel, and the redundant descriptor usual has been removed.

(C)  The initial modifier is still misplaced; it should be placed next to the actions undertaken in preparation for winter, not next to the statement that it was the custom…. Additionally, with smoke and by salting are not properly parallel. Finally, this choice introduces an idiom error: as much is incorrectly paired with that (rather than the correct form, as much as).

(D)  The modifier during the summer is placed improperly, suggesting that these actions ceased to be customary once summer ended. In addition, the presence of it destroys parallelism between smoking and salting it.

(E)  The initial modifier is still misplaced; it should be placed next to the actions undertaken in preparation for winter, not next to the statement that it was usual…. In addition, the which modifier is not placed next to a noun, so it doesn’t logically modify anything; it should be placed next to meat. Finally, the use of the passive voice, while not ungrammatical or unidiomatic, alters the meaning; this usage creates a sentence in which we don’t know who smoked or salted the meat.

Answer: B

ILoseUGain · Answer

why not D? Well I think it is a case of misplaced modifier. True?

Cannot "preserving  it " in B wrongly refer to summer even though it doesn't make sense?

goodyear2013 · Answer

Hi ILoseUGain,

"Preserving it" -> Participle phrase "preserving...." modifies the phrase in front of it. "it" points the "meat"

neha24 · Answer

it cannot be D .to understand as why d is wrong we need to understand as why parallelism is wrong in D .
here  "gathering"  and  "preserving"  are not two independent ideas .u can gather something to preserve  but  u cannot  gather  and  preserve

krishna789 · Answer

This qn needs as much as in the option which is there in B option also prehsitoric should be used as a modifier which option B suffices it

Temurkhon · Answer

D is too wordy in "had the usual custom" and can be effectively changed by "usually" in B. Moreover the verb ("gathered") in B is more preferable than noun ("gathering") in D in term of conciseness

jlgdr · Answer

Any expert opinion on why B over D? Thanks in advance! Cheers J

chanakya84 · Answer

The sentence starts with "In preparation for the cold winter months" which should modify "prehistoric people". Hence option A, C and E are out.
Option E - prehistoric people  had  the usual custom of gathering and preserving as much meat, either by smoking or salting it, as they could during the summer.
The sentence incorrectly uses past perfect. This incorrectly signifies that its not the custom anymore which is not intended meaning in the original sentence. The actual meaning just talks about "In preparation for X, Y gather meat and preserve it by smoking and salting". Also D is incorrect because it conveys that people gather and preserve meat by smoking and salting. Ideally people preserve meat by smoking and salting and not gather meat. Option B corrects all the errors. Hence correct.
Hope that helps.

krakgmat · Answer

I think, the last reason for eliminating 'D' is to the point. But, I think, the use of 'had' is ok in this sentence as it is not used as past perfect but instead used as simple past 'had'. For example: He had it (or) They had it.

BPD · Answer

Would anyone want to comment on why B is correct. There seems to be a parallelism issue

(B) prehistoric people usually gathered as much meat as they could during the summer, preserving it  either by smoking or salting

AFAIK, either.. or.. structures need to be completely parallel. In this case, the structure is EITHER   OR  .

aditya8062 · Answer

the later part of option B is not correct .it has a faulty parallelism .i don't think GMAC will make such an error in official problem .the later part of B should have been  "either by smoking or by smoking"

dtokko · Answer

Doesn't option B change the meaning of the sentence by stating that "prehistoric people usually gathered..." vs. "prehistoric people had the usual custom of gathering..." Having a usual custom of doing something seems to communicate something different from usually doing something.

pqhai · Answer

In preparation for the cold winter months,  it was the usual custom for prehistoric people to gather and preserve, with smoke or by salting it, as much meat that they could during the summer .

(A) it was the usual custom for prehistoric people to gather and preserve, with smoke or by salting it,  as much  meat  that  they could during the summer. 
 Wrong.  "as much ... that they could" is not idiomatic --> correct syntax is "as much.... as....."
In addition, " gathering " and " preserving " MUST be  SEPARATED  --> See explanation in D.

(B) prehistoric people usually gathered  as much  meat  as  they could during the summer, preserving it  either by smoking or salting  
  Correct.   "as much .... as" is good. "either by smoking || salting" --> keeps parallel structure.

(C) it was the usual custom of prehistoric people to gather and preserve,  either with smoke  or  by salting , as much meat that they could during the summer 
 Wrong.  "either X or Y" --> X and Y must be parallel, but "with smoke" and "by salting" are not parallel. 
In addition, " gathering " and " preserving " MUST be  SEPARATED  --> See explanation in D.

(D) prehistoric people had the usual custom of  gathering and preserving  as much meat,  either by smoking or salting  it, as they could during the summer 
 Wrong.  " gathering " and " preserving " MUST be  SEPARATED . Correct meaning is " gather as much meat as they could " and " preserve it either by smoking or salting ". D, however, means (1) people gather meat either by smoking or salting + (2) preserve meat either by smoking or salting <-- totally wrong meaning.

(E) it was usually that prehistoric people would gather and preserve as much meat as they could,  which  was either smoked or salted during the summer 
 Wrong.  "which" is wrong.

Hope it helps.

newyork2012 · Answer

B : either by smoking or salting???? parallel?

should be either " by either smoking or salting" or "either by smoking or by salting"

AryamaDuttaSaikia · Answer

Yes - You are correct in mentioning the parallel structure. This option is the most appropriate among the five options. (Meaning wise most clear of the five options)

Raksat · Answer

In preparation for the cold winter months, prehistoric people usually gathered as much meat as they could during the summer, preserving it either  by smoking or salting 
Is it parallel? 
If it's twice inside then it should be " either by smoking or by salting" 
or 
Once outside, then it should be "preserving it by either smoking or salting"
Kindly advise  adkikani   abhimahna   GMATNinja   daagh

prashants412 · Answer

Very well observed

I guess this answer choice is correct because it is the best expression of the ideas as compared to the other answer choices, which clearly fail to do so.

Kurtosis · Answer

In preparation for the cold winter months should modify prehistoric people. A, C and E all have modifier errors and can be eliminated.

In preparation for the cold winter months, it was the usual custom fo

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

In preparation for the cold winter months, it was the usual custom fo

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