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D
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
65%
(hard)
Question Stats:
49% (01:17) correct
51%
(01:26)
wrong
based on 12514
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
The Olympic Games helped to keep peace among the pugnacious states of the Greek world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival’s month.
(A) world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival’s month
(B) world, proclaiming a sacred truce during the festival’s month
(C) world when they proclaimed a sacred truce for the festival month
(D) world, for a sacred truce was proclaimed during the month of the festival
(E) world by proclamation of a sacred truce that was for the month of the festival
(A) world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival’s month
(B) world, proclaiming a sacred truce during the festival’s month
(C) world when they proclaimed a sacred truce for the festival month
(D) world, for a sacred truce was proclaimed during the month of the festival
(E) world by proclamation of a sacred truce that was for the month of the festival
Swans Hellenic Cruise Handbook, Page 75
https://archive.org/stream/swanhelleniccrui00swan#page/74/mode/2up
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https://archive.org/stream/swanhelleniccrui00swan#page/74/mode/2up
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14 Jan 2013, 16:17
Kudos
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skamal7
I'm happy to help with this.
This is GMAT SC #60 in the OG13.
(A) world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival's month
The OG feels that the phrase "in that" is somewhat stilted and over-formal. It does use two words where one would suffice. This one is not black & white wrong, but more a shade of gray. If all the other answers were clearly wrong, this probably could pass as a correct anwer.
(B) world, proclaiming a sacred truce during the festival’s month
Misplaced modifier. The world isn't "proclaiming", so who is? The games? the states? The GMAT doesn't like ambiguity. Also, this sentence has two distinct actions, so it would be best phrased as two full [noun] + [verb] clauses, and this option casts the second half of the sentence as a participial phrase rather than as a clause. This is wrong.
(C) world when they proclaimed a sacred truce for the festival month
A pronoun with unclear antecedent --- does "they" mean the states? the games? the people of Greece (not mentioned explicitly --- another no-no for antecedents on the GMAT!). The antecedent of the pronoun "they" is ambiguity. On GMAT SC, ambiguity = death. This is wrong.
(D) world, for a sacred truce was proclaimed during the month of the festival
Very clear. We have two full clauses, joined by the conjunction "for" (which means "because"), thus making clear the causal link between the two actions. This is sleek, efficient, and direct ---- a very strong answer.
(E) world by proclamation of a sacred truce that was for the month of the festival
A winner of the flabby awkward Olympics! This changes the verb "proclaimed" to a noun "proclamation", and almost invariably, this is the GMAT's strategy for changing a correct answer into a wrong answer. Whenever a verb is re-written as a noun, that almost always makes the sentence more awkward, less direct, and more wordy --- that's exactly what we have here. This version is an unholy abomination that should be taken out back and shot. This is incorrect.
Again, if everything else failed, we might go with (A) in a pinch, but here, (D) is a much stronger answer --- clearly (D) is the best possible answer here.
Mike
Let's apply e-GMAT 3 step process to solve this question:
The Olympic Games helped to keep peace among the pugnacious states of the Greek world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival's month.
A. world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival's month
B. world, proclaiming a sacred truce during the festival's month
C. world when they proclaimed a sacred truce for the festival month
D. world, for a sacred truce was proclaimed during the month of the festival
E. world by proclamation of a sacred truce that was for the month of the festival
SENTENCE STRUCTURE
• The Olympic Games helped to keep peace among the pugnacious states of the Greek world
o in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival's month.
• This sentence tells us that the Olympic Games helped to keep peace among otherwise fighting states of the Greek World.
o This became possible because a sacred truce was proclaimed during the month of the festival. Note that, the sentence does not tell us who proclaimed this truce.
ERROR ANALYSIS
1. The phrase “festival’s month” is not idiomatic. It gives the meaning that the festival possesses the month. When referring to an inanimate object, we must avoid possessive. This expression should be “the month of the festival”.
2. Here, the expression “in that” means “because”. In this case, ‘because’ is preferred since it is more concise and gives the meaning directly. Note that ‘for’, which is used in the correct option, also means because.
Also as the OG says, this two-word expression can be replaced with a word for conciseness.
PoE
A. Incorrect for the reasons stated above.
B. Incorrect.
1. The phrase “festival’s month” is incorrect as explained in the error analysis.
2. The verb-ing modifier “proclaiming” seems to modify the preceding clause. Now, when a verb-ing modifier modifies the preceding clause, it should make sense with the subject of the preceding clause. So, this option indicates that the Olympic Games did the action of “proclaiming a sacred truce”.
