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Harley1980
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This question hinges on one major point and one fine point.

1. Major point --- Whether we use ‘have to’ or ‘have had’ to as the verb for those who oppose the thesis?
2. fine point ---Which is the appropriate transitional conjunction we have to use, yet or whereas?]

First thing is that ‘have to’ is inappropriate unless it is a daily chore or a universal point.

For a debate that started sometime ago and that which still continues, ‘have had to’ is the apt verb; so, B C and E can be dumped instantly.

Between A and D, I would reckon there is no forthright contrast implied in the passage by the author. He seems to express that while this is A’s point, this is B’s point. This is more indicative. So, A using ‘yet’ is a shade more preferable to choice D using ‘whereas’. But this is my personal proposition; I am keen to know the official version;
Magoosh’s questions in the forum seem to be getting finer and finer


Appreciate your analysis but I think the use of THAT after those is incorrect in D ;So A is anytime better.
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Harley1980
Proponents of the school of thought positing that the Americas were peopled more than 15,000 years ago by a group forced to traverse thousands of miles of ice fields have themselves had to overcome obstacles in trying to account for such an improbable journey, yet those who argue that such a trek was indeed impossible and thus the first peopling of the Americas happened much later have had to account for the presence of artifacts in southern Chile that indicate that the New World was inhabited over 15,000 years ago.

A) in trying to account for such an improbable journey, yet those who argue that such a trek was indeed impossible and thus the first peopling of the Americas happened much later have had to
B) by trying to account for such an improbable journey, yet those who argue such a trek was indeed impossible and thus the first peopling of the Americas happened much later have to
C) in trying to account for such an improbable journey, whereas those arguing that such a trek was indeed impossible and that the first peopling of the Americas happened much later have themselves to
D) in trying to account for such an improbable journey, whereas those that argue that such a trek was indeed impossible and the first peopling of the Americas happened much later have had to
E) by trying to account for such an improbable journey, yet those arguing that such a trek was indeed impossible and thus that the first peopling of the Americas happened much later, they have to

Can someone please explain why is C wrong?

1) Eliminated B and E as it should be "in trying to account"

2) Eliminated D as there should be parallelism in argue THAT..... and THAT the first peopling

3) Between A and C why is A better?

Appreciate an explanation. Thanks!
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this question is indeed interesting. The first time I read the original question, it took me around 45 second to comprehend and map out the position of main subjects and main verbs.

Next, I notice the tense "have had", so only A and D are left; other option choices do not parallel with the tense.
D changes the meaning b/c of "whereas" vs "yet", and "and" vs "and thus"
"and" vs "and thus" -> the original sentence has causal relaitonship
"whereas" indicates a contrast while "yet" just introduces another clause.
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Proponents ..Have had to.. should be parallel to Opponents have had to...

A and D are left.
2nd split.
Those who is right Not Those that..
So A is left out.
I think Answer is A.
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Harley1980
Proponents of the school of thought positing that the Americas were peopled more than 15,000 years ago by a group forced to traverse thousands of miles of ice fields have themselves had to overcome obstacles in trying to account for such an improbable journey, yet those who argue that such a trek was indeed impossible and thus the first peopling of the Americas happened much later have had to account for the presence of artifacts in southern Chile that indicate that the New World was inhabited over 15,000 years ago.

A) in trying to account for such an improbable journey, yet those who argue that such a trek was indeed impossible and thus the first peopling of the Americas happened much later have had to
B) by trying to account for such an improbable journey, yet those who argue such a trek was indeed impossible and thus the first peopling of the Americas happened much later have to
C) in trying to account for such an improbable journey, whereas those arguing that such a trek was indeed impossible and that the first peopling of the Americas happened much later have themselves to
D) in trying to account for such an improbable journey, whereas those that argue that such a trek was indeed impossible and the first peopling of the Americas happened much later have had to
E) by trying to account for such an improbable journey, yet those arguing that such a trek was indeed impossible and thus that the first peopling of the Americas happened much later, they have to

Can someone please explain why is C wrong?

1) Eliminated B and E as it should be "in trying to account"

2) Eliminated D as there should be parallelism in argue THAT..... and THAT the first peopling

3) Between A and C why is A better?

Appreciate an explanation. Thanks!

I'm happy to help.

In my understanding, C is incorrect because it joins the two cause and effect phrases with the "and" conjunction:
such a trek was indeed impossible and that the first peopling of the Americas happened much later

The correct formation will be the one that joins these two phrases with a "thus", instead.
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Hello.

Shouldn't choice A) have an additional "THAT" after "thus"?

A) yet those who argue that such a trek was indeed impossible and thus THAT the first peopling of the Americas happened much later have had to account for

I mistakenly discarded A for this sole reason.
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juri01m
Hello.

Shouldn't choice A) have an additional "THAT" after "thus"?

A) yet those who argue that such a trek was indeed impossible and thus THAT the first peopling of the Americas happened much later have had to account for

I mistakenly discarded A for this sole reason.

Hello juri01m,

We hope this finds you well.

To clarify, the usage of the second "that" is not incorrect, but it is not needed either; the first "that" is common to both of the following clauses.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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juri01m
Hello.

Shouldn't choice A) have an additional "THAT" after "thus"?

A) yet those who argue that such a trek was indeed impossible and thus THAT the first peopling of the Americas happened much later have had to account for

I mistakenly discarded A for this sole reason.

Hello juri01m,

We hope this finds you well.

To clarify, the usage of the second "that" is not incorrect, but it is not needed either; the first "that" is common to both of the following clauses.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Thank you so much! I had this doubt and your explanation really clarified it for me :)
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Harley1980
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Proponents of the school of thought positing that the Americas were peopled more than 15,000 years ago by a group forced to traverse thousands of miles of ice fields have themselves had to overcome obstacles in trying to account for such an improbable journey, yet those who argue that such a trek was indeed impossible and thus the first peopling of the Americas happened much later have had to account for the presence of artifacts in southern Chile that indicate that the New World was inhabited over 15,000 years ago.

A) in trying to account for such an improbable journey, yet those who argue that such a trek was indeed impossible and thus the first peopling of the Americas happened much later have had to
B) by trying to account for such an improbable journey, yet those who argue such a trek was indeed impossible and thus the first peopling of the Americas happened much later have to
C) in trying to account for such an improbable journey, whereas those arguing that such a trek was indeed impossible and that the first peopling of the Americas happened much later have themselves to
D) in trying to account for such an improbable journey, whereas those that argue that such a trek was indeed impossible and the first peopling of the Americas happened much later have had to
E) by trying to account for such an improbable journey, yet those arguing that such a trek was indeed impossible and thus that the first peopling of the Americas happened much later, they have to

OE from Magoosh

This question has many words, but eliminating the wrong answers shouldn’t be as difficult as in other questions. First off, we have the 3:2 split of “by trying to account” and “in trying to account”.

“By trying” implies that the proponents started to overcome the obstacles by trying to account for such an improbable journey. But that’s the very obstacle these scholar face: trying to account for this improbable journey. Eliminate (B) and (E).

Next, (C) creates a funky meaning by saying “have themselves to account for”. They are not accounting for themselves in any respect. Rather, they themselves have had “to account for the presence of artifacts.”

(D) uses the “those that”. It should be those who”, since we are talking about people.

Answer is A

D also does not have "thus" (in addition to the flaws you pointed out). "Thus" or "therefore" or similar conjunction is important in this scenario, because it explains - such a trek was indeed impossible which is why (= thus) peopling of the Americas happened late.
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