Karl Marx divided society into two broad classes, the bourge

Question

Karl Marx divided society into two broad classes, the bourgeoisie and the  proletariat; the latter of which, he wrote, was free from the danger of moral decay due to their lack of  material property.

A)proletariat; the latter of which, he wrote, was free from the danger of moral decay due to their lack of
B)proletariat, which, he wrote, were free from the danger of moral decay due to their lack of
C)proletariat; the latter, he wrote, was free from the danger of moral decay because of its lack of
D)proletariat, the latter of which he wrote were free from the danger of moral decay because of lacking
E)proletariat, the latter being free, he wrote, from the danger of moral decay because of lacking

mikemcgarry · Answer

I'm happy to help with this. :-)

Split #1 : subject-verb agreement. The " proletariat " is a collective noun --- while it has many members, it is construed as singular and demands a singular verb. This word, and any pronoun representing it, must be singular. Similarly, any pronoun representing it must be the singular " it ", not the plural " they ". Choices (B) & (D) make agreement errors, so they are out. Split #2 : independent vs. subordinate clauses & punctuation Two clauses separated by a semicolon must both be independent. Choice (A) among other difficulties, has (C) correctly has two independent clauses separated by a semicolon. Choice (E) takes a different strategy --- an absolute phrase, which of course is separated by commas from the independent clause. For more on absolute phrases, see: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/absolute-p ... -the-gmat/ In principle, an absolute phrase is a relatively sophisticated structure that can communicate certain complex ideas with considerable elegance. Usually, though, they are used to common on a clause as a whole, not on one noun, as is the case here. Furthermore, it is very hard to imagine that an absolute phrase with the participle "being" would ever be correct on the GMAT. For all these reasons, (E) is not acceptable. Choice (C) is error-free, direct, clear, and elegant. It is the only possible answer. Mike :-)

fameatop · Answer

Karl Marx divided society into two broad classes, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat; the latter of which, he wrote, was free from the danger of moral decay due to their lack of material property.

A)proletariat; the latter of which, he wrote, was free from the danger of moral decay due to their lack of
The two classes are Collective nouns, so singular verb or pronoun must be used. Thus Incorrect

B)proletariat, which, he wrote, were free from the danger of moral decay due to their lack of
The two classes are Collective nouns, so singular verb or pronoun must be used. Thus Incorrect

C)proletariat; the latter, he wrote, was free from the danger of moral decay because of its lack of
CORRECT

D)proletariat, the latter of which he wrote were free from the danger of moral decay because of lacking
The two classes are Collective nouns, so singular verb or pronoun must be used. It changes the meaning by conveying that Karl Marx wrote "proletariat" himself. Thus Incorrect

E)proletariat, the latter being free, he wrote, from the danger of moral decay because of lacking
Use of LACKING (A gerund) distorts the intended meaning as it means "Lacking material property" is a property itself. INcorrect

As always a SUPERB explanation by Mike :-D

nt2010 · Answer

IMO answer is C

This question tests punctuations, usage of due to, because of phrases and subject verb agreement.

A, B, D are out because of subject verb dis-agreement -  were  and  their  when mentioning collective noun - proletariat, which is singular.

E - since the statement describes about Karl Marx view of society, a simple past is better than  being . Also because of is followed by a verbing modifier ( lacking ) rather than a pronoun as in C.

blueseas · Answer

HERE IS THE OE

For a semicolon to be properly used, the parts of the sentence before and after it must both be independent clauses (i.e., each of them can stand alone as a sentence). In this sentence, the part following the semicolon (starting with “the latter of which”) is a relative clause, not an independent clause. Also, the plural pronoun their cannot refer to the singular noun proletariat. We know that proletariat is singular, because it is the subject of the singular verb was. Finally, the construction due to is incorrectly used. This construction implies that either the moral decay or the danger of moral decay resulted from (was due to) the proletariat's lack of material property. What the author intends to say is that this lack of material property was the reason for which the proletariat was free of such danger.

(A) This choice is incorrect, as it repeats the original sentence.
 
(B) The plural verb were and the plural pronoun their refer, by default, to both of the social classes mentioned in the sentence. Therefore, this sentence, while grammatically correct, has the wrong meaning; it wrongly states that, according to Marx, both the proletariat and the bourgeoisie were free from the danger of moral decay. This choice also uses the construction due to incorrectly.
 
(C) CORRECT. This sentence uses a semicolon properly: the parts of the sentence before and after the semicolon are both independent clauses (i.e., complete sentence in their own right). The parenthetical he wrote is properly used to indicate that a stated opinion was included in Marx’s writing. The verb was and the pronoun its are both singular, in agreement with the singular noun proletariat.
 
(D) The plural verb were does not agree with the singular subject proletariat. The construction because of lacking is unidiomatic. The phrase he wrote should also be separated by commas.
 
(E) The use of being for characterization, as in this sentence, is unidiomatic. The construction because of lacking is unidiomatic.
 
The correct answer is C.

PrateekDua · Answer

The answer will be "C".

Options "A" and "B" are wrong for the same reason:- The usage of "their lack of" because "the proletariat" is singular.

Option "D" used "were" and option "E" used "being" which make them wrong.

sanjeet7788 · Answer

Hi

i would like to discuss this question..........i got it wrong in one of the simulation tests but i am not convinced why my answer is wrong

Karl Marx divided society into two broad classes, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat; the latter of which, he wrote, was free from the danger of moral decay due to their lack of material property.
 1. proletariat; the latter of which, he wrote, was free from the danger of moral decay due to their lack of
 2. proletariat, which, he wrote, were free from the danger of moral decay due to their lack of
 3. proletariat; the latter, he wrote, was free from the danger of moral decay because of its lack of
 4. proletariat, the latter of which he wrote were free from the danger of moral decay because of lacking
 5. proletariat, the latter being free, he wrote, from the danger of moral decay because of lacking

Kurtosis · Answer

Topic Merged. Please refer to the above discussions.

jaisonsunny77 · Answer

Karl Marx divided society into two broad classes, the bourgeoisie and the  proletariat; the latter of which, he wrote, was free from the danger of moral decay due to their lack of  material property.

A)proletariat; the latter of which, he wrote, was free from the danger of moral decay due to  their  lack of - here, there is no logical antecedent to 'their'. Besides, the two broad classes (highlighted in the prompt) are collective nouns; collective nouns are treated as singular nouns. since 'their' ( a plural pronoun in the subjective form) is trying to refer to one of the two broad classes (a singular noun), (A) is incorrect.

B)proletariat, which, he wrote,  were  free from the danger of moral decay due to  their   lack of - the singular subject cannot be matched by a plural verb(s). Hence, Eliminate (B).

C)proletariat; the latter, he wrote, was free from the danger of moral decay because of its lack of - neat and concise. the subject-verb agreement is correct. hence,  (C) is the right answer.

D)proletariat, the latter of which he wrote  were   free from the danger of moral decay because of lacking - were is plural, but the subject it intends to modify is singular. Hence, eliminate (D)

E)proletariat, the latter being free, he wrote, from the danger of moral decay because of lacking - A super awkward answer choice. Eliminate (E)

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Karl Marx divided society into two broad classes, the bourge

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Karl Marx divided society into two broad classes, the bourge

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