SC: "Whereas lines of competition..."

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SC: "Whereas lines of competition..."

by me_1234 » Sat Dec 13, 2014 6:26 pm
This is from an official practice exam and answer is A. Not sure why?

Whereas lines of competition are clearly defined in the more established industries, in the Internet industry they are blurred and indistinct, as companies that compete one day may be partners the next.

a/ Whereas lines of competition are clearly defined in the more established industries, in the Internet industry they are blurred and indistinct, as companies that compete

b/ Although the lines of competition are clearly defined in industries that are more established, they are blurred and indistinct in the Internet industry, as competing companies

c/ The lines of competition are clearly defined in the more established industries, unlike the Internet where they are blurred and indistinct, as companies that compete

d/ Unlike more established industries, where the lines of competition are clearly defined, they are blurred and indistinct in the Internet industry, as companies that compete

e/ Unlike more established industries, with clearly defined lines of competition, those of the Internet industry are blurred and indistinct, as competing companies

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by GMATGuruNY » Sun Dec 14, 2014 4:23 am
melanie.espeland wrote:This is from an official practice exam and answer is A. Not sure why?

Whereas lines of competition are clearly defined in the more established industries, in the Internet industry they are blurred and indistinct, as companies that compete one day may be partners the next.

a/ Whereas lines of competition are clearly defined in the more established industries, in the Internet industry they are blurred and indistinct, as companies that compete

b/ Although the lines of competition are clearly defined in industries that are more established, they are blurred and indistinct in the Internet industry, as competing companies

c/ The lines of competition are clearly defined in the more established industries, unlike the Internet where they are blurred and indistinct, as companies that compete

d/ Unlike more established industries, where the lines of competition are clearly defined, they are blurred and indistinct in the Internet industry, as companies that compete

e/ Unlike more established industries, with clearly defined lines of competition, those of the Internet industry are blurred and indistinct, as competing companies
B and E: competing companies one day may be partners the next [day]
The word in brackets is omitted by implied.
Here, both one day and the next day seem to serve as adverbs modifying may be, expressing WHEN competing companies MAY BE partners.
Conveyed meaning:
Competing companies MAY BE partners ONE DAY THE NEXT DAY.
This meaning is nonsensical.
Eliminate B and E.

On the GMAT, where must serve to refer to a PHYSICAL PLACE.
In C, where cannot serve to refer the Internet.
In D, where cannot serve to refer to industries.
Eliminate C and D.

The correct answer is A.

OA: companies that compete one day may be partners the next [day]
Here, one day does NOT serve to modify may be.
Rather, one day serves as an adverb modifying compete, while only the next day serves to modify may be.
Conveyed meaning:
Companies that COMPETE ONE DAY -- these same companies MAY BE PARTNERS THE NEXT DAY.
This meaning is sensical.
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by me_1234 » Sun Dec 14, 2014 7:21 am
Thanks that was really helpful

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by april24 » Thu Dec 17, 2015 5:34 am
Hi Mitch,

In this question, I have eliminated options D and E, since what follows 'Unlike more established industries,' should be a noun to which we are comparing 'more established industries'. Is this a correct reason to eliminate them?

I am still confused between options A and B. Please explain why B is the wrong? I am not able to clearly understand the reason that you mentioned in above post to eliminate B.

Thank you.

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by GMATGuruNY » Thu Dec 17, 2015 7:48 am
april24 wrote:Hi Mitch,

In this question, I have eliminated options D and E, since what follows 'Unlike more established industries,' should be a noun to which we are comparing 'more established industries'. Is this a correct reason to eliminate them?
This line of reasoning is valid.
I am still confused between options A and B. Please explain why B is the wrong? I am not able to clearly understand the reason that you mentioned in above post to eliminate B.

Thank you.
Only PARALLEL FORMS may be compared.
A NOUN should be compared to ANOTHER NOUN.
A VERB should be compared to ANOTHER VERB.
A MODIFIER should be compared to ANOTHER MODIFIER.

OA: as companies that COMPETE one day MAY BE partners the next
In the OA, a VERB (compete) is compared to ANOTHER VERB (may be).

B: as COMPETING companies one day MAY BE partners the next
Here, a MODIFIER (competing) is illogically compared to a VERB (may be).
Eliminate B.
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by bounce87 » Wed Sep 06, 2017 6:57 am
As per the explanation:
OA: as companies that COMPETE one day MAY BE partners the next
In the OA, a VERB (compete) is compared to ANOTHER VERB (may be).

B: as COMPETING companies one day MAY BE partners the next
Here, a MODIFIER (competing) is illogically compared to a VERB (may be).
Eliminate B.

Is there a way to find out what is parallel/compared with "compete". In the right answer, "may be" is compared with "compete"?

