GMAT Sentence Correction Discussions

[abchekstylo]

Originally Posted by fattu

Hi .
I was not clear with the explanations given in OG for following questions.
Any light on these will b very helpful.

107. In his research paper, Dr. Frosh, medical director of the Payne Whitney Clinic, distinguishes mood swings, which may be violent without their being grounded in mental disease, from genuine manic-depressive psychosis.
(A) mood swings, which may be violent without their being grounded in mental disease, from genuine manic-depressive psychosis
(B) mood swings, perhaps violent without being grounded in mental disease, and genuine manic-depressive psychosis
(C) between mood swings, which may be violent without being grounded in mental disease, and genuine manic-depressive psychosis
(D) between mood swings, perhaps violent without being grounded in mental disease, from genuine manic-depressive psychosis
(E) genuine manic-depressive psychosis and mood swings, which may be violent without being grounded in mental disease

My doubt: distinguish A from B and distinguish between A and B both are correct idiom. Why does OG bluntly reject distinguish A from B


122.More than 30 years ago Dr. Barbara McClintock, the Nobel Prize winner, reported that genes can “jump,” as pearls moving mysteriously from one necklace to another.
(A) as pearls moving mysteriously from one necklace to another
(B) like pearls moving mysteriously from one necklace to another
(C) as pearls do that move mysteriously from one necklace to others
(D) like pearls do that move mysteriously from one necklace to others
(E) as do pearls that move mysteriously from one necklace to some other one
My doubt: Isn't here genes jumping (an action) compared with pearls movement. Did not understand why like is prefered here

Any help would be very much appreciated

107)the idioms "distinguish A from B" and "distinguish between A and B" both are correct.
the choices A,B,D and E have been eliminated because they have other errors.

Choice A uses "their" which is unnecessary.the use of idiom here is correct though.totally agree with you.Still we can safely eliminate choice A because of "their".

Did you notice that in B and D, they say clearly and strongly "incorrect idiom".But in A, they say "fails to use the correct idiomatic expression;their should be omitted".

"distinguish between A and B" is preferred over "distinguish A from B" provided there are no other errors.But if there is an error(like "their") safely eliminate.
i think that answers ur question.

122)choices C,D and E imply that the pearls actually move between necklaces but they don't.they stay in their own necklaces unless someone does that manually.it is just being imagined to show that genes can jump between 2 chromosomes.
Between A and B, the only difference is "as" and "like".
the part after the comma is a phrase and it should be introduced by a preposition like "like" instead of a conjunction."as" can be used if the 2nd part of the sentence is a clause with its own subject and verb.Hence 'like' is correct.

[montaqes]

Hi,

The correct answer given for the following question in 1000SC is (A). Can any one help me out with the explanation..i m little confused abt it.


1.According to a study published by Dr. Myrna Weissman, only one percent of Americans born before 1905 had suffered major depression by the age of seventy-five; of those born since 1955, six percent had become depressed by age twenty-four.
(A) only one percent of Americans born before 1905 had suffered major depression by the age of seventy-five; of those born since 1955, six percent had become depressed by age twenty-four
(B) only one percent of Americans born before 1905 suffer major depression by the age of seventy-five; if they are born since 1955, six percent become depressed by age twenty-four
(C) of Americans born before 1905, only one percent of them have suffered major depression by age seventy-five, but six percent of those born since 1955 do by the age of twenty-four
(D) major depression is suffered by the age of seventy-five by only one percent of Americans born before 1905, and by age twenty-four by the six percent born since 1955
(E) Americans born before 1905 suffer major depression by the age of seventy-five only one percent of the time, but six percent of those born since 1955 did so by age twenty-four

[anish_goyal]

Originally Posted by montaqes

Hi,

The correct answer given for the following question in 1000SC is (A). Can any one help me out with the explanation..i m little confused abt it.


1.According to a study published by Dr. Myrna Weissman, only one percent of Americans born before 1905 had suffered major depression by the age of seventy-five; of those born since 1955, six percent had become depressed by age twenty-four.
(A) only one percent of Americans born before 1905 had suffered major depression by the age of seventy-five; of those born since 1955, six percent had become depressed by age twenty-four
(B) only one percent of Americans born before 1905 suffer major depression by the age of seventy-five; if they are born since 1955, six percent become depressed by age twenty-four
(C) of Americans born before 1905, only one percent of them have suffered major depression by age seventy-five, but six percent of those born since 1955 do by the age of twenty-four
(D) major depression is suffered by the age of seventy-five by only one percent of Americans born before 1905, and by age twenty-four by the six percent born since 1955
(E) Americans born before 1905 suffer major depression by the age of seventy-five only one percent of the time, but six percent of those born since 1955 did so by age twenty-four

I am not sure but here's my explanation:
Choices B, C, D and E and hugely flawed so A needs re-consideration
In choice A, though it seems that it doesn't follow the rules of parallelism, but since the two parts separated by ";" are grammatically correct, the whole sentence is correct. semi colon is used to join two distinct but related sentences. had there been a comma instead the sentence would have been wrong.

