Less accessible than in hieratic form, but precisely for this reason

Question

Less accessible than in hieratic form, but precisely for this reason the cursive form of ancient Egyptian ideographic writing was more suitable for sacerdotal uses .

A. Less accessible than in hieratic form, but precisely for this reason the cursive form of ancient Egyptian ideographic writing was more suitable for sacerdotal uses

B. The reason the cursive form of ancient Egyptian ideographic writing was more suitable for sacerdotal uses than the hieratic form was is precisely because it was less accessible

C. Ancient Egyptian ideographic writing in its cursive rather than hieratic form was more suitable for sacerdotal uses precisely because less accessible

D. Being less accessible as compared to the hieratic form, the cursive form of ancient Egyptian ideographic writing was more suitable for sacerdotal uses precisely because of this.

E. Precisely because it was less accessible than the hieratic form, the cursive form of ancient Egyptian ideographic writing was more suitable for sacerdotal uses

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Less accessible than in hieratic form, but precisely for this reason the cursive form of ancient Egyptian ideographic writing was more suitable for sacerdotal uses .

A. Less accessible than in hieratic form, but precisely for this reason the cursive form of ancient Egyptian ideographic writing was more suitable for sacerdotal uses

Incorrect.

This answer choice is grammatically incorrect. The parallelism A but B requires that A and B belong to the same part of speech. In this case, A is a fragment that lacks a conjugated verb ( less accessible than in hieratic form ) whereas B is a clause with a subject+verb ( ...the cursive form...was... ).

What helps us identify this question as a Parallelism question as well as identify the mistake is the following Stop Sign: A and/or/but B

Due to sentence's incorrect parallelism, the comparative construction  less accessible than  is flawed, because what is compared ( hieratic form  and  cursive form ) cannot be logically understood.

B. The reason the cursive form of ancient Egyptian ideographic writing was more suitable for sacerdotal uses than the hieratic form was is precisely because it was less accessible

Incorrect.

This answer is stylistically flawed. Using both  the reason  and  because  is redundant.

What helps us identify this question as a Redundancy question as well as identify this mistake is the following Stop Sign: the reason + because

C. Ancient Egyptian ideographic writing in its cursive rather than hieratic form was more suitable for sacerdotal uses precisely because less accessible

Incorrect.

This answer choice is grammatically incorrect. The last words of this answer choice  because less accessible  create a fragment, lacking a conjugated verb. The reason conjunction  because  always begins a clause which requires a conjugated verb.

D. Being less accessible as compared to the hieratic form, the cursive form of ancient Egyptian ideographic writing was more suitable for sacerdotal uses precisely because of this.

Incorrect.

This answer choice is grammatically incorrect and stylistically flawed. The correct comparative construction is  less   than , not  less   as compared to .

In addition, the pronoun  this  is ambiguous, as it is not clear whether  this  refers to the situation of the cursive form  being less accessible  or to another singular noun in the earlier part of the sentence, e.g.  the hieratic form or ideographic writing .

E. Precisely because it was less accessible than the hieratic form, the cursive form of ancient Egyptian ideographic writing was more suitable for sacerdotal uses

Well done!

This answer choice makes correct use of the comparative construction  less...than  to compare the  hieratic form  of ideographic writing with that of the  cursive  form.

Note that this sentence is made of two interchangeable clauses:

,

This is equivalent to:

.

yashikaaggarwal · Answer

A. Less accessible than in hieratic form,  (subject is missing, what is less accessible? No idea. Statement is ambiguous)  but precisely for this reason the cursive form of ancient Egyptian ideographic writing was more suitable for sacerdotal uses. (ELIMINATE A)

B. The reason the cursive form of ancient Egyptian ideographic writing was more suitable for sacerdotal uses than the hieratic form  was is  precisely because it was less accessible (sentence doesn't hold any meaning. plus, having two verbs together is incorrect) (ELIMINATE B)

C. Ancient Egyptian ideographic writing in its cursive rather than hieratic form was more suitable for sacerdotal uses precisely because  (subject verb is missing, what is less accessible?)  less accessible. (ELIMINATE C)

D. Being less accessible as compared to the hieratic form, the cursive form of ancient Egyptian ideographic writing was more suitable for sacerdotal uses precisely because of  this . (What's this? No specific noun to place here) (ELIMINATE D)

E. Precisely because  it  was less accessible than the hieratic form,  the cursive form of ancient Egyptian  ideographic writing was more suitable for sacerdotal uses. (It has its suitable noun, sentence holds meaning. Better option than rest)

Answer is E

Posted from my mobile device

yasharoraa · Answer

A. Less accessible than in hieratic form, but precisely for this reason the cursive form of ancient Egyptian ideographic writing was more suitable for sacerdotal uses - Incorrect " Less accessible than in hieratic form " should be followed by a noun which is modified by this phrase. But here, it is ambiguous as " the cursive form " is pretty far away, which is intended to be modified by the meaning of the sentence. B. The reason the cursive form of ancient Egyptian ideographic writing was more suitable for sacerdotal uses than the hieratic form was is precisely because it was less accessible - Incorrect " was is "???? Two forms of verb together? Really strange construction, and absolutely incorrect. C. Ancient Egyptian ideographic writing in its cursive rather than hieratic form was more suitable for sacerdotal uses precisely because less accessible - Incorrect What is less accessible? Even though in our minds we think it is talking about " ancient Egyptian ideographic writing in its cursive form " only, but there's nothing pointing to it, there should be a pronoun in the last phrase. D. Being less accessible as compared to the hieratic form, the cursive form of ancient Egyptian ideographic writing was more suitable for sacerdotal uses precisely because of this . - Incorrect Be on a lookout as soon as you see " being " in the sentence, more often than not, this answer choice will be wrong. (But do keep in mind, in a few cases, being is correctly used) can follow this thread for better understanding: https://gmatclub.com/forum/usage-of-bei ... 11592.html Here, as mentioned in other explanations, the culprit is " this " at the end. What does " this " point to? It's not abundantly clear, we will need to scratch our heads a bit for it, and that is an indicator that this answer choice is going to be incorrect. E. Precisely because it was less accessible than the hieratic form, the cursive form of ancient Egyptian ideographic writing was more suitable for sacerdotal uses - Correct Usage of it in the first part is properly justified, as it clearly points only to the " cursive form of ancient Egyptian ideographic writing " and there's no other noun it could point to. Hence, correct. Thus, correct answer is E

Less accessible than in hieratic form, but precisely for this reason

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

Less accessible than in hieratic form, but precisely for this reason

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