Puritan fanatics brought to civil and military affairs a coolness of

Question

Puritan fanatics brought to civil and military affairs a coolness of judgment and mutability of purpose that some writers have thought inconsistent with their religious zeal,  but which was in fact a natural outgrowth of it.

(A) but which was in fact a natural outgrowth of it

(B) but which were in fact a natural outgrowth of it

(C) but which were in fact natural outgrowths of it

(D) but it was in fact a natural outgrowth of them

(E) which was in fact a natural outgrowth of it

jeeteshsingh · Accepted Answer

Puritan fanatics brought to civil and military affairs a coolness of judgment and mutability of purpose that some writers have though inconsistent with their religious zeal,  but which was in fact a natural outgrowth of it. 
(A) but which was in fact a natural outgrowth of it
(B) but which were in fact a natural outgrowth of it
(C) but which were in fact natural outgrowths of it
(D) but it was in fact a natural outgrowth of them
(E) which was in fact a natural outgrowth of it

Question talks about 2 things - 'a coolness of judgment' & 'mutability of purpose' hence we need were to address both!
Leaves us only with B & C...
Since 2 things have said to grow naturally out of the religious zeal (the pronoun 'it'), it should be plural again. Hence.. C is correct...

key is to consider 'a coolness of judgment and mutability of purpose that some writers have though inconsistent with their religious zeal' as one relative clause and 'but which was in fact a natural outgrowth of it. (to be corrected part)' as a subordinate clause which would modify the relative clause. Hence it needs to modify both the things and not one.

jeeteshsingh · Answer

It entirely depends what X and Y out grows of....

if the subject from which is outgrows is singular, then you need a singular form of verb.... i.e. outgrowths
if the subject from which is outgrows is plural, then you need a plural form of verb.... i.e. outgrowth

in this example,... it the religious zeal.... which is singular... hence u need to use outgrowths....

Hope this helps!

nitya34 · Answer

https://gmatsentencecorrection.blogspot. ... html#links OA --C

adalfu · Answer

Wow, i totally ignored "outgrowths"... i picked b.

I don't understand why you cant have something plural and represent it as a singular noun...

i.e., X and Y were a natural outgrowth vs X and Y were natural outgrowths

I don't see how the former is NOT correct...

anu1885 · Answer

C as 'coolness of judgment' & 'mutability of purpose' insert the plural verb 'were' and also outgrowths.

bovice · Answer

Def answer choice C. 
"but which were" because were talking about to things, "coolness and mutability." two things equal the need for a plural verb. Choices A, D, and E all incorrectly use the singular "was" to modify the two things (coolness and mutability, which together call for a plural verb).

Same thing for outgrowth. It should be "outgrowths" because they -- the two things -- were out growths. If this confuses you, use the need for parallel construction throughout a sentence as your fall back -- i.e. keep the sentence consistent. If we're going to use the plural "were" verb, let's keep it consistent. Think about it like this in your head: " ... were... outgrowths," which is correct. But,  ... were... a outgrowth," which is what choice B says in a nutshell and is incorrect.

You could also read it like this: "...brought to civil and military affairs a coolness... and mutability... that some writers have though{t} inconsistent with their religious zeal, but which   in fact natural   of it.

rojans · Answer

Question talks about 2 things - 'a coolness of judgment' & 'mutability of purpose' hence we need were to address both!
Leaves us only with B & C...
Since 2 things have said to grow naturally out of the religious zeal (the pronoun 'it'), it should be plural again. Hence.. C is correct...

key is to consider 'a coolness of judgment and mutability of purpose that some writers have though inconsistent with their religious zeal' as one relative clause and 'but which was in fact a natural outgrowth of it. (to be corrected part)' as a subordinate clause which would modify the relative clause. Hence it needs to modify both the things and not one.

. 
 agree with C

uledssul · Answer

Puritan fanatics brought to civil and military affairs  a coolness of judgment and mutability of purpose  that some writers have though inconsistent with their religious zeal,  but which was in fact a natural outgrowth of it.

