The greatest road system built in the Americas prior to the arrival of

Question

The greatest road system built in the Americas prior to the arrival of Christopher  Columbus was the Incan highway, which, over 2,500 miles long and extending  from northern Ecuador through Peru to southern Chile.

A. Columbus was the Incan highway, which, over 2,500 miles long and extending
B. Columbus was the Incan highway, over 2,500 miles in length, and extended
C. Columbus, the Incan highway, which was over 2,500 miles in length and extended
D. Columbus, the Incan highway, being over 2,500 miles in length, was extended
E. Columbus, the Incan highway was over 2,500 miles long, extending

Similar question from GMAT Prep with different options.

GMATNinja · Accepted Answer

This question was posted on a  thread for a slightly different version of this question , from the Verbal Review. This thread is for the GMATPrep version -- if anyone sees this on an official GMATPrep test, please let us know if we've made any typos in the answer choices!

The version of (B) here is technically parallel: the greatest road system (1)  was  the Incan Highway and (2)  extended  from northern Ecuador through Peru to southern Chile. We have a subject (the road system) and two parallel verbs for that subject, so we can't eliminate (B) right away.

So now we find ourselves in a familiar position: we don't have four options with obvious grammatical errors, so we simply have to compare what's left to see which option is best.

The first glaring difference between (B) and (E) is the subject: "the greatest road system..." vs "the Incan highway". To see why that matters, here are some examples:

"The greatest basketball player of all time was Michael Jordan."

This seems fine. "The greatest basketball player of all time" is the subject, and the noun after the linking verb ("was") gives us more information about that subject, telling us who exactly that player was.

But take a look at this version:

"The greatest basketball player of all time was Michael Jordan and plays golf every day."

This is a bit funkier. Clearly, the point of the sentence was link an initially  unidentified  subject ("the greatest basketball player of all time") to a specific person (Michael Jordan). But then we're adding that the  unidentified  subject also plays golf every day? It doesn't really make sense to describe the golf habits of an unidentified subject ("the greatest basketball player of all time").

Even though the parallelism is technically okay in the second example above, using the specific person as the subject would be much clearer and better: "Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player of all time and plays golf every day."

Now back to choice (B). The second verb ("extended") gives us specific information about an unidentified subject. In some contexts that might work, but in this case the sentence is trying to communicate  specific  information about a  specific  road. That's why the parallelism in (B), while technically okay, isn't ideal.

(E) avoids that issue altogether: "the Incan highway" is the subject, and that specific road is described as being the greatest road system and "extending from..." Does that make (B) wrong in a bubble? Maybe not. But the structure of (E) makes a bit more sense.

Also, the meaning of the "over 2,500 miles long" part is a bit clearer in (E):

In (B), the "over..." part is dropped in as a comma-separated modifier, and the reader has to figure out what to do with it. 
 In (E), that same modifier is tied directly back to the subject with a linking verb, so the meaning is clear and unambiguous.

Again, that doesn't make (B) WRONG, exactly, but it gives us another vote in favor of (E).

So (B) isn't terrible, but (E) is a better choice.

I hope that helps!

genericUser · Answer

A. The greatest road system built in the Americas prior to the arrival of Christopher  Columbus was the Incan highway, which, over 2,500 miles long and extending  from northern Ecuador through Peru to southern Chile.
Error. After the comma the verb is missing

B. The greatest road system built in the Americas prior to the arrival of Christopher  Columbus was the Incan highway, over 2,500 miles in length, and extended  from northern Ecuador through Peru to southern Chile.
Error. "over 2,500 miles in length" does not have a clear reference. It has to modify the Incan highway

C. The greatest road system built in the Americas prior to the arrival of Christopher  Columbus, the Incan highway, which was over 2,500 miles in length and extended  from northern Ecuador through Peru to southern Chile.
Error. the Incan highway, which ... southern Chile. some verb should follow the Incan highway. the which part is a non-essential modifier.

D. The greatest road system built in the Americas prior to the arrival of Christopher  Columbus, the Incan highway, being over 2,500 miles in length, was extended  from northern Ecuador through Peru to southern Chile.
Error. being over + The Incan highway was extended

E. The greatest road system built in the Americas prior to the arrival of Christopher  Columbus, the Incan highway was over 2,500 miles long, extending  from northern Ecuador through Peru to southern Chile.
Correct.

IMO E

feedback appreciated.

winterschool · Answer

The greatest road system built in the Americas prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus was the Incan highway, which, over 2,500 miles long and extending from northern Ecuador through Peru to southern Chile.

A. Columbus was the Incan highway, which, over 2,500 miles long and extending  Incorrect

incomplete modifier after 'which'

B. Columbus was the Incan highway, over 2,500 miles in length, and extended  Correct

Best choice - The greatest road system......was........and extended ...........

C. Columbus, the Incan highway, which was over 2,500 miles in length and extended  Incorrect

totally mess - the Incan highway what? is it modify Columbus or what?

D. Columbus, the Incan highway, being over 2,500 miles in length, was extended  Incorrect

same as C

E. Columbus, the Incan highway was over 2,500 miles long, extending  Incorrect

two independent clause without conjunction and sign

genericUser · Answer

I think that the  bold part  in E is an absolute modifier, the first part is not a independent clause since there is no verb
 The greatest road system built in the Americas prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus , the Incan highway was over 2,500 miles long, extending from northern Ecuador through Peru to southern Chile.

I also think that the extend part of the sentenc needs to modify the Incan Highway, not the greatest road system as it is in B

Regards,
R

Iwillget770 · Answer

Hi  egmat ,

I thought built is the modifier modifying  The Greatest Road System .

hence , I was looking for a verb for the subject The Greatest Road System.

Please guide.

Regards

Hoozan · Answer

(B) The greatest road system built in the Americas prior to the arrival of Christopher  Columbus was the Incan highway, over 2,500 miles in length, and extended  from northern Ecuador through Peru to southern Chile.

Structure:

The greatest road system built in the Americas  (Subject) 
prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus  (additional information telling us "when" the road was built) 
was the Incan highway  (Verb 1 - was ) 
, over 2,500 miles in length,  (modifier modifying "highway") 
and extended from northern Ecuador through Peru to southern Chile.  (verb 2 - extended)

Meaning:

The sentence is talking about a road system that was built in America. This road system was once the greatest of its kind. It was called the Incant highway and it extended from northeast ecuador all the way to southern chile

(E) The greatest road system built in the Americas prior to the arrival of Christopher  Columbus, the Incan highway was over 2,500 miles long, extending  from northern Ecuador through Peru to southern Chile.

Structure:

The greatest road system built in the Americas prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus,  (Modifier modifying "Incan highway") 
the Incan highway  (Subject) 
was over 2,500 miles long,  (Verb) 
extending from northern Ecuador through Peru to southern Chile.  (modifier modifying the previous clause - over 2500 miles long)
 
 Meaning:

The Incan highway was once the greatest road system built in America. It was over 2500 miles long. It extended from norther Ecuador to Chile

The greatest road system built in the Americas prior to the arrival of

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The greatest road system built in the Americas prior to the arrival of

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