Professional baseball contracts have a standard provision the reserve

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION




Let's look at the origin of the construction
under which.
In jargon, this phrase is a
[preposition + which-clause],
or more generally,
a [preposition + adjective clause].
Everything that follows the second comma is an adjective that describes the noun reserve clause.

• Origin of the
preposition + which-clause

Sentence #1: Professional baseball contracts have a standard provision, the reserve clause.
Sentence #2: Under the reserve clause, the rights to a player are permanently retained by the team that originally hires him or acquires his contract.

Combined: Professional baseball contracts have a standard provision, the reserve clause, under which the rights to a player are permanently retained by the team that originally hires him or acquires his contract.

• Idiom?

Well, yes—but this idiom can be figured out by remembering the way that certain verbs in English behave or by using logic.

To recognize that option A is correct, it certainly helps if you have read The Economist and New York Times and Atlantic Monthly and Harvard Magazine.
(If you want a better verbal score, you have to read. Period.)

When we discuss provisions in a set of rules or regulations—including contracts, treaties, and protocols—we use the preposition under.
Correct: Under the terms of the nonproliferation treaty, both countries reduced their chemical weapons stockpiles by 95 percent.

You can read Oxford online dictionary's definition of under here; it contains good examples.

• Logic: if we go through the options, we find that the incorrect choices either violate crucial verb rules, are illogical, or are nonsensical

THE OPTIONS


• replace which with the reserve clause (I will add a comma so that you can focus on meaning):
. . . under the reserve clause, the rights to a player are permanently retained by the team that originally hires him or acquires his contract.

→ well, the preposition under might seem strange, but we cannot say that it is illogical
→ I suspect that you have seen phrases such as
-- under the guidance of
-- under the rules of
-- under the watchful eye of
-- under the auspices of
Maybe you have not seen any of these or similar phrases.
If so, keep an open mind. If you do not recognize a construction, get comfortable with not knowing and with letting other answers give you information.

If you are not certain about an option, after a few seconds, keep it and move on.

KEEP


• replace which with the reserve clause
→ . . . the reserve clause assures the rights to a player are permanently retained by the team that originally hires him or acquires his contract.
→ Careful. What does the reserve clause assure?
(1) The rights to a player are permanently retained . . . ???
OR
(2) THAT the rights to a player are permanently retained . . . ???
Answer: Number 2.

• Reporting verbs (say, admit) and mental process verbs (believe, know) are followed by a that-clause
→ assure is a reporting verb and should be followed by that

In informal speech, the word that is often dropped. On the GMAT, do not drop that.
• List of the most common verbs that are followed by a that-clause:
argue, assure, believe, claim, doubt, hold, indicate, predict, reveal, suggest, and think
ELIMINATE B


• that and reserve clause should not be separated by a comma
→ if that (an essential modifier of a noun) is separated from its noun, what comes in between the two is a short phrase, not simply a comma
→ We should be reading, "Professional baseball contracts have a standard provision, a reserve clause that assures that the rights to a player are permanently retained by the team. . . "
That sentence is awful (too many "thats") but correct.
That sentence is not our sentence. Our option B incorrectly contains a comma before that.
ELIMINATE C


• the rights to a player are retained FOR the reserve clause?
What, exactly, is this reserve clause going to do with these rights? (Answer: nothing. The thought is nonsensical.)
→ that sentence is not logical
ELIMINATE D


• as in option C, a noun modifying that-clause should not be preceded by a comma
• that needs a verb. The second half of the sentence is a fragment.
→ We have three subjects (that, rights, and that) but only two verbs
-- (1) that (rights are) ... (by the team that hires) ... VERB for the first that?

(2) . . . rights are permanently retained . . .

(3). . . by the team that originally hires him . . .

(1) lacks a verb
ELIMINATE E

The answer is A.
• By POE, the answer is A.

• If all five answers appear incorrect, choose the one with which you are least familiar.
That option is likely to be the correct answer.

• These items are certain and you must know them for the GMAT:

(1) That-clauses are essential to the noun and therefore are rarely separated from their noun at all—and never by a comma alone.

(2) That as a subject (a relative pronoun) requires its own verb

(3) Reporting verbs and mental-process verbs are followed by a that-clause

If we follow those rules, only option
A remains.

• get to know the preposition + which-clause:
→ He enjoys playing Mozart's piano concertos, of which there are many.
→ The company must label its hand-made fudge candies according to food safety regulations, under which all ingredients must be disclosed.
→ The U.S. Postmaster General removed hundreds of mail sorting machines just before election time in the midst of a raging pandemic, about which the administration had done very little.

tyildirim92 is correct: it is very common to see "under which" when you work with contracts.

But those contracts are largely driven by the needs of businesses.

