Sentence Correction

Hi All,

Please read this before posting your reply.

Source of this question is OG-12. This question might have been discussed in BTG already. The very reason I am posting again is to approach SC in a structured way. Hence, I request everyone to post their comments in the following manner.

IMO: A/B/C/D/E

Approach/Steps used for choosing the right answer.

For other options, List the errors associated in the following style:
Option: A/B/C/D/E
Subject-Verb Agreement : NA
Parallelism: NA
Pronouns: NA
Modifiers: NA
Verb Tense:NA
Voice and Mood:NA
Comparisons:NA
Idioms:NA
Meaning/Conciseness:NA
Others:NA

This definitely takes a bit more time and effort. But it will help a lot of students to master OG questions/strategies. We need to know the best approach to solve these. It is equally important to know why the wrong answers are wrong. Explanation for each option will detail that out. Plan is to compile all these threads to a single place for future reference. Hope everyone agrees with me!!

In no other historical sighting did Halley's Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as did its return in 1910-1911.
(A) did its return in 1910-1911
(B) had its 1910-1911 return
(C) in its return of 1910-1911
(D) its return of 1910-1911 did
(E) its return in 1910-1911

OA C

Expecting active participation and do Let me know your thoughts!!

Request others to answer my queries:

Subject of the sentence is "Halley's comet". Verb is "cause".
OG says the comparison is between adverbial phrases. (Will it really make any diffeence if they are adverbial phrases? or it is just for information?)
To maintain parallelism, we need "in". But, Should Parallelism exist around "as" always?

(A) did its return in 1910-1911
Doesnt follow Parallelism around "as".
Compares "comet" to "comet's return"

(B) had its 1910-1911 return
"had" introduced past tense. It requires "caused" instead of "cause" in un-underlined portion.
Again compares "comet" to "comet's return"

(C) in its return of 1910-1911
Correctly compares times when the comment was seen. Parallelism is maintained.

(D) its return of 1910-1911 did
Again compares "comet" to "comet's return"

(E) its return in 1910-1911
Vioaltes parallelism.
Compares prepositional phrase and noun Phrase.

Please let me knwo your thoughts!!
Thank you!!

kvcpk wrote:Hi All,

In no other historical sighting did Halley's Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as did its return in 1910-1911.
(A) did its return in 1910-1911
(B) had its 1910-1911 return
(C) in its return of 1910-1911
(D) its return of 1910-1911 did
(E) its return in 1910-1911

OA C

Expecting active participation and do Let me know your thoughts!!

Most efficient approach:

To make a parallel comparison, the sentence needs to say in X as in Y. Only answer choice C gives us this construction:

In no other historical sighting did Halley's Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as in its return of 1910-11.

Eliminate A, B, D and E. The correct answer is C.

GMATGuruNY wrote:

kvcpk wrote:Hi All,

In no other historical sighting did Halley's Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as did its return in 1910-1911.
(A) did its return in 1910-1911
(B) had its 1910-1911 return
(C) in its return of 1910-1911
(D) its return of 1910-1911 did
(E) its return in 1910-1911

OA C

Expecting active participation and do Let me know your thoughts!!

Most efficient approach:

To make a parallel comparison, the sentence needs to say in X as in Y. Only answer choice C gives us this construction:

In no other historical sighting did Halley's Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as in its return of 1910-11.

Eliminate A, B, D and E. The correct answer is C.

Thanks for your response Mitch.. Can you please address the questions I posted above?

why isn't it "in its return in 1910-1911"? (answer c, in instead of of)

Same question , why is it "return of 1910-1911" in option c?

Although, we have acceptable constructions like "Revolution of 1857"

Please suggest

divyeshbatra wrote:Same question , why is it "return of 1910-1911" in option c?

Although, we have acceptable constructions like "Revolution of 1857"

Please suggest

The GMAT eschews the usage of CLOSELY REPEATED PREPOSITIONS.
Constructions to be avoided:
in X in Y
of X of Y
from X from Y
And so on.

To avoid saying IN its return IN 1910-1911, the OA replaces the second in with of:
in its return OF 1910-1911.

Also to be avoided:
that X that Y.

Mitch - a quick clarification on option A.

I understand it's a wrong choice, just want to confirm the ERROR in A - it's INCORRECT because it compares Comet with Comet's return.

A: In no other historical sighting did Halley's Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as did its[Comet's] return in 1910-1911. Right ?

RBBmba@2014 wrote:Mitch - a quick clarification on option A.

I understand it's a wrong choice, just want to confirm the ERROR in A - it's INCORRECT because it compares Comet with Comet's return.

A: In no other historical sighting did Halley's Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as did its[Comet's] return in 1910-1911. Right ?

Your reasoning is correct.
It is illogical to compare what the COMET did to what ITS RETURN did.
Only LIKE things can be compared.