John F. Kennedy, one of the most social U.S. presidents,

(A) John F. Kennedy, one of the most social U.S. presidents, held many parties in his family home, they featured - incorrect meaning

(B) Parties were held in one of the most social U.S. president’s home, John F. Kennedy, and they featured - passive and same error as A.

(C) John F. Kennedy, who was one of the most social U.S. presidents in his family home, held parties that featured .- incorrect meaning

(D) John F. Kennedy, one of the most social U.S. presidents, held many parties in his family home that featured - again meaning problem

(E) In his family home, John F. Kennedy, one of the most social U.S. presidents, held many parties that featured - correct

this question is interesting as veritas has in a previous question said "Remember: “That”
clauses are not nearly as strict as “which” clauses and can modify a noun that
is not directly beside it."
the question was "Johnny held parties for his kids that featured clowns, numerous exotic
birds, and lots of food."
GMATNinja please help with your expert opinion.

Classic example of read the whole text.

I narrowed it down to D or E, using slash and burn, and incorrectly marked D without reading the whole sentence once again.

E for me, but could any one explain the usage of *that* in option D ??

Isn’t *in his family home* a modifier for the parties ?

Moreover, if you notice, *in his family home* is a prepositional phrase. So *that* could refer to the parties in option D?

I chose E because that has a clear antecedent in option E.

usage of *that* in option D is ambiguous is what makes option D incorrect?

Usually *that* and *which* modify the noun they touch, but that isn’t always the case. They just have to have a logical antecedent. Remember that popular question from the official guide —-> Emily Dickinson’s letters to Susan Huntington, which ........ // here *which* is correctly modifying *letters* ..

Could any of the experts/ members of gmat club/ explain this phenomenon??

daagh egmat GMATNinja chetan2u

Posted from my mobile device

The reason why "that" cannot modify "parties" is because it is modifying the preposition phrase with a noun.
There is a rule that states that the modifier can skip the prepositional phrase ONLY if the preceding prepositional phrase is needed in that position and cannot be placed elsewhere.
However, in this case, "In his family house" can be placed anywhere without changing the meaning of the sentence so the rule doesn't apply here. This means that "that" modifier cannot skip "house" to get to "parties"

(A) John F. Kennedy, one of the most social U.S. presidents, held many parties in his family home, they featured -- "they featured" needs a conjunction without which it is creating a run on sentence. Eliminate

(B) Parties were held in one of the most social U.S. president’s home, John F. Kennedy, and they featured -- Modifier error. It appears as if "JFK" was the name of US President's home and not the name of US President. Eliminate.

(C) John F. Kennedy, who was one of the most social U.S. presidents in his family home, held parties that featured -- Modifier error. We're talking of US Prez, not the Prez in the home of JFK lol. Eliminate.

(D) John F. Kennedy, one of the most social U.S. presidents, held many parties in his family home that featured -- Relative pronoun "that" is modifying the house when it should modify "parties" since it is the parties that featured the big meals and not the "home". Eliminate.

(E) In his family home, John F. Kennedy, one of the most social U.S. presidents, held many parties that featured -- Correct. Issue in D fixed. No modifier error.

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