Seeming to be the only organization fighting for the rights of poor

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-


Choice A: In this answer choice, the first clause incorrectly refers to "Hosea Hudson"; resultantly, the sentence implies that he was the organization. As this meaning is quite illogical, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice B: This answer choice displays the same meaning-related error seen in Option A. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice C: This answer choice displays the same meaning-related error seen in Options A and C. Furthermore, this answer choice displays subject-verb disagreement between the pronoun "they" and the collective noun "organization". Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice D: This answer choice incorrectly utilizes the word "since" as subordinate conjunction; "since" can only be used as a proposition. Thus, this answer choice is incorrect.

Choice E: This answer choice conveys the intended meaning of the sentence, maintains the subject-verb agreement, and makes proper use of the word "because". Thus, this answer choice is correct.

Hence, E is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Collective, Countable, and Uncountable Nouns on GMAT" you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

generis aragonn GMATNinja egmat VeritasKarishma

Can you validate my approach and PoE?

This sentence presents a few facts about a person: Hosea Hudson
He was a laborer in Alabama and joined the Communist party in 1931.
He fought for the rights of poor people in the South as an organization would do.

Discarded since found very wordy.

Correct usage of as while performing function of a role.
E.g. As a professor of mathematics, Mr. Roy was very witty.
AS can be used as a role to depict something else and can refer to noun.
In all other circumstances, as is followed by clause and not noun while comparing.

Incorrect pronoun = they. We need singular pronoun it to refer to: Hosea Hudson

Since and because are causal words and I do not see any causal relationship here. Discarded.

adkikani - When you are saying B, what actions you are comparing ?

aragonn


One of the usage of As is to present role/ function.
I mentioned earlier that as is used as a role (see below example)
As an elder sister, Ramya takes care of her siblings very well.

actions - usually verbs
role/function - usually nouns.

When used to denote as for presenting a role/function, it can only be followed by noun (organization in OG Q).
Let me know if my understanding is correct.

adkikani , I think aragonn 's suggestion to examine which "actions" you were comparing
is a hint that is not confined only to the literal sense of "action."

Think about the action or receipt of action that involves clauses, phrases, and nouns in the sentence.

adkikani - P.S. , yes, you are correct that AS in this question refers to a role or function.

IMO E
Seeming to be the only organization fighting for the rights of poor people in the South, Hosea Hudson, a laborer in Alabama, joined the Communist party in 1931.

The opening modifier "seeming to be the" should modify an organization but in the original sentence, it illogically modifies a person Hosea Hudson

(A) Seeming to be .. Wrong for stated reason
(B) As. Same mistake repeated as in A. As the only organization illogically refers to Hosea Hudson.
(C) In that they seemed . They can't have a clear antecedent because we have 2 nouns Hosea Hudson and The communist party both can't take plural pronoun.
(D) Since it seemed . Instead of since because is better to indicate the reason for joining Communist party
(E) Because it seemed to be Because clearly gives the reason why Hosea Hudson joined the communist party. It refers to the communist party

Correct me if I am wrong.

Seeming to be the only organization fighting for the rights of poor people in the South, Hosea Hudson, a laborer in Alabama, joined the Communist party in 1931.

(A) Seeming to be
This seems to be modifying HH-- Incorrect

(B) As
Same problem as B, modifying HH--Incorrect

(C) In that they seemed
They for an organization/party is incorrect

(D) Since it seemed
Not very clear on this but I prefer "seemed to be" --Incorrect

(E) Because it seemed to be
Correct

aragonn thank you for the question

Seeming to be the only organization fighting for the rights of poor people in the South, Hosea Hudson, a laborer in Alabama, joined the Communist party in 1931.
meaning : the communist party seemed to be the only organisation fighting for something. SO HH joined the organisation.

Erros : the original modifier should modify the "communist party" , as Hosea cannot be an organisation
eliminate A B

(C) In that they seemed - "they" has no antecedent.

(D) Since it seemed - when you are not sure about the idiom "seem to be VS seems X " ...substitute the pronoun before it and then read
"since communist party seemed the only organisation" ... the communist party did not by itself seem anything . The party resembles something , that it is the only party doing something" ... as we are judging from the point of view of Hosea , so something will (for her) seem to be something.

(E) Because it seemed to be- CORRECT
" Hosea joined communist party ,because it(party) seemed to be the only party....."

Seeming to be the only organization fighting for the rights of poor people in the South, Hosea Hudson, a laborer in Alabama, joined the Communist party in 1931.

(A) Seeming to be -- Modifier error. This option suggests that Hosea Hudson is an Organization which is wrong.
(B) As -- Same Modifier error as in option A
(C) In that they seemed -- pronoun error.what is they referring to?
(D) Since it seemed -- connecting verb is missing
(E) Because it seemed to be -- correct choice

IMO E is the answer.

adkikani & generis

https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/18/archives/the-onliest-ones-hudson.html

Hosea Hudson, a black laborer in Birmingham, Ala., joined the party in 1931, because it seemed to be the only organization fighting for the rights of black people in the South.

Let's apply reversal construction
than A,B and C can be easily rejected Cause and effect
Left with D and E
E is better construction.

Between D and E, D can be rejected also because Since is used with actions e.g. Since 1965 and Because is used to reason.

For those who think that the writings in celebrity media such as 'NY times" are linguistic god spells, here is an eye-opener. The cited sentence still cannot stand up to the rigors of GMAT Sentence correction primarily because of the basic goof up that the pronoun 'it' has no antecedent.

Secondly, the party', a multi-dimensional expression, can even mean a celebration such a birthday party or a bachelors' party, or a political party such as the Labor party or the Republicans. We even say that the President's party with fancying ended when he lost the elections.

In additions, puritan grammarians will frown at the comma after 1931, used to separate the main class from the subordinate clause in the given context.

Perhaps a small insertion such as 'joined 'the Communist Party' in 1931' would have gone miles in effective communication.

We must really thank hazelnut for giving us the opportunity to learn the stark realities.

I discarded the choices based on the modifier issue.

IMO E.




Seeming to be the only organization-----,Hosea Hudson
Hosea Hudson is not the organization. Incorrect.

As the only organization fighting---,Hosea Hudson
Same error as A. Incorrect

They is plural and is not in S-V agreement to "Communist Party"(which is Singular) .Inocrrect



Now in between option D and E, E sounded good to me because "seem to be" is generally preferred to "seemed".

Also after applying both the options and after reading the sentence in full I found E to be appealing.

Hence E. However, I am looking forward to a great explanation to discard D.

Official Explanation:

Choices A and B wrongly identify Hosea Hudson, not the Communist party, as the organization under discussion. In choice C, the plural pronoun they does not agree in number with the singular nourr party. In that in C and Since inD are less direct and idiomatic than Because in this context, and to be is needed to complete the predicate begun by seemed.
E is the best answer.

Is the usage of Since as a subordinating conjunction is incorrect on the GMAT? I was in fix between options D and E and ended up choosing the incorrect one.

AjiteshArun , GMATNinja , MagooshExpert , GMATGuruNY , VeritasKarishma , DmitryFarber , ChiranjeevSingh , VeritasPrepBrian , MartyMurray , other experts - please enlighten

I'd expect to see a because in the correct option more often than a since, but it would be too much to say that since can't be used as a conjunction at all. Both the time and reason meanings are well-established, and we'd lose the reason meaning entirely if we stopped using since as a conjunction.