The Scandinavian assault on western Europe culminated in the

Question

The Scandinavian assault on western Europe culminated in the early eleventh century with the Danish conquest of the English Kingdom,  which other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat, unsuccessfully ,later in the same century. 
 
(A) which other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat, unsuccessfully, later in the same century.
(B) which other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat later that same century, but not successfully
(C) an achievement that other Scandinavian kings attempted later in the century to repeat, but were not successful at it
(D) an achievement attempted later in the century by other Scandinavian kings that was not successful
(E) an achievement that other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat later in the century, but without success.

Vercules · Accepted Answer

Hi mun,

First of all there is a split in this question between "which.." and "an achievement". "Which" is a relative pronoun that usually refers a noun closest or not so far away. The use of which is ambiguous as it may refer to either "conquest" or "assault". Whereas, the underlined part of the sentence which starts with "an achievement" is a noun phrase or an absolute phrase. This phrase describes the action discussed in the first part of the sentence. This structure expresses the meaning more clearly. Usually on GMAT the choices with absolute phrases are correct.

(A)which other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat,unsuccessfully,later in the same century.

Incorrect - explained above.

(B)which other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat later that same century,but not successfully

Incorrect - explained above.

(C)an  achievement  that other Scandinavian kings  attempted  later in the century  to repeat ,but were not successful at it

The sentence is not concise and the meaning is difficult to interpret because of the placement of "to repeat" far from "attempted". The use "attempted to repeat" is better.

(D)an  achievement  attempted later in the century by other Scandinavian kings that  was not successful

This choice incorrectly says that the achievement was unsuccessful; but, the logical and intended meaning is that the attempt was not successful.

(E)an achievement that other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat later in the century,but without success.

Correct. This choice correctly uses the absolute phrase to express the action in the first part of the sentence. "but without success" clearly means that the attempt was was without success and the sentence is now clear and concise.

Hope this helps,

Vercules

egmat · Answer

https://gmatclub.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/gmat2-banner11-e1373945998281.jpg Hi Jeevan, Thanks for posting this question here. This indeed is a very interesting SC problem which needs careful analysis. So lets do that. The Scandinavian assault on Western Europe culminated in the early eleventh century with the Danish conquest of the English kingdom, which other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat, unsuccessfully, later in the same century . A. which other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat, unsuccessfully, later in the same century B. which other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat later that same century, but not successfully C. an achievement that other Scandinavian kings attempted later in the century to repeat, but were not successful at it D. an achievement attempted later in the century by other Scandinavian kings that was not successful E. an achievement that other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat later in the century, but without success Ans 1: Yes, "which" in options A and B refer to "Danish conquest", a slightly far away noun. Ans 2: I do agree that in Choice A, the adverb "unsuccessfully" refers to the verb "attempted to repeat". However, I would be a little wary of this choice because "unsuccessfully" is placed between two commas. This placement tells me that this information is not necessary for the meaning of the sentence. Why should the adverb be separated from the verb with comma pairs? Also from the meaning standpoint, this choice says that the attempt itself was made unsuccessfully. The intended meaning is that they tried but did not get success. Ans 3: Well, "that" does need any reference because it has not been used as a relative pronoun that must have an antecedent. Here "that" has been used to emphasize the fact that the other Scandinavians tried to conquer the English kingdom the very same century. Choice B can be eliminated for the same meaning error that we have in choice A. Ans 4: One thing that we must understand in this sentence is that "but" here has not been used a coordinating conjunction. Also, the official explanation of many official questions certainly do not match the standard of the quality of the official questions. There are many official explanations that are inappropriate. Choice C is incorrect because of the inclusion of "it". Per choice C, following is the parallel list: a. an achievement that other Scandinavian kings attempted later in the century to repeat b. an achievement that other Scandinavian kings were not successful at it As you can see, use of "it" is incorrect here because relative pronoun "that" already refers to "an achievement". It is ungrammatical to refer to the same noun entity again by using a pronoun. This is the reason why Choice C is incorrect. Again, "but" here has been used here a parallel marker and not the coordinating conjunctions. This is the reason why in correct answer Choice E, "but" has been followed by a phrase and a not a clause. Both the phrase "later in the century" and "without success" refer to "attempted to repeat". Both the phrases here act as "adverbs" as they both refer to the same verb phrase "attempted to repeat". Hope this helps. :-)

