Oscar Arias who won the Nobel Peace Prize for these efforts in 1987

Question

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Oscar Arias, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for these efforts in 1987, submitted a peace plan for a series of disputes which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement among multiple nations of Central America, namely El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama, at a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region.

A) Oscar Arias, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for these efforts in 1987, submitted a peace plan for a series of disputes which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement among multiple nations of Central America, namely El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama, at a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region.

B) Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan, which was for a series of disputes leading to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement among multiple nations of Central America, namely El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama, at a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region, earning him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.

C) Being the receptor of the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in 1987, Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan for a series of various armed conflicts that were threatening the stability of the Cen¬tral American region which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agree¬ment between El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama.

D) At a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region, Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement being signed between El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Hon¬duras, and Panama; his contribution earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.

E) At a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region, Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan that led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement among El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama; his contribution earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.

generis · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1)

THE PROMPT  
 
• Meaning is a bit difficult to tease out. Do not get stuck. Generally, we that 
1) at one point, armed conflicts threatened the stability of the Central American region
2) Oscar Arias set in motion what would become a peace agreement among many nations in that region, and
3) Arias won a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts

THE OPTIONS

•  which  should be  that 
→  which  introduces non-essential material and  is  always set off by a comma or commas, whereas
→  that  introduces essential material and  is almost never  set off by a comma or commas
Takeaway: if you see a  which  that directly defines (modifies) a noun and is  not  set off by a comma or commas, be suspicious

• "these efforts" refers to a specific something or other  before  telling us about those very efforts.
Although pronouns can precede their antecedents, (1) "these efforts" is plural, but Arias's effort seems to have been singular (he submitted a peace plan), and
(2) when we refer to something specific such as winning the Nobel Prize for "these efforts," it does not make a lot of sense to keep the reader waiting to learn about those efforts

• this sentence is poorly constructed
→ the time sequence is jumbled or at least hard to follow
→ options D and E present the events in a more sensible order
Because X happened, Oscar Arias did ABC, which led to a Good Thing; Arias won the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution.
ELIMINATE A

•  which  should be  that 
→ what the peace plan was  for  is essential information
→ GMAC still tests the issue (although if published official materials are any gauge, GMAC does not test this issue as often as it did 5-10 years ago). 
 SPOILER ALERT  In OG 2020, SC #824 explicitly tests the which/that distinction.
That official question is  here .

• at the end of the sentence,  earning him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987  is disconnected from its subject, the peace plan.
→ verbING words can modify the previous clause or subject of that clause. Sometimes whatever ___ING words modify can be far away, but this placement makes the sentence hard to follow and the modifier hard to understand. Arias did not earn the Nobel Prize because various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region.

ELIMINATE B
 
• illogical
→ this sentence implies that because Arias had already won the Nobel Peace Prize, Arias then submitted a peace plan
→ that declaration is exactly backwards

• especially in situations in which treaties are involved, the word  between  may well be okay for more than two countries.
→ among is probably better. I would not eliminate this option on this basis alone. The logic problem, however, is fatal.

ELIMINATE C

•  which  should be  that  (see option A)

•  being signed  is not needed

• especially in the context of treaties to which many countries are a party, the word  between  can be used, though GMAC prefers  among  when more than two entities are involved and rarely uses between in such cases

ELIMINATE D

• bingo
→  that  is used correctly
→ the preferred "among" is used
→ the sequence makes sense, and the sentence is both clear and concise

The best answer is E

COMMENTS

Anshurana  , welcome to SC Butler.

I am in the midst of the most important U.S. election in my lifetime.
I'm gonna keep this one short.

I really like the way that many people decided to try to understand the general meaning of the sentence.

If you explained well, you get kudos. 
By explained well, I mean: could a GMAT aspirant read your explanation and understand what is wrong with the sentence?

For the most part, nicely done, everyone.

warrior1991 · Answer

Meaning is very important.

1. Threat of stability in Central America region.
2. Peace plan submitted by Oscar Arias
3. Leading to the agreement among multiple nations 
4. This earned him a Nobel Prize.

Out of all options only option E brings out this clear meaning.

