Similar to other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition beginning with a mixture of chants, fiddle tunes, and religious music and only gradually evolved into the blues.
A) Similar to other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition beginning with
B) Similar to that of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition that began with
C) As with other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition beginning as
D) Like other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson's music arose from an oral tradition beginning with
E) Like the music of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition that began as
OA: E
Similar to other early Mississippi Delta
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This question is SC #101 in OG 2016. It's primarily testing COMPARISONS.
The GMAT often tests logical comparisons by beginning a sentence with a comparison word:
Unlike...
Like...
Similar to...
In contrast to...
Any of these words at the beginning of a sentence signal that we're modifying the MAIN SUBJECT of the sentence by comparing it to something else. In the construction
Similar to X, Y is...
the X and the Y must be comparable.
In the original sentence here, we want to compare other people's music to Robert Johnson's music, but what we're actually comparing (structurally) is singers to music. This is not a logical comparison.
B) Similar to that of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition that began with
This one is comparing "that of" (i.e. the music of other people) to Robert Johnson himself. Illogical.
C) As with other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition beginning as
This is implying that Robert Johnson is doing something WITH the other singers. Illogical.
D) Like other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson's music arose from an oral tradition beginning with
Same issue as the original: comparing singers to music.
E) Like the music of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition that began as
This one compares music to music. It's the only logical comparison.
The answer is E.
The GMAT often tests logical comparisons by beginning a sentence with a comparison word:
Unlike...
Like...
Similar to...
In contrast to...
Any of these words at the beginning of a sentence signal that we're modifying the MAIN SUBJECT of the sentence by comparing it to something else. In the construction
Similar to X, Y is...
the X and the Y must be comparable.
In the original sentence here, we want to compare other people's music to Robert Johnson's music, but what we're actually comparing (structurally) is singers to music. This is not a logical comparison.
Looking at the other answer choices...Similar to other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition beginning with a mixture of chants, fiddle tunes, and religious music and only gradually evolved into the blues.
B) Similar to that of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition that began with
This one is comparing "that of" (i.e. the music of other people) to Robert Johnson himself. Illogical.
C) As with other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition beginning as
This is implying that Robert Johnson is doing something WITH