During the early years of the American Civil War, when the Union Army

Question

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1) 
 For SC butler Questions  Click Here

During the early years of the American Civil War, when the Union Army provided one assistant surgeon to every regiment of a thousand men,  women nurses, familiar with various surgical procedures, were a help in treating  many injured soldiers.

A) women nurses, familiar with various surgical procedures, were a help in treating

B) women nurses were familiar with various surgical procedures and this helped them to treat

C) women nurses, familiar with various surgical procedures, helped to treat

D) having intimate knowledge of various surgical procedures, women nurses helped in the treatment of

E) familiar with various surgical procedures, women nurses helped to treat

ExpertsGlobal5 · Accepted Answer

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem: 
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended core meaning of this sentence is that during the early years of the American Civil War, women nurses, who were familiar with various surgical procedures, helped to treat many soldiers.

Concepts tested here: Modifiers + Verb Forms + Pronouns + Awkwardness/Redundancy 
• In a “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction. 
• In a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction.

A:  This answer choice uses the present participle ("verb+ing" - "treating" in this sentence) construction "in treating" to refer to the intent of the action "were a help"; please remember, for referring to the purpose or intent of an action, the infinitive verb form (“to + base form of verb") is preferred over the present participle ("verb+ing" - "treating" in this sentence) construction. Further, Option A uses the passive voice construction "were a help", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

B:  This answer choice incorrectly uses conjunction ("and" in this sentence) to join the independent clauses "women nurses were familiar with various surgical procedures" and "this helped them to treat many soldiers"; please remember, semicolons and the “comma + conjunction” construction are used to link two independent clauses; commas are used to link an independent clause with a dependent one; comma and bare conjunction cannot be used to join two independent clauses. Further, Option B suffers from pronoun ambiguity, as the pronoun "this" lacks a clear referent.

C:   Correct.  This answer choice correctly modifies "women" with "familiar with various surgical procedures", conveying the intended meaning - that women nurses had intimate knowledge of various surgical procedures. Further, Option C correctly uses a comma to join the dependent clause "During the early years...a thousand men" to the independent clause "women...helped to treat many injured soldiers". Additionally, Option C avoids the pronoun error seen in Option B, as it employs no pronouns. Moreover, Option C uses the infinitive verb form ("to + base form of verb" - "to + treat" in this sentence to refer to the intent of the action "helped". Besides, Option C is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

D:  This answer choice incorrectly modifies "regiment of a thousand men" with "having intimate knowledge of various surgical procedures", incorrectly implying that the   regiment   had intimate knowledge of various surgical procedures; the intended meaning is that the   women nurses   had intimate knowledge of various surgical procedures; please remember, in a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Further, Option D uses the needlessly wordy constructions "having intimate knowledge of various surgical procedures" and "helped in the treatment of", leading to awkwardness and redundancy.

E:  This answer choice incorrectly modifies "regiment of a thousand men" with "familiar with various surgical procedures", incorrectly implying that the   regiment   had intimate knowledge of various surgical procedures; the intended meaning is that the   women nurses   had intimate knowledge of various surgical procedures; please remember, in a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun.

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Infinitive vs Present Participle" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKizVOYx0_k

To understand the concept of "Comma Splices and Run Ons" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~6 minutes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOXi16shp-4

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

generis · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1)

THE PROMPT

•  modifiers 
When a modifying phrase is  not  at the beginning of a sentence but rather is placed  between  two nouns to which or to whom the modifier could logically refer, which noun "takes" the modifier?
Answer: The first subject.

Simple adjectives almost always  precede  a noun: 
→  A skilled surgeon. A knowledgeable tutor.

Adjective phrases and clauses that are not introductory statements  follow  a noun. 
→ . . .  she is a famous surgeon, skilled in techniques very few people can perform. 
Here is a funny example in which the modifier should immediately follow its noun:
→ Wrong:  The lifeguard dove into the surf with the deep tan.  (The surf did not have a deep tan.)
→ Corrected, adjective phrase in between two nouns modifies the first noun:  The lifeguard  with the deep tan  dove into the surf.

