The domesticated camel, which some scholars date around the twelfth ce

Question

The domesticated camel, which some scholars date  around the twelfth century B.C., was the key to the development of the spice trade in the ancient world.

A. The domesticated camel, which some scholars date

B. The domesticated camel, which some scholars have thought to occur

C. Domesticating the camel, dated by some scholars at

D. The domestication of the camel, thought by some scholars to have occurred

E. The camel's domestication, dated by some scholars to have been

sayantanc2k · Accepted Answer

A: "Which" refers to camel, implying "camel" was dated: not a sensible meaning.
B: Same issue as above.
C: Gerund is wrong when a noun is available.
D. Correct: The domestication of the camel was thought to have occurred.
E. "Dated to be" is idiomatically incorrect - "dated at" is correct.

x2suresh · Answer

I found the below explanation is very good and thought of sharing with you.
( I found this notes on the internet-- I don't remember)

The domesticated camel, which some scholars date  around the twelfth century B.C., was the key to the development of the spice trade in the ancient world.

a. The domesticated camel, which some scholars date
b. The domesticated camel, which some scholars have thought to occur
c. Domesticating the camel, dated by some scholars at
d. The domestication of the camel, thought by some scholars to have occurred
e. The camel's domestication, dated by some scholars to have been

In D, it seems that "thought by some scholars..." modifies camel, rather than domestication Okay, I checked out the other topic, and there was no explanation of the answer. Okay, to be honest, I didn't catch the mistake in E the very first time I read the question, either. I picked D, because somehow it sounded better, but I wasn't sure why.

Later, when a student asked me specifically what was wrong with E, I looked at the
question a little more carefully. E has a classic mistake, albeit a well disguised one! 
I teach this mistake frequently in my SAT II classes for high school students. Let me
show you an example of what my high school students might write:

The greatest change in my life was when I immigrated to the US.

Can you see the mistake in this sentence?

Let me try again, with a little hint:

The greatest change in my life was when I immigrated to the US.

Can you see it now?

Okay, just in case, let me give you one more sentence (I'm pretty much doing now
what I do in class to explain this grammar point.)

"Target Team Member" to TestMagician:

This pen is a bargain because it's only ten cents.

Hint again:

This pen is a bargain because it is only ten cents.

Okay, got it yet?

Let's work backward. The last sentence is incorrect because it is incorrectly saying
that the pen and the ten cents are the same thing; a pen cannot be ten cents; it can
be a writing instrument, it can be a bargain, it can even be a weapon in some cases,
but it cannot be ten cents. One-tenth of a dollar is ten cents, a dime is ten cents, but
a pen is not.

Are you getting it? Probably, but since I've already started, please let me finish...

Okay, now let's look at the immigration sentence:

The greatest change in my life was when I immigrated to the US.

This sentence means that "change" and "when I immigrated..." are the same thing;
they in fact are not.

Like I said, this is a classic mistake, and the classic correction is:
The greatest change in my life occurred/happened when I immigrated to the US.
(Do you see where I'm heading now???)

So, in our original question, E says: The camel's domestication was around the twelfth century B.C....

GMAT cleverly hides this mistake by using "to have been" instead of a simple beverb,
but "to have been" is one of the many variants of was, were, is, are, am, etc.
The funny thing is that GMAT uses the classic correction as well:
domestication... occurred... when...

Finally, I just have to comment: I imagine that if GMAT had to explain this grammar
point, they would say in their typical, cryptic fashion something like this:
E incorrectly uses an adverb clause as the noun complement of the subject
"domestication."

Okay, what have we learned???

This:

NOUN + BE-VERB + NOUN/ADJECTIVE

For example:
The change was good for me.
The change was a good one for me.
The change was an important step for me in my life.

BUT NEVER
The change was when I came to the US.
In other words, noun complements (the words that come after a be-verb and modify
nouns) should only be nouns or adjectives (although we often use adverbs when we
want to describe location, but more on that later, if you like; this explanation is
getting pretty long!!).

I think that's it. I hope what I've said makes sense and is clear, but please be sure to
post back with questions or doubts!!

There is another question on this pattern
Madagascar was one of the last habitable areas of the earth to undergo human settlement, which has made it an ideal site for researching rare flora and fauna.
(A) Madagascar was one of the last habitable areas of the earth to undergo human settlement, which has made it
(B) Madagascar was one of the last habitable areas of the earth to have undergone human settlement, and that has made it
(C) Madagascar underwent human settlement as one of the last habitable areas of the earth, which makes it
(D) Madagascar, one of the last habitable areas of the earth, underwent human settlement, making it
(E) Because Madagascar was one of the last habitable areas of the earth to undergo human settlement, it is
The fact that madagascar was one of the last areas to be inhabited made it ideal. So which and that in A,B and C incorrectly refer to human settlement and are not correct. D also uses zerund and modifies human settlement. So E is correct.

daagh · Answer

If you say ' dated ', then you have to express it idiomatically as  ‘dated at’ . E falls into this trap by using ‘ dated to’  have been, which is wrong. D dodges the pitfall, by not using ‘ dated ’ altogether.