[anish_goyal]

Originally Posted by abchekstylo

107)the idioms "distinguish A from B" and "distinguish between A and B" both are correct.
the choices A,B,D and E have been eliminated because they have other errors.

Choice A uses "their" which is unnecessary.the use of idiom here is correct though.totally agree with you.Still we can safely eliminate choice A because of "their".

Did you notice that in B and D, they say clearly and strongly "incorrect idiom".But in A, they say "fails to use the correct idiomatic expression;their should be omitted".

"distinguish between A and B" is preferred over "distinguish A from B" provided there are no other errors.But if there is an error(like "their") safely eliminate.
i think that answers ur question.

122)choices C,D and E imply that the pearls actually move between necklaces but they don't.they stay in their own necklaces unless someone does that manually.it is just being imagined to show that genes can jump between 2 chromosomes.
Between A and B, the only difference is "as" and "like".
the part after the comma is a phrase and it should be introduced by a preposition like "like" instead of a conjunction."as" can be used if the 2nd part of the sentence is a clause with its own subject and verb.Hence 'like' is correct.

Moreover, following a general rule, "as is used to compare same elements but "like" is used to compare similar things.

[anish_goyal]

Here's a ques from 800score test. I am unable to understand their reasoning.

In his work, George Santayana is more reminiscent of Plato's poetic narratives and David Thoreau's obsessive detailing than Bertrand Russel's scientific precisions.

(A) In his work, George Santayana is more reminiscent of
(B) George Santayana writes more like
(C) George Santayana reminds one more of
(D) George Santayana's work is more reminiscent of
(E) George Santayana's work more resembles that of

My answer is (D), but they have mentioned (E) as correct reasoning that "resemble" is better usage than reminiscent for literary comparisons.
Is there any such thing??

Also, I think (E) is wrong because of "resembles that of". just "resembles of" is correct.

[montaqes]

Originally Posted by anish_goyal

Here's a ques from 800score test. I am unable to understand their reasoning.

In his work, George Santayana is more reminiscent of Plato's poetic narratives and David Thoreau's obsessive detailing than Bertrand Russel's scientific precisions.

(A) In his work, George Santayana is more reminiscent of
(B) George Santayana writes more like
(C) George Santayana reminds one more of
(D) George Santayana's work is more reminiscent of
(E) George Santayana's work more resembles that of

My answer is (D), but they have mentioned (E) as correct reasoning that "resemble" is better usage than reminiscent for literary comparisons.
Is there any such thing??

Also, I think (E) is wrong because of "resembles that of". just "resembles of" is correct.

I would have also marked it as (D) .. it is more convincing.
"resembles that of" doesn't go in parallel with "than Bertrand Russel's scientific precision". However, i think "resembles of" is not idiomatically correct.

[montaqes]

Hi puys,

please help me out with the following:


1.Acid rain and snow result from the chemical reactions between industrial emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides with atmospheric water vapor to produce highly corrosive sulfuric and nitric acids.
(A) with atmospheric water vapor to produce highly corrosive sulfuric and nitric acids
(B) with atmospheric water vapor producing highly corrosive sulfuric and nitric acids
(C) and atmospheric water vapor which has produced highly corrosive sulfuric and nitric acids
(D) and atmospheric water vapor which have produced sulfuric and nitric acids which are highly corrosive
(E) and atmospheric water vapor to produce highly corrosive sulfuric and nitric acids

[anish_goyal]

Originally Posted by montaqes

I would have also marked it as (D) .. it is more convincing.
"resembles that of" doesn't go in parallel with "than Bertrand Russel's scientific precision". However, i think "resembles of" is not idiomatically correct.

what about the use of "reminiscent"?
is it incorrect to use it for literary comparisons?

[montaqes]

Originally Posted by anish_goyal

what about the use of "reminiscent"?
is it incorrect to use it for literary comparisons?

"reminiscent" is generally used to refer something which reminds us of past experience. It is used to "remind/recall" and not to "compare". But, if we reject this as well, what would be the correct answer then

[anish_goyal]

Originally Posted by montaqes

"reminiscent" is generally used to refer something which reminds us of past experience. It is used to "remind/recall" and not to "compare". But, if we reject this as well, what would be the correct answer then

yeah true. I guess they did a type by writing "that of" in last option having resembles...