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gmatbull
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The last pages of the September 1999 publication The Code 25 Jul 2010, 01:13
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B
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

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55% (hard)

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58% (01:51) correct 42% (01:56) wrong based on 800 sessions

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The last pages of the September 1999 publication The Code Book comprised a brain-teaser called "The Cipher Challenge" because they were written as an extremely complex puzzle, with ten encrypted messages, in up to six languages each, were decipherable only by the most advanced code-breakers.

(A) puzzle, with ten encrypted messages, in up to six languages each, were
(B) puzzle, with ten encrypted messages, in up to six languages each,
(C) puzzle of ten encrypted messages in up to six languages, each that had been
(D) puzzle of ten encrypted messages in up to six languages and with each
(E) puzzle of ten encrypted messages in up to six languages, each had been

Any clear explanations of the above, please?
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B
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gauravnagpal
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The last pages of the September 1999 publication The Code 25 Jul 2010, 04:10
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clearly I had to choose between A and B..
ya B for me ..
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The last pages of the September 1999 publication The Code Updated on: 04 Apr 2014, 09:26
Originally posted by jlgdr on 22 Mar 2014, 09:55.
Last edited by jlgdr on 04 Apr 2014, 09:26, edited 1 time in total.
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Thing with this one is that each is ambiguous. It can refer either to the texts or to the languages. That's why B is the best answer choice here

Please use the freaking underline!! :lol:

Hope this clarifies
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The last pages of the September 1999 publication The Code 27 Mar 2014, 02:58
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gmatbull
The last pages of the September 1999 publication The Code Book comprised a brain-teaser called "The Cipher Challenge" because they were written as an extremely complex puzzle, with ten encrypted messages, in up to six languages each, were decipherable only by the most advanced code-breakers.

(A) puzzle, with ten encrypted messages, in up to six languages each, were
(B) puzzle, with ten encrypted messages, in up to six languages each,
(C) puzzle of ten encrypted messages in up to six languages, each that had been
(D) puzzle of ten encrypted messages in up to six languages and with each
(E) puzzle of ten encrypted messages in up to six languages, each had been

Any clear explanations of the above, please?
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in a Aux verb Were is incorrect " they were written as X decipherable only by Y
Whereas in C,D & E phrase puzzle of ten..........changes the actual meaning.
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The last pages of the September 1999 publication The Code 15 Jan 2015, 13:29
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gmatbull
The last pages of the September 1999 publication The Code Book comprised a brain-teaser called "The Cipher Challenge" because they were written as an extremely complex puzzle, with ten encrypted messages, in up to six languages each, were decipherable only by the most advanced code-breakers.

(A) puzzle, with ten encrypted messages, in up to six languages each, were
(B) puzzle, with ten encrypted messages, in up to six languages each,
(C) puzzle of ten encrypted messages in up to six languages, each that had been
(D) puzzle of ten encrypted messages in up to six languages and with each
(E) puzzle of ten encrypted messages in up to six languages, each had been

Any clear explanations of the above, please?
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Please underline the part in question. Difficult to analyze a question without knowing what is fixed and what can change!
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The last pages of the September 1999 publication The Code 15 Jan 2015, 21:12
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gmatbull
The last pages of the September 1999 publication The Code Book comprised a brain-teaser called "The Cipher Challenge" because they were written as an extremely complex puzzle, with ten encrypted messages, in up to six languages each, were decipherable only by the most advanced code-breakers.

(A) puzzle, with ten encrypted messages, in up to six languages each, were
(B) puzzle, with ten encrypted messages, in up to six languages each,
(C) puzzle of ten encrypted messages in up to six languages, each that had been
(D) puzzle of ten encrypted messages in up to six languages and with each
(E) puzzle of ten encrypted messages in up to six languages, each had been

Any clear explanations of the above, please?
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Here's my take. Without the comma and "of" the modifiers change the meaning of what the puzzle actually is. Does the puzzle only have ten messages or is there one with more than ten? Surely, the word "complex" is how I knew "with" is better. "Of" conveys what is consists of, nothing else; whereas, "with" conveys something in addition to. "Decipherable" is a noun modifier which refers to puzzle, and no verb is needed because it's a noun modifier. As long as noun modifiers are logical and without ambiguity, then they can be placed anywhere in the sentence.
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The last pages of the September 1999 publication The Code 10 Jan 2016, 20:24
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gmatbull
The last pages of the September 1999 publication The Code Book comprised a brain-teaser called "The Cipher Challenge" because they were written as an extremely complex puzzle, with ten encrypted messages, in up to six languages each, were decipherable only by the most advanced code-breakers.

(A) puzzle, with ten encrypted messages, in up to six languages each, were
(B) puzzle, with ten encrypted messages, in up to six languages each,
(C) puzzle of ten encrypted messages in up to six languages, each that had been
(D) puzzle of ten encrypted messages in up to six languages and with each
(E) puzzle of ten encrypted messages in up to six languages, each had been

Any clear explanations of the above, please?
Show more

1.’had’ is past perfect. This implies that even before the puzzles were written, advanced code breakers solved them. This is nonsense. Eliminate C&D
2. D Parallelism Error. Eliminate.
3.’were’ creates a run on. Two verbs are used. You need to use ‘were X and were Y’ Hence Eliminate A.
4. B is correct.

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The last pages of the September 1999 publication The Code 10 Jan 2016, 23:42
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Meaning wise, this topic is a disaster, with so many ambiguities and uncertainties. A book can contain only one last page, not several last pages. One must use “the last few pages” if several passages are intended.
Actually what are decipherable are the encrypted messages and not the pages or the languages. Even in the most grammatically correct choice B, the topic messes up this fact by using an adjectival modifier that may modify the subject of the sentence namely pages or the object of the preposition, namely the languages, because of proximity.
To say that the pages comprised a brainteaser because they were written in a puzzle does not convey much meaning.
On the grammar side, the picture is somewhat clear, thankfully.
A is a fragment with two verbs for a subject; B is acceptable C and E mess up the meaning with the wrong use of past perfect and D missing the symmetrical parallelism on either side of the ‘and’ .
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The last pages of the September 1999 publication The Code 22 Jan 2022, 07:52
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