Thanks. Shraddha

reddyMBA · Answer

The Scandinavian assault on Western Europe culminated in the early eleventh century with the Danish conquest of the English kingdom,  which other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat, unsuccessfully later in the same century .

A. which other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat, unsuccessfully, later in the same century 
B. which other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat later that same century, but not successfully 
C. an achievement that other Scandinavian kings attempted later in the century to repeat, but were not successful at it 
D. an achievement attempted later in the century by other Scandinavian kings that was not successful 
E. an achievement that other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat later in the century, but without success

Source : GMAT Prep Question Pack

My questions:

1.) "Which" in option (A) and (B) refers to conquest, because "of the English Kingdom" refers to "conquest". Hence "Which" refers to "conquest". Is this correct?
 
 2.) To my knowledge, "unsuccessfully" modifies "attempted to repeat". So i thought that this option is correct but it is not. Can u please xplain how to eliminate option (A)?
 
 3.) I knocked down option "B" because there is no correct logical referent for "that". is my understanding correct on this option. Please explain.
 
 4.) GMAT Prep says regarding option (C) - "The coordinating conjunction but introduced a clause that requires a subject and a verb; this version of the sentence provides the verb "were" but omits the subject."
 If this is the case how option (E) is correct? i dont see any any subject/verb pair after "but".

Please explain when to look for a subject/verb pair after "BUT". 
 
 Thanks.

EducationAisle · Answer

Actually C uses the redundant  it  and this  pronoun redundancy  seems to be a favorite trick of GMAT. Another OG example that immediately came to mind:

In 1713, Alexander Pope began his translation of the Iliad, a work that had taken seven years to complete and that literary critic Samuel Johnson, Pope’s contemporary, pronounced   it   as the greatest translation in any language .

Let me know if you want more examples and I can dig them up.

smalluser · Answer

A question about D: does "that" need to appear next to the noun "attempt" if it were constructed this way? What is "that" referring to in D? Does this have to do with certain "mission critical" modifiers? Does it refer to king or to achievement and what is the role of the phrase in between? Thank you!

manyu2409 · Answer

Hi smalluser, Since ‘that’ can logically refer to things only not people, it cannot refer to ‘Scandinavian kings’. Hence, ‘that’ in option D is referring to ‘an achievement’. Also, ‘attempted’ is not a noun in this sentence so ‘that’ cannot refer to it. OPTION D • The Scandinavian assault on Western Europe culminated in the early eleventh century with the Danish conquest of the English Kingdom, o an achievement attempted later in the century by other Scandinavian kings • that was not successful. Here, ‘an achievement’ is referring to the action of the assault culminating with the conquest. The phrase ‘attempted later in the century by other Scandinavian kings’ is modifying ‘an achievement’. This phrase tells more about the noun ‘an achievement’. This is illogical since one cannot attempt an achievement, since the achievement is already over. He can attempt to repeat the achievement. Also, the clause ‘that was not successful’ is incorrectly modifying ‘an achievement’. If the achievement was not successful, then it’s not an achievement. P.S.: ‘that’ does not need to appear right next to a noun to modify it. Hope this helps!

Manyu

tae808 · Answer

GMATPrep explanation says that answer choice C omits subject after "but".
Answer choice E also omits subject...