IMO E

These efforts is incorrect. Also disputes led to the Peace Agreement is wrong.

disputes led to agreement is wrong

Use among for more than 2 nations

Being usage incorrect

dinesh2392 · Answer

I underlined the errors which I found and used to eliminate the options

A) Oscar Arias, who won  the Nobel Peace Prize for these efforts in 1987 , submitted a peace plan for a series of disputes which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement among multiple nations of Central America, namely El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama, at a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region. (Changing the meaning = Out)

B) Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan, which was for a series of disputes leading to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement among multiple nations of Central America, namely El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama, at a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region, earning him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.

C)  Being the receptor of the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in 1987, Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan for a series of various armed conflicts  that were threatening the stability of the Cen¬tral American region which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agree¬ment between El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama. (He earned Nobel price because of the peace plan not before that = Out)

D) At a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region, Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan which led to the  Esquipulas Peace Agreement being signed between  El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Hon¬duras, and Panama; his contribution earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987. (Between is wrong here = Out)

E) At a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region, Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan that led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement among El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama; his contribution earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987. (Left out only with this option = Correct)

IMO E is correct

carouselambra · Answer

Oscar Arias, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for these efforts in 1987, submitted a peace plan for a series of disputes which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement among multiple nations of Central America, namely El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama, at a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region.

Explanation :
Look what the sentence is trying to tell us with the help of a skeleton.
1. Basically, some guy won Nobel prize for submitting a peace plan for something at some *important* time that led to something among various nations.
2. Start with POE to check which options are able to convey the above meaning.
3. After coming down to your two best selects, check for the grammatical errors.

This is how I arrived at  Option E

A) Oscar Arias, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for these efforts in 1987, submitted a peace plan for a series of  disputes which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement  among multiple nations of Central America, namely El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama, at a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region.
Disputes led to Peace agreement? Not really!

B) Oscar Arias  submitted a peace plan, which was for a series of disputes leading to  the Esquipulas Peace Agreement among multiple nations of Central America, namely El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama, at a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region, earning him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.
Was the peace plan for a series of disputes? Nope.

C)  Being  the receptor of the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in 1987, Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan for a series of various armed conflicts that were threatening the stability of the Central American region which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement  between  El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama.
Usage of being is incorrect. Also, we always use between two things. Among should have been used here.

D) At a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region, Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement  being  signed between El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Hon¬duras, and Panama; his contribution earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.
Usage of being is incorrect.

E) At a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region, Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan that led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement among El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama; his contribution earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.
 Correct

Anshurana · Answer

Issues in the sentence:
1.  Focus of the meaning. 
2.  use of which  , we know that  which  is used to provide additional information ,so it is  preceded by a comma  .
3.  Oscar Arias , who won the Nobel Peace Prize for these efforts in 1987, submitted a peace plan for a series of disputes which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement among multiple nations of Central America, namely El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama,  at a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region.  
 
Also in the highlighted text above Oscar did something ,but the extra info about him after the comma is so much that if somehow distort the meaning of the sentence by the end.
We should place them in such a way that meaning is intact.
4.  Between and Among  - Between is used when there are 2 item eg between X and Y.
Among is used when more than 2 items.

A and B has which modifier issue also meaning is distorted.
C - its actually saying since Oscar won Nobel price he submitted the plan - total meaning change from what sentence wants to convey.
D -  which  issue, and Using  Between  is the wrong usage.

E is the winner

petrichor · Answer

Oscar Arias, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for these efforts in 1987, submitted a peace plan for a series of disputes which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement among multiple nations of Central America, namely El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama, at a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region.

A.   "these efforts"  is not clear on what all the efforts. "which" phrase used as a restrictive modifier seems to refer "a series of disputes" .

B.   "a series of disputes leading to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement "  - meaning issue with the restrictive '-ing' modifier

C.  Meaning distortion -  " Being the receptor .. Oscar Arias submitted" . No, He didn't submit the plan after receiving the prize.
 "between El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama."  - Among is correct for comparison with more than two entities, between is not.

D.   'submitted a peace plan which led to...agreement being signed ..'  - How can something lead to something else which is already happening?

E)  At a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region, Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan that led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement among El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama; his contribution earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.

E  looks good with clear modifiers and the result of his action in an independent clause.

monk123 · Answer

Oscar Arias, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for these efforts in 1987, submitted a peace plan for a series of disputes which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement among multiple nations of Central America, namely El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama, at a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region.