(A) but which  was  in fact a natural outgrowth of it
(B) but which were in fact a  natural outgrowth  of it
(C) but which were in fact  natural outgrowths  of it
(D) but it  was  in fact a natural outgrowth of them
(E) which  was  in fact a natural outgrowth of it

This problem is tough. I couldn't figure out its structure to understand the meaning at first.

Puritan fanatics brought to civil and military affairs  a coolness of judgment and mutability of purpose  that some writers have though inconsistent with their religious zeal,  but which was in fact a natural outgrowth of it.

'but' usage is to modify 'a coolness ~ and mutability ~' not to modify 'their religious zeal'.
Also, for 'outgrowth', which is in a singular form, I wasn't sure of a plural form of outgrowths.

Can somebody help me on 'outgrowths' whether be a singular or plural for an uncountable noun?

Mona10031990 · Answer

But doesn't 'Which' points to immediate preceding noun..

TestPrepUnlimited · Answer

(C) is the correct answer

(A) incorrectly uses the singular verb "was" to refer to plural subject "a coolness of judgment and a mutability of purpose."

(B) incorrectly uses the singular "natural outgrowth"; however, the sentence needs "natural outgrowths" to match the plural subject.

(C) is the correct answer.

(D) uses an ambiguous pronoun "it" which appears to refer, incorrectly, to religious zeal. (D) suggests that the religious zeal was an outgrowth of the coolness of judgment and mutability of purpose, thereby distorting the sentence's meaning.

(E) lacks the conjunction "but"; therefore, "which" refers to the religious zeal, creating a meaning distortion by suggesting that the religious zeal was an outgrowth of the coolness of judgment and mutability of purpose (incorrectly referred to with pronoun "it," rather than "them").

Rajdeep1989 · Answer

Sometime I wonder why cant we talk straight in English..... So twisted sentences :/

I had the same questiond 12 yrs back when I read a famous poem (dont remember the poet's name)

"Home they brought her warrior dead" and why not "They brought home her dead warrior"

Its like saying "John my name is the". Meeting you nice was the"

nand456783 · Answer

I have the same question. I thought that WHICH will refer to RELIGIOUS ZEAL, thats why i eliminated A,B,C.

TheBigNit · Answer

isn't "which" here referring to religious zeal?

sarthakk07 · Answer

@E-gmat team, please help me in understanding this question

wannabeMBA10 · Answer

Hi,
I picked option C and then saw your comment which makes me wonder about my elimination process. Anyway my observation is this:
When "which" is used the way it is in option E there is no doubt that the referent is "Religious zeal", touch rule.
But is the touch rule applicable in option C ",but which"? 
I think not.
I maybe wrong about this, so if anyone can correct me it would be great.

thakurarun85 · Answer

I have a question. 
What if in option d it refers to religions zest and them refer to "coolness of judgment and mutability of purpose". Then the option will be correct.

wannabeMBA10 · Answer

Hi Arun,
It changes the meaning.

What is being said by the writers is that "coolness of judgment and mutability of purpose" is inconsistent with the religious zeal. The second part of the sentence would serve to provide contrast.

In option c the meaning is:"coolness of judgment and mutability of purpose" grew out of "religious zeal" that is very consistent with religious zeal.

Option d means: "religious zeal" grew out of "coolness of judgment and mutability of purpose"

Your hypothetical situation aside, in this option 'them' is referring to writers, something that changes the meaning.

Option d is completely opposite of what we are looking for.

Posted from my mobile device

VKat · Answer

Hello Team,

As per my opinion, 'comma with but' needs to be followed by independent clause.
But here correct answer does not show this trend.
Could you please help in solving my query.

saliak · Answer

wannabeMBA10

IMHO

" a coolness of judgement and mutability of purpose that some writers have thought inconsistent with their religious zeal" is A BIG NOUN PHRASE.

Therefore, the modifier "WHICH" can modify the HEAD OF THE NOUN PHRASE - "a coolness of judgement and mutability of opinion" though there is a Clause before the modifier.

Puritan fanatics brought to civil and military affairs a coolness of

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Puritan fanatics brought to civil and military affairs a coolness of

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