The state highways historically ran from north to south, because that

Question

The state highways historically ran from north to south, because that orientation fit the patterns of the existing cart paths through the mountains, but they were later diverted toward the coastal cities, often looping around the suburbs before terminating either in downtown transit centers or airports.

A. The state highways historically ran from north to south, because that orientation fit the patterns of the existing cart paths through the mountains, but

B. Historically, the state highways ran from north to south, because that was the orientation of the existing cart paths through the mountains, but

C. While state highways ran from north to south historically, the orientation of the existing cart paths through the mountains, but

D. Because state highways historically ran from north to south, since it is in the direction of the existing cart paths through the mountains,

E. State highways, beginning by traveling from north to south, because this is the direction of the existing cart paths through the mountains

Source - Ready4Gmat

daagh · Answer

The state highways historically ran from north to south, because that orientation fit the patterns of the existing cart paths through the mountains, but they were later diverted toward the coastal cities, often looping around the suburbs before terminating either in downtown transit centers or airports.

A. The state highways historically ran from north to south, because that orientation fit the patterns of the existing cart paths through the mountains, but ---  The correct choice. 
 
B. Historically, the state highways ran from north to south, because that was the orientation of the existing cart paths through the mountains, but – the standalone demonstrative pronoun has no proper referent

C. While state highways ran from north to south historically, the orientation of the existing cart paths through the mountains, The underlined part is a fragment with no verb for the main clause. Wrong

D. Because state highways historically ran from north to south, since it is in the direction of the existing cart paths through the mountains----The couple of subordinate clauses do not have even one single main clause to fall back on. Wrong

E. State highways, beginning by traveling from north to south, because this is the direction of the existing cart paths through the mountains –The subject state highways has no verb

A is the best choice.

AdiBatman · Answer

Hi daagh sir,
In the Option A, do you think we can use "fits" instead of "fit" for the singular verb "that orientation".
I rejected Option A because of that SVA issue.

daagh · Answer

Adi
The sentence is in the past tense; therefore the present tense 'fits' won't be appropriate

TheNightKing · Answer

daagh

Looks like the OA is B.

Can you try to explain?

Thanks!

ravigupta2912 · Answer

Even I drilled at A. But on knowing the A, you can perhaps reject it on the grounds of redundancy. Since the 2nd clause begins with "because" so we are already given that this clause will provide us with the reason for direction of state highways.

"because that was the orientation of the existing cart paths" (B) vs "because the orientation fit the patterns of cart paths" (A) Both are grammatically correct, but perhaps give the same meaning, which is why one can say B is the better choice under this situation?

I have a question if in real GMAT, questions based on style and usage are THIS close? Also the fact that OA skipped some words from the main Q stem makes one susceptible to not mark it as the right answer.

cc  mikemcgarry   DmitryFarber   VeritasKarishma   Akurian   daagh  HELP!

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  ravigupta2912 ,

You may want to do  the official question that this question is based on  instead.

ravigupta2912 · Answer

AjiteshArun  -- Thanks for the link. Got that one right, but the rating on that Q was sub-600. I'm still scarred by this Q if the answer choices are going to be this close on a stylistic question. Spooks me.

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi ravigupta2912 , You're not the only one who feels that way. Some (many!) non-official questions scare me too.

That's not to say that you shouldn't use non-official material. Just make sure that you prioritize official material. I'm not going to comment on this particular question, but I feel that a lot gets lost in the "translation" that rewording questions involves.

Abhi077 · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

When we read the original sentence, we get bogged down in the wordy phrasing of the part beginning with "because." Let's see which choice makes that part clearer. Choice (B) uses fewer words to say the same thing in a way that's much easier to understand, so it is a good option. Choice (C) is confusing and uses both "while" and "but," which is redundant. That's a bad option. Choice (D) doesn't make sense; it says that the highways were diverted because they used to run north to south. Choice (E) leaves the sentence without a main verb.

The correct answer is Choice (B) .

Drb89 · Answer

The key testing in this question is modifier placement.

Historically shouldn't modify the verb "ran", instead it has to modify the clause.

Hence B

Deeksha93 · Answer

Abhi077  - I believe "but" should be underlined in the orignal question

Abhi077 · Answer

Corrected. Thanks

The state highways historically ran from north to south, because that

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The state highways historically ran from north to south, because that

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