However, if we refer back to the meaning analysis it was not clear from the original sentence who proclaimed the sacred truce. The Games themselves could not have proclaimed anything. So, this option does not indicate a logically correct meaning.
C. Incorrect
1. The reference of the pronoun ‘they’ is ambiguous. It can refer to “the pugnacious states” or “the Olympic Games”.
2. The original sentence indicates that the truce was proclaimed during the month of the festival. This meaning is not conveyed by this option.
D. Correct.
This option corrects the idiom error from the original sentence and replaces the phrase “in that” with “for”, making the sentence concise.
E. Incorrect.
This option is very wordy as compared to option A and D. Also, it suggests that the proclamation of the sacred truce was done by the Olympic Games. This is not the intended meaning of the sentence.
Hope this helps!
Regards,
Deepak
The Olympic Games helped to keep peace among the pugnacious states of the Greek world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival's month.
A. world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival's month
B. world, proclaiming a sacred truce during the festival's month
C. world when they proclaimed a sacred truce for the festival month
D. world, for a sacred truce was proclaimed during the month of the festival
E. world by proclamation of a sacred truce that was for the month of the festival
SENTENCE STRUCTURE
• The Olympic Games helped to keep peace among the pugnacious states of the Greek world
o in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival's month.
• This sentence tells us that the Olympic Games helped to keep peace among otherwise fighting states of the Greek World.
o This became possible because a sacred truce was proclaimed during the month of the festival. Note that, the sentence does not tell us who proclaimed this truce.
ERROR ANALYSIS
1. The phrase “festival’s month” is not idiomatic. It gives the meaning that the festival possesses the month. When referring to an inanimate object, we must avoid possessive. This expression should be “the month of the festival”.
2. Here, the expression “in that” means “because”. In this case, ‘because’ is preferred since it is more concise and gives the meaning directly. Note that ‘for’, which is used in the correct option, also means because.
Also as the OG says, this two-word expression can be replaced with a word for conciseness.
PoE
A. Incorrect for the reasons stated above.
B. Incorrect.
1. The phrase “festival’s month” is incorrect as explained in the error analysis.
2. The verb-ing modifier “proclaiming” seems to modify the preceding clause. Now, when a verb-ing modifier modifies the preceding clause, it should make sense with the subject of the preceding clause. So, this option indicates that the Olympic Games did the action of “proclaiming a sacred truce”.
However, if we refer back to the meaning analysis it was not clear from the original sentence who proclaimed the sacred truce. The Games themselves could not have proclaimed anything. So, this option does not indicate a logically correct meaning.
C. Incorrect
1. The reference of the pronoun ‘they’ is ambiguous. It can refer to “the pugnacious states” or “the Olympic Games”.
2. The original sentence indicates that the truce was proclaimed during the month of the festival. This meaning is not conveyed by this option.
D. Correct.
This option corrects the idiom error from the original sentence and replaces the phrase “in that” with “for”, making the sentence concise.
E. Incorrect.
This option is very wordy as compared to option A and D. Also, it suggests that the proclamation of the sacred truce was done by the Olympic Games. This is not the intended meaning of the sentence.
Hope this helps!
Regards,
Deepak
23 Jan 2019, 15:50
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hello Everyone!
There have already been some great discussions about modifiers, transitions, and wordiness on this question. Let's tackle this question from a different angle and narrow it down to the right answer! Before we dive in, let's take a closer look at the original question and highlight any major differences in orange:
The Olympic Games helped to keep peace among the pugnacious states of the Greek world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival’s month.
(A) world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival’s month
(B) world, proclaiming a sacred truce during the festival’s month
(C) world when they proclaimed a sacred truce for the festival month
(D) world, for a sacred truce was proclaimed during the month of the festival
(E) world by proclamation of a sacred truce that was for the month of the festival
After a quick glance over the options, a few things stand out that we can focus on:
1. transition after "world": in that / proclaiming / when they / for / by proclamation of
2. the festival's month / the festival month / the month of the festival
3. during vs. for
Let's start with #3 on our list: during vs. for. Since this is an "x or y" situation, we know it will likely eliminate 2-3 options quickly, so it's a great place to start. It may seem like these two words can be used interchangeably, but when it comes to discussing time and events, they mean different things:
during = discussing something that happens within a time period (We went skiing during our 2-month long school break.)
for = discussing the duration of time an event happens (We studied for our final exams for 12 hours straight.)
