Archaeological excavations of Roman

[akhp77]

Source: Barron GMAT CD

Archaeological excavations of Roman ruins on the Greek island of Crete show that securing control over the maritime trade routes of the Eastern Mediterranean was a primary goal of the Romans, as it was of the Greeks in preceding centuries.

A. as it was of the Greeks
B. like that of the Greeks
C. as that of the Greeks
D. just as the Greeks did
E. as did the Greeks


Can some explain that how to arrive at answer?

[thoppae.saravanan]

like should be followed by noun, pronoun or noun phrase. So option B is wrong.
Author is trying to say that the primary goal of romans and greeks was same. So option D and E are out. So only options left are A and C - which pronoun should be used that or it. "It" is preferred to "that" (because that is a demonstrative pronoun which should modify how the primary goal is different for greeks from romans). So will go for option A.

What is the OA btw?

[akhp77]

Ans: A

You are correct.

Like is adjectival, which modify to noun, pronoun or noun phrase. But I believe "like that of the Greeks" is same as "like primary goal of the Greeks" and like followed by noun phrase. Please explain more me about it.

[thoppae.saravanan]

very true. As i already reasoned why "that" cannot be used to eliminate option C, the same is applicable for option B as well. Additionally you can eliminate option B because like is followed by "that" which seems to introduce a clause.
Hope this helps.

[Ben Ku]

Please cite the source (author) of this problem. We cannot reply unless a source is cited (and, if no source is cited, we will have to delete the post!). Thanks.