Introduced by Italian merchants resident in London during the sixteent

I choose option D as my answer.

Because the sentence starts with "Introduced by Italian merchants resident...." suggests that the subject of the next clause should be an object. Having said that, we should eliminate all the answer choices except options D and E. Life insurance is a logical subject that is being introduced. Now notice in both options D and E, we have the tested idiom "between." The use of "between" requires the structure of "between x and y." Only option follows that structure precisely. So answer choice D remains.

This is a modifier error. "Introduced by Italian merchants resident in London during the sixteenth century"-what is being introduced by Italian merchant? Life Insurance NOT England. The modifier must be followed by life insurance....... From here you narrow down the answer choice to either D or E.

E is clearly wrong because it should be "between X and Y", NOT "between X with Y"
Hence, D is the answer.

D is right because it use correct idiom "between X and Y"

IMO - D
First Split : What was introduced by Italian merchants ? Answer : Life Insurance so A,B,C out
Second Split : Between 'individual underwriters with their clients' : wrong idiom. Correct idiom is between. Hence E out.
D remains and hence should be the correct answer.
OA please ?

hi,
when we check the Q on two issues , we can find the right answer..
1) modifier:-
the first sentence starts with "introduced by..", what could be introduced 'life insurance'.. so only D and E are left..
2) the correct idiom is between ... and ...
this leaves only D as correct answer
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Hi expert,

I fall into the trap of the word "typically" because I thought it is adverb so it can not modify the nouns after that. Therefore I crossed out C and D, including the correct answer.
But I remember in other SC, the answer choice C is eliminated because this error: "compare to the previously $7 per year"
Link for reference: most-of-portugals-250-000-university-students-boycotted-105146.html
What is the role of "typically" here? Please help me to distinguish. Thank you.

"Typically" is an adverb and modifies the verb "remained". ... The underlying structure is: ..remained a contract typically between X and Y.

In the other example "previously" is an adverb and modifies the verb/ participle "paid" / "required". Using an adverb without a verb (or participle) is wrong - in "previously $7 per year", "previously" does not have a verb or adverb to refer to.

Hi,

Thanks for your prompt reply.
Could you please elaborate how "typically" modifies "remained" when it places too far from the verb and seems to be unrelate to the verb.
Sorry for that question, because I am just familiar with adv+adj or adv+verb. Eg: extremely dangerous, fully understand...
Please he

In the five cases the subject is life insurances, I think that is not a misplaced modified error.

This is my analysis:
A. in England life insurance remained until the end of the seventeenth century a specialized contract between individual underwriters and their clients, typically being - Being is avoided by gmat
B. in England life insurance had remained until the end of the seventeenth century a specialized contract between individual underwriters with their clients, who typically were - the correct structure is Between X and Y
C. until the end of the seventeenth century life insurance in England had remained a specialized contract between individual underwriters and their clients, typically - The error is the past perfect
D. life insurance in England remained until the end of the seventeenth century a specialized contract between individual underwriters and their clients, typically - correct
E. life insurance remained until the end of the seventeenth century in England a specialized contract between individual underwriters with their clients, who typically were - the correct structure is Between X and Y

Yes, in general verb and adverbs are placed next to each other but in some cases they may be apart - consider the following:

I would like to go to Delhi, preferably by a train.
I would like to go to Delhi by a train, preferably the Rajdhani express.

In both examples "preferably" is modifying "go" - it is comparatively easier to understand this in the first example than in the second because of the proximity of the adverb to the verb. The second one is a bit more difficult to identify, but the usage is alright whatsoever. Option D is a similar case, only that the adverb is even further placed - nonetheless it resembles the second example given above. Another set of simpler sentences could be helpful:
A contract is signed typically between X and Y. ( adjacent verb and adverb)
Life Insurance remained a contract typically between X and Y. (slightly away)

Another way of looking at this structure is as follows:
Consider the part after the comma an adverbial phrase modifying the whole preceding clause (precisely the verb of the preceding clause - similar to a present participle modifier).

The phrase leading up to the comma is a modifying phrase. When you open a sentence with a modifying phrase, the word after the comma should be whatever is being modified. Here, the modifying phrase is modifying something that was "Introduced by Italian merchants resident in London during the sixteenth century." So after the comma we need a thing (a noun or a noun-phrase) that could have been introduced to England in the 16th century.

