While most of the earliest known ball courts in Mesoamerica date to 90

I'd still argue that the "balls... and representations of players" are much better evidence for "the fact that the Mesoamerican ballgame was well established" than "the finding of balls..." and "the painting of representations..." It's the balls and representations that provide the actual evidence -- not the fact that they were found and painted.

But you know what? I also made (D) much harder than it needed to be! As Sahil01 pointed out, "the finding... and the painting... attests" is totally wrong in (D). So I'd argue that my rant about meaning is still correct... but it's an unnecessarily painful and inefficient way to eliminate (D). Oops.

-10 kudos points for me!

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of this sentence is that waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attest to the fact that the Mesoamerican ballgame was well established by the mid-thirteenth century b.c.

Concepts tested here: Subject-Verb Agreement + Meaning

A: Correct. This answer choice correctly refers to the plural noun phrase "waterlogged latex balls...and representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics" with the plural verb "attest". Further, Option A uses the phrase "waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attest", conveying the intended meaning - that waterlogged latex balls and representations of ballplayers that were painted on ceramics attest to the fact that the Mesoamerican ballgame was well established by the mid-thirteenth century b.c.

B: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun phrase "waterlogged latex balls...and the painting..." with the singular verb "attests"; please remember, two singular elements joined by "and" function as a single plural noun phrase. Further, Option B alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "the painting of representations of ballplayers"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the act of painting representations of ballplayers on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attests to the fact that the Mesoamerican ballgame was well established by the mid-thirteenth century b.c; the intended meaning is that the ceramics found at San Lorenzo were painted with representations of ballplayers and the representations attest to the fact that the Mesoamerican ballgame was well established by the mid-thirteenth century b.c.

C: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun phrase "waterlogged latex balls...and the ceramics..." with the singular verb "attests"; please remember, two singular elements joined by "and" function as a single plural noun phrase.

D: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun phrase "the finding...and the painting..." with the singular verb "attests"; please remember, two singular elements joined by "and" function as a single plural noun phrase. Further, Option D alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "the finding...and the painting..."; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the act of finding waterlogged latex balls at El Manati and the act of painting representations of ballplayers on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attest to the fact that the Mesoamerican ballgame was well established by the mid-thirteenth century b.c; the intended meaning is that the waterlogged latex balls and the representations themselves attest to the fact that the Mesoamerican ballgame was well established by the mid-thirteenth century b.c.

E: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun "the finding" with the plural verb "attest". Further, Option E alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "the finding of"; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the act of finding waterlogged latex balls at El Manati and representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics at San Lorenzo attest to the fact that the Mesoamerican ballgame was well established by the mid-thirteenth century b.c; the intended meaning is that the waterlogged latex balls and the representations themselves attest to the fact that the Mesoamerican ballgame was well established by the mid-thirteenth century b.c.

Hence, A is the best answer choice.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

The sentence is correct as is.
The two items of the list, waterlogged latex balls.... and representations of ballplayers..... Attest(Plural verb)

In Option B,C and D, the singular verb 'attests' makes the answer choices incorrect.

The other option E, which uses plural verb has an imperfect list(items in the list are not grammatically parallel) and has awkward formation.

Between A and E, I chose E.
Can someone please explain why E is wrong? Is it just because of concision?
I did not fully understood that in E, two phrases are not grammatically parallel as mentioned by @pusphitkc

Eliminating option D took a while. Besides D being wordier than A, is there any thing else in D which renders it incorrect?

Hi GMATNinja,
My query is regarding option D.
Does not attest means : to provide evidence of .. ?
As per my understanding, findings make more sense than waterlogged balls.
Can you please elaborate what I missed?
WR,
Arpit.

While most of the earliest known ball courts in Mesoamerica date to 900–400 b.c., waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attest to the fact that the Mesoamerican ballgame was well established by the mid-thirteenth century b.c.

(A) waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attest
(B) waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and the painting of representations of ballplayers on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attests
(C) waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and ceramics painted with representations of ballplayers found at San Lorenzo attests
(D) the finding of waterlogged latex balls at El Manati and the painting of representations of ballplayers on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attests
(E) the finding of waterlogged latex balls at El Manati and of representations of ballplayers painted on ceramics at San Lorenzo attest

B, C, D -> out as "attests" does not work with plural subjects "waterlogged latex.." + "ceramics painted..."
E -> eliminated because "attest" does not work with subject "finding"
A -> therefore is CORRECT

Gmat is a test for managers (or future managers), in which you have to use logic and leverage your time at the best and in the most efficient way.

Conclusion: why you must spend millions of years to eviscerate a question, in which using the split singular/plural you boil down the answer choices between A and E, and as a consequence E is really bad, and from this A is the best. All this process in 25 seconds and move one the next question and level of difficulty...

This is the meaning of the test indeed. Keep in mind.

GMATNinja I am ready being stoned to death for what I said ......

Lol, I'm staying out of this!

Hello GMATNinja and @e-gmat

If the verb in both these options was 'attest', then which option would be correct?

(B) waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and the painting of representations of ballplayers on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attests
(C) waterlogged latex balls found at El Manati and ceramics painted with representations of ballplayers found at San Lorenzo attests

Both would be correct - the meaning implied in the first case would be that the "painting" attests and in the second would be that the "ceramics" attest. Both these meanings make sense.

Note: The hypothetical subjunctive of verb "to be" is "were", NOT "was". Thus your sentence should be: If the verb in both these options was WERE 'attest'....

Hi,

Could you please explain what is wrong with E?
findings can attest if the balls can since both are inanimate..."E" is pefectly grammatical.

Since its OG ques I am definitely missing something. Kindly throw some light on what I am mis-interpreting.

Regards

The finding - Singular Subject
Attest - Plural Verb
So we have a Subject Verb disagreement in the sentence.

Hi @gmatninja, Experts,

I believe that options B and D can also be discarded as they change the meaning.

They imply that a single painting was found. Moreover, it is unclear if the painting was "on ceramics" or the painting was of "representation of ballplayers on ceramics".

Please confirm if this understanding is correct

Hello kunal1608,

I will be glad to help you out with this one.

Yes, the meaning issue that you have identified in Choice B and D is correct.

Well done there. Keep up the good job.


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

Hi,
Am not clear on why D is wrong ?
(D) the finding of waterlogged latex balls at El Manati and the painting of representations of ballplayers on ceramics found at San Lorenzo attests

the finding is singular so does the verb "attests"

D may not be excluded just on a simplistic view that it is not concise. There is more stylistic as well as unclear grammar about it than what meets the eye.
One could imply a few things about D as below

1. " The finding of the ball and the painting" "--- When we refer to some nouns generically, it is a good style to use plurals. Else, we may suffer inadvertently from referencing any particular event of a phenomenon because no one draws judgments from singular occurrences. They are deduced from several evidences. Maybe ---the finding or the painting -- is not as appropriate as its plural.
2."The finding of" as singular subject at the beginning is redundant with the participle found at the rear part.
3. Structurally, the finding of --- waterlogged latex balls and the painting of representations found --- is not parallel. One may note that they are two different phenomena at two different locations and cannot be grouped in a single observation. In contrast, one can see how neatly the parallelism has been espoused in A.