At the invitation of Kwame Nkrumah, W. E. B. Du Bois settled in Gharla

Question

At the invitation of  Kwame Nkrumah, W. E. B. Du Bois settled in Gharla and became the editor of the Encyclopedia Africana.

(A) At the invitation of
(B) When he was invited by
(C) An invitation coming from
(D) An invitation that came from
(E) After having an invitation by

https://www.nytimes.com/1977/04/05/archives/shirley-graham-dubois-69-writer-and-widow-of-civil-rights-leader.html

Since 1961, when the DuBois moved to Ghana  at the invitation of  Kwame Nkrumah, then President, and became citizens there, Mrs. DuBois had lived abroad. Her husband died in 1963, and in 1967, after Mr. Nkrumah's regime was ousted by military coup, she was forced to flee Ghana and for several years lived in Cairo.

daagh · Accepted Answer

The term  when  is used as a subordinate conjunction to denote a narrow, restricted time frame. Here B means to say that W. E. B. Du Bois reacted the moment he was invited by Nkrumah. The essence of the matter is that Bois decided to settle in Ghana because he had to oblige Nkrumah. Viewed from that angle, when becomes off the mark. That is why A is a better choice.

skipjames · Answer

152. At the invitation of Kwame Nkrumah, W. E. B. Du Bois settled in Gharla and became the editor of the Encyclopedia Africana.

(A) At the invitation of
(B) When he was invited by
(C) An invitation coming from
(D) An invitation that came from
(E) After having an invitation by

A. seems perfect. B. is not bad, and may actually be the right answer. Let me come back to these two. Not C. or D. E. seems also possible.
So, I have A, B and E. A reads the best initially and on this reread. In B. it seems the invitation and the settling and becoming happened at the same time. E. seems more awkward each time I look at it. I wish I could explain why, but I am saying A. What is the source and what is the answer?

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Thanks,
Skip

mikeCoolBoy · Answer

I think that there's a slight changing in meaning between A and B.

In A) Kwame Nkrumah invited W. E. B. Du Bois to settle in Gharla

In B) Is not clear whether Kwame Nkrumah invitated W. E. B. Du to settle in Gharla or not. Perhaps Kwame Nkrumah invited W. E. B. Du to visit the country but not to settle in Gharla.

SudiptoGmat · Answer

When he was invited by Kwame Nkrumah, W. E. B. Du Bois settled in Gharla and became the editor of the Encyclopedia Africana. -- means invitation, settlement and becoming editor all happened together which is not true. It distorts the meaning. This is a tough one. I am sure I will get this kind of question wrong in real test.

noboru · Answer

I'm still confused with this one.
Could anybody elaborate?

Thanks!

scheol79 · Answer

I think that Daagh's post provides the most logical explanation.

I answered B, thinking that A sounded awkward and might even be unidiomatic.

If A is grammatically correct, then B changes the meaning.

pqhai · Answer

A is 100% correct. 
Correct idiom   "at the invitation of....."  
For example:  At the invitation of  Prime Minister V. Putin, President Barack Obama had the official trip to Russia.

Hope it helps.

gvij2017 · Answer

C, D and E is completely wrong.

Now race is between A and B. 
 Lets take B first,
When he was invited by X, Y settled...and became.... 
At first, use of passive voice which is not preferred. 
Second, use of when is used for particular time frame but no such time frame is indicated by action. 
B is out.

Compared to B, A is precise and clear in meaning, at the invitation of X, Y settled.....

A is correct.

ilovegpd · Answer

Besides the timing of deciding to move is slightly twisted by answer choice D, how do we know it's a "he" when we read the question for the first time? I think that adds some weight to A as well

amanchandra17 · Answer

Why E option is incorrect and what is the intended meaning of the sentence?

svasan05 · Answer

At the invitation of  Kwame Nkrumah, W. E. B. Du Bois settled in Gharla and became the editor of the Encyclopedia Africana.

(A) At the invitation of  Correct answer and no apparent errors.

(B) When he was invited by  This implies that Du Bois settled in Gharla at the same time as (or, at least, very close to the time of) the invitation. While not outrightly wrong, this meaning is a little hard to digest. The sentence clearly intends to say that Du Bois settled sometime after the invitation. Given option (A) is so much clearer, we can eliminate this option.

(C) An invitation coming from  Incorrect usage of present continuous "coming" for an invitation in the past. Also, that Du Bois settle  because of  the invitation is not made clear. Eliminate.

(D) An invitation that came from  That Du Bois settle  because of  the invitation is not made clear. Eliminate.

(E) After having an invitation by  "having" should be followed by a verb when trying to depict the act of inviting. Eliminate.

Hope this helps.

MBAB123 · Answer

amanchandra17 , "After having an invitation" is the incorrect usage (see Crack verbal's explanation!). More importantly, it's the meaning that is the real problem here. This sentence basically says that X decided to settle in Ghana after being invited. It simples says that 1 event happened after the other. A is better at communicating the intended meaning, which is "X settled in Ghana to Oblige Y and as Y invited X". Hope this helps!

brianmontanaweb · Answer

A is the only one that clarifies why "W. E. B. Du Bois settled in Gharla and became the editor of the Encyclopedia Africana" without creating a run on, or sounding awkward.

hemaja31 · Answer

I am not clear why we rejecetd D here?

Tea12 · Answer

Can you please elaborate on choice E. I understood that choice A is most precise, succinct and depicting the meaning as inferred. But I am not able to have that clarity for choice E, why its incorrect.

GMATNinja · Answer

First off, this might not be an official question, so don't stress over it too much.

For whatever it's worth, (E) suggests a nonsensical timeline:

Du Bois received an invitation, and he  had  that invitation for some period of time.
 
 At some point AFTER having the invitation, he settled in Gharla. Does this imply that the invitation was rescinded or forfeited BEFORE Du Bois went to Gharla?

In (E), " after  having" doesn't really make sense. (A) avoids that issue entirely, making it a better choice.

I hope that helps!

At the invitation of Kwame Nkrumah, W. E. B. Du Bois settled in Gharla

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At the invitation of Kwame Nkrumah, W. E. B. Du Bois settled in Gharla

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