Their lack of field research and their reliance on ancient

Question

Their lack of field research and their reliance on ancient texts led medieval scholars to  the production of botanical illustrations that were increasingly unrealistic.

A)

B) the production of botanical illustrations that were less and less realistic

C) produce increasingly unrealistic botanical illustrations

D) be increasingly unrealistic while producing botanical illustrations

E) produce botanical illustrations with increased lack of realism

Please explain, OA is coming up.

RyanDe680 · Answer

I choose C.

B is incorrect because of "less and less realistic"
D is incorrect because "be" does not agree with past tense "led"
E is incorrect because "with increased lack of realism" is incorrect
A is incorrect because it is too wordy and can be chopped down, thus C.

bsd_lover · Answer

C for me. Classic active v passive question.

hanumayamma · Answer

A) the production of botanical illustrations that were increasingly unrealistic.  the production – singular - eliminate it ]

B) the production of botanical illustrations that were less and less realistic  less and less unrealistic – redundant – eliminate it ]

C) produce increasingly unrealistic botanical illustrations  Hold it ]

D) be increasingly unrealistic while producing botanical illustrations  to be increasingly unrealistic incorrectly modifies scholars – eliminate it ]

E) produce botanical illustrations with increased lack of realism  lack of realism is unidiomatic – eliminate it]

Answer: C

omega17 · Answer

OA: C

Thx everyone!

I thought I had to have a noun (or noun phrase) after "to"

eg) X led Y to (the production...)

Having a noun after "to", is that incorrect usage?

==============

hanumayamma, you eliminated A) based on SVA, but can't you say that "that were increasingly unrealistic" is modifying "illustrations" (plural), rather than "the production" (singular)??

Paul · Answer

C is right
A is not wrong on the basis of SVA. Let me give you an example at hand.

The group of doctors that believe in God --> Is it the "group" or the "doctors" that believe(s) in God? In this example, it is the "doctors" rather than the "group" which believe in God.

Similarly, A can very well mean that it was the "illustrations" rather than the "production" which were unrealistic.

Usually, it is common for a restrictive clause to refer to the noun immediately preceding it.

Thus, the problem with A is simply conciseness. By introducing a clause rather than an infinitive phrase in C, it makes the sentence wordier and thus GMAT-wrong vis-a-vis C.

Their lack of field research and their reliance on ancient

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