Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
Bunuel wrote:
Self-compassion is made up of mindfulness, the ability to manage thoughts and emotions without being carried away or repressing them, common humanity, or empathy with the suffering of others, and self-kindness, a recognition of your own suffering and a commitment to solving the problem.
(A) away or repressing them, common humanity, or empathy with the suffering of others,
(B) away, or repression of them, and common humanity, or empathy with the suffering of others,
(C) away, or repressing them, common humanity, empathy with the suffering of others;
(D) away or repressing them; common humanity, an empathy with the suffering of others;
(E) away or repress them; common humanity, to empathize with the suffering of others
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OG2020 NEW QUESTION
Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of the crucial part of this sentence is that mindfulness is the ability to manage thoughts and emotions without being carried away or repressing them, and common humanity is an empathy with the suffering of others.
Concepts tested here: Meaning + Modifiers + Parallelism + Grammatical Construction + Awkwardness/Redundancy• Any elements linked by conjunction (“or” in this case) must be parallel.
• Semicolons are used to join the elements of a compound list – a list whose individual elements also contain commas.
• If a list contains only two elements, they must be joined by a conjunction; the "comma + and construction" (oxford comma) is used for the last element in a list of three or more elements.
• In a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction.
A: This answer choice incorrectly uses commas to join the elements of a compound list; remember, semicolons are used to join the elements of a compound list – a list whose individual elements also contain commas. Further, Option A uses the needlessly wordy phrase “or empathy with the suffering of others”, leading to awkwardness and redundancy; this usage is redundant, as “or” can be deleted without a loss of clarity.
B: This answer choice fails to maintain parallelism between “being carried away” and “repression of them”; remember, any elements linked by conjunction (“or” in this case) must be parallel. Further, Option B incorrectly uses the “comma + conjunction (“or” in this case)” construction to join two elements in a list - “being evasive” and "repression" of them”; remember, if a list has only two elements, they must be joined with a conjunction. Further, Option B incorrectly uses the “comma + conjunction (“and” in this case)” construction to link the first and second elements in a list of three elements – “mindfulness…common humanity...and self-kindness”; remember, the "comma + and construction" (oxford comma) is used for the last element in a list of three or more elements, and commas are used to join the other elements. Additionally, Option B incorrectly uses commas to join the elements of a compound list; remember, semicolons are used to join the elements of a compound list – a list whose individual elements also contain commas. Besides, Option B uses the needlessly wordy phrase “or empathy with the suffering of others”, leading to awkwardness and redundancy; this usage is redundant, as “or” can be deleted without a loss of clarity.
C: This answer choice incorrectly uses the “comma + conjunction (“or” in this case)” construction to join two elements in a list - “being carried away” and “repressing them”; remember, if a list has only two elements, they must be joined with a conjunction. Further, Option C incorrectly uses a comma to join two elements in a compound list; remember, semicolons are used to join the elements of a compound list – a list whose individual elements also contain commas.
D: Correct. This answer choice uses the phrase “repressing them”, conveying the intended meaning – that mindfulness is the ability to manage thoughts and emotions without being carried away or repressing them. Moreover, Option D correctly modifies “common humanity” with the appositive phrase “an empathy with the suffering of others”, conveying the intended meaning – that common humanity is an empathy with the suffering of others. Further, Option D correctly uses semicolons to join the elements of a compound list - a list whose individual elements also contain commas. Additionally, Option D correctly uses conjunction (“or” in this case) to join two elements in a list - “being carried away” and “repressing them”, maintaining parallelism between the elements linked by the conjunction. Moreover, Option D correctly uses a comma to link the first and second elements in a list of three elements – “mindfulness…common humanity...and self-kindness”. Besides, Option D is free of awkwardness or redundancy.
E: This answer choice incorrectly modifies “common humanity” with the infinitive verb form (“to + base form of verb” – “to + empathize” in this sentence), leading to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that common humanity is an empathy with the suffering of others; remember, in a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Moreover, Option E further alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “repress them”; the construction of this phrase produces an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that mindfulness is the ability to manage thoughts and emotions without being carried away or repressing them.
Hence, D is the best answer choice.To understand the concept of "Phrase Comma Subject" and "Subject Comma Phrase" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
To understand the use of punctuations on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~10 minutes):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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