HTH

PrashantPonde · Answer

Correct use of Idiom is  "Dated at" . However "dated around" and "dated at around" are incorrect.

A. The domesticated camel, which some scholars date
 -- Incorrect use of Idiom 
B. The domesticated camel, which some scholars have thought to occur
 -- "Camel, which some scholars thought to occur" is nonsensical. Camel is NOT a phoemomenon that "occurs".  
C. Domesticating the camel, dated by some scholars at
 -- Incorrect use of Idiom 
D. The domestication of the camel, thought by some scholars to have occurred
 -- This is correct (grammatically and also meaning wise). "The domestication...thought by scholars to have occure around..." is constructed well and conveys the meaning correctly. 
E. The camel's domestication, dated by some scholars to have been
 -- Incorrect use of Idiom. Also "dated by some scholars to have been around" does the verb error and has awkward construction.

TejasD · Answer

Experts, can 'dated' in option C wrongly refer to camel?

Sent from my XT1562 using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

GMATNinja · Answer

TejasD, I don't think it would make sense to "date a camel." (Unless, of course, you're into that sort of thing. Sorry -- terrible, terrible joke. I'll stop now.) I think it makes sense to "date" (i.e., determine the age of) certain objects, like a fossil or a rock. But the camel itself? That seems odd to me, especially since we have a better alternative available.

(D) pleasantly avoids that issue entirely, and I also agree with sayantanc2k's comment that "domestication" seems better than "domesticating" in this case.

An official GMAT question about dating can also be found here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/fossils-of-t ... 77781.html

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TejasD · Answer

Bad joke mate!

Sent from my XT1562 using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

GMATNinja · Answer

Yes, I acknowledged that the joke was terrible! And please keep in mind that we do see all of your responses, even if you edit or delete them.

09173140521 · Answer

ANSWER "A" make sense for me ! I am non native if we do not consider this meaning (go out with a person of the opposite sex ).........just "write date" for domesticated camel ....

II. date2 S3 W3 BrE AmE verb
 
1.   WRITE DATE     to write or print the date on something: 
 a newspaper dated November 23, 1963
 Make sure you sign and date it at the bottom.
2. FIND AGE   to find out when something old was made or formed: 
 The rocks are dated by examining the fossils found in the same layer.
 radiocarbon dating
3. OLD-FASHIONED   if clothing, art etc dates, it begins to look old-fashioned: 
 His designs are so classic, they’ve hardly dated at all. ⇨ ↑dated
4. RELATIONSHIP   American English to have a romantic relationship with someone SYN go out with: 
 Is he still dating Sarah?
 Are Chris and Liz dating?
5. SHOW SB’S AGE   if something that you say, do, or wear dates you, it shows that you are fairly old: 
 Yes, I remember the moon landings – that dates me, doesn’t it?
date from something (also date back to something) phrasal verb
to have existed since a particular time in the past: 
 The church dates from the 13th century

vijaykhot · Answer

Great explanation! Thank you!

Posted from my mobile device

SomeOneUnique · Answer

The domesticated camel, which some scholars date  around the twelfth century B.C., was the key to the development of the spice trade in the ancient world.

A. The domesticated camel, which some scholars date
B. The domesticated camel, which some scholars have thought to occur
C. Domesticating the camel, dated by some scholars at
D. The domestication of the camel, thought by some scholars to have occurred
E. The camel's domestication, dated by some scholars to have been

Let us evaluate each answer choice with respect to the meaning of given sentence.
The process of domesticating camel was important. Why was the process so important ?
The process was important because it lead to development of spice trade (probably to transport the spices over long distances and probably such transportation was difficult in ancient world.)
A.  The domesticated camel  was the key to the development of the spice trade. => The camel was not key. The process that domesticated camel was the key.
B. Same as A.
C.  Domesticating the camel,  some action should have followed. What happened while domesticating the camel ?
Sentence wants to convey it as a fact. Thus 'domesticating the camel' and 'dated by scholars' follows 'was the key'.
Other two choices make more sense.

D. The domestication of the camel, thought by some scholars to have occurred => Domestication - was the key. D makes sense. Let us keep D.
E. The camel's domestication, dated by some scholars to have been => Domestication - was the key. E makes sense. Let us keep E as well.

D vs E 
 Can a camel HAVE domestication?  Does not seem logically acceptable to me. Rather 'domestication of camel' is logically understandable.
 domestication of the camel >>> the camel's domestication. 
Because D conveys meaning clearly (without any logical gap), I pick D.

VerbalBot · Answer

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The domesticated camel, which some scholars date around the twelfth ce

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

The domesticated camel, which some scholars date around the twelfth ce

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