The state religion of ancient China, which came into existence at leas

Question

The state religion of ancient China, which came into existence at least as far back as the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D. 220) and perhaps as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty (1050 B.C. to 771 B.C.), allowed  only emperors performing the ritual worship of heaven, perceiving them as  special links between the earthly and celestial realms.

(A) only emperors performing the ritual worship of heaven, perceiving them as

(B) only emperors to perform the ritual worship of heaven, with the perception of them being

(C) the ritual worship of heaven to be performed only by emperors, who were perceived as

(D) the ritual worship of heaven, performed by emperors only, with the perception of them as

(E) the ritual worship of heaven as performed by emperors only, who were perceived to be

https://archive.archaeology.org/0003/newsbriefs/altar.html

Chinese state religion, whose origins stretch back to the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) and perhaps as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty (1050-771 B.C.), involved  the worship of heaven only by emperors, who were perceived as  links between the earthly and celestial realms. Emperors mounted the steps of the Altar of Heaven barefoot, accompanied by an orchestra playing religious hymns, to prostrate themselves before celestial deities. Their effectiveness as emperors depended on the proper performance of ritual; otherwise they might be blamed for a bad harvest or other misfortunes.

pqhai · Accepted Answer

The state religion of ancient China, which came into existence at least as far back as the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D. 220) and perhaps as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty (1050 B.C. to 771 B.C.), allowed  only emperors performing the ritual worship of heaven, perceiving them as  special links between the earthly and celestial realms.

A. only emperors  performing  the ritual worship of heaven, perceiving them as
 Wrong.  idiom:  allow X doing Y  <-- wrong.

B. only emperors to perform the ritual worship of heaven, with the perception of them  being 
 Wrong.  "being" is wrong.

C. the ritual worship of heaven to be performed only by emperors, who were perceived as
  Correct.   Idiom:  allow X to be done by Y  (original: allow X to do Y)

D. the ritual worship of heaven,  performed by emperors only , with the perception of them as
 Wrong.  The red part should be a main verb, not modifier.

E. the ritual worship of heaven  as performed  by emperors only, who were perceived to be
 Wrong.  Idiom:  allow X as done  .... <-- wrong.

Hope it helps.

sowragu · Answer

I narrowed down to A and C. Then finally i chose A since C is in passive voice. 
Why A is wrong? 
Verb-ing modifying the clause
'Them' refers to emperors
Whats the mistake am i doing in my analysis??

aditya8062 · Answer

A is wrong because the meaning of A is wrong 
 A says :   The state religion of ancient China , which came into existence at least as far back as the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D. 220) and perhaps as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty (1050 B.C. to 771 B.C.),  allowed only emperors performing the ritual worship of heaven , perceiving them as special links between the earthly and celestial realms. -----------------> this means that  "The state religion of ancient China"  ALLOWED nothing other than this !! this can also mean that  "The state religion of ancient China"  never allowed people to live !!

2013gmat · Answer

Hi pqhai,
can we say that in A, performing the ritual workshop and perceiving is in present tense. These has to be in past tense.
If this allow X to Y doesn't come to our mind, what's the other way to eliminate A.
TIA

pqhai · Answer

Hi 2013gmat.

IMO, A is also wrong because of " perceiving...... " - Verb-ing modifier.

If you re-read A, it seems to convey the idea that The state religion of ancient China allowed only emperors to perform the ritual worship -->  RESULT:  they, emperors, were perceived as special links between the earthly and celestial realms. That logic is not the intended meaning. Emperors did not need to perform the ritual worship IN ORDER TO BE perceived as special links between the earthly and celestial realms.

Hope it helps.

EducationAisle · Answer

performing  and  perceiving  used here are actually called  present participles . It is worthwhile to note that participles  don't  have tense of their own and they just  derive  their tense from the  main  verb of the sentence.

The world economy is facing challenging times . 
– Present participle  challenging  in a sentence in  present continuous  tense.

In 2007, the world economy faced challenging times . 
– Present participle  challenging  in a sentence in  past  tense.

p.s. Our book    EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana    discusses this concept of participles. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id, I can send you the corresponding section.

EliLTG · Answer

This is the key. In choice A, "performing" isn't a verb--it's a  modifier . That means the the state religion allowed only emperors (using an uncommon definition of allow, "to let enter or stay"). But not just any emperors were allowed into the state religion-- only  those emperors  performing  the proper rites were allowed in! This is clearly not the intended meaning of the sentence, and therefore answer (A) must be wrong.

Hope this helps!

BassanioGratiano · Answer

The state religion of ancient China,  which came into existence at least as far back as the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D. 220) and perhaps as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty (1050 B.C. to 771 B.C.) , allowed  only emperors performing the ritual worship of heaven, perceiving them as  special links between the earthly and celestial realms.

For this particular problem you don't need to worry about the middle.

