In the English-Speaking world Anton Chekhov is by far better known for his plays than for his short stories, but it was during his lifetime that Chekhov's stories made him popular while his plays were given a more ambivalent reception, even by his fellow writers.
A)by far better known for his plays than for his short stories, but it was during his lifetime that
B)by far better known for his plays than he was for his short stories, but during his lifetime
C)Known far better for his plays than he was for his short stories, but during his lifetime
D)far better known for his plays than were his short stories, but it was during his lifetime that
E)far better known for his plays than for his short stories, but during his lifetime
OA[spoiler]E
[/spoiler]
How to eliminate answer choice "A"?
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gmat_guy666
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David@GMATPrepNow
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Hi gmat_guy666,
We can eliminate answer A because it begins with "by far better." The "by" part of that phrase is unnecessary.
The sentence tells us that Chekhov is better known for X than Y. In fact, Chekhov is far better known (where far is a superlative that modifies better in the same way that we use words like "much" as a superlative to modify "more," as in the following example:
I like milk much more than water.
We don't precede "far better" with "by."
We can eliminate answer A because it begins with "by far better." The "by" part of that phrase is unnecessary.
The sentence tells us that Chekhov is better known for X than Y. In fact, Chekhov is far better known (where far is a superlative that modifies better in the same way that we use words like "much" as a superlative to modify "more," as in the following example:
I like milk much more than water.
We don't precede "far better" with "by."
How to eliminate C - Known far better for his plays than he was for his short stories,
In the English-Speaking world Anton Chekhov IS Known far better for his plays than he WAS for his short stories. Two tenses.
In the English-Speaking world Anton Chekhov IS Known far better for his plays than he WAS for his short stories. Two tenses.
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GMATGuruNY
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The COMPARATIVE form of an adjective serves to compare two things:gmat_guy666 wrote: How to eliminate answer choice "A"?
Adam is TALLER than Bob.
Chocolate is MORE POPULAR than vanilla.
The SUPERLATIVE form of an adjective serves to indicate the MOST EXTREME member of a group:
Adam is the TALLEST member of the team.
Chocolate is the MOST POPULAR flavor of ice cream.
Generally, by far serves to modify a SUPERLATIVE:
John is BY FAR the TALLEST member of the team.
Chocolate is the MOST POPULAR flavor of ice cream BY FAR.
To modify a COMPARATIVE, far is sufficient:
Chocolate is FAR MORE POPULAR than vanilla.
Answer choice A in the SC above:
Anton Chekhov is by far better known.
Here, by far incorrectly serves to modify a comparative (better known).
Eliminate A.
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bonetlobo
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Hello Mitch, doesn't "by far" mean "till now". So, when we say: "John is by far the tallest member of the team", I feel it means that John is till now the tallest, but this many not continue in future; so in future, someone else may become taller than John.
Is this understanding correct?
If yes, then, it looks like E, by removing the "by far" construct, is totally altering the original sentence's meaning. I read somewhere that this is not the best approach.
Is this understanding correct?
If yes, then, it looks like E, by removing the "by far" construct, is totally altering the original sentence's meaning. I read somewhere that this is not the best approach.
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GMATGuruNY
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by far refers not to time but to DISTANCE.bonetlobo wrote:Hello Mitch, doesn't "by far" mean "till now". So, when we say: "John is by far the tallest member of the team", I feel it means that John is till now the tallest, but this many not continue in future; so in future, someone else may become taller than John.
Is this understanding correct?
If yes, then, it looks like E, by removing the "by far" construct, is totally altering the original sentence's meaning. I read somewhere that this is not the best approach.
John is BY FAR the tallest.
Conveyed meaning:
There is A GREAT DISTANCE between John's height and the next tallest height.
In other words, John is MUCH TALLER than the next tallest person.
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Mo2men
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gmat_guy666 wrote:In the English-Speaking world Anton Chekhov is by far better known for his plays than for his short stories, but it was during his lifetime that Chekhov's stories made him popular while his plays were given a more ambivalent reception, even by his fellow writers.
A)by far better known for his plays than for his short stories, but it was during his lifetime that
B)by far better known for his plays than he was for his short stories, but during his lifetime
C)Known far better for his plays than he was for his short stories, but during his lifetime
D)far better known for his plays than were his short stories, but it was during his lifetime that
E)far better known for his plays than for his short stories, but during his lifetime
OA[spoiler]E
[/spoiler]
How to eliminate answer choice "A"?
Dear Mitch,
Can you shed some light about errors in answer choices A to D? Are the difference in verb tenses in this SC considered error?
