Based on records from ancient Athens, each year yount

[tim]

I'm not sure what "same to my process" means, but it looks like you're pleased with what you've read, so I guess that means we've done our job. :)

[TonyS610]

I went with D, but for different reasons then I have read in the thread. just want to make sure i didn't get this correct because of blind luck. I thought the past tense dressed and depicted made the most sense.

D : Records from ancient Athens indicate that each year young Athenian women collaborated to weave a new woolen robe with which they dressed a statue of the goddess Athena and that this robe depicted scenes of a battle between Zeus, Athena's father, and giants.

Thanks

[RonPurewal]

the things that actually need to be parallel—and that actually need to appear in the past tense (because they are historical facts)—are
women collaborated...
this robe depicted...

if this isn't clear, just think about how you would organize this information if you had to make a powerpoint slide, with bullet points.
those 2 things ^^ would get the same kind of bullet point (or would appear in the same type of list—#1 and #2, or (a) and (b), etc.).
"dressed" would NOT get that same kind of bullet. (it'd be indented further to the right than those two points, since it's a sub-point of the first one.)

[RonPurewal]

...and, yes, there are other ways in which "dressed" could have been written (e.g., women collaborated to weave a new woolen robe with which to dress a statue of the goddess Athena—the sentence could just as well have been written like this).
so, yeah, you were lucky.

more importantly, though, you are being remiss in figuring out which things need to be parallel to which other things!
if a sentence contains ANY parallel structures, you should know EXACTLY which things need to be parallel BEFORE YOU EVEN LOOK AT THE ANSWER CHOICES.
this is just part of "normal" reading: if you were reading a book or magazine, and you didn't know EXACTLY what "thing A" and "thing B" were, then ... you wouldn't keep reading! you'd say "wait a minute, I didn't catch that"... and then you'd go back and clarify EXACTLY what those things were.

[BaranidaranP390]

Hi MGMAT Team,

I have a quick question around the adverbial modifiers.

Before that, I checked off A and B because as per my understanding, "Based on records from ancient Athens" should be followed by a noun (whatever is based on ancient records). Please let me know if my understanding is correct.

Moreover, can one of the experts help me understand how do we judge whether a phrase is a adverbial modifier such as "According to records from ancient Athens"? Is there a logical rule to identify adverbial modifiers from noun modifiers?

Thanks.

[RonPurewal]

Hi MGMAT Team,

I have a quick question around the adverbial modifiers.

Before that, I checked off A and B because as per my understanding, "Based on records from ancient Athens" should be followed by a noun (whatever is based on ancient records). Please let me know if my understanding is correct.

correct.

[RonPurewal]

Moreover, can one of the experts help me understand how do we judge whether a phrase is a adverbial modifier such as "According to records from ancient Athens"? Is there a logical rule to identify adverbial modifiers from noun modifiers?

Thanks.

the best way to understand this—and everything else—is to look at correctly written examples, and learn the patterns that are used in those examples.

the best reference is the correct answers for official SC problems, of course. but, you can also search the internet and look at other well-written sources that use the same constructions.

[Crisc419]

Choice D has nothing to do with restrictive vs. non-restrictive, because the 'which' in question is the object of a preposition. This 'which' is no more restrictive than is the 'which' in the following sentence:
'Here are the cities to which I've already travelled.'
Obviously, '...to which I've already travelled' is restrictive (the speaker isn't talking about all cities!), but it's TO which. That resolves this issue.

'Based on' just isn't right - it doesn't convey the right meaning. It would apply to the women themselves (the following subject).
The women are not based on ancient records, so that's wrong.

I think both posters realize that E is wrong already, so no need for discussion there.

So it's C vs D.

Both OPENERS are fine ('According to...' and '...indicate that...'), so that split is a red herring. The problem with C, though, is the last part of the answer choice: 'that they used to dress.' All this means FOR SURE is that the robe was just a tool that the women used in the process of dressing the statue (maybe they used it to zip up the back of the statue's dress...??). Choice D, on the other hand, correctly conveys the idea that the women actually put the dress ON the statue.

How's that?

I want to confirm that V-ed must be refered to the subject? but V-ing does not need, ? V-ed also can be Adverb modifier, like V-ing, right?

In this example, "according to" is not referring to the subject, however, based on will be ?

please clarify for me. many thanks.

[Crisc419]

According to , including, ect. are actually not V-ing form, they are prep. so these kind of words or phrases are not referred to the subject of the clause.

i hope my reasoning can be confirmed.


thanks very much.

[RonPurewal]

right.

[Crisc419]

right.

Thanks, Ron

[RonPurewal]

you're welcome.

[YANFEIG811]

Choice D has nothing to do with restrictive vs. non-restrictive, because the 'which' in question is the object of a preposition. This 'which' is no more restrictive than is the 'which' in the following sentence:
'Here are the cities to which I've already travelled.'
Obviously, '...to which I've already travelled' is restrictive (the speaker isn't talking about all cities!), but it's TO which. That resolves this issue.

'Based on' just isn't right - it doesn't convey the right meaning. It would apply to the women themselves (the following subject).
The women are not based on ancient records, so that's wrong.

I think both posters realize that E is wrong already, so no need for discussion there.

So it's C vs D.

Both OPENERS are fine ('According to...' and '...indicate that...'), so that split is a red herring. The problem with C, though, is the last part of the answer choice: 'that they used to dress.' All this means FOR SURE is that the robe was just a tool that the women used in the process of dressing the statue (maybe they used it to zip up the back of the statue's dress...??). Choice D, on the other hand, correctly conveys the idea that the women actually put the dress ON the statue.

How's that?

Hi Ron, the same confusion I have here for C and D is that how you know the original meaning is that the women actually put the dress ON the statue instead of using it as a tool?

In addition, could you please explain A? Why based on is not correct?

[RonPurewal]

how you know the original meaning is that the women actually put the dress ON the statue instead of using it as a tool?

common sense.

Why based on is not correct?

"based on" can only describe a NOUN.
e.g.,
Based on epic poems from several cultures, this story features several heroic characters with histories of larger-than-life exploits.
(what is "based on epic poems..."? THE STORY is.)

[jabgt]

Both OPENERS are fine ('According to...' and '...indicate that...'), so that split is a red herring. The problem with C, though, is the last part of the answer choice: 'that they used to dress.' All this means FOR SURE is that the robe was just a tool that the women used in the process of dressing the statue (maybe they used it to zip up the back of the statue's dress...??). Choice D, on the other hand, correctly conveys the idea that the women actually put the dress ON the statue.

How's that?

"According to..." sounds another version of meaning here to me, besides the intended one, Is my ear wrong? -- It sounds like "The way in which young Athenian women collaborated to weave a robe is according to the records." Analogous to the sentences "I cooked the rice according to the directions on the box." or "Everything went according to plan."

Thank you!