The portrait masks used by the Baule people in dance celebrations

Question

The portrait masks used by the Baule people in dance celebrations may be commissioned from a carver as complement to someone, or  it may be made at the carver's own initiative , but no mask can be made without having  the permission of its subject.

(A) it may be made at the carver's own initiative , but no mask can be made without having

(B) they may be made at the carver's own initiative, but no mask can be made without

(C) it might be initiated by the carver on his own, but masks cannot be made without

(D) they might be initiated by the carver on his own, but any mask to be made has to have

(E) it might be made at carver's own initiative, but none of the masks can be made unless they have

daagh · Accepted Answer

The portrait masks used by the Baule people in dance celebrations may be commissioned from a carver as complement to someone, or  it may be made at the carver's own initiative, but no mask can be made without  having the permission of its subject.

(b) they may be made at the Carver's own initiative, but no mask can be made without

(d) they might be initiated by the carver on his own, but any mask to be made has to have

The main difference between B and D is the use of two seemingly interchangeable modal auxiliaries 'may' and 'might'. However, there is a faint difference.

When something is certainly a thing of the worldly reality, something that is not hypothetical or impossible, we may use 'May'.

Example: It may rain shortly because this is monsoon time and dark clouds are gathering. Here the possibility of rains is more or less certain, and is more appropriate to use 'may'.

However, one can't be so sure in summer months and may rather use the less certain' 'might'. Therefore, when we are not that certain about the outcome, or when we speculate or feel jerky that the outcome is more a gut feeling, then we use 'might

In the issue before us, one can see that the carver initiating something is not that is impossible, speculative or out of the ordinary. Therefore, B is stylistically better than D

tryambaks · Answer

Only contenders are B and D
Since , Masks is plural. (D) is out because any / many - these are plural and can not take singular has
(B) is the answer

target760gmat · Answer

Any - cannot take plural ? 
Can someone give example of this pls ?

shashanksagar · Answer

Imo B

Sent from my SM-N910H using Tapatalk

Abhishek009 · Answer

5 indefinite pronouns that can be either singular or plural depending on the context of the sentence. You can remember these 5 by the acronym SANAM. ~ MANHATTAN SC Please refer the following link from BBC as well - https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learn ... v303.shtml Hope that helps... (D) changes the meaning of the sentence alotogather... Hence correct answer must be (B)

leanhdung · Answer

The portrait  masks  used by the Baule people in dance celebrations may be commissioned from a carver as complement to someone, or  it may be made at the carver's own initiative , but no mask can be made without having  the permission of  its  subject.

(a)  it  may be made at the carver's own initiative , but no mask can be made without  having

(b)  they may be made at the carver's own initiative, but no mask can be made without

(c)  it  might be initiated by the carver on his own, but  masks  cannot be made without

(d) they might be initiated by the carver on his own, but any mask to be made has to have

(e)  it  might be made at carver's own initiative, but none of the  masks  can be made unless  they  have

GAURAV1113 · Answer

In probable contender B & D with 'they', D is completely changing the meaning of original sentence. So 'B'.
But are there other grammatical mistakes in option D?

Sent from my Moto G Play using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

leanhdung · Answer

The problem with D is meaning: any mask is an inanimate object, how can any mask has to have the permission ? Does all this make sense?

thangvietnam · Answer

"may be made" is fit with "may be commissioned". this is one thing for which choice b is better than choice D.

"any mask has to have" is not logical. this is second thing

"any mask to be made" is wordier than "no maske". this is 3rd thing.

so, B is better than choice D for above 3 things.

egmat · Answer

Hello Al,

Most definitely the correct answer has to be between Choice B and Choice. So no brainer there.

IMHO, the choice is easy because Choice B is a very lucid answer choice that conveys the meaning absolutely unambiguously.

Choice D is rather verbose and indirect.

Hence, Choice B is the clear winner for this one.

Thanks. :-)

Shraddha

Shraddha

thangvietnam · Answer

"to be made " in choice d is wrong.
"to be made" show a future action. this is one of many typical characteristics of infinitive.
here we talk about masks which have been made, not will be made. "but any mask has to have permission" will be fine.
choice b avoid this problem by taling about the mask which has not been made and, is good.

AbhishekBawa2604 · Answer

9. The portrait masks used by the Baule people in dance celebrations may be commissioned from a carver as complement to someone, or it may be made at the carver's own initiative , but no mask can be made without having the permission of its subject.

(A) it may be made at the carver's own initiative , but no mask can be made without having

(B) they may be made at the carver's own initiative, but no mask can be made without (Correct Answer)

(C) it might be initiated by the carver on his own, but masks cannot be made without

(D) they might be initiated by the carver on his own, but any mask to be made has to have

(E) it might be made at carver's own initiative, but none of the masks can be made unless they have

Split 1: Might vs may; may is preferred. Eliminate C,D and E. 
Split 2: It vs they; subject: The portrait masks (plural); therefore, they is the winner. Eliminate B.

Ans: A

krndatta · Answer

Abhishek009

Can you share the changed meaning in option D? 
Although I marked option B as well, but while choosing between B and D, I thought how can masks be initiated by the carver? Masks cannot be initiated by the carver on their own. Hence, I choose option B.

Please share your two cents on this one.

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  krndatta ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, yes; the meaning conveyed by "they might be initiated" is somewhat illogical: it would be more accurate to say that "the process of carving the mask might be initiated".

Further, in the second half of Option D, the clause "any mask to be made has to have", illogically implies that the   mask itself   has to have the permission of its subject.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

The portrait masks used by the Baule people in dance celebrations

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 portrait masks used by the Baule people in dance celebrations

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