Chinese Public Buildings Erected Under a Construction Code of the Sung Dynasty

Question: Chinese public buildings erected under a construction code of the Sung dynasty have withstood earthquakes well because the white cedar used has four times the tensile strength of steel and the timber frame, incorporating many joints and few nails, is flexible.

1. Used has four times the tensile strength of steel and the timber frame, incorporating
2. Used in them has four times the tensile strength of steel has and the timbre frame, incorporating
3. That was used in them has four times the tensile strength steel has, and the timbre frame, incorporating
4. That was used has four times as much tensile strength as steel, and the timbre frame incorporates
5. That was used has four times the tensile strength steel does, and the timbre frame incorporates

“Chinese public buildings erected under a construction code of the Sung dynasty”- is a GMAT sentence correction question. This particular GMAT sentence correction topic has been taken from the book ‘The Official Guide of GMAT Verbal Review, 2nd Edition, 2009’. This question checks Parallelism, Comparison of two elements and Modifiers. GMAT Sentence Correction questions comprise 11-16 questions to be completed within 65 minutes. Each Sentence Correction question contains a sentence with an underlined portion that includes 0-2 errors.

Answer: A

Explanation: The following concepts are tested here:

1. Logical predication
2. Grammatical construction

Option A: Correct
This option is correct because it correctly conveys the intended meaning of the sentence. The sentence has two reasons the Chinese buildings were built under the code described have withstood earthquakes, the white cedar used in them, and the timbre frame that incorporates many joints and few nails, is flexible. This option is correct because it clearly states these reasons. So, Option A is correct.

Option B: Incorrect
This option is incorrect because the phrase used in this option “has four times the tensile strength of steel has” is idiomatically incorrect. The correct phrase should be “has four times the tensile strength of steel”. Since this option is not properly constructed, it can not be a choice for the sentence. So, Option B is incorrect.

Option C: Incorrect
This option is incorrect because the commas used in this option have broken up the sentence in a way that only the great tensile strength of white cedar is offered as an explanation for the building’s ability to withstand earthquakes. The Timbre frame’s flexibility is stated as mere fact and not as a reason for the ability of the buildings. So, Option C is incorrect.

Option D: Incorrect
This option is incorrect because the commas used in this choice break up the sentence in such a way that only the strength of white cedar is offered as an explanation for the ability of the building to withstand earthquakes. Timbre’s flexibility is mentioned as a separate fact and not as the reason behind the building’s ability. So, Option D is incorrect.

Option E: Incorrect
This option is incorrect because the phrase used in this option “has four times the tensile strength steel does” is incorrect. The construction should “has four times the tensile strength of steel;”. Also, this option suffers from the same mistakes as option D and option C as the commas are not placed properly. So, Option E is incorrect.

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