In the following sentence, identify the part that contains a grammatical error:\n\n"The sailors divided his money around themselves and the ship sailed on."

Introduction / Context:
This error spotting question asks you to find the part of the sentence that is grammatically or idiomatically incorrect. The sentence is about sailors sharing someone else's money. Such questions typically test collocations, prepositions, and fixed expressions used with common verbs like divide. Mastering these patterns is important for clear and natural English usage in both written and spoken contexts.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Complete sentence: The sailors divided his money around themselves and the ship sailed on.
• The verb is divided, used with the object his money.
• The phrase around themselves is used after divided.
• We know standard English collocations use among or between with divide when sharing something.

Concept / Approach:
The correct idiom is divide something among people or between two specific persons, not divide something around people. The preposition around suggests physical movement or surrounding, which does not fit the sense of sharing. Therefore, the phrase money around themselves is wrong. The other parts of the sentence The sailors divided his and the ship sailed on are grammatically acceptable and convey a clear meaning. The error must therefore lie in part B.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Read the sentence part by part and focus on the verb phrase divided his money. Step 2: Recall that the usual expression is divided his money among themselves, meaning they shared it among all the sailors. Step 3: Notice that the sentence has around themselves instead of among themselves, which sounds unnatural. Step 4: Confirm that parts A and C, The sailors divided his and the ship sailed on, are grammatically fine.

Verification / Alternative check:
Replace around with among: The sailors divided his money among themselves and the ship sailed on. This new sentence is completely natural and captures the intended meaning that they shared his money. No other changes are needed. This confirms that the original problem was with the preposition in part B. Parts A and C do not need correction because The sailors divided his clearly sets up the subject and verb, and the ship sailed on correctly describes what happened next.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A is grammatically correct because it correctly uses the subject and verb form. Option C is also correct as it is a simple past tense clause with a clear subject and verb. Option D, No error, is incorrect because we have clearly identified an idiomatic error in part B. Therefore, the only segment that contains the error is money around themselves and.

Common Pitfalls:
Many learners overlook preposition errors because they focus mainly on verb forms and obvious subject verb agreement mistakes. Some may even assume around themselves is acceptable because they see around used frequently in other contexts. However, accurate collocation is vital in formal English. Always check whether a verb has a preferred preposition or pattern in fixed expressions.

Final Answer:
The incorrect segment is part money around themselves and, so option 2 is the correct choice and the phrase should be money among themselves.