Experts?

sayantanc2k · Answer

Option E, unlike option C, introduces a phrase, not a clause. A phrase does not require a subject since there is no verb within a phrase.

sayantanc2k · Answer

Option C:  ,but were not successful at it.  The comma before "but" should not have been there.
1. I play, but I do not study. Correct ( comma + conjunction  joins two  clauses )
2. I play but do not study. Correct (without comma, there is no need of a second clause - two  verbs   play  and  study  are joined.)
3. I play, but do not study. Wrong. (  comma + but  requires a second clause).
The error in the 3rd sentence above is exactly the same as that in option C.

In option E there is no verb within ", but without success". The question whether two verbs are joined or two clauses are joined does not arise at all. It is alright to add a contrasting prepositional phrase with a comma.

sagarnamo1 · Answer

Although i dont dispute correct answer ,E is not parallel gramatically.to repeat later in the century is not parallel with 'without sucess' as one is infinitive and other is prep phrase.what am i missing here/

sayantanc2k · Answer

Consider this way:

"But" is a conjunction here adding two clauses:
1. Other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat later in the century.
2. They (Other Scandinavian kings) attempted without success.

It is allowed to omit the repeated parts from the second element of a parallel structure if the meaning is not obscured. The parallelism structure is as follows:

Other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat later in the century, but  they (Other Scandinavian kings) attempted  without success.

energetics · Answer

(A)  which  other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat, unsuccessfully, later in the same century.
(B)  which  other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat later that same century, but not successfully
-- use of relative pronoun which is wrong, "English kingdom" is not what they attempted to repeat

(C)  an achievement  that other Scandinavian kings attempted later in the century to repeat, but were not successful at  it 
--- pronoun "it" is very far from noun "achievement" and it is illogical; they are trying to succeed in the action of conquering the English Kingdom, rather than repeating the achievement.

(D)  an achievement attempted  later in the century by other Scandinavian kings  that was not successful 
-- also makes no sense, D) makes it sound like they are attempting an achievement, rather than the action of trying to conquer the English Kingdom.

(E) an achievement that other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat later in the century, but without success. 
-- fixes the issue in C, this is correct

Vatsal7794 · Answer

Hi Experts

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In option E "an achievement that other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat later in the century, but without success" I can't see any verb for the subject An Achievement . And my reasoning is "An achievement that other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat later in the century, but without success" is acting as a modifier . Is this reasoning correct?

And also but is used as a conjunction for connecting two clauses in the above option?

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  Vatsal7794 ,

Yes, that part of the sentence is an appositive (modifier). The noun  achievement...  tells us something about the  Danish conquest of the English Kingdom .

Dinesh654 · Answer

ReedArnoldMPREP 
Hi,
When we see "but", it naturally gives us hint that a clause with S-V may pop up (except the parallelism markers).
but here in choice E, its just a phrase afte "but". Is this acceptable?

Thanks

himanshu0123 · Answer

in C]does 'IT' refers to attempt or repeating. Can 'it' be a placeholder instead

in E] we have two two absolute phrases separated by a comma. is it correct?

RonTargetTestPrep · Answer

"It" certainly  wants  to stand for one of these words. However, in choice C both of them are verbs, so "it" cannot stand for either of them.

"It" is left with nothing to stand for, so it's wrong.

The object of a verb has to be an actual noun, so, no, it can't be a 'placeholder'.

no, there's just one of those ("an achievement that other Scandinavian kings attempted to repeat later in the century").

The word "but" that introduces the final modifier is NOT the parallel market "but".
This version of "but" introduces a modifier; it's essentially the same as "albeit" or "though". (You've probably seen quite a few instances of this "but" in everyday life—e.g., A "low-carb burger" is just a regular hamburger, but wrapped in lettuce rather than on a bread bun.)

RuchitaB · Answer

How ' ,but + without success" is correct in Choice E??

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

RuchitaB

This has been addressed pretty thoroughly above. I'm not sure I know what else to add without more details. Is there a rule that this construction appears to be breaking that hasn't been discussed yet?

The Scandinavian assault on western Europe culminated in the

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The Scandinavian assault on western Europe culminated in the

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