• idiom: help 
→ The word  help  is versatile (see  this collocations page,    here ), but GMAC occasionally tests the unidiomatic construction   help in doing   (or   help in verbING  )

• pronoun, THIS
→  this  usually "points" to a noun: Please sit in  this comfortable red chair  near the fireplace rather than on  that hard bench  near the window.

→  this  is almost never a standalone pronoun (but see immediately below)

→ can almost never refer to a noun or a preceding clause or phrase (but see immediately below)

→ There is one recent official exception that showed up in OG 2020 and remains in OG 2021 and 0G 2022.
In that question, this is a standalone pronoun that refers to an entire preceding phrase.  SPOILER ALERT 
That question is  here .

→ Verdict?
If you have two seemingly correct options and one of them uses  this  as a standalone pronoun, eliminate that option and choose the other one.

• idiom error
→  help in treating  is a noun phrase that is colloquial and too informal at best or not idiomatic at worst.
This construction might be acceptable in informal writing but is unlikely to be correct on the GMAT.

• style issue (after comparing with option C)
→  harshpathak96  's question made me notice that, as a matter of style, the non-action verb  were  paired with the previous verb  provided  is not as strong as verb pairing in option C.

This option creates a hard situation. The answer is not horrible, but it is not great, either.
KEEP, but look for a better answer

→  this  as a standalone pronoun is highly suspect
→ if allowed as a standalone pronoun, this is ambiguous. 
Does  this  refer to the nurses' familiarity with the surgical procedures or the variety of surgical procedures?
ELIMINATE B

• I do not see any errors
• correct idiom 
→ The idiom  helped to treat  is in the correct form (help + infinitive).

• correctly placed modifiers
→  familiar with various surgical procedures  correctly modifies  women nurses.

• Option A vs. Option C?
No contest. Option C is the better sentence; it is not plagued by informal phrasing and a somewhat strained idiom construction.
Eliminate A.
KEEP C

• modifier error
The phrase  having intimate knowledge of various surgical procedures  wrongly modifies "one assistant surgeon" rather than "women nurses" as is required.
By definition, a surgeon is familiar with various surgical procedures. 
We need to know that the women were familiar with the various surgical procedures so that the sentence makes sense.
ELIMINATE D
 
• modifier error - same problem as that in option D
→ The phrase  familiar with various surgical procedures  incorrectly modifies  one assistant surgeon  rather than  women nurses .
The whole point of the sentence is to tell us about women who helped surgeons on a battlefield; those women could help because they were familiar with various surgical procedures.
ELIMINATE E

The best answer is C.

NOTES

harshpathak96  , having eliminated all but options A and C (I think), you asked:
 
Excellent question and not an easy one to answer straightforwardly.

First, if we are being very strict, the verb  were  in option A, in simple past tense, is also parallel to the early verb "provided."

That said, second, there is a sense in which it is much better to use an action verb (helped) with an action verb (provided) than it is to use a non-action verb (were) with an action verb (provided).
What I am describing, though, is not really parallelism as we think about it in a grammatical sense.
What I am describing is a matter of better  style,  for two reasons: action verbs drive good prose and two action verbs create a brisk pace whereas one action and one non-action verb (also called a "stative" verb) create a small hiccup or at least a slowing down of the pace.

Third and finally, verbs often do not have to be parallel. 
We can pair an action and non-action (stative) verb even if they are joined by  and .
Verb tenses can change within a sentence, too: Yesterday I visited Seoul and tomorrow I will visit Kuala Lumpur.

Verdict? You had good instincts. Option C is the better sentence, in part because its second verb is stronger. Nice catch.
(I'm not comfortable saying that all verbs must be parallel; stylistically, however, the two verbs in C work better than the two in A.)

COMMENTS

harshpathak96  , welcome to SC Butler.

Well, I have encountered a pleasant surprise: at least three of these answers could be bumped to Best Community Reply.

I would read all the posts; each poster adds a bit of unique perspective and wisdom.
Kudos go to new posters and correct answers.