A. only emperors performing the ritual worship of heaven, perceiving them as
 The sentence doesn't make any sense.

B. only emperors to perform the ritual worship of heaven, with the perception of them being
 There are better word choices than "being". Contrary to popular GMAT belief, "being" is not always a deal breaker but in this case it is.

C. the ritual worship of heaven to be performed only by emperors, who were perceived as
 Bingo.

D. the ritual worship of heaven, performed by emperors only, with the perception of them as
 This sentence also makes no sense. What about the ritual worship of heaven?

E. the ritual worship of heaven as performed by emperors only, who were perceived to be
 as performed is wrong. Does anyone also know if "perceived to be" is wrong to?

kinghyts · Answer

Here is my logic to eliminate all the other options excepting C

a) only emperors performing the ritual worship of heaven, perceiving them as

1. COMMA + VERB-ing (perceiving) modifies the clause before the COMMA which doesn't make sense. Also, the sentence illogically means "state religion" actually "perceived" something. 
 2. The use of "performing" as a modifier is also wrong. These modifiers are used in active sense, meaning an action done by the performer himself. Here, it almost means that the "emperors" were actually "performing the rituals", something that the sentence doesn't actual intend to say.

b) only emperors to perform the ritual worship of heaven, with the perception of them being
   1. "PREP+NOUN+VERB-ing" is wrong in this case. First because the use of "being" as modifier is unnecessary. Second, the modifier "being" doesn't actually modify the noun "them" rather it tries to modify the action.
 2. Adverbial modifier "with", which literally signifies the sense of possession, is also incorrect.

c)  the ritual worship of heaven to be performed only by emperors, who were perceived as
  - Correct

d) the ritual worship of heaven, performed by emperors only, with the perception of them as
  1. Adverbial modifier "with", which literally signifies the sense of possession, is also incorrect.
 2. "perception of them as " is unnecessarily wordy.
 3. Also, it changes the meaning of the sentence

e) the ritual worship of heaven as performed by emperors only, who were perceived to be 
   1. "as performed by emperors only" - As followed by a clause is a construction used in comparisons. Completely illogical since it compares between "The state religion allowed the ritual worship..." with "<it was> performed by emperors"
 2. "who" should be placed right after the "emperors"
 3. the placement of "only" is also incorrect.

JarvisR · Answer

The state religion of ancient China, which came into existence at least as far back as the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D. 220) and perhaps as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty (1050 B.C. to 771 B.C.), allowed  only emperors performing the ritual worship of heaven, perceiving them as  special links between the earthly and celestial realms.

Analysis:
The state religion of ancient China, 
 which came into existence at least as far back as the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D. 220) and perhaps as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty (1050 B.C. to 771 B.C.), 
allowed  only emperors performing the ritual worship of heaven, perceiving them as  special links between the earthly and celestial realms.

A.  only emperors performing  the ritual worship of heaven, perceiving them as
>> allowed only emperor changes the meaning.
B. only emperors to perform the ritual worship of heaven, with the perception of them being
 >> Whats wrong with B. To me it sounds weird. Can someone help with B??
  C. the ritual worship of heaven to be performed only by emperors, who were perceived as
 D. the ritual worship of heaven, performed by emperors only, with the perception of them as
 >>Sounds as if specific rituals were allowed. 
 E.  the ritual worship of heaven as performed by  emperors only, who were perceived to be

celo700 · Answer

A. only emperors  performing  the ritual worship of heaven, perceiving them as (No verb for the sentence)
B. only emperors to perform the ritual worship of heaven,  with the  perception of them being (wrong usage of with )
C. the ritual worship of heaven to be  performed  only by emperors, who were perceived as (rectifies the verb error, who is correctly modifying emperor)
D. the ritual worship of heaven,  performed  by emperors only, with the perception of them as (verb missing)
E. the ritual worship of heaven  as performed by  emperors only, who were perceived to be (verb missing)

sayan640 · Answer

VeritasKarishma   GMATNinja   pqhai

I found this part "the ritual worship of heaven to be performed only by emperors,..." in option C passive.

Generally we reject passive construction in Gmat.
Could you please throw some more light on this ?

GMATNinja · Answer

As discussed in  this post , the passive voice isn't strictly wrong on the GMAT, so it’s rarely the deciding factor on official questions. The use of the passive voice in (C) might be a very small vote against (C), but it is not a good reason to automatically eliminate it.

We have much better reasons for eliminating the other four choices, so (C) is the best one!

Megablaziken · Answer

Is it not obvious to think of the rituals to be the link rather than the emperor himself?

MBAB123 · Answer

Megablaziken , not sure if the query still remains but no, it isnt obvious. Although, I agree that that is not illogical at all and makes perfect sense. But the there is just one "ritual" here and not "ritual s " and the entity that acts as the link is plural in all the choices.

VerbalBot · Answer

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.

The state religion of ancient China, which came into existence at leas

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

The state religion of ancient China, which came into existence at leas

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards