IMO D

To Dr. Charles Lauritsen and Commander Sherman Burroughs, the Mojave could house a naval facility long before the desert was commonly thought of for such uses, and in 1943 the Navy established the area of China Lake as a naval ordnance test station.


A. To Dr. Charles Lauritsen and Commander Sherman Burroughs, the Mojave could house a naval facility long before the desert was commonly thought of for such uses,

B. To Dr. Charles Lauritsen and Commander Sherman Burroughs, long before the desert was commonly thought of for such uses, the Mojave could house a naval facility,

C. Dr. Charles Lauritsen and Commander Sherman Burroughs chose the Mojave to house a naval facility before the desert was commonly thought of for such uses,

D. Long before the desert was commonly thought of for such uses, Dr. Charles Lauritsen and Commander Sherman Burroughs chose the Mojave to house a naval facility,

E. Long before the desert was commonly thought of being for such uses, the Mojave was chosen by Dr. Charles Lauritsen and Commander Sherman Burroughs to house a naval facility,

(A)starting with 'To' feels awkward
(B)starting with 'To' feels awkward
(D)no reference for 'such'
(E)no reference for 'such'

So OA: (C)

IMO D is the answer because it properly conveys what are the uses in "such uses". To house a naval facility and establish the area of China Lake as a naval ordnance test station.

D. Long before the desert was commonly thought of for such uses, Dr. Charles Lauritsen and Commander Sherman Burroughs chose the Mojave to house a naval facility,
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To Dr. Charles Lauritsen and Commander Sherman Burroughs, the Mojave could house a naval facility long before the desert was commonly thought of for such uses, and in 1943 the Navy established the area of China Lake as a naval ordnance test station.


A. [color=#ed1c24]To Dr. Charles Lauritsen and Commander Sherman Burroughs, the Mojave could house a naval facility long before the desert was commonly thought of for such uses,

- Use of " To" at the beginning of the sentence is unclear . Also the modifier should be next to what it describes, but here Dr charles and commander sherman describes the "mojave" which confuses the meaning of the sentence. Hence Eliminate A

B. To Dr. Charles Lauritsen and Commander Sherman Burroughs, long before the desert was commonly thought of for such uses, the Mojave could house a naval facility,

- Same as A, use of "To" at the beginning does not convey anything clearly. Also the placement of modifier is incorrect. First part of the sentence "To Dr. Charles Lauritsen and Commander Sherman Burroughs" does not connect with the rest of the sentence. Meaning is unclear. So Eliminate B
[/color]
C. Dr. Charles Lauritsen and Commander Sherman Burroughs chose the Mojave to house a naval facility before the desert was commonly thought of for such uses,
Not very clear in meaning . Hence eliminate
D. Long before the desert was commonly thought of for such uses, Dr. Charles Lauritsen and Commander Sherman Burroughs chose the Mojave to house a naval facility,

-[color=#ed1c24]correct Placement of Modifier. So Eliminate D
[/color]
E. Long before the desert was commonly thought of[color=#ed1c24] being for such uses, the Mojave was chosen by Dr. Charles Lauritsen and Commander Sherman Burroughs to house a naval facility,
-" being for such uses" is awkward and incorrect usage.Eliminate E[/color]

Ans Choice D

To Dr. Charles Lauritsen and Commander Sherman Burroughs, the Mojave could house a naval facility long before the desert was commonly thought of for such uses, and in 1943 the Navy established the area of China Lake as a naval ordnance test station.


A. To Dr. Charles Lauritsen and Commander Sherman Burroughs, the Mojave could house a naval facility long before the desert was commonly thought of for such uses,

This is incorrect sentence construction.
B. To Dr. Charles Lauritsen and Commander Sherman Burroughs, long before the desert was commonly thought of for such uses, the Mojave could house a naval facility,

This is incorrect sentence construction.
C. Dr. Charles Lauritsen and Commander Sherman Burroughs chose the Mojave to house a naval facility before the desert was commonly thought of for such uses,

D is better than C
D. Long before the desert was commonly thought of for such uses, Dr. Charles Lauritsen and Commander Sherman Burroughs chose the Mojave to house a naval facility,

The sentence is correct since modifier Long before the desert was commonly thought of for such uses modifies when Dr. Charles Lauritsen and Commander Sherman Burroughs chose the Mojave to house a naval facility and conveys the correct meaning.
E. Long before the desert was commonly thought of being for such uses, the Mojave was chosen by Dr. Charles Lauritsen and Commander Sherman Burroughs to house a naval facility,
Active voice is better than passive voice. Later part of the sentence also uses active voice.

IMO D
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Between A and B because their opinion is just that it could house not that they actually chose it to house

Official Explanation

Creating a filter: At first glance, the prompt may seem strange, though it may be difficult to say why. Let's review the answer choices and look for objective defects.

Applying the filter: (B) is worse than (A) and has an objective problem because it's unclear whether the phrase starting with "long before" modifies what comes before it or after it. So (B) is out. (C) seems pretty clear and is a more direct wording. (E) is definitely worse than (D) because it uses the passive tense unnecessarily. So we're comparing (C) and (D) and we are holding (A) under suspicion. The problem with (A), come to think of it, is the use of "to," which is awkward, and (A) also miscommunicates the "long before" part -- it sounds ambiguously like part of their belief rather than the timing of their belief. That can help us realize that (C) also has that problem: "Before the desert was commonly thought of for such uses" - does that modify the choosing or the housing? Choice (C) is therefore out.

The correct answer is (D).
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Hi GMATNinja / daagh,

can you pls explain why D is correct?

I eliminated A, B, E - for use of verb 'could' , use of 'To' and use of 'being'
Between C & D, i couldn't find any error, hence chose C for better wording... is this thinking wrong??

Can we not simply eliminate C on the basis that it doesn't have "long before" and rather just has "before" ?
It indeed changes the meaning and emphasis of timing.

Posted from my mobile device

But in option 'D' long before is modifying the subject and that is a bit awkward.

IMO C
thanks,
Regards.
Gaurav