The rise of the Incan empire rested not only on the Incas

Question

The rise of the Incan empire rested not only on the Incas' military might and the ability of their rulers but also  they imposed a highly organized economic and political system on many different ethnic groups and permitting them  to retain many of their customs and often their own leaders.

A. they imposed a highly organized economic and political system on many different ethnic groups and permitting them
B. on their imposition of a highly organized economic and political system on many different ethnic groups, who were permitted
C. because of their imposition of a highly organized economic and political system on many different ethnic groups, who they permitted
D. on their imposing of a highly organized economic and political system on many different ethnic groups and they permitted them
E. imposing a highly organized economic and political system on many different ethnic groups, permitting them

mikemcgarry · Accepted Answer

Dear mohnish104 , I'm happy to help. :-)

This one is easy to break down once you know the " once outside or twice inside " rule. Here's a blog explaining this rule: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-paral ... ce-inside/ In this sentence we have the parallel markers " not only ... but also ", perhaps the GMAT's favorite parallel markers. Following the " not only ", we have a prepositional phrase beginning with " on ". If the " on " were before " not only ", then it would be correct to follow the " once outside " structure. Because the " on " follows the " not only ", we have to follow the " twice inside " structure. Thus, we need the underline section to begin with the word " on ." Immediately, only (B) or (D) could be the answer. Choice (B) is elegant and flawless. Choice (D) has the very awkward " on their imposing of ...", and then makes a lethal pronoun mistake: "... and they permitted them ." The same pronoun used in the same phrase with two different antecedents: that will be wrong 100% of the time on the GMAT! See: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-pronoun-traps/ Thus, answer = (B) Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

Ajax1 · Answer

My knowledge of parallelism says that if a preposition follows 'not only', it must follow 'but also' as well - not only 'on' X but also 'on' Y. Thus I'm down to B and D.

The use of 'and they permitted them' in D makes no sense to me. The use of 'who' in B is much better and should be the correct answer.

sairam595 · Answer

what is the referent for 'they' in option D? (Groups?)

Abhishek009 · Answer

There is no clear antecedent... Check the last part of the sentence : D. on their imposing of a highly organized economic and political system on many different ethnic groups and they permitted them There is no clear antecedent , and the last highlighted part of the sentence is wordy and awkward .. Further GMAT States , multiple pronouns can never refer to a single antecedent So, (B) will be the correct answer !!

AliciaSierra · Answer

mikemcgarry ,

Is "ability of" correct in above non-underline portion. I read everywhere that "ability +of" is wrong usage.

Thanks,
Amm

cocotang · Answer

Anyone knows why " on their imposing of " is wrong. Also " they permitted them "

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi! It might actually be a handy pattern to remember.

OG (OG 12, Question # 24) has this to say in OE:

"The -ing form of a verb can be used as a noun, but it is often awkward, particularly when with a possessive".

their imposing  clearly conforms to the above pattern.

Even if there are exceptions, it would still be a decent rule to  not  pick up choices with this construct, as our first choice.

GMATBuddha · Answer

The rise of the Incan empire rested not only on the Incas' military might and the ability of their rulers but also  they imposed a highly organized economic and political system on many different ethnic groups and permitting them to retain many of their customs and often their own leaders.

A. they imposed a highly organized economic and political system on many different ethnic groups and permitting them
B. on their imposition of a highly organized economic and political system on many different ethnic groups, who were permitted
C. because of their imposition of a highly organized economic and political system on many different ethnic groups, who they permitted
D. on their imposing of a highly organized economic and political system on many different ethnic groups and they permitted them
E. imposing a highly organized economic and political system on many different ethnic groups, permitting them

The rise of the Incan empire rested   {on the Incas' military might and the ability of their rulers}    they imposed a highly organized economic and political system on many different ethnic groups and permitting them to retain many of their customs and often their own leaders.
 
"but also" should be followed by "on", which options B and D follows.
Between B and D, in D, on their imposing of a highly organized blah blah blah is wrong.
Hence our answer is B.

khushboomohan · Answer

The sentence must follow parallelism. ‘Not only on……but also on’ is the correct format.
Hence,  A, C & E are eliminated. 
 D can be eliminated for multiple reasons . They & them pronouns are ambiguous. Use of continuous form in ‘imposing’ is inconsistent with the rest of the sentence. 
 B is the answer

The rise of the Incan empire rested not only on the Incas

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The rise of the Incan empire rested not only on the Incas

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