Since we are talking about something that happens within a certain time period (a truce being proclaimed during the games), we need to keep options that use "during" and toss any options that use "for":
(A) world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival’s month
(B) world, proclaiming a sacred truce during the festival’s month
(C) world when they proclaimed a sacred truce for the festival month
(D) world, for a sacred truce was proclaimed during the month of the festival
(E) world by proclamation of a sacred truce that was for the month of the festival
We can eliminate options C & E because they use "for" instead of "during" to indicate that the truce occurs within the time frame that the games take place.
Next, let's focus on #2 on our list: the festival's month / the festival month / the month of the festival. This is another issue of idiom structure that focuses on how we discuss events which take place during a certain time:
the festival's month = the month belongs to the festival (...which doesn't really sound right, does it?)
the month of the festival = the festival takes place during a specific month (...which makes more sense, don't you think?)
My daughter's birthday takes place during the spring break's week. --> BAD
My daughter's birthday takes place during the week of her spring break. --> GOOD
In English, it makes more sense to say an event takes places during "the month of" rather than saying the month is owned by an event.
(A) world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival’s month
(B) world, proclaiming a sacred truce during the festival’s month
(D) world, for a sacred truce was proclaimed during the month of the festival
We can eliminate options A & B because the use the incorrect idiom structure "during the festival's month" to discuss an event that happens within a certain time frame.
There you go - option D is the correct choice! It's the only one that uses proper idiomatic structures to discuss events and timing!
Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
There have already been some great discussions about modifiers, transitions, and wordiness on this question. Let's tackle this question from a different angle and narrow it down to the right answer! Before we dive in, let's take a closer look at the original question and highlight any major differences in orange:
The Olympic Games helped to keep peace among the pugnacious states of the Greek world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival’s month.
(A) world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival’s month
(B) world, proclaiming a sacred truce during the festival’s month
(C) world when they proclaimed a sacred truce for the festival month
(D) world, for a sacred truce was proclaimed during the month of the festival
(E) world by proclamation of a sacred truce that was for the month of the festival
After a quick glance over the options, a few things stand out that we can focus on:
1. transition after "world": in that / proclaiming / when they / for / by proclamation of
2. the festival's month / the festival month / the month of the festival
3. during vs. for
Let's start with #3 on our list: during vs. for. Since this is an "x or y" situation, we know it will likely eliminate 2-3 options quickly, so it's a great place to start. It may seem like these two words can be used interchangeably, but when it comes to discussing time and events, they mean different things:
during = discussing something that happens within a time period (We went skiing during our 2-month long school break.)
for = discussing the duration of time an event happens (We studied for our final exams for 12 hours straight.)
Since we are talking about something that happens within a certain time period (a truce being proclaimed during the games), we need to keep options that use "during" and toss any options that use "for":
(A) world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival’s month
(B) world, proclaiming a sacred truce during the festival’s month
(C) world when they proclaimed a sacred truce for the festival month
(D) world, for a sacred truce was proclaimed during the month of the festival
(E) world by proclamation of a sacred truce that was for the month of the festival
We can eliminate options C & E because they use "for" instead of "during" to indicate that the truce occurs within the time frame that the games take place.
Next, let's focus on #2 on our list: the festival's month / the festival month / the month of the festival. This is another issue of idiom structure that focuses on how we discuss events which take place during a certain time:
the festival's month = the month belongs to the festival (...which doesn't really sound right, does it?)
the month of the festival = the festival takes place during a specific month (...which makes more sense, don't you think?)
My daughter's birthday takes place during the spring break's week. --> BAD
My daughter's birthday takes place during the week of her spring break. --> GOOD
In English, it makes more sense to say an event takes places during "the month of" rather than saying the month is owned by an event.
(A) world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival’s month
(B) world, proclaiming a sacred truce during the festival’s month
(D) world, for a sacred truce was proclaimed during the month of the festival
We can eliminate options A & B because the use the incorrect idiom structure "during the festival's month" to discuss an event that happens within a certain time frame.
There you go - option D is the correct choice! It's the only one that uses proper idiomatic structures to discuss events and timing!
Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
