Turning away from literary realism to write romantic stories

[thanghnvn]

[quote="sdgril"]Turning away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, in 1909 Selma Lagerlöf was the novelist who became the first woman and was also the first Swedish writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

A. Turning away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, in 1909 Selma Lagerlöf was the novelist who became the first woman and was also the first Swedish writer to win
B. She turned away from literary realism and wrote romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, and novelist Selma Lagerlöf in 1909 became the first woman as well as the first Swedish writer that won
C. Selma Lagerlöf was a novelist who turned away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, and in 1909 she became the first woman in addition to the first Swedish writer winning
D. A novelist who turned away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, Selma Lagerlöf became in 1909 the first woman and also the first Swedish writer to win
E. As a novelist, Selma Lagerlöf turned away from literary realism and wrote romantic stories about the peasant life and landscape of northern Sweden, in 1909 becoming the first woman and also the first Swedish writer that won

pls,help

I do not see anything wrong with "as a novelist" in E. is this phrase wrong in E?

[RonPurewal]

"As a novelist..." is a modifier, and so is specifically associated with the following description ("turning away from literary realism and xxx").

The problem here is that Lagerlof was a novelist BEFORE that, too. I.e., when she was stil writing in the style of literary realism"”before she "turned away from" it"”she was a novelist, too.
So, the description in the correct answer (A novelist (in general) who did these things) is more faithful to the context.

[Tadashi]

Sorry Ron,
do you mean that i can write "I want to retire to a place WHERE I can relax AND I pay low taxes." without a second "where" right after the conjunction "and"?
________________________________
& a new question about the structure "the first"
would you like to tell me the differences among

1/(DIY) Wright Brothers are the first people to invent airplanes
2/(DIY) Wright Brothers are the first people who invented airplanes
3/(DIY) the first people who invented airplanes are Wright Brothers.
4/(DIY) the first people to invent airplanes are Wright Brothers.

are they exactly the same?

Need your help. I am already confused.
DOMO ARIGATO.
Tadashi.

[RonPurewal]

Sorry Ron,
do you mean that i can write "I want to retire to a place WHERE I can relax AND I pay low taxes." without a second "where" right after the conjunction "and"?
________________________________
& a new question about the structure "the first"
would you like to tell me the differences among

1/(DIY) Wright Brothers are the first people to invent airplanes
2/(DIY) Wright Brothers are the first people who invented airplanes
3/(DIY) the first people who invented airplanes are Wright Brothers.
4/(DIY) the first people to invent airplanes are Wright Brothers.

are they exactly the same?

Need your help. I am already confused.
DOMO ARIGATO.
Tadashi.

Well, those are actually all wrong for the same 2 reasons:
"- Present tense doesn't make sense (should be "were")
"- "Invent" already implies that someone was the first to do something. So, "invent" + "first" = redundant.

As far as the GMAT is concerned, there are no functional differences otherwise. (#2 and #3 are objectionable on stylistic grounds, but style is not tested on this exam.)

[Tadashi]

thanks for your comments.
Learned quite a lot. haha
but why Present tense doesn't make sense?

I am talking about sth. that everybody accepts as a truth.
For example, the Sun gives light to the earth. The moon reflects the light it absorbs from the sun to the earth.

Maybe not everyone knows WB invented airplanes..
Thanks anyway, : )
Tadashi

[RonPurewal]

but why Present tense doesn't make sense?

I am talking about sth. that everybody accepts as a truth.

Even if every person on Earth knows something, you still can't use the present tense for it if it was a past event.
This version of the present tense is reserved for current "general truths".

E.g., The sun comes up in the east.
If this were to stop happening someday"”e.g., if Earth were to start rotating in the oppostie direction"”then "comes" would then be inappropriate. We'd have to start using the past tense ("For billions and billions of years the sun came up in the east, but it doesn't anymore.")

[RonPurewal]

Also, please type out entire words. E.g., do not use "sth" to stand for "something".
Such abbreviations make posts much harder to read"”and it only takes an extra 1 second to type out the entire word.
Thanks.

[Tadashi]

Thanks for your explanation!

in Japan, lots of middle school English teachers like writing this kind of abbreviations on the blackboard.
sth. stands for something.
sb. stands for somebody.
haha, yes, you're right.

Thanks for your advice. I won't type abbreviations anymore.
Tadashi.

[RonPurewal]

I understand the abbreviations, but they pose particular difficulty for me. I'm dyslexic, so such things cause more trouble for me than they would for most others.
So, "please don't use these abbreviations" is, in effect, a personal favor I'm asking.
(:

Thanks.

[JaneC643]

Hi, someone points out one mistake in choice C is the use of "was". If we say Selma was a novelist, it means she is no longer a novelist anymore or means her influence as a novelist doesn't exist anymore. I also agree with this part. However, the problem #49 in Diagnostic Test of OG chooses C as correct answer. It uses "was", and seems like gmat agree with such of use. I am so confused right now. Anyone could help me?

[JhanasC520]

Dear Ron,

Sorry to bing up this post.

I have a small question regarding the usage of "to" in this sentence.

"Turning away from literary realism to write romantic stories about the peasant life....."

In this sentence, Is "to" used to express purpose?

the first Swedish writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

In this one, I guess "to" is a prepositional phrase, what is the function / meaning of "to" here?

Thank you for your help!

Seondly, according to previous posts you replied, I conclude that
"Jim do……….and he do………"
In this structure,Jim and he refer to the same person, Jim.
"He do……., and jim do………"
He can mean one person different from Jim in this structure.

Am I right?

[RonPurewal]

In this sentence, Is "to" used to express purpose?

the first Swedish writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

In this one, I guess "to" is a prepositional phrase, what is the function / meaning of "to" here?

Please read the entire thread before posting questions. Yes, the thread is long--but, the longer the thread, the more likely it is to contain the answer(s) to your question(s) already. (:

I answered this question on page 1 of the thread.

[RonPurewal]

Seondly, according to previous posts you replied, I conclude that
"Jim do……….and he do………"
In this structure,Jim and he refer to the same person, Jim.
"He do……., and jim do………"
He can mean one person different from Jim in this structure.

Am I right?

Yes.
(Change "can" to "must" in the second part.)

[JaneC643]

Hi, someone points out one mistake in choice C is the use of "was". If we say Selma was a novelist, it means she is no longer a novelist anymore or means her influence as a novelist doesn't exist anymore. I also agree with this part. However, the problem #49 in Diagnostic Test of OG chooses C as correct answer. It uses "was", and seems like gmat agree with such of use. I am so confused right now. Anyone could help me?

[RonPurewal]

"Was" is fine.

In the OG problem you've cited, it's a non-issue; there are no other tenses available.