It was done by meticulously typesetting

I think that it should be B because typographers didn't have to be typeset. Additionally this question has comma which introduces a relative clause.

Go for B because Typographers are not persons who develop the new technique.

Chose B

A) Pronoun it is ambiguous. It is not clear, what was done by meticulously type setting
B) Correct
C) Usage of pronoun "they" is erraneous
D) "which" in the non underlined portion is not referring to digital type setting
E) "which" in the non underlined portion is not referring to digital type setting

Though B is best among all, isn't option B has redundancy of HAD/BEFORE?

Even I have the same doubt. Can any expert shed some light on the above question? daagh GMATNinja carcass sayantanc2k

It was done by meticulously typesetting manuscripts letter by letter, before the development of digital typesetting, which allows typographers to not only finalize a copy-edited script for publishing but also create page layouts in a virtual setting.

A) It was done by meticulously typesetting manuscripts letter by letter, before the development of digital typesetting
B) Manuscripts had to be meticulously typeset letter by letter before the development of digital typesetting
C) Typographers had to meticulously typeset letter by letter before they developed digital typesetting
D) Before developing digital typesetting, manuscripts were meticulously typeset letter by letter
E) Before the development of digital typesetting, manuscripts had to be meticulously typeset letter by letter


Hi ,

There's a clear split here abc and de
de is incorrect because which can't refer back to the act of typing(basically any verb since it's a pronoun and must refer back only to a noun non ambiguously)
Here which refers to digital typesetting.
A is wrong as we don't know what it refers to.
B makes it clear that Manuscripts had to be typset
C suggests that the typographers developed digital typesetting hence wrong.

There is no rule that "had" and "before" cannot be used together - probably you confused with the use of past perfect with "before". Here "had" is the simple past tense (of the verb "to have"), not past perfect. So option B is alright.

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.