POE:
full underlined check for meaning.
(A) looks good, keep it.
Eliminate (B)- change of meaning.
Eliminate (C) - 'being' is redundant and change of meaning.
Eliminate (D) - 'being' is redundant and the usage of 'between' is wrong.
Between (A) & (E)- 
(E) is more clear simple and precise. Eliminate (A)

A) Oscar Arias , who won the Nobel Peace Prize for these efforts in 1987,  submitted a peace plan for a series of disputes which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement among multiple nations of Central America, namely El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama, at a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region.

B) Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan, which was for a series of disputes leading to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement among multiple nations of Central America, namely El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama, at a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region, earning him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.

C)  Being   the receptor of the Nobel Peace Prize  for his efforts in 1987, Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan for a series of various armed conflicts that were threatening the stability of the Cen¬tral American region which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agree¬ment between El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama.

D) At a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region, Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement  being signed between El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Hon¬duras, and Panama ; his contribution earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.

E) At a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region, Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan that led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement among El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama; his contribution earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987. -   CORRECT

jhavyom · Answer

Oscar Arias, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for these efforts in 1987, submitted a peace plan for a series of disputes which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement among multiple nations of Central America, namely El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama, at a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region.

A) Oscar Arias, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for  these efforts  in 1987, submitted a peace plan for a series of disputes which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement among multiple nations of Central America, namely El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama, at a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region.
'these efforts' has no antecedent in the sentence. Oscar Arias did only one thing i.e. he submitted the plan
Eliminate

B) Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan, which was for a series of  disputes leading to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement  among multiple nations of Central America, namely El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama, at a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region, earning him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.
disputes leading to the agreement is incorrect.

C) Being the receptor of the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in 1987, Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan for a series of various armed conflicts that were threatening the stability of the Cen¬tral American region which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agree¬ment  between  El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama.
Use of between is incorrect since the list contains more than two nations.

D) At a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region, Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement being signed  between  El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Hon¬duras, and Panama; his contribution earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.
Use of between is incorrect since the list contains more than two nations.

E) At a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region, Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan that led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement among El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama; his contribution earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987. 
Correct

Choice E is the answer.

rishab0507 · Answer

Here we deal with different errors in choices
Between Vs among
Subject verb issues. 
Meaning

A) Oscar Arias, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for  these  efforts in 1987, submitted a peace plan for a series of disputes which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement among multiple nations of Central America, namely El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama, at a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region.
 it should be HIS efforts not these, 
submitted plan....series of disputes led to signing of peace agreement ? Relation is no clear and use of which is incorrect here, Usually comes after comma .

B) Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan, which was for a series of disputes leading to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement  among multiple  nations of Central America, namely El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama, at a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region, earning him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.
 again meaning error : peace plan submitted for series of disputes and then we have ING modifier which comma . This is not an additional statement but an integral part so not come after modifier. :that lead to: would have been good use here .
Further earning him...1987 .. modifier is placed too far from noun it is referring back to oscar  
 Use of Among and multiple is redundant

C) Being the receptor of the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in 1987, Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan for a series of various armed conflicts that were threatening the stability of the Cen¬tral American region which led to the Esquipulas Peace Agree¬ment  between  El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama.
 We should avoid statements started with being, Altough this is not straightforward POE , It is BETWEEN ,which cannot be used for more than 2 entities.
 
D) At a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region, Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan  which  led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement being signed  between  El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Hon¬duras, and Panama; his contribution earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.
 Error of Between

E) At a time when various armed conflicts were threatening the stability of the Central American region, Oscar Arias submitted a peace plan that led to the Esquipulas Peace Agreement among El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Panama; his contribution earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987.
 Correct option 
use of "that led to " is correct. 
Oscar arias submitted peace plan that led to agreement.
In above options A,b,c,d meaning is not clear either peace plan lead to agreement or armed conflicts. This ambiguity is removed in E
use of  among  is correct
2nd statement use of semicolons means statement is independent yet relating to oscar by correct use of him and his .

generis · Answer

The official explanation is  here .

Oscar Arias who won the Nobel Peace Prize for these efforts in 1987

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

Oscar Arias who won the Nobel Peace Prize for these efforts in 1987

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615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

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