Bunuel
Based on accounts of his contemporaries, academicians have reconstructed a rough timeline of the life and career of William Shakespeare, who left behind virtually no firsthand accounts of his childhood in Stratford-upon-Avon or career in London.
(A) Based on accounts of his contemporaries
(B) Basing it on his contemporaries’ accounts
(C) With accounts of his contemporaries used for a basis
(D) Using accounts of his contemporaries
(E) By the account of his contemporaries they used
Experts' Global Official Explanation:Modifiers + Pronouns + Redundancy/AwkwardnessUnderstanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that the academicians used the accounts of Shakespeare’s contemporaries to reconstruct a rough timeline of his life and career.
• In the “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction.
A. Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses “based on accounts of his contemporaries” to modify “academicians”, illogically implying that the academicians are based on the accounts of his (Shakespeare’s) contemporaries; the intended meaning of the sentence is that the academicians used the accounts of Shakespeare’s contemporaries to reconstruct a rough timeline of his life and career.
B. This answer choice features a pronoun error, as the pronoun “it” has no clear referent.
C. This answer choice uses the needlessly wordy phrase “used for a basis”, leading to awkwardness.
D. Correct. This answer choice correctly uses “using accounts of his contemporaries” to modify “academicians have reconstructed” conveying the intended meaning of the sentence- that the academicians used the accounts of Shakespeare’s contemporaries to reconstruct a rough timeline of his life and career.
E. This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “by the account of his contemporaries they used”; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that the academicians used a singular account drawn from his (Shakespeare’s) contemporaries to reconstruct a rough timeline of his life and career; the intended meaning of this sentence is that the academicians used the accounts of Shakespeare’s contemporaries to reconstruct a rough timeline of his life and career.
D is the best answer choice.