Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932.
A. Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932.
B. Although named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, Clovis points are spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces and have been found all over North America.
C. Named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932, Clovis points, spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto the faces, have been found all over North America.
D. Spear points with longitudinal grooves that are chipped onto the faces, Clovis points, even though named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, but were found all over North America.
E. While Clovis points are spear points whose faces have longitudinal grooves chipped into them, they have been found all over North America, and named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932.
In-depth Explanation and Correct Answer Below (so you don’t see it while reviewing the question)
Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal… Explanation
Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932.
(A) Even though Clovis points, spear points with longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces, have been found all over North America, they are named for the New Mexico site where they were first discovered in 1932.
(B) Although named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, Clovis points are spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto their faces and have been found all over North America.
Although introduces a contrast, for example: ‘Although it’s hot, he’s wearing a jacket’. It would be strange to say ‘Although it’s hot, he’s a nice guy’. Likewise, the contrast between although named for the New Mexico site and Clovis points are spear points is incorrect. The sentence intends to contrast although named for the New Mexico site and have been found all over North America, two things that are somewhat opposed. Also missing a verb in the first clause: “where they were first discovered in 1932.”
(C) Named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932, Clovis points, spear points of longitudinal grooves chipped onto the faces, have been found all over North America.
Incorrect use of the present perfect. Use present perfect to describe something that starts in the past and continues. I have been teaching the GMAT for 10 years. I started teaching GMAT 10 years ago and I continue to do it. The discovery happened in 1932 and ended in 1932. Use past simple to describe a point in time in the past.
(D) Spear points with longitudinal grooves that are chipped onto the faces, Clovis points, even though named for the New Mexico site where first discovered in 1932, but were found all over North America.
“Even though” and “but” are redundant. They both create contrast and shouldn’t be used together. If you take away the modifiers you’re left with: “Clovis points but were found all over North America.”
(E) While Clovis points are spear points whose faces have longitudinal grooves chipped into them, they have been found all over North America, and named for the New Mexico site where they have been first discovered in 1932.
Incorrect use of the present perfect. Use present perfect to describe something that starts in the past and continues. I have been teaching the GMAT for 10 years. I started teaching GMAT 10 years ago and I continue to do it. The discovery happened in 1932 and ended in 1932. Use past simple to describe a point in time in the past. Also, “and named for the New Mexico site…” looks like the second part of a list but there’s no clear first part to the list. You could argue it’s: “they have been found all over North America” but that’s a non-essential modifier. You can’t have a list mixing essential and non-essential parts of the sentence. Lastly, placing “they have been found all over North America” as a non-essential modifier seems off. That fact seems to be an important part of the sentence.
Correct Answer: A
For some SC guidance, here’s a link to a breakdown of GMAT sentence correction.