In Ancient Thailand, Much of the Local Artisans' Creative Energy was Expended for the Creation of Buddha Images and When they Constructed and Decorated the Temples that Enshrined them.

Question: In ancient Thailand, much of the local artisans' creative energy was expended for the creation of Buddha images and when they constructed and decorated the temples that enshrined them.

1. Much of the local artisans’ creative energy was expanded for the creation of Buddha images and when they constructed and decorated the temples that enshrined them
2. Much of the local artisans’ creative energy was expended on the creation of Buddha images and on construction and decoration of the temples that enshrined them
3. Much of the local artisans’ creative energy was expanded on the creation of Buddha images as well as constructing and decoration of the temples in which they were enshrined
4. Creating images of Buddha accounted for much of the local artisans’ creative energy, and also constructing and decorating the temples ensuring them
5. The creation of Buddha images accounted for much of the local artisans’ creative energy as well as construction and decoration of the temples that enshrined them

“ In ancient Thailand, much of the local artisans' creative energy was expended for the creation of Buddha images and when they constructed and decorated the temples that enshrined them.”- 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: B
Explanation: The given sentence correction question can be tested by the given-below rules:

1. Meaning
2. Tenses
3. Pronouns
4. Parallelism

Option A: Incorrect
This option is incorrect because this option incorrectly uses “they” to refer to the artisans and uses “them” to refer to the images. We know that a pronoun can be used to refer to one noun in a sentence. Also, this option fails to maintain parallelism between “for the creation of Buddha images” and “when they constructed and decorated the temples”. So, Option A is incorrect.

Option B: Correct
This option is correct because it uses the clause “much of the local artisans’ creative energy was expended…..on construction and decoration of the temples”, which conveys the true meaning that the local artisans’ expended most of their creative energy on the creation of Buddha images and on the construction and decoration of the temples. So, Option B is correct.

Option C: Incorrect
This option is incorrect because this option fails to maintain parallelism between “on the creation of Buddha images” and “construction and decoration of the temples” and also between “constructing” and “decoration”. Always remember that any elements linked by conjunction must be parallel. So, Option C is incorrect.

Option D: Incorrect
This option is incorrect because it changes the meaning of the sentence by using the clause “creating images of Buddha accounted for…constructing and decorating the temples enshrining them”; this clause implies that creating images of Buddha accounted for much of the artisans’ creative energy, and also accounted for constructing and decorating the temples that enshrined them. This is not what the sentence implies. So, Option D is incorrect.

Option E: Incorrect
The option is incorrect because this option twists the meaning of the sentence by using the clause “the creation of Buddha images accounted for…construction and decoration of temples that enshrined them.” The correct intended meaning is local artisans’ expended their creative energy on the creation of Buddha images and on the construction and decoration of temples in which the statues were enshrined. Since the option completely changes the meaning, Option E is incorrect.

Suggested GMAT critical reasoning samples

• Belorechensk, A Once Poor Import Dependent Country, Is Now a Major Exporter in the World.
• After a Number of Migrant Fishermen at the Rotunda Beach Pier got Sick from Consuming Locally Fished Hermit Crabs
• More Airplane Accidents are Caused by Pilot Error than any Other Single Factor.
• Smithtown University’s Fund-Raisers Succeeded in Getting Donations
• A Company is Considering Offering a Wellness Program to its 3000 Employees
• Moderate Exercise Lowers the Risk of Blockage of the Arteries due to Blood Clots.
• Household Indebtedness, Which Some Theorists Regard as Causing Recession
• Companies that Dominate an Industry Usually do so by Developing a Competitive Advantage
• Demographic Experts Predict that the Global Human Population will Reach its Peak Sometime in the Middle of this Century
• Necessity for Personal Growth Determines High Performance in a Work Environment
• Instead of Blaming an Automobile Accident on Driver Error
• Companies Worldwide have Started Adopting MAT (Management Aptitude Test)
• Literary Critics are Concerned by a Recent Trend in Book Publishing.
• A Minority but Influential Investor in Quell has Recently Claimed that the Company's Stock is Undervalued
• Art Historian: Recently, Computer Analysis has Revealed that a Few of a Famous Flemish Artist’s
• It is Illogical to Infer a Second and Different Effect from a Cause which is known only by one Particular Effect.
• Doctor: In Three Separate Studies, Researchers Compared Children who had Slept with Nightlights in their Rooms as Infants to Children Who had Not.
• Because they can Craft Objects of a New Design Without having Extrusion Fittings Custom-Designed for that Purpose
• If Martin Introduces an Amendment to Evans’s Bill, then Johnson and Lloyd will Both Vote the Same Way
• On Most Side Streets in the United States, the Speed Limit