Rivaling the pyramids of Egypt or even the ancient cities of the Maya as an achievement, the army of terra-cotta warriors created to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife is more than 2,000 years old and took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to complete . (A) the army of terra-cotta warriors created to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife is more than 2,000 years old and took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to complete (B) Qin Shi huang, China's first emperor, was protected in his afterlife by an army of terracotta warriors that was created more than 2,000 years ago by 700,000 artisans who took more than 36 years to complete it (C) it took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to create an army of terra-cotta warriors more than 2,000 years ago that would protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife (D) more than 2,000 years ago, 700,000 artisans worked more than 36 years to create an army of terra-cotta warriors to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife (E) more than 36 years were needed to complete the army of terra-cotta warriors that 700,000 artisans created 2,000 years ago to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife Note : GMAT revised the question from old revision. The Official Guide for GMAT Review 2015 Practice Question Question No.: SC 62 Page: 682 First Glance The very long underline signals likely Structure, Meaning, Modifier, or Parallelism issues. Issues (1) Modifier: rivaling the pyramids The original sentence begins with a modifier: rivaling the pyramids or the cities as achievement . The information is talking about something that has not yet been mentioned. What is rivaling the pyramids? The pyramids of Egypt are works of art. What else in the sentence is a work of art or can be described as an achievement? An army of terra-cotta warriors makes sense and should be placed right after comma, so the original sentence is fine. The other answers offer various other illogical options as the noun following the comma: (B) Qin Shi Huang (a person is not a work of art) (C) it (referring to how long the warriors look to make) (D) artisans (people are not works of art) (E) 36 years (a length of time is not a work of art) Eliminate answers (B), (C), (D), and (E) because each uses an illogical noun following the comma. (2) Meaning The sentence contains a lot of modifier; the placement of some modifiers in answers (B) and (C) confuse the meaning. In answer (B), the pronoun it refers to the army , so that the sentence reads: an army that was created by artisans who took 36 years to complete the army . This is an equivalent example: the cake that was created by the chef who spent 3 hours to make the cake. As though the second cake is a different cake! The sequence of modifiers in answer (C) is confusing: (C) to create an army of warriors more than 2,000 years ago that would protect Huang What happened more than 2,000 years ago ? The army was created. The warriors didn't just appear, nor were they protected 2,000 years ago. The modifier should more clearly point o the action that occurred more than 2,000 years ago . Further, the placement interrupts another noun and modifier pair: the warriors (more than 2,000 years ago) that would protect Qin Shi Huang . The two halves not in parentheses should be right next to each other; the warriors , not some years ago , are the ones who would protect Huang . Eliminate answers (B) and (C) for confusing modifier placement. The Correct Answer Correct answer (A) is the only one that completes the opening modifier structure correctly: rivaling the pyramids as an achievement, the army of warriors . Further, the placement of the many modifiers is logical. Annotation 2019-03-05 000020.jpg

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Rivaling the pyramids of Egypt or even the ancient cities of the Maya

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DrHuber

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28 May 2023, 05:12

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All of the options convey the essential information about the army of terra-cotta warriors created to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife. However, option (A) is the most concise and clear choice. It presents the information in a straightforward manner and maintains the logical flow of the sentence. Therefore, option (A) is the best answer:

(A) The army of terra-cotta warriors created to protect Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, in his afterlife is more than 2,000 years old and took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to complete.

waytowharton

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26 Jun 2023, 10:58

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KarishmaB madam - I understood that the answer is A basis the error in noun after ",". Only the army of terra-cotta warriors as in Option A makes sense with modifier rivaling.

However, I am unable to understand the parallelism in verbs is and took. Can you please explain this to me?

Sentence 1(Active) : the army of terra-cotta warriors is more than 2,000 years old
Sentence 2(Not sure whether it is active or passive) : the army of terra-cotta warriors took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to complete.

Q1 - Isn't the subject different in Sentence 1 and 2? In sentence 1 subject is Army where as in sentence 2 it is either 7000 artisans or to complete the army.
Q2 - Is sentence 2 in active or passive voice?

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27 Jun 2023, 06:09

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Quote:

However, I am unable to understand the parallelism in verbs is and took.

After cutting some fluff:

Rivaling the pyramids, the army of terra-cotta warriors...

-IS more than 2000 years old
(and)
-TOOK 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to complete

Basically, these are two things that describe the army of terra-cotta warriors.

Similar example:

This house is 10 years old and took a dozen people to build.

KarishmaB

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27 Jun 2023, 07:55

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waytowharton

It is a common structure:

The book took 2 years to write.
(tells us that the book needed 2 years to get written)

The project took me a month to complete.
(the project needed a month)

The book and the project are the subjects. They are the objects of the activity but they act as subjects in these sentences.

Similarly, the army is old and {the army} took 7000 artisans 36 years to complete.