The combat code of medieval knights resembled that of Japanese samurai and therefore, had they faced firearms in combat, would most likely have reacted in a similar manner to the Japanese samurai of the Meiji Revolution.

A. The combat code of medieval knights resembled that of Japanese samurai
B. Medieval knights upheld a combat code that resembled the combat codes of Japanese samurai
C. Medieval knights upheld a combat code resembling that of Japanese samurai
D. Medieval knights’ upholding of a combat code resembling that of Japanese samurai,
E. The medieval knight’s combat code resembled that of Japanese samurai

McGraw-Hill's GMAT

Upholding or rejecting is not part of the intent of the original text. Therefore, any choice that says uphold is serious distortion of original meaning. B, C and D all fall into this pit (OA, therefore is not agreeable). One must say ‘adopted’ rather than upheld.

Between A and E, the singular Knight does not go in tandem with the plural pronoun ‘they’ in the non-underlined part.
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Thanks. Can you elaborate on how you chose between B and C?

perfect c.
good explanation.

tnx !!

If you look at the second part of the sentence "would most likely have reacted in a similar manner to the Japanese samurai of the Meiji Revolution.", This should modify the subject "Medieval Knights". Hence option A, D, E are out.
It comes down to Option B and E. I too fall for the trap in B. which states that "Medieval knights upheld a combat code that resembled the combat codes of Japanese samurai"
Here the combat code of Medieval Knights is getting compared to combat CODES of Japanese samurai. Hence incorrect comparison code vs codes. In C, this comparison error is corrected by comparing combat code vs combat code i.e. "a combat code resembling that of Japanese samurai ".
Hope the above explanation makes sense.

my first advise, read the whole sentence!!!
let's analyse the question:

the CC of MK resembled that (CC) of JS
and therefore,
had they faced firearms in combat
continuation of the second clause -> would most likely have reacted in a similar manner bla bla bla..

who is they? probably medieval knights...thus, the opening clause should be modified so that to emphasize MK.


A. The combat code of medieval knights resembled that of Japanese samurai
structure error.

B. Medieval knights upheld a combat code that resembled the combat codes of Japanese samurai
ok, so the combat code of Medieval knights resembled that of Japanese samurai -> the comparison is combat code of MK and combat code of JS. Since codes is written for samurais, we cannot select this as a correct answer.

C. Medieval knights upheld a combat code resembling that of Japanese samurai
resembling that - refers to combat code - looks good, MK are now the head subject of the sentence, and the verbs following the underlined portion make sense with it.

D. Medieval knights’ upholding of a combat code resembling that of Japanese samurai,
this is a catastrophe! the subject now is upholding of a combat code - which is totally illogical.

E. The medieval knight’s combat code resembled that of Japanese samurai
as in D, this answer choice makes combat code the head subject of the sentence.

C for me.
Please explain ur ans !

"They" in the non-underlined part must be referring to Medieval Knights and the second arm on the right hand of AND must be parallel to left arm, so Medieval Knights should be the subject of the left arm as well. So A, D and E are out.

Between B and C, B is using a relative pronoun That for combat code and then again uses a apostrophes modifier for the same thing, whereas C is more straight forward with essential modifier.

C is the answer.

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