The only answer choices that have a reasonable noun directly after the comma are D and E. (more on the all important modifier-at-the-beginning-of-a-sentence pattern below.

One key difference between D and E is the and in D vs the with in E. These words are connected to the between that precedes them. It's idiomatic in standard written English to say 'between X and Y' (not between X with Y). In fact, it seems I unintentionally included that idiom at the beginning of this paragraph (one key difference between D and E...).

So E is gone. D is our answer.

But again, the highest point-yield pattern here is the modifying phrase at the beginning. So a bit more on that:

Many modifying phrases are participial phrases (phrases built around -ed, and -ing verb participles). Some examples:

Published in Chicago,____
Discovered in London,___
Hoping to influence voters,____

In each of these cases, the thing after the comma needs to be whatever is described before the comma. So, for practice, for each of the examples above, choose one of the two options for what follows the comma.

Published in Chicago,____ (the journalist... / the newspaper....)
Discovered in a lab at Imperial College in London,___ (Penicillin... / Alexander Fleming...)
Hoping to influence voters,____ (the politician gave an impassioned speech / an impassioned speech was given by the politition)

And:

Introduced by Italian merchants resident in London during the sixteenth century,____ (life insurance... / in England...)


[Answers: the newspaper, Penicillin, the politician, life insurance]

I understood that the answer was "D" and not "E" since E had "between..x.with..y.." and not "between x...and...y" but I'm wondering if "who typically were" is still wrong in E?

E. life insurance remained until the end of the seventeenth century in England a specialized contract between individual underwriters with their clients, who typically were


There is nothing wrong with 'who typically were' in E except that it is a little wordier than 'typically" in D.
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Introduced by Italian merchants resident in London during the sixteenth century, in England life insurance remained until the end of the seventeenth century a specialized contract between individual underwriters and their clients, typically being ship owners, overseas merchants, or professional moneylenders.

A. in England life insurance remained until the end of the seventeenth century a specialized contract between individual underwriters and their clients, typically being - Initial modifier error - in the case of an initial subject-less modifier in front of a comma, the modifier should always be followed IMMEDIATELY by the noun / noun phrase that's being modified
B. in England life insurance had remained until the end of the seventeenth century a specialized contract between individual underwriters with their clients, who typically were - same as A
C. until the end of the seventeenth century life insurance in England had remained a specialized contract between individual underwriters and their clients, typically - same as A
D. life insurance in England remained until the end of the seventeenth century a specialized contract between individual underwriters and their clients, typically - Correct
E. life insurance remained until the end of the seventeenth century in England a specialized contract between individual underwriters with their clients, who typically were- Idiom error - between X and Y

Answer D
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Looking for the correct idiom and modifier in this question. The correct idiom that is being tested here is Between X and Y.
A. in England life insurance remained until the end of the seventeenth century a specialized contract between individual underwriters and their clients, typically being
In England is not the correct modifier- needs to insurance, being is incorrect
B. in England life insurance had remained until the end of the seventeenth century a specialized contract between individual underwriters with their clients, who typically were- same modifier issue as above and idiom is incorrect
C. until the end of the seventeenth century life insurance in England had remained a specialized contract between individual underwriters and their clients, typically- correct idiom but wrong verb tense
D. life insurance in England remained until the end of the seventeenth century a specialized contract between individual underwriters and their clients, typically- correct modifier and idiom used
E. life insurance remained until the end of the seventeenth century in England a specialized contract between individual underwriters with their clients, who typically were- idiom is incorrect and the sentence is wordy in comparison to D

D. life insurance in England remained until the end of the seventeenth century a specialized contract between individual underwriters and their clients, typically ship owners, overseas merchants, or professional moneylenders

Is this highlighted part a phrase ?
daagh, plz help.

yes. You can see that there is no verb in the highlighted portion. So it is just a list of three items and an appositive that modifies the noun before 'clients'
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D is best among given 5 choices, but I see some vagueness in this option too. Does a comma after century not required?

D. life insurance in England remained until the end of the seventeenth century a specialized contract between individual underwriters and their clients, typically

Agree with the X and Y but then there's a modifier missing before typically in D

Such cases - how to choose?