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by GMATGuruNY » Thu Sep 07, 2017 8:17 am
bounce87 wrote:Is there a way to find out what is parallel/compared with "compete". In the right answer, "may be" is compared with "compete"?
OA: companies that compete one day may be partners the next.
Since compete is a verb, it should be compared to another verb.
Only one other verb is available: may be.
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by Mo2men » Fri Sep 08, 2017 5:42 am
GMATGuruNY wrote:
melanie.espeland wrote:This is from an official practice exam and answer is A. Not sure why?

Whereas lines of competition are clearly defined in the more established industries, in the Internet industry they are blurred and indistinct, as companies that compete one day may be partners the next.

a/ Whereas lines of competition are clearly defined in the more established industries, in the Internet industry they are blurred and indistinct, as companies that compete

b/ Although the lines of competition are clearly defined in industries that are more established, they are blurred and indistinct in the Internet industry, as competing companies

c/ The lines of competition are clearly defined in the more established industries, unlike the Internet where they are blurred and indistinct, as companies that compete

d/ Unlike more established industries, where the lines of competition are clearly defined, they are blurred and indistinct in the Internet industry, as companies that compete

e/ Unlike more established industries, with clearly defined lines of competition, those of the Internet industry are blurred and indistinct, as competing companies
B and E: competing companies one day may be partners the next [day]
The word in brackets is omitted by implied.
Here, both one day and the next day seem to serve as adverbs modifying may be, expressing WHEN competing companies MAY BE partners.
Conveyed meaning:
Competing companies MAY BE partners ONE DAY THE NEXT DAY.
This meaning is nonsensical.
Eliminate B and E.

On the GMAT, where must serve to refer to a PHYSICAL PLACE.
In C, where cannot serve to refer the Internet.
In D, where cannot serve to refer to industries.
Eliminate C and D.

The correct answer is A.

OA: companies that compete one day may be partners the next [day]
Here, one day does NOT serve to modify may be.
Rather, one day serves as an adverb modifying compete, while only the next day serves to modify may be.
Conveyed meaning:
Companies that COMPETE ONE DAY -- these same companies MAY BE PARTNERS THE NEXT DAY.
This meaning is sensical.
Dear Mitch,

In Choice B, Do you think that the phrase "industries that are more established" can be split between choice B and the OA?

Thanks

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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Sep 08, 2017 7:40 am
Mo2men wrote:Dear Mitch,

In Choice B, Do you think that the phrase "industries that are more established" can be split between choice B and the OA?

Thanks
OA: Whereas lines of competition are clearly defined in the more established industries, in the Internet industry they are blurred and indistinct.
Here, the phrase in blue is immediately followed by its intended referent (the phrase in green).
As a result, the comparison is crystal clear:
What happens in the more established industries is being compared to what happens in the Internet industry.

B: Although the lines of competition are clearly defined in industries that are more established, they are blurred and indistinct in the Internet industry.
Here, the phrase in blue is NOT immediately followed by its intended referent (the phrase in red).
As a result, the comparison in B is much harder to follow than that in the OA.
Eliminate B.

Another line of reasoning:

OA:
in + the + more established + industries
in + the + Internet + industry

B:
in + industries + that-clause
in + the + Internet + industry

The blue phrases in the OA seem more parallel than the red phrases in B.
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by tejas0999 » Sun Sep 10, 2017 5:41 am
Also, in answer choice B, isnt the pronount 'they' ambiguous? It could refer to industries or lines. It should logically refer to lines but this is not clear.

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by gocoder » Sun Sep 17, 2017 6:53 am
GMATGuruNY wrote: Only PARALLEL FORMS may be compared.
A NOUN should be compared to ANOTHER NOUN.
A VERB should be compared to ANOTHER VERB.
A MODIFIER should be compared to ANOTHER MODIFIER.
From my understanding , parallel forms' comparison is not applicable to clauses. because if clauses were to be parallel, then [spoiler]OA:A[/spoiler] fails here.

Whereas lines of competition are clearly defined in the more established industries, in the Internet industry they are blurred and indistinct, as companies that compete one day may be partners the next.

because a more parallel comparison would be of the form:
Whereas lines of competition ...., they[referring to lines of comparison, for the sake of parallelism] are blurred and indistinct in internet industry, ........

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by GMATGuruNY » Mon Sep 18, 2017 2:47 am
gocoder wrote:
GMATGuruNY wrote: Only PARALLEL FORMS may be compared.
A NOUN should be compared to ANOTHER NOUN.
A VERB should be compared to ANOTHER VERB.
A MODIFIER should be compared to ANOTHER MODIFIER.
From my understanding , parallel forms' comparison is not applicable to clauses.
The rule about parallel forms is applicable to clauses in that one clause should be compared to another clause.
The two clauses do not need to match perfectly.
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