Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission

Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit is a relatively recent phenomenon, beginning only after World War II.


(A) Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(B) Though it is now taken for granted by most people, the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(C) Now taken for granted by most people, colleges and universities admitting students based on their academic merit

(D) Most take them for granted now, but the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on their academic merit

(E) Most people now take for granted that colleges and universities admit students nationally based on academic merit, and it

OA is A :

The original sentence begins with an opening modifier that correctly modifies the nationwide admission of students.

(A) CORRECT. This choice is correct as it repeats the original sentence.

(B) The use of the initial modifier in this choice is correct. However, the adjective “nationwide” is incorrectly applied to students, when it is meant to apply to the admission process.

(C) Here, the modifier is adjacent to the subject “colleges and universities,” incorrectly suggesting that colleges and universities are taken for granted as opposed to the admission process.

(D) This sentence incorrectly uses the pronoun “them” to refer to the “admission” which is a singular subject. The use of the pronoun “their” is also unclear as the antecedent could be construed to be “colleges and universities” as opposed to the intended antecedent, "students."

(E) Using the word "and" at the end of the underline makes the meaning of this sentence less clear by failing to draw an appropriate contrast between the current state of taking the nationwide admission of students for granted and the fact that it is a relatively recent phenomenon. A more appropriate word choice would be "but": "Most people now take for granted..., but it is a relatively recent phenomenon."

Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit is a relatively recent phenomenon, beginning only after World War II.


(A) Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(B) Though it is now taken for granted by most people, the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(C) Now taken for granted by most people, colleges and universities admitting students based on their academic merit

(D) Most take them for granted now, but the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on their academic merit

(E) Most people now take for granted that colleges and universities admit students nationally based on academic merit, and it

Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit is a relatively recent phenomenon, beginning only after World War II.


(A) Though most people take it for granted now, the nationwide admission of students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(B) Though it is now taken for granted by most people, the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on academic merit

(C) Now taken for granted by most people, colleges and universities admitting students based on their academic merit

(D) Most take them for granted now, but the admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities based on their academic merit

(E) Most people now take for granted that colleges and universities admit students nationally based on academic merit, and it

In the correct answer choice A, "based" is a modifier and its modifying universities as per the sentence (because past participle modifiers modify preceding noun), but it needs to modify admission, which is actually based on academic merit. So, In A is this construction correct? can ed modifier skip over couple of nouns to make sense?

In the correct answer choice A, "based" is a modifier and its modifying universities as per the sentence (because past participle modifiers modify preceding noun), but it needs to modify admission, which is actually based on academic merit. So, In A is this construction correct? can ed modifier skip over couple of nouns to make sense?

Here's one way to look at it.

"Based on academic merit" modifies the entire noun phrase that precedes it, "admission of nationwide students to colleges and universities."

Furthermore, since "based on academic merit" would not logically modify "colleges and universities," logic indicates that the target of "based on academic merit" is "admission." Thus, the meaning conveyed is clear.

So, yes, while the sentence is not ideally constructed and a little awkward, that modifier placement is basically fine.

The reasoning given by manhattan prep for why C is wrong is fallacious.

For C, the modifier is not modifying "colleges and universities" just because that's the immediate noun after the comma. It's modifying the whole complex noun phrase "colleges and universities admitting students based on their academic merit", which is the subject of the sentence as whole and what the verb "is" is referring to. It pertains to the action as a whole: "admitting" as a gerund, which has a subject of "colleges and universities", direct object of "students" and adverbial modifier "based on their merit"


I've reported this to manhattan prep directly, and I've seen many online resources repeat this same explanation, when it might not be grammatically accurate. I hope anyone reading this can see this and see that the official reasoning given for why C is wrong is not true.