At HLS, in my year-long Contracts class, I often glared (to no avail) at an enormous book called the Uniform Commercial Code, under which contracts of all kinds are governed.

Yes, GMAC tests this issue.

COMMENTS

kiranbhasker , welcome to SC Butler.

Although only three of these posts contain the correct answer, the way everyone is answering pleases me.
You are explaining or trying to explain.
Right idea.
Others who follow will be helped, either by discovering that others thought as they did or by discovering new ways to think about SC questions.
Kudos go to correct answers with explanations.

Professional baseball contracts have a standard provision, the reserve clause, under which the rights to a player are permanently retained by the team that originally hires him or acquires his contract.

A) under which
(The use of the preposition under is incorrect)

B) which assures
(Which modifies the noun 'the reserve clause' right before it. Seems alright, let's keep this)

C) that assures
(B is better. Also, that cannot be used after a comma)

D) for which
(Grammatically incorrect.)

E) that (same as C)

OA: B

Posted from my mobile device

Here,

The Reserve clause is a modifier which equates itself with standard provision.

"The standard provision,which assures makes more sense as compared to "that assures" as that is again repeated in the sentence.
Also,

That assures the rights to a player are permanently retained by the team that originally hires him or acquires his contract. - here that seems awkward

my answer would be B

Professional baseball contracts have a standard provision, the reserve clause, under which the rights to a player are permanently retained by the team that originally hires him or acquires his contract.

A) under which - Correct

B) which assures - Incorrect

C) that assures - Incorrect

D) for which - Incorrect

E) that - Incorrect

For Better Understanding let's put each of them in the original sentence.

A) Professional baseball contracts have a standard provision, the reserve clause, under which the rights to a player are permanently retained by the team that originally hires him or acquires his contract.
First of all, "under Which" is grammatically correct. In this case, "which" is not used for the reserve clause but rather for a standard provision.

Example: I abhor the conditions under which we commercially raise farm animals today.

B) Professional baseball contracts have a standard provision, the reserve clause, which assures the rights to a player are permanently retained by the team that originally hires him or acquires his contract.
There is two verbs i.e., assuers and are, So It's clearly violating the Subject-verb agreement.

C) Professional baseball contracts have a standard provision, the reserve clause, that assures the rights to a player are permanently retained by the team that originally hires him or acquires his contract.
Same as B

D) Professional baseball contracts have a standard provision, the reserve clause, for which the rights to a player are permanently retained by the team that originally hires him or acquires his contract.
"For" is creating meaning error.

E) Professional baseball contracts have a standard provision, the reserve clause, That the rights to a player are permanently retained by the team that originally hires him or acquires his contract.
Interesting Option, but Option A is more precise.

Correct Answer : A

Professional baseball contracts have a standard provision, the reserve clause, under which the rights to a player are permanently retained by the team that originally hires him or acquires his contract.

A) under which
"under which" is wrong. provision under which?

B) which assures
reserve clause is a non-essential modifier. If we remove this, sentence would read "... provision which assures ..." - incorrect.

C) that assures
Correct. Removing the NV modified, sentence would read "... provision that assures ..."

D) for which
Incorrect. Statement gets distorted.

E) that
Incorrect. Statement gets distorted.

Professional baseball contracts have a standard provision, the reserve clause, under which the rights to a player are permanently retained by the team that originally hires him or acquires his contract.

A) under which ----> under which starts the independent clause and two clause are perfectly connected. Looks good. Correct

B) which assures ----> "which assures"clause 2 has not been connected to clause 3 "the rights....his contract"

C) that assures ----> Same as B

D) for which ---> provision under which is correct. provision for which doesn't look good

E) that --> under which makes more sense than that.

Professional baseball contracts have a standard provision, the reserve clause, under which the rights to a player are permanently retained by the team that originally hires him or acquires his contract.

A) under which // correct

B) which assures // "assures" needs "that" after it. Otherwise, it is hard to read the sentence. Plus, GMAT requires "that" after "assures", i.e. If a clause follows a verb, "that" is required in between.

C) that assures // in general, there should not be a comma before "that" modifier. Plus, the same problem exists as in B.

D) for which // the meaning is distorted.

E) that // in general, there should not be a comma before "that" modifier. The meaning is distorted.

Footnote: I used to read contracts a lot because of my job requirements. "under which" is very common in contract statements.

Posted from my mobile device
_________________

The official explanation is here.

A) under which
THe meaning is perfect therefore let us hang on to it

B) which assures
what does it assure isn't absolutely sure therefore out

C) that assures
THe meaning isn't perfect therefore out

D) for which
THe meaning isn't perfect therefore out

E) that
that should be followed by a verb which is not the case here therefore out

THerefore IMO A