Published in a multivolume work regarded as a magnificent piece of vis

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION



THE PROMPT

• Meaning?
-- Meaning is a little hard to sort out from option A alone, so "cherry pick" the important bits:
• a magnificent book,
• some guy named Edward S. Curtis "had taken" ("took"?) 40,000 photographs of American Indians, and
• a time period of about 30 years.

Those are the parts.
When meaning is hard to parse from the prompt, if you have not yet learned to glean meaning as you go through options, an approach
I am thinking that I may need to teach, then try to rearrange these parts logically.
Someone did something for 30 years and his work was published:
For about 30 years, Edward S. Curtis took more than 40,000 pictures of American Indians that were published in "a multivolume work (books) regarded as [] magnificent."

As a matter of logic, whether the work was magnificent doesn't matter. I included the phrase in order to avoid confusing people about method, but I would have thought or written in shorthand, "huge book published."

• Modifiers

Whenever you see long sentences, start looking for modifier errors.
The most heavily tested modifiers on the GMAT are noun modifiers.

The Modifier "Touch Rule" states that a noun modifier should be as close as possible to its noun and ideally should "touch" (be placed right next to) the noun.
Modifiers whose nouns are too far away are called "misplaced modifiers" or "dangling modifiers": their noun is too far away.

THE OPTIONS

• what was published in a highly regarded multivolume work?
Not Edward S. Curtis. That noun modifier mistake is fatal.

• Published, a past participle (a verbED), anchors the introductory statement.
Past participles must modify the subject of the subsequent clause, which almost always comes right after the comma.

I wrote a post about what six kinds of introductory statements must modify, including statements that are anchored by a past participle.
You can find that post here.

• In English, past participles frequently are identical to the simple past tense of the verb.
-- File this one (try to remember this pattern): Past tense verbs almost never begin a sentence. When a verb precedes a subject and thus the sentence is inverted, simple past tense verbs sound ridiculous.
I am trying to think of an example of such a sentence and I cannot do so.

→ Hence a verbED word at the front of the sentence is almost certainly a past participle and an adjective that describes a noun
→ Once again, a past tense verb is unlikely to precede a subject. Inversion of subject and verb in that case is rare.
→ takeaway: if you see ______ED as the first word, assume that it is a participle and an adjective. Then investigate whether the introductory statement modifies the correct noun.

• Verb tense is odd: we do not need had made.
-- Past perfect is used to speak about the earlier of two actions in the past but
(1) we have no simple past tense verb or time marker to "mark off" the later-in-time past event, although
(2) the logic of the sentence makes it clear that Curtis "had made" the photographs before the photos were published
• this option also nonsensically suggests that the American Indian began before the turn of the century and continued for thirty years.
ELIMINATE A


• I see no issues
• what or who began before the turn of the century and continued for 30 years? Edward S. Curtis. During that time period, he immortalized American Indians by photographing them. The introductory modifier phrase works correctly.
• the rest of the sentence seems fine
KEEP B


• the plural subject photographs does not match the singular verb was
• the passive voice weakens this sentence (but the S/V error is fatal)
ELIMINATE C


• what or who made the photographs?
• Option D nonsensically suggests that the the multi-volume work was the thing that created more than 40,000 photographs.
Modifier error.
• this next bit is connected to style: it is very rare to see two ____ING (such as the way that having and beginning phrases are back on the market.
back to back.
ELIMINATE D


• I don't like this passive voice. Compare to (B), which is better.
• this phrase, starting before the turn of the century and continuing for some thirty years seems "tacked on" to the sentence.
-- it's true that adverbs and adverb phrases are freer to "move" around a sentence, but Curtis took photographs for 30 years.
. . . starting before the turn of the century and continuing for some thirty years should be closer to "made more than 40,000 photographs"
• just as in (A), the verb tense had made is not needed. If possible, GMAT prefers simple present.
• Not as good as option B
ELIMINATE E

The best answer is B


NOTES

Option A is confusing.
I know that a couple of test prep companies teach you to understand the meaning of the sentence before you review answer choices.
I don't agree with that approach.
If Option A sounds like babble to you, I advise you to keep it and move on.
The other options will help you sort out the meaning.

My first rule in SC is don't get stuck.
If I cannot eliminate an option by the time I am finished reading it, I keep it and move on.
(The second rule in SC is eliminate the four most incorrect answers. Do not look for the one best answer.)

COMMENTS

I am impressed.
These answers range from very good to outstanding.

Very nicely done! Happy kudos.