Dear Friends,
Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
Bunuel wrote:
The Eastern State Penitentiary was established in 1822 by reformers advocating that prisoners be held in solitary confinement and hard labor so as to reform them.
(A) advocating that prisoners be held in solitary confinement and hard labor so as to reform them
(B) who were advocating prisoners to be held in solitary confinement and hard labor for their reform
(C) advocating solitary confinement and hard labor as the means to reform prisoners
(D) who advocated solitary confinement and hard labor for the means of prisoner reform
(E) advocating as the means for prisoner reform solitary confinement and hard labor
Concepts tested here: Pronouns + Verb Forms + Idioms + Awkwardness/Redundancy• "so as to" is generally an incorrect usage; "so + cause + as to + effect" is the correct, idiomatic usage.
• The simple past continuous tense is used to refer to actions that were ongoing over a period of time in the past.
• The simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past.
• The present participle (“verb+ing” – “advocating” in this sentence) is used to refer to ongoing actions in any time period.
• “as the means” is a correct, idiomatic construction.
A: This answer choice suffers from pronoun ambiguity, as it is unclear whether “them” refers to “reformers” or “prisoners”. Further, option A incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction “cause (“prisoners be held in solitary confinement and hard labor”) so as to effect (“reform them”)”; please remember, "so as to" is generally an incorrect usage; "so + cause + as to + effect" is the correct, idiomatic usage. Additionally, Option A uses the needlessly wordy phrase “prisoners be held in solitary confinement and hard labor”, leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
B: This answer choice suffers from pronoun ambiguity, as it is unclear whether “them” refers to “reformers” or “prisoners”. Further, Option B uses the needlessly wordy phrase “who were advocating” and “prisoners to be held in solitary confinement and hard labor for their reform”, leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
C: Correct. This answer choice avoids the pronoun ambiguity seen in Options A and B, as it employs no pronouns. Further, Option C correctly uses the present participle (“verb+ing” – “advocating” in this sentence) to refer to an action that was ongoing over a period of time in the past; please remember, the present participle is used to refer to ongoing actions in any time period. Additionally, Option C correctly uses the idiomatic construction “as the means”, avoiding the idiom errors seen in Options A and E. Besides, Option C is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.
D: This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple past tense verb “advocated” to refer to an action that was ongoing over a period of time in the past; please remember, the simple past continuous tense is used to refer to actions that were ongoing over a period of time in the past, and the simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past. Further, Option D incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction “for the means”; please remember, “as the means” is a correct, idiomatic construction.
E: This answer choice uses the passive voice construction “as the means for prisoner reform solitary confinement and hard labor”, leading to awkwardness and redundancy.
Hence, C is the best answer choice.To understand the concept of "So As To" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):
To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):
To understand the concept of "Simple Continuous Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):
All the best!
Experts' Global Team