Keep up the good work.

zhanbo · Answer

My answer is  (C) . It took me 01:11.

(A) "were a help" is not as effective as verb "help", as used in option (C).
Strictly, while women nurses could provide help, they are not "a help".

(B) "this” has no clear antecedent. 
The style is also rather sloppy.

(D) "having intimate knowledge of various surgical procedures" can modify either "the Union Army" or "women nurses“.

(E) "familiar with various surgical procedures" can modify either "the Union Army" or "women nurses“.

Anuragsharma93 · Answer

IMO A

Lets first do the easy eliminations -

B) women nurses were familiar with various surgical procedures and this helped them to treat --  "This" has no logical Antecedent

D) having intimate knowledge of various surgical procedures, women nurses helped in the treatment of -  The modifier Having Intimate Knowledge .. is a squinting modifier does it refer to he Union Army or The Nurses ?

E) familiar with various surgical procedures, women nurses helped to treat - Same issue as D "Familiar with....." is squinting modifier.

Now A Vs C ... I had a real hard time figuring this one out.

"familiar with various surgical procedures" is modifying Women Nurses - hence lets ignore that for now and look at the core for further comparison.

A) women nurses  were a help in treating  many injured soldiers.
C) women nurses  helped to treat  many injured soldiers.

Generally we say Help in "doing something" not "Help to" Hence the correct answer is A.

Sumi1010 · Answer

We should not pick the choice in SC because something "sounds" good or something is what people "generally" say.
This problem is an example to demonstrate the same.

In day-to-day world, we can say : <plural subject> are A <something>
However, if the subject is plural, it can NOT be "a/an" ,

A) women nurses, familiar with various surgical procedures, were a help in treating

We can eliminate it.

This and These are demonstrative pronouns and can't stand alone (should be followed by nouns).
Examples - This boy, that problem etc...

B) women nurses were familiar with various surgical procedures and this helped them to treat
What does "this" stand for?

If I write the sentence as -
women nurses were familiar with various surgical procedures and this familiarityhelped them to treat...
The above will be right.

Now, look at the choices D and E (both starting with modifier phrases) -
D. During the early years of the American Civil War, when the Union Army provided one assistant surgeon to every regiment of a thousand men,having intimate knowledge of various surgical procedures, women nurses helped in the treatment.
Here, "having intimate knowledge of various surgical procedures" can ambiguously modify "men" and not "women"

E. During the early years of the American Civil War, when the Union Army provided one assistant surgeon to every regiment of a thousand men,familiar with various surgical procedures, women nurses helped to treat.
Here "familiar with various surgical procedures" can ambiguously modify "men" and not "women"

Choice C fixes all the above issue and is correct.
C) women nurses, familiar with various surgical procedures, helped to treat

IMO C

Shikhar22 · Answer

Should be A. The phrase 'during the early years' needs an ongoing action, and 'were a help in treating' delivers that.

Posted from my mobile device

harshpathak96 · Answer

I picked C because the verb "helped" is parallel to "provided" earlier in the sentence.

A doesn't have this, and all other options are grammatically incorrect.

Is my approach correct?

sivatx2 · Answer

A) women nurses, familiar with various surgical procedures,  were a help  in treating 
women nurses = a help??? Wrong comparison. Eliminate.

B) women nurses were familiar with various surgical procedures and  this  helped  them  to treat 
 them refers to who, women nurses or army or regiment?. Pronoun reference error. Also same problem with this(surgical procedure? or nurses familiarity with the procedure?). Eliminate

C) women nurses, familiar with various surgical procedures, helped to treat
  Looks crisp with no modifier or pronoun issues. Keep.

D)  having intimate knowledge  of various surgical procedures, women nurses helped in the treatment of 
 Misplaced modifier causes modifier ambiguity with "having...". Eliminate

E)  familiar with  various surgical procedures, women nurses helped to treat 
 Misplaced modifier causes modifier ambiguity with "familiar...". Eliminate

So, C is the correct choice.

generis · Answer

The official explanation is  here .

During the early years of the American Civil War, when the Union Army

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

During the early years of the American Civil War, when the Union Army

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