The libraries with the Corinthian columns that contain almost a millio

Hello, ankaua. I will admit that this one took me a little longer than usual, about a minute and a half in all, because I was not overly fond of any answer choice, but option (D) is the best of the bunch. My take on the question:

Analysis: As PTD1995 pointed out, the embedded that clause modifies the nearest noun, in this case columns, and of course, columns should not be containing library books (some sort of twisted and dangerous treasure hunt aside), but libraries should instead. Red light.


Analysis: We still have not gotten rid of the book-containing columns here. I guess the only difference in meaning between this option and the first is that apparently the books have been recovered from the columns in this version: note the past-tense contained. Red light.


Analysis: There is a subject-verb agreement issue with this one. That is, contains needs a singular subject, as in, The jar contains cookies, and if we look back at the preceding nouns, we only have libraries and columns, both plural, to go on. This cannot be our answer. Red light.


Analysis: The barebones of this sentence says that libraries [modifier A] and [modifier B] opened. No, it is not parallel or preferable, when possible, to mix a with prepositional phrase and a which clause, but I would not dismiss an answer solely on such grounds. Yes, I would very much prefer an option that read, The libraries that have Corinthian columns and that contain almost a million volumes opened last evening, but that does not appear anywhere. My big issue with this answer choice is the restrictive use of which, which is seen more in British English and often can be used to weed out sub-optimal answers on the GMAT™, a test based on Standard American English conventions. This may not be an optimal choice, but I cannot dismiss it outright. Yellow light.


Analysis: The same which issue presents itself here, but as before, I cannot toss this answer into the bin on those grounds alone. However, the with prepositional phrase clearly distorts the meaning of the sentence, indicating that volumes, not libraries, have Corinthian columns. You cannot even argue that the columns contain the volumes, since contain with is not the correct expression. Altogether, this option is a garbled mess. Red light.

With four red-light answers and a single okay, I guess so, yellow-light answer, the lone survivor beats out the others. Again, I am not crazy about it, but the other four choices have readily discernible errors in the expression of vital meaning, and this sort of best-of-the-lot tactic can help you on harder questions.

I hope that helps. If you have further questions, feel free to ask.

- Andrew

First of all, this is a 3rd party question that lacks quality. ankaua I also agree that (A) is a good option.

The libraries [which libraries?] with the Corinthian columns that contain almost a million volumes opened last evening.

One can argue that with the Corinthian columns is a modifier that described the libraries. If that is the case, "that contain ..." modifies the libraries and I do not see any error.

As a general rule, try to stay away from 3rd party questions unless these are questions from Manhattanprep.

hi MentorTutoring, thanks for your detailed analysis!!

hi mykrasovski, thanks for your reply as well!

I still believe that the parallelism issue (prepositional phrase != || to relative clause) is more critical than the issue with "that", which avoids "touch rule" in the option A.
Per my understanding, "which" always has to follow "touch rule" while "that" can omit the rule sometime.

From Manhattan guide (p. 96): Normally a relative clause should touch the noun that it modifies, but we are generally allowed to place an appositive between a relative clause and the modified noun.

Let's ask GMATNinja and daagh to share their vision

From what I have learnt so far (courtesy GMATNinja -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nP3_YTWaBE) is "that" can reach a noun that is before the prepositional phrase in case the object of the prepositional phrase doesn't make sense with "that" in the context of the sentence.

In this case I believe "that" can refer to the object of "with the" - Corinthian columns and thus is ambiguous. Hence the incorrect usage.

GMATNinja - Kindly confirm

I've just met the discussion of touch rule in another thread.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-principa ... l#p2214574

GMATNinja:

I am glad to see a genuine debate going on. I think shameekv1989 said it best, though, when arguing that ambiguity of vital meaning is not to be tolerated in SC questions. Regardless of how you choose to interpret choice (A), it is hard to argue that it cannot be construed as saying that columns contain books. I agree with that GMATNinja quote about not applying rules too rigidly. I know that can be especially hard to stomach as a second-language learner of English, perhaps, but that is what this test is good at, after all, making you second guess yourself when you think you have everything figured out.

Finally, to touch on a point brought up by mykrasovski, third-party material is not as reliable as official questions, and some companies do better than others at mimicking official GMAT™ questions. They can only get so close. I know, since I have written the GMAC™ legal counsel to ask about this very issue, and I got a very detailed response as to what would constitute a copyright violation. This does not mean, however, that all third-party material, Manhattan Prep aside, is garbage. Even when questions may not accurately reflect what you will find on the test, there still might be a lesson you can learn from them, one that you can apply to official questions, going forward. Again, to reiterate my position on this particular question, the ambiguity of meaning in choice (A) is a more egregious offense than the lack of parallelism in (D). If anyone reading this thread can find an official SC question in which a blurred meaning is preferred over something else, please alert me and the rest of the community to such a question and issue. That would receive a kudos from me.

- Andrew