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12 Days of Christmas 🎅 GMAT Competition with Lots of Questions & FunThe Fifth Council of the Lateran, an ecclesiastical council of the Catholic Church, held between 1512 and 1517, called for reforms
including the education of priests and expansion of the Holy See’s influence in France including the confirmation of the Concordat of Bologna and abrogation of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges.
(A) including the education of priests and expansion of the Holy See’s influence in France including the confirmation of the Concordat of Bologna and abrogation of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges
(B) that included the education of priests, and for expansion of the Holy See’s influence in France to include the confirmation of the Concordat of Bologna and abrogation of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges
(C) with the education of priests included and for expansion of the Holy See’s influence in France to include the confirmation of the Concordat of Bologna and abrogation of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges
(D) to include the education of priests and for expansion of the Holy See’s influence in France with the confirmation of the Concordat of Bologna and abrogation of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges included
(E) that included the education of priests and for expansion of the Holy See’s influence in France through the confirmation of the Concordat of Bologna and abrogation of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges
Experts' Global Official Explanation:
Grammatical Construction + Verb Forms + Meaning + Modifiers + Redundancy/AwkwardnessUnderstanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that the Fifth Council of the Lateran called for reforms that included the education of priests and called for expansion of the Holy See’s influence in France through the confirmation of the Concordat of Bologna and abrogation of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges.
• 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.
• The infinitive verb form (“to + base form of verb"- "to + include" in this sentence) is the preferred construction for referring to the purpose of an action.
A. Trap. This answer choice incorrectly modifies “reforms” with “including the education of priests” and incorrectly modifies “influence in France” with “including the confirmation…”, incorrectly implying that the education of priests was one specific type of reform that the Fifth Council of the Lateran called for and that the confirmation of the Concordat of Bologna and the abrogation of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges were elements of the Holy See’s influence in France; the intended meaning is that the Fifth Council of the Lateran called for reforms that included the education of priests and called for the expansion of the Holy See’s influence in France
through the confirmation of the Concordat of Bologna and abrogation of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges; please remember, in a “noun + comma + phrase” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun.
B. Trap. This answer choice incorrectly modifies “influence in France” with “to include the confirmation”, incorrectly implying that the Fifth Council of the Lateran called for the expansion of the Holy See’s influence in France,
for the purpose of including the confirmation of the Concordat of Bologna and abrogation of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges; the intended meaning is that the Fifth Council of the Lateran called for the expansion of the Holy See’s influence in France,
through the confirmation of the Concordat of Bologna and abrogation of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges; please remember, the infinitive verb form (“to + base form of verb"- "to + include" in this sentence) is the preferred construction for referring to the purpose of an action.
C. This answer choice incorrectly modifies “influence in France” with “to include the confirmation”, incorrectly implying that the Fifth Council of the Lateran called for the expansion of the Holy See’s influence in France, for the purpose of including the confirmation of the Concordat of Bologna and abrogation of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges; the intended meaning is that the Fifth Council of the Lateran called for the expansion of the Holy See’s influence in France,
through the confirmation of the Concordat of Bologna and abrogation of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges; please remember, the infinitive verb form (“to + base form of verb"- "to + include" in this sentence) is the preferred construction for referring to the purpose of an action. Further, Option C uses the needlessly wordy phrase “with the education of priests included”, leading to awkwardness. Additionally, Option C is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.
D. This answer choice incorrectly modifies “called for reforms” with “to include the education of priests”, incorrectly implying that the Fifth Council of the Lateran called for reforms
for the purpose of including the education of priests; the intended meaning is that the Fifth Council of the Lateran called for reforms that included the education of priests; please remember, the infinitive verb form (“to + base form of verb"- "to + include" in this sentence) is the preferred construction for referring to the purpose of an action.
E. Correct. This answer choice correctly modifies “reforms” with “that included…” and correctly modifies “expansion of the Holy See’s influence in France” with “through the confirmation…”, conveying the intended meaning of the sentence- that the Fifth Council of the Lateran called for reforms that included the education of priests and called for the expansion of the Holy See’s influence in France through the confirmation of the Concordat of Bologna and abrogation of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges.
E is the best answer choice.____________________________
Video Explanation: