Appropriate usage of unlike,eventhough, although???

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Unlike the conviction held by many of her colleagues that genes were relatively simple and static, Barbara McClintock adhered to her own more complicated ideas about how genes might operate, and in 1983, at the age of 81, was awarded a Nobel Prize for her discovery that the genes in corn are capable of moving from one chromosomal site to another.

A. Unlike the conviction held by many of her colleagues that genes were relatively simple and static
B. Although many of her colleagues were of the conviction of genes being relatively simple and static
C. Contrary to many of her colleagues being convinced that genes were relatively simple and static
D. Even though many of her colleagues were convinced that genes were relatively simple and static
E. Even with many of her colleagues convinced of genes being relatively simple and static

Could you please let me know when it is appropritae to use words unlike,although,eventhough

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by blah45 » Sat Jul 14, 2007 6:30 pm

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is it (A)?

Answer please?

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by givemeanid » Sat Jul 14, 2007 7:13 pm

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Check this for usage of although, unlike, etc: https://www.beatthegmat.com/viewtopic.php?p=15163#15163

I think the answer is D. What is OA?
So It Goes

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by blah45 » Sun Jul 15, 2007 4:27 am

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Yes, I think i'm wrong. Answer is probably (D).

(A) is wrong b/c "Unlike the conviction..." is modifying "Barbara McClintock..."...which is wrong.

Damn!!! I got to stop making these silly mistakes... :(

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by beeparoo » Sun Jul 15, 2007 11:07 am

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Answer: D

A - Comparing apples and oranges... This answer should compare conviction of colleagues to conviction of Barbara.

B - Awkwardly structured: "of the conviction of genes being... simple" and uses the (almost) forbidden, "being".

C - Again, that poorly used word, "being" rears itself here: "her colleagues being convinced"

D - Removes the "unlike" word in the beginning of the sentence to eliminate the comparison being made between Barbara and the convictions of her colleagues.

E - Come on: "genes being... simple" Need I say more? (see my explanation above"

Cheers

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by komal » Wed Feb 10, 2010 1:06 am

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Shadow wrote:Unlike the conviction held by many of her colleagues that genes were relatively simple and static, Barbara McClintock adhered to her own more complicated ideas about how genes might operate, and in 1983, at the age of 81, was awarded a Nobel Prize for her discovery that the genes in corn are capable of moving from one chromosomal site to another.

A Incorrect comparison between conviction and Barbara McClintock.

B Were of the conviction of genes being relatively simple is wordy and awkward.

C Contrary to many of her colleagues being convinced is wordy and awkward.

D Correct. A dependent clause describing the beliefs of McClintock's colleagues is followed by the main clause presenting the contrasting beliefs of McClintock.

E Even with many of her colleagues . .. is wordy and indirect.

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by ardsouza » Tue Dec 27, 2011 7:59 am

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Although I agree with most of the reasoning behind D, the phrase "genes were" should ideally be "genes are" as the behavior of genes in general is being described and not a past behavior. In the light of this error, I believe E becomes the better answer of the two.

Any thoughts?

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by umeshpatil » Wed Sep 18, 2013 5:29 pm

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Komal, explained correctly.
I require right justification why B & C are incorrect. 'Wordy and awkward' explanation is not useful to understand the concept. Can anyone explain me in terms of grammar?

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by theCodeToGMAT » Wed Sep 18, 2013 7:54 pm

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A - Incorrect. Unlike is used when balanced comparison; You cannot "convinction" to "barbara"
B - Incorrect. "being" cannot be used here.. it's not an ongoing event
C - Incorrect. "being" cannot be used here.. it's not an ongoing event
D - Correct
E - Incorrect. "being" cannot be used here.. it's not an ongoing event



NOTE: "being" is not always wrong on GMAT; don't just eliminate the answer choice just because it contains being. "being" has to be used when the sentence is describing some ongoing event.

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by theCodeToGMAT » Wed Sep 18, 2013 7:58 pm

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It is wrong to eliminate B & C by concluding that they are wordy; they are not. Infact C gives very concise answer, although wrong.

The problem is the incorrect use of "being". This sentence is in past tense.. "being" has to be used when you are stating an ongoing event.

umeshpatil wrote:Komal, explained correctly.
I require right justification why B & C are incorrect. 'Wordy and awkward' explanation is not useful to understand the concept. Can anyone explain me in terms of grammar?

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by [email protected] » Fri Mar 22, 2019 3:44 pm

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Hello Everyone!

This is a great example of a comparison/contrast sentence you might find on the GMAT! Let's tackle it, one problem at a time, to determine which option is the correct choice! First, here is the original sentence with any major differences between the options highlighted in orange:

Unlike the conviction held by many of her colleagues that genes were relatively simple and static, Barbara McClintock adhered to her own more complicated ideas about how genes might operate, and in 1983, at the age of 81, was awarded a Nobel Prize for her discovery that the genes in corn are capable of moving from one chromosomal site to another.

(A) Unlike the conviction held by many of her colleagues that genes were
(B) Although many of her colleagues were of the conviction of genes being
(C) Contrary to many of her colleagues being convinced that genes were
(D) Even though many of her colleagues were convinced that genes were
(E) Even with many of her colleagues convinced of genes being

After a quick glance over the options, there are some things we can focus on:

1. What subordinate conjunction to begin with: Unlike/Although/Contrary to/Even though/Even with
2. Active vs. Passive Voice
3. Conciseness/Wordiness


Let's start with #1 on our list: subordinate conjunctions. Whenever we're using them to create a contrast, we need to check for 2 things:

1. The two things being contrasted are similar in wording/number/type
2. They are the right conjunction to show the intended meaning


Here is how our options break down when we focus on subordinate conjunctions:

(A) Unlike the conviction held by many of her colleagues that genes were
This is INCORRECT because it's creating a false comparison! It's comparing "conviction" to Barbara McClintock, rather than comparing her colleagues to her (both of which are people).

(B) Although many of her colleagues were of the conviction of genes being
This is OKAY for now, so let's keep it for later.

(C) Contrary to many of her colleagues being convinced that genes were
This is OKAY for now, so let's keep it for later.

(D) Even though many of her colleagues were convinced that genes were
This is OKAY, so let's save it for later.

(E) Even with many of her colleagues convinced of genes being
This is INCORRECT because "Even with" isn't a subordinate conjunction in English. Since this isn't idiomatically correct, let's rule it out.

We can rule out options A & E because they either create a non-parallel comparison or used a conjunction that doesn't exist in English.

Now that we're left with 3 options, let's tackle #2 & #3 on our list. There are two main things we need to focus on here:

1. Are the phrases written using active or passive voice? The GMAT always prefers active over passive voice, so try to rule out any that use passive voice.
2. Are they overly wordy or confusing? The GMAT doesn't like that either!


(B) Although many of her colleagues were of the conviction of genes being
This is INCORRECT because the phrase "of the conviction of genes being" is overly wordy and confusing for readers. It's also passive voice, so let's rule this out.

(C) Contrary to many of her colleagues being convinced that genes were
This is also INCORRECT because the wording is confusing. By adding in the word "being," it created a modifier that needed a comma before the word "being" to even work.

(D) Even though many of her colleagues were convinced that genes were
This is CORRECT! It's clear, concise, and doesn't create any grammatical problems!

There you have it - option D is the correct choice! It creates a strong, clear, and concise contrast between Barbara McClintock and her colleagues! If you pay close attention to trends in the GMAT exam (active vs. passive voice / conciseness vs. wordiness / parallelism), you can easily spot problems and rule out options quickly!


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