Ancient Thailand

[herogmat]

In ancient Thailand, much of the local artisans’ creative energy was expended for the
creation of Buddha images and when they constructed and decorated the temples that
enshrined them.
A. much of the local artisans’ creative energy was expended for the creation of
Buddha images and when they constructed and decorated the temples that
enshrined them
B. much of the local artisans’ creative energy was expended on the creation of
Buddha images and on construction and decoration of the temples in which they
were enshrined
C. much of the local artisans’ creative energy was expended on the creation of
Buddha images as well as constructing and decoration of the temples in which
they were enshrined
D. creating images of Buddha accounted for much of the local artisans’ creative
energy, and also constructing and decorating the temples enshrining them
E. the creating of Buddha images accounted for much of the local artisans’ creative
energy as well as construction and decoration of the temples that enshrined them

OA:B
Why C is not correct ? In option B , what does the pronoun 'they' refering to?
Source : GMATPrep

[RonPurewal]

OA:B
Why C is not correct ?

In option B , what does the pronoun 'they' refering to?
Source : GMATPrep

"they" is "Buddha images", as should be clear from context.
two things:
* "local artisans" is technically not a possible antecedent for this pronoun, since it's possessive. (you technically can't use a non-possessive pronoun to refer to a possessive noun. the reverse is NOT true - you can totally use possessive pronouns to refer to non-possessive nouns.)
* more importantly, you should ignore this whole possessive-pronoun issue. it has NEVER actually been tested--and, if you misunderstand it, you'll get problems wrong as a result.
* even if this pronoun were technically ambiguous, that's not a reason to eliminate it. see here: http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/pos ... tml#p35595

by the way, it's weird that you would ask this question about (b) in particular - because exactly the same pronoun is used in exactly the same context in your other choice, (c). did you notice that?

[herogmat]

OA:B
Why C is not correct ?

In option B , what does the pronoun 'they' refering to?
Source : GMATPrep

"they" is "Buddha images", as should be clear from context.
two things:
* "local artisans" is technically not a possible antecedent for this pronoun, since it's possessive. (you technically can't use a non-possessive pronoun to refer to a possessive noun. the reverse is NOT true - you can totally use possessive pronouns to refer to non-possessive nouns.)
* more importantly, you should ignore this whole possessive-pronoun issue. it has NEVER actually been tested--and, if you misunderstand it, you'll get problems wrong as a result.
* even if this pronoun were technically ambiguous, that's not a reason to eliminate it. see here: http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/pos ... tml#p35595

by the way, it's weird that you would ask this question about (b) in particular - because exactly the same pronoun is used in exactly the same context in your other choice, (c). did you notice that?

Ok. Yes I noticed 'they' in the other choice but wanted to confirm. See your point regarding pronoun. Thanks.
By the way, regarding my other query (why C is wrong?), I assume it is because of the lack of parallelism - am I correct?

[RonPurewal]

By the way, regarding my other query (why C is wrong?), I assume it is because of the lack of parallelism - am I correct?

Yes.

The energy was expended on the creation of ... and constructing...

these constructions are not parallel. Since the context clearly indicates parallel structures, this choice is incorrect.

[embracechange]

For choice E, any specific requirement on the usage of "as well as"? Strict parallelism is required for the structure "A as well as B"?
Thanks..

[mschwrtz]

In "A as well as B," the A and the B have to be the same part of speech.

A and B may both be nouns.
Josh likes cheese as well as corn.

Or A and B may both be modifiers.
Liz is smart as well as kind.

Or A and B may both be verbs.
I can sing as well as dance.

etc.

[tomer.out]

Well !! I know answer and I have read all explanations. But my question is that why "they" doesn't refer to "temples" as it refers to "images"??

I know logically it is incorrect but position of "they" is confusing me.

[RonPurewal]

Well !! I know answer and I have read all explanations. But my question is that why "they" doesn't refer to "temples" as it refers to "images"??

I know logically it is incorrect but position of "they" is confusing me.

as it turns out, there are very few problems in which pronoun ambiguity is an issue. there are many problems in which technically ambiguous pronouns are acceptable!

your simplest, and probably best, strategy is simply not to think about pronoun ambiguity at all. however, if you want a more complete treatment of the topic, look here:
post40400.html#p40400

[manish.holey]

Can we eliminate options A,D,and E based on ".....temples enshrined them" ( when I eliminate I used this as a criteria) because temple themselves can not enshrined Buddha images. so better choice will be "..temples in which they were enshrined".

[jlucero]

If it said that, yes. But the phrases from A, D, and E don't say what you typed:

temples that enshrined them

the temples enshrining them

the temples that enshrined them

All these are ok.

[sachin.w]

D. creating images of Buddha accounted for much of the local artisans’ creative
energy, and also constructing and decorating the temples enshrining them
E. the creating of Buddha images accounted for much of the local artisans’ creative
energy as well as construction and decoration of the temples that enshrined them

I eliminated the above 2 on the basis of meaning. C and B are clear but C doesn't maintain parallelism .
A looked weird.

So B it is..

[RonPurewal]

D. creating images of Buddha accounted for much of the local artisans’ creative
energy, and also constructing and decorating the temples enshrining them
E. the creating of Buddha images accounted for much of the local artisans’ creative
energy as well as construction and decoration of the temples that enshrined them

I eliminated the above 2 on the basis of meaning.

ya, those two choices do create a weird (or unclear) meaning.
in each of them, an unnecessary mass of words is also placed between the two parts of the "x and also y" structure.

in (e), there's the added (and perhaps more fundamental) issue of non-parallelism between "the creating" and "construction and decoration".

[vivekkapoor73]

HI
if the option E is " the creation of buddha images accounted for much of the local artisans' creative energy as well as construction and decoration of the temples that enshrined them"

this is was the E option which i got in GMAT Prep test, as creation construction & decoration are parallel. cant b this ryt

thanks
vivek

[tim]

show us a screenshot of the problem you got. the GMAT does not typically change the wording of its questions once they are written..

[ikuta.yamahashi]

D. creating images of Buddha accounted for much of the local artisans’ creative
energy, and also constructing and decorating the temples enshrining them
E. the creating of Buddha images accounted for much of the local artisans’ creative
energy as well as construction and decoration of the temples that enshrined them

I eliminated the above 2 on the basis of meaning.

ya, those two choices do create a weird (or unclear) meaning.
in each of them, an unnecessary mass of words is also placed between the two parts of the "x and also y" structure.

in (e), there's the added (and perhaps more fundamental) issue of non-parallelism between "the creating" and "construction and decoration".

Hi Ron:
I eliminated DE because of ambiguous meaning.
just take D as example.
*Meaning1:
creating images of Buddha accounted for much of the local artisans’ creative energy, and also (did) constructing and decorating the temples enshrining them
In this interpretation creating images parallel to constructing and decorating .
*Meaning2:
creating images of Buddha accounted for much of the local artisans’ creative energy, and also constructing and decorating the temples enshrining them
In the second interpretation, the creative energy parallel to constructing and decorating .

I am not sure whether this faulty parallelism will lead to ambiguous like above. Please correct me if I am wrong.

yours Yama