OFFICIAL EXPLANATION



THE PROMPT

• Meaning? Strip the sentence first.
→ The sentence, stripped:
Works produced in the Murakami style of art combine the principles of traditional Japanese art with those of 1950s Japanese pop cultural images.
→ Rough meaning: Murakami is a style of art in which principles of traditional Japanese art are combined with principles of 1950s Japanese pop art images.
The word principles is used in this context to suggest defining characteristics or elements.

Is it illogical to suggest that there are principles of 1950s Japanese pop cultural images?
See the footnote.**


• Idiom
→ The absolutely correct idiomatic expression is to combine something with something.
Correct: Combine A with B
Suspect: Combine A and B


THE OPTIONS

• I do not see any errors
• The plural subject works is correctly paired with the plural verb combine.
• The principles of traditional Japanese art are logically be compared with the principles of (i.e., those of) pop cultural images.


• illogical
→ principles are compared with pop images

• strange diction
→ This use of the word the is not standard diction. The usage is weird. Native speakers should have flinched.
In this context, the is used to introduce a noun as if we had heard mention of this noun earlier in the sentence. We have not.
The strange usage of the, in turn, exacerbates the illogical comparison between principles and pop images.

• idiom: Combine A with B is standard; combine A and B is iffy.
ELIMINATE B


• Subject/verb agreement
→ The plural subject works requires the plural verb combine.
ELIMINATE C


• pronoun error: that should be those
→ the word principles is plural. To make a new and different copy of principles that will attach to 1950s Japanese pop cultural images, we need those.

→ both that and those can be pronouns that stand for a new and different copy of a noun.
You can replace both words with the actual noun.
At the same time, we understand that this second noun (or copy pronoun) "belongs" to something else.

Correct: Riesling wine from Alsace-Lorraine is superior to that from Napa Valley.
→ → that = Riesling wine.
That refers back to and makes a new copy of Riesling wine, because the second Riesling wine is from Napa Valley, not Alsace-Lorraine.
You could repeat "Riesling wine" in place of that.
We understand that we are not talking about the same Riesling wine.

ISSUE: when the word that is a "make a new copy" pronoun, that can refer only to singular nouns

Wrong: Riesling grapes from Alsace-Lorraine are superior to that from Napa Valley.
The word grapes is plural. To make a new copy that will "belong" to Napa Valley, we need those.

Similarly, to compare principles of old art with principles of modern art, we need the plural word those.

• Idiom
Combine A and B is iffy. Combine A with B is always correct.
ELIMINATE D

• illogical
→ principles are compared with pop images
We need the words those of to be placed before the 1950s Japanese pop cultural images.

• idiom: Combine A with B is standard; combine A and B is iffy.
ELIINATE E

The answer is A.

COMMENTS

agarwal1993 and Bacco361 , welcome to SC Butler.

warrior1991 , you raise an interesting point.
First, as far as I can recall (and I looked again), yes, part of the answer is based on idiom: GMAC prefers combine with.
In the nonunderlined part of this official question, here, for example, we see Combine A with B.

Second, as I discuss just beneath option B, the word "the" is used in a way that suggests we have seen this noun before. We have not.
This issue is a matter of diction.
If we wanted to convey what you said, which I think is a fairly strained but plausible reading, we would omit the word "the," this way:
Works produced in the Murakami style of art ... combine the principles of traditional Japanese art and 1950s Japanese pop cultural images.
In that sentence, a second "of" is implied, so that "principles" can carry over to both.
But that sentence is, quite frankly, horrible.

So on the one hand, we need to get rid of the. The word is used improperly in that option.
On the other hand, after we eliminate the, we have a strange sentence suggesting that principles can be combined with images.

This issue is not cut and dried—but on balance, option A is clearer and thus the better option.

I am glad to see new people.
Those aspirants who would like to post but feel shy or haven't gotten around to doing so: you have a standing invitation to post.

These answers are good: thoughtful and well-reasoned.
Nicely done.




**First, is this issue a decision point?
No. All of the options use the phrasing.

Second, I think that the pairing is logical enough to withstand scrutiny.
"Pop culture" encompasses music, fashion, art, and other things.
British pop art, for example [the images], was defined by characteristics different from American pop art.
Take a look at the first part of this short article, here.
Whatever underlay Andy Warhol's images of Coca Cola containers and of Marilyn Monroe was undergirded by principles different from those of Japanese pop art images.

Is it the best sentence in the world? No.
_________________

My answer is (A). It took me 1 minute.

It is generally a good idea to spend a couple seconds scanning five options first. Here, I took notice of the split of "combine" and "combines".

