OG - SC - #51

[GMAT 2007]

The Olympic Games helped to keep peace among the pugnacious states of the Greek world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival's month.

(A) Same
(B) world, proclaiming a sacred truce during the festival’s month
(C) world when they proclaimed a sacred truce for the festival month
(D) world, for a sacred truce was proclaimed during the month of the festival
(E) world by proclamation of a sacred truce that was for the month of the festival

OG says, the correct choice is (D). Please help to understand why (D) is correct. I was more inclined towards (B) as in (B) proclaiming is modifying the clause successfully.

OG's explanation says - It is not clear who would be doing the proclaiming; a clause is preferable to phrase. Please help understand why?

Thanks
GMAT 2007

[dbernst]

GMAT 2007,

In answer choice B, the subject of the initial clause is "The Olympic Games." The Games themselves could not have done the "proclaiming," since only some type of human entity has the capacity to proclaim. Using the passive construction a truce was proclaimed in choice D eliminates the necessity of mentioning a particular proclaimer. Additionally, one can correctly infer that the truce was proclaimed among the pugnacious states of the Greek world.

-dan

The Olympic Games helped to keep peace among the pugnacious states of the Greek world in that a sacred truce was proclaimed during the festival's month.

(A) Same
(B) world, proclaiming a sacred truce during the festival’s month
(C) world when they proclaimed a sacred truce for the festival month
(D) world, for a sacred truce was proclaimed during the month of the festival
(E) world by proclamation of a sacred truce that was for the month of the festival

OG says, the correct choice is (D). Please help to understand why (D) is correct. I was more inclined towards (B) as in (B) proclaiming is modifying the clause successfully.

OG's explanation says - It is not clear who would be doing the proclaiming; a clause is preferable to phrase. Please help understand why?

Thanks
GMAT 2007

[Gmat2Go]

I still don't understand. In choice B, isn't the modifier "proclaiming a sacred truce for the festival month" refer back to Greek World? So the Greek Word is dong the proclaiming. Doesn't this type of modifier modify the word right before it? Can you explain the rule why sometimes modifier modifier the word before it and sometimes it modifies the subject of the clause before it (in this case the Olympic games).

Thanks

[dbernst]

Gmat2Go, in choice B the term "proclaiming," an action, must refer to "The Olympic Games," the subject of the initial clause. You are thinking of relative pronouns such as "which", "when" or "where," which, when preceded by a comma, refer to the noun immediately prior to the comma. For example:

I enjoy watching the Olympic Games, which take place every for years.

-dan