1000- SC 5

[AMRINDER]

A controversial figure throughout most of his public life, the Black leader Marcus Garvey advocated that some Blacks return to Africa, the land that, to him, symbolized the possibility of freedom.
(A) that some Blacks return to Africa, the land that, to him, symbolized the possibility of freedom
(B) that some Blacks return to the African land symbolizing the possibility of freedom to him
(C) that some Blacks return to Africa which was the land which symbolized the possibility of freedom to him
(D) some Black’s returning to Africa which was the land that to him symbolized the possibility of freedom
(E) some Black’s return to the land symbolizing the possibility of freedom to him, Africa

[dbernst]

AMRINDER, this is definitely one of those sentence correction questions in which we are choosing the best of five relatively poor answer choices. In fact, I don't think that this question reasonably reproduces an actual GMAT problem. That said, I'll still briefly discuss my process of eliminatin (because that's the kind of fellow I am!).

Choices D and E incorrectly use the possessive adjective Black's rather than the plural noun Blacks.

Choice C contains several incorrect constructions. The two "which phrases" stand out as particularly erroneous. "Which phrases" must be separated by commas and normally include nonessential sentence information.

Choice B indicates that there exists some unidentified African land "symbolizing the possibility of freedom to [Marcus Garvey], but does mention which land this may be!

Choice A is the best of the worst ("the cream of the crap!)

-dan

A controversial figure throughout most of his public life, the Black leader Marcus Garvey advocated that some Blacks return to Africa, the land that, to him, symbolized the possibility of freedom.

(A) that some Blacks return to Africa, the land that, to him, symbolized the possibility of freedom
(B) that some Blacks return to the African land symbolizing the possibility of freedom to him
(C) that some Blacks return to Africa which was the land which symbolized the possibility of freedom to him
(D) some Black’s returning to Africa which was the land that to him symbolized the possibility of freedom
(E) some Black’s return to the land symbolizing the possibility of freedom to him, Africa

[agautamdai]

Are you saying that B is grammatically right and once can choose between the B and A.

One more thing is that some of the sites claim that idioms would not be tested in SC. Is this correct? and they alos claim that the emphasis would be on testing the meaning of the sentence. Wouldnt this mean that the SC would be more difficult that it is now.

Thanks

Ash

[jnelson0612]

Are you saying that B is grammatically right and once can choose between the B and A.

One more thing is that some of the sites claim that idioms would not be tested in SC. Is this correct? and they alos claim that the emphasis would be on testing the meaning of the sentence. Wouldnt this mean that the SC would be more difficult that it is now.

Thanks

Ash

B is incredibly poorly worded. A real GMAT correct answer will never have wording like this.

Our current understanding is that American idioms are going to be de-emphasized on the test and understanding correct meaning will gain additional emphasis. This may or may not make SC more difficult depending on how well you can read for meaning in sentences. :-)

[vivs.gupta]

Hi,

In option 'B' can you suggest what is modified by the following phrase?

"symbolizing the possibility of freedom to him"

[tim]

unfortunately we can't give you any help on this question, because the question itself is flawed in a way that you won't see on the GMAT. please understand that using practice questions from dubious sources can actually hurt your performance, and be careful which problem sources you use..