Sentence Correction

45. According to his own account, Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty, modeled the face of the statue like his mother’s and the body like his wife’s.
(A) modeled the face of the statue like his mother’s and the body like his wife’s
(B) modeled the face of the statue after that of his mother and the body after that of his wife
(C) modeled the face of the statue like his mother and the body like his wife
(D) made the face of the statue after his mother and the body after his wife
(E) made the face of the statue look like his mother and the body look like his wife B

[spoiler]can any1 plz explain why the idiom is modelled..after that and not modelled..on????[/spoiler]

my opinion, the answer should be A
like his mother's and his wife's

The idiom is "model .... after". I can't really explain why - it is an idiom. I've seen it used in some articles (reading reputable sources everyday HELPS with grammar!) and it has struck me as something peculiar - hence I've remembered it.

With this in mind we can spot the 3-2 split. So we are down to B and D. "B" is better because the use of "that" clearly suggests the comparison between the FACE of the statue and the FACE of the mother. In D it is unclear if the sculptor modeled the face after his whole mother's image (that would be awkward wouldn't it?).

I hope this helps.

Vam82 is absolutely correct about this idiom, although the reason that D is not the answer is because it uses "made" instead of "modeled". You can't make X after Y -- that's not an idiom at all, so D is incorrect, leaving B as the answer.

a. looks like it needs to be possesive
b. sounds right because it explains everything correctly
c. like his mother and like his wife - distorts meaning
d and e are both unidiomatic.

tempted by B, going for A

OA please!!

qa ia B but I dont see what is wrong with a. A looks much more concise!

the answer should be A

A is wrong simply because of non idiomatic usage. You "model after" and not "model like"

simplyjat wrote:A is wrong simply because of non idiomatic usage. You "model after" and not "model like"

I am still confused with To model X after Y
I still vote for A

Is To model X after Y really idiomatic and "to model like" not?

Modeled ..after..is correct usage and only B follows it...

It would create issues for those who went by their ears but lets remind ourselves once that we have to get it right on GMAT !


I would vote for A has the second best...but i think modelled is key word and hence we have to go by B

for people who chose A - replace like with "similar to" and see if A still make sense. you will see now why B is correct and why you don't need to know thousands of idioms.

cheers !

"model after" is the correct idiom

Idiom aside in B, isn't it supposed to be "modeled the face of the statue after that of his mother's and the body after that of his wife's

Nice comparison question:

Generally speaking, "made....after" is and idiom or not?