Because the subject is "works" (plural), we can eliminate (C) and (E) right away.

(A) reads fine. The only issue I might take with (A) is that "traditional Japanese art" is not perfectly parallel with "1950s Japanese pop cultural images". It would be better to pair "traditional Japanese art" with "modern Japanese pop art".
Since other options all sport "1950s Japanese pop cultural images", this concern does not carry any weight.

(B) can be eliminated because we need to pair "the principles" with "those" = "the principles".
It is not parallel to compare "the principles" with "1950s Japanese pop cultural images".

In (D), "that of 1950s Japanese pop cultural images" is inferior to "those of 1950s Japanese pop cultural images". For one thing, there is no appropriate antecedent for "that".

That leaves us (A) as the best answer.

A) correct

B) Principles and images can't be combined

C) Subject is Plural so Singular Verb "combines" is wrong to use .

D) That is referring to Plural " Principles" -Eliminate

E) Subject is Plural so Singular Verb "combines" is wrong to use . + Principles and images can't be combined -Eliminate

Note: Both "and" & "with" are correct to use with combine; However, meanings may differ.

Works produced in the Murakami style of art, named after the renowned Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, combine the principles of traditional Japanese art with those of 1950s Japanese pop cultural images.

D) combine the principles of traditional Japanese art and that of 1950s Japanese pop cultural images.
We are given principles,which is plural.We need those and not that. Eliminate.

C) combines the principles of traditional Japanese art with those of 1950s Japanese pop cultural images.
E) combines the principles of traditional Japanese art with the 1950s Japanese pop cultural images.
Works is plural,therefore,we need plural verb 'combine'.Eliminate

A) combine the principles of traditional Japanese art with those of 1950s Japanese pop cultural images.
B) combine the principles of traditional Japanese art and the 1950s Japanese pop cultural images.
generis
I marked option B.
My thought:-
'Combine the principles of X and Y' is correct construct. Why do we need 'principles' again for Y??

Is this question purely idiom based, wherein correct idiom is 'Combine X with Y'??

Waiting to hear from you.
_________________

Works produced in the Murakami style of art, named after the renowned Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, combine the principles of traditional Japanese art with those of 1950s Japanese pop cultural images.

Error:
1. Subject (Works) - Combine - Seems fine
- produced in the Murakami style of art - Acting as verb-ed modifier
2. Combine Principles ....... with Principles of .... - Grammatically and logically parallel
3. Sentence does not appears to have any error

A) combine the principles of traditional Japanese art with those of 1950s Japanese pop cultural images.
- Correct

B) combine the principles of traditional Japanese art and the 1950s Japanese pop cultural images.
- Parallelism error
- Conveying the meaning - Combine the principles.... with Pop culture
- As per original sentence principles are being combined and not principles with culture

C) combines the principles of traditional Japanese art with those of 1950s Japanese pop cultural images.
- Subject verb agreement error

D) combine the principles of traditional Japanese art and that of 1950s Japanese pop cultural images.
- "that" is referring back to "principles"
- Pronoun antecedent agreement error

E) combines the principles of traditional Japanese art with the 1950s Japanese pop cultural images.
-Subject verb agreement error

IMO B is the correct answer.

'Works' is a plural subject. Reject choices C, E for using singular verb 'combines'.

To find the right answer among choices A, B, and D, we must understand the meaning of the sentence.

After cutting the fluff from the sentence- Works combines the principles of traditional Japanese art with X.
Question is what should X be?
x= principles of 1950s Jap Cultural images OR 1950s Jap cultural images.
D is clearly wrong, because of use of 'that' pronoun to refer to a plural noun 'principles'.

It seems more logical to me to say- Works combines the principles of Jap art with Jap cultural images.

principles of 1950s Jap cultural images seems illogical to me.

IMO A is the right answer.

C and E can be eliminated right away: Works is plural and combines is singular

D is wrong because the "that of" does not match with principles (those is needed)

B The meaning is unclear, its not logical to compare "principles" with "the 1950s Japanese pop cultural images"

A has no obvious errors and conveys a clear meaning

The sentence tests the following:
i) S-V Agreement: The subject 'Works' agrees in number with 'combine'.
ii) Comparison: Here the 'principles' are compared and not art and pop culture images.
iii) Idioms: The correct idiom is 'combine with', not 'combine and'.

Based on the above, the correct choice is (A).

The official explanation is here.
_________________

@GMATNinja- sir, I really want you to reply to this and provide solution. I don't seem to understand why option (B) is incorrect? does the presence of "the" makes the two portions non-parallel?