请教885的12部分的5。15提

道阻且长

Hey All,

Just to make it clear, the only real issue in this question is idiomatic, not strictly grammatical.

The Forbidden City in Beijing, from which the emperors ruled by heavenly mandate, was a site which a commoner or foreigner could not enter without any permission, on pain of death.

(A) which a commoner or foreigner could not enter without any permission,
PROBLEM: "Without permission" is the idiom, not "without any permission". Permission is kinda like water. You can't have a water (or a permission). "Any" is indefinite, just like "a", and it's wrong.

(B) which a commoner or foreigner could enter without any permission only
PROBLEM: The wording here makes it sounds as if they COULD enter as long as they DID NOT have permission. That's totally wrong. They can only enter WITH permission. Also, what is the "only" doing there? It should modify "enter", if anything. Here, it modifies "permission".

(C) which no commoner or foreigner could enter without permission,
ANSWER: Looks good.

(D) which, without permission, neither commoner or foreigner could only enter,
PROBLEM: It's unclear what "without permission" is modifying (should be enter). Also, the "only" is confusingly placed again.

(E) which, to enter without permission, neither commoner or foreigner could do,
PROBLEM: This one is just ridiculous.

Hope that helps!

-tommy       
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Tommy Wallach | Manhattan GMAT Instructor | San Francisco

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