The principal residence of French royalty from 1682 to 1789, the Palac

The correct answer is (A). Option A correctly maintains parallelism by using the phrase "the architecture," followed by "the extravagant decor" and "the elaborate and expansive gardens."

The sentence structure requires parallelism, meaning that the elements listed should be consistent in their form. In this case, the sentence lists three things: the architecture, the extravagant decor in such rooms as the Hall of Mirrors, and the elaborate and expansive gardens. To maintain parallelism, we should use the same structure for all three elements.

Let's scroll the other answer choices:
Option B is incorrect because it introduces the pronoun "it has" without a clear antecedent.
Option C is incorrect because it introduces the gerund "also having" and breaks the parallelism.
Option D is incorrect because it uses the conjunction "and" to connect the elements, which breaks the parallel structure.
Option E is incorrect because it introduces the phrase "as well as" which is not parallel to the other elements listed.

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

(A)

Step 1: Read the Original Sentence Carefully, Looking for Errors

In the underlined portion, the sentence is listing features of the Palace of Versailles that are often celebrated. When items are listed, they should be in parallel form. In this case, there are three features: architecture, decor, and gardens. Each is described by at least one adjective (impressive Baroque; extravagant; elaborate and expansive), so everything is consistent. There appears to be no error.

Step 2: Scan and Group the Answer Choices

(A), (B), and (C) have a comma after “architecture,” creating a list. (D) and (E) remove the comma, creating a combined element of architecture and decor.

Step 3: Eliminate Choices Until Only One Remains

(B) and (C) both keep the list format of the original sentence. However, (B) adds “for” and “it has,” creating a for X . . . , for Y . . . , and it has Z structure that is not parallel. Eliminate (B). Similarly, (C) adds “for” to the end, creating a for X . . . , Y . . . , and for Z structure. That extra “for” leaves the middle item nonparallel, so (C) can be eliminated.

(D) and (E) change the structure completely, combining the architecture and decor components. This unnecessarily separates the third component (the gardens), a phrasing that would technically be okay if the choices didn’t also contain grammatical errors. (D) leaves the final portion dangling at the end with the verb “having,” which has no clear subject and is not parallel to anything else in the sentence. And (E) starts the last phrase with “and the . . .,” creating a whole new clause that fails to include an active verb. (D) and (E) are eliminated, confirming that the sentence was correct as written. (A) is the correct answer.