More than any other single event in the history of Europe, the Spanish

Question

More than any other single event in the history of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings, is remembered  for the burning of persons condemned as heretics.

A. More than any other single event in the history of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings, is remembered

B. More than any single event in the history of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings, was remembered

C. The Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings, more than any event in the history of Europe, is remembered

D. More than any other single event in the history of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings, are remembered

E. The Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings, are remembered more than any single event in the history of Europe

Rock750 · Accepted Answer

More than any other single event in the history of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings, is remembered  for the burning of persons condemned as heretics.

A- More than any other single event in the history of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings, is remembered for the burning of persons condemned as heretics.
Correct
B- More than any single event in the history of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings,  was remembered  for the burning of persons condemned as heretics.
The act of remembering is still on effect, so the use of past tense is incorrect.
C- The Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings,  more than any event in the history of Europe , is remembered
The red part is a misplaced modifier. In this option , it suggests that the act of instituting and controlling the Spanish Inquisition is more than any event in the history of Europe and that is not the intended meaning of the original sentence
D- More than any other single event in the history of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings,  are remembered 
The Spanish Inquisition is compared to singles events , so it is a single event and is therefore singular. 
E- The Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings,  are remembered  more than any single event in the history of Europe
Same error as in D

GMarc · Answer

A) More than any other single event in the history of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings, is remembered  Not really a beautiful sentence, quite complicated but nothing gramatically wrong 
B) More than any single event in the history of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings,  was   remembered   "was" remembered would imply it is no longer remembered and does not make sense 
C) The Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings,  more than any event in the history of Europe , is remembered  this should be adjacent to the noun it relates to, therefore to The Spanish Inquisition and not the Spanish Kings 
D) More than any other single event in the history of Europe, the Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings,  are  remembered  the verb relates to the spanish inquisition and therefore should be singular 
E) The Spanish Inquisition, instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings,  are  remembered more than any single event in the history of Europe  same here

Bunuel · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

A

Here the underlined section is quite long, but this question is actually easier than it may at first appear. The modifying phrases set off by commas should tell you to start by checking for subject-verb agreement. If you do this, you'll discover the construction “the Spanish Inquisition . . . are”in (D) and (E), so you can eliminate these choices. Choice (B) uses the past- tense “was,” which isn’t appropriate: the Spanish Inquisition is still remembered. This brings us down to (A) and (C). The difference between these two is the placement of the phrase “more than any other single event in the history of Europe.”Where is it bet- ter placed? In (A) it clearly modifies “is remembered.” In (C) it could just as easily modify “instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings.” Choice (A) is clearer, so it's the best answer.

aa008 · Answer

if you remove both the modifiers :
 More than any other single event in the history of Europe e,  the Spanish Inquisition ,  instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella and controlled by the Spanish kings ,  is remembered

The Spanish Inquisition  - singular

so you are left with only option  A  and  C

A  is more grammatical because both the modifiers are correctly modifying the  The Spanish Inquisition .

A is the correct answer

Nrj0601 · Answer

OFFICIAL KAPLAN EXPLANATION

Here the underlined section is quite long, but this question is easier than it may at first appear. The modifying phrases set off by commas are a hint to make sure the modification is logical. The introductory phrase, "More than any other single event in the history of Europe," should modify what comes after it; "the Spanish Inquisition" comes after the comma, so there's no modification error. The phrase after "the Spanish Inquisition" ("instituted ... rulers") also correctly describes the thing just before it, which is still the Inquisition. Next, in a complicated sentence structure like this, identify the subject and verb and make sure they agree. The subject is the singular "Spanish Inquisition" and the verb is the singular "is"—no error. Since there don't appear to be any errors, (A) is likely the answer, but check the others to be sure.

(B) changes the present tense verb "is" to "was," which incorrectly changes the meaning of the sentence to imply that the Inquisition is no longer remembered.

In (C), one modifying phrase ("more ... Europe") is separated from the noun it modifies by another lengthy phrase ("instituted ... rulers"), creating a modification error.

(D) and (E) change the singular verb "is" to "are," creating subject-verb disagreement.

(A) is indeed the correct answer.

TAKEAWAY: Don't fix errors that aren't there. Sometimes (A) is correct!

More than any other single event in the history of Europe, the Spanish

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More than any other single event in the history of Europe, the Spanish

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