Most present-day people would be shocked to learn that, in the early

1)Most present-day people would be shocked to learn that, in the early twentieth century, when colored baby clothing was first widely distributed to North American consumers, they marketed pink clothes primarily to boys and blue clothes mainly to girls.

CORRECT Answer : B
A)learn that, in the early twentieth century, when colored baby clothing was first widely distributed to North American consumers, they marketed pink clothes primarily --- They has no reference. Incorrect
B)learn that, when colored baby clothing was first widely distributed to North American consumers in the early twentieth century, pink clothes were marketed primarily -- Correct. Use of "That". Modifier correctly placed
C)learn, in the early twentieth century when colored baby clothing was first widely distributed to North American consumers, that primarily pink clothes were marketed - Misplaced modifier.
D)learn when colored baby clothing was first widely distributed to North American consumers, in the early twentieth century, pink clothes, which were marketed primarily --- "That" is needed. Incorrect
E)learn, in the early twentieth century, that when colored baby clothing was first widely distributed to North American consumers, they marketed primarily pink clothes --- They has no reference. Incorrect.

Most present-day people would be shocked to learn that, in the early twentieth century, when colored baby clothing was first widely distributed to North American consumers, they marketed pink clothes primarily to boys and blue clothes mainly to girls.

In A and E the pronoun "they" has no reference, as the word "people" does not appear in the sentence.
Option D
learn when colored baby clothing was first widely distributed to North American consumers
seems to suggest (be very literal) : "learn WHEN this thing happened" (the modifier "when" seems to modify the action, giving a time frame).
In C the misplaced modifier "in the 20th century" refers to the verb "learn"
learn, in the early twentieth century when colored baby clothing was first widely distributed to North American consumers,
and "primarily pink" indicates that the clothing was primarily (or mostly) pink.

OA: B.
_________________________________
For all their usefulness in facilitating comparisons between cities of different sizes, per-capita statistics, especially crime rates, often shine an unfairly harsh light on small towns, in which a single incident can cause such figures to skyrocket.

In option B "despite" must be followed by a noun or a noun phrase, in option C "different sized cities" is incorrect as an adj "different" CANNOT modify another adjective "sized" (and adverb should be used).
Option D is not a sentence, as "per-capita statistics" has no verb, just modifiers.
Option E is incorrect because "For their usefulness" does not have the same meaning as the idiom "for all their usefulness".

OA: A.
_________________________________
A recent report from the Bureau of Justice states although only a fraction of a percent of the American population is in prison, approximately one out of every thirty two Americans are either in prison or on parole or probation.

The verb "states" here should be followed by "that": A and E are incorrect.
B and C are out on subject-verb agreement: "one out of (...)" "is" and not "are.

OA: D.


Hope everything is clear, if not we are here to discuss

A - learn that, in the early twentieth century, when colored baby clothing was first widely distributed to North American consumers, they marketed pink clothes primarily -- They marketed” who marketed? No proper reference for ‘they’. In the early twentieth century should modify be placed next to consumers for a proper modification

B - learn that, when colored baby clothing was first widely distributed to North American consumers in the early twentieth century, pink clothes were marketed primarily --- This is the correct choice.

C - learn, in the early twentieth century when colored baby clothing was first widely distributed to North American consumers, that primarily pink clothes were marketed ----rejected for not using ‘that’ after learn; also the modification of in the twentieth century is wrong.

D - learn when colored baby clothing was first widely distributed to North American consumers, in the early twentieth century, pink clothes, which were marketed primarily ---- rejected for not using ‘that’ after learn

E - learn, in the early twentieth century, that when colored baby clothing was first widely distributed to North American consumers, they marketed primarily pink clothes -- that is missing after learn and also the modification error as in A and C

In option B, "Most present-day people would be shocked to learn that, when colored baby clothing was first..." when is not preceded by a year/time period. I eliminated this option for that reason...could somebody pls clarify the usage of 'when'

In option B , sentence is not parallel in 2nd part:pink clothes were marketed primarily to boys and blue clothes mainly to girls.

Please clear.

It is OK to omit repeated parts from the second element of a parallel structure as long as the meaning is clear.

Here the first element is: pink clothes were marketed primarily to boys
Second element: blue clothes (were marketed) mainly to girls

Since were marketed is the repeated verb, it has been omitted in the second element.

Official Explanation from Manhattan Prep

The sentence introduces a curious fact from marketing history: at the broad introduction of colored baby clothes, in the early twentieth century, the color pink was mainly associated with baby boys and the color blue with baby girls.

(A) Logically, the pronoun they is intended to refer to the marketers of baby clothing, but no plural noun exists in the sentence to refer to the marketers. The present-day people wouldn’t be shocked to learn this fact if they were the ones marketing these clothes.

(B) CORRECT. The placement of when…in the early twentieth century after the word that is correct; this placement attaches the modifier to the following clause (they marketed). The sentence correctly places pink clothes were marketed primarily to boys and blue clothes (were marketed) primarily to girls in parallel.

(C) The placement of in the early twentieth century when…consumers before the word that is incorrect. This placement attaches the modifier to the preceding clause, illogically implying that present-day people could go back in time (to the early twentieth century) to learn this fact. Primarily pink indicates that the clothing was primarily (or mostly) pink, not that the clothing was marketed primarily to boys. The comparison no longer makes sense.

(D) The when colored…consumers modifier is incorrectly attached to the preceding clause, illogically implying that present-day people could go back in time (to the early twentieth century) to learn this fact. The portion after learn does not contain the necessary that + subject + verb structure (a correct example: she was shocked to learn that her company filed for bankruptcy). The rest of the sentence in this option is a fragment.

(E) The placement of in the early twentieth century before the word that is incorrect. This placement attaches the modifier to the preceding clause, illogically implying that present-day people could go back in time (to the early twentieth century) to learn this fact. Logically, the pronoun they is intended to refer to the marketers of baby clothing, but no plural noun exists in the sentence to refer to the marketers. The present-day people wouldn’t be shocked to learn this fact if they were the ones marketing these clothes. Primarily pink indicates that the clothing was primarily (or mostly) pink, not that the clothing was marketed primarily to boys. The comparison no longer makes sense.

GMATNinja daagh
Dear Expert,
I have two doubts
a) Why can't "they" refer to NORTH AMERICAN CONSUMERS?
b) In option A isn't the phrase "they marketed pink clothes primarily to boys and blue clothes mainly to girls." an IC? In which case the usage of COMMA is incorrect.

Please help me in clearing the doubt.

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.