Combining enormous physical strength with higher intelligenc

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Combining enormous physical strength with higher intelligence, the Neanderthals appear as equipped for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path, but their relatively sudden disappearance during the Paleolithic era indicates that an inability to adapt to some environmental change led to their extinction.

(A) appear as equipped for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path,
(B) appear to have been equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their path,
(C) appear as equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their paths,
(D) appeared as equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their paths,
(E) appeared to have been equipped for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path,


OA: B

P.S: I got this one right by elimination.But would require a solid reasoning for the OA.
@Experts - can you please provide explanation.

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by ceilidh.erickson » Fri Apr 17, 2015 7:20 am
This question is primarily testing IDIOMS.

The correct idiomatic usage of APPEAR is "appear to be," not "appear as." We can eliminate A, C, and D.

Between B and E, we see a difference between "equipped to face" and "equipped for facing." The correct idiom is "equipped to face," so we can eliminate E, leaving us with B.

Unfortunately, there isn't really a better way of doing this problem than using elimination. Idiom issues are particularly difficult because they don't rely on set rules; they're just conventions of speech. Your only recourse is to choose what sounds better.
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by RBBmba@2014 » Fri Apr 17, 2015 7:27 am
ceilidh.erickson wrote:This question is primarily testing IDIOMS.

The correct idiomatic usage of APPEAR is "appear to be," not "appear as." We can eliminate A, C, and D.

Between B and E, we see a difference between "equipped to face" and "equipped for facing." The correct idiom is "equipped to face," so we can eliminate E, leaving us with B.

Unfortunately, there isn't really a better way of doing this problem than using elimination. Idiom issues are particularly difficult because they don't rely on set rules; they're just conventions of speech. Your only recourse is to choose what sounds better.
Thanks Ceilidh. I did it in the same way as I mentioned in my post!

I just thought if there could be any better approach/reasoning for this one...

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by ceilidh.erickson » Fri Apr 17, 2015 7:31 am
Here's a general trend with idioms: a lot of idioms about intention (what will happen / what we want to happen in the future) will take the infinitive.
"prepare to do," not "prepare for doing"
"choose to do"
"intend to go"
"try to be"
"continue to study"
etc.

So if you weren't quite sure what form "equip" should take, the infinitive is a safer bet than the gerund.

There are a few idioms that take the gerund, however, so you can't apply this rule universally:
"prohibit from doing"
"with the aim of doing"

In general, though, the infinitive is much more likely to be correct in a split between an infinitive and a gerund.
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by RBBmba@2014 » Fri Apr 17, 2015 8:15 am
Much thanks Ceilidh!

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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Apr 17, 2015 10:43 am
Combining enormous physical strength with higher intelligence, the Neanderthals appear as equipped for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path, but their relatively sudden disappearance during the Paleolithic era indicates that an inability to adapt to some environmental change led to their extinction.

(A) appear as equipped for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path,
(B) appear to have been equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their path,
(C) appear as equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their paths,
(D) appeared as equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their paths,
(E) appeared to have been equipped for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path,
In English, we have two infinitive tenses: the present infinitive (TO + VERB) and the perfect infinitive (TO + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE).

The present infinitive expresses CONTEMPORANEOUS action (an action happening AT THE SAME TIME as the main action):
John IS proud TO BE president.
Here, John IS proud (in the present) TO BE president (also in the present).

The perfect infinitive expresses PRIOR action (an action that happened PRIOR to the main action):
John IS proud TO HAVE BEEN president.
Here, John IS proud (in the present) TO HAVE BEEN president (in the past).

One definition of to appear is to seem.
The intention of the SC above is to discuss WHAT SEEMS TO BE TRUE about the Neanderthals.
The Neanderthals appear to have been equipped to face any obstacle..
Here, the Neanderthals APPEAR (in other words, they SEEM -- right now, in the present) TO HAVE BEEN EQUIPPED (in the past).

Only B offers the needed construction.

The correct answer is B.
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by Mo2men » Tue Jun 28, 2016 4:43 am
GMATGuruNY wrote:
Combining enormous physical strength with higher intelligence, the Neanderthals appear as equipped for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path, but their relatively sudden disappearance during the Paleolithic era indicates that an inability to adapt to some environmental change led to their extinction.

(A) appear as equipped for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path,
(B) appear to have been equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their path,
(C) appear as equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their paths,
(D) appeared as equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their paths,
(E) appeared to have been equipped for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path,
In English, we have two infinitive tenses: the present infinitive (TO + VERB) and the perfect infinitive (TO + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE).

The present infinitive expresses CONTEMPORANEOUS action (an action happening AT THE SAME TIME as the main action):
John IS proud TO BE president.
Here, John IS proud (in the present) TO BE president (also in the present).

The perfect infinitive expresses PRIOR action (an action that happened PRIOR to the main action):
John IS proud TO HAVE BEEN president.
Here, John IS proud (in the present) TO HAVE BEEN president (in the past).

One definition of to appear is to seem.
The intention of the SC above is to discuss WHAT SEEMS TO BE TRUE about the Neanderthals.
The Neanderthals appear to have been equipped to face any obstacle..
Here, the Neanderthals APPEAR (in other words, they SEEM -- right now, in the present) TO HAVE BEEN EQUIPPED (in the past).

Only B offers the needed construction.

The correct answer is B.
Hi guru,

In the correct answer, it is mentioned 'in their path'. Should it be 'in their paths'

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by GMATGuruNY » Tue Jun 28, 2016 5:09 am
Mo2men wrote:Hi guru,

In the correct answer, it is mentioned 'in their path'. Should it be 'in their paths'
The SC above is exploring how the Neanderthals-- as a SPECIES -- became extinct.
As a species, the Neanderthals did not follow different paths to extinction.
As a species, they followed the SAME PATH to extinction.
Thus, the usage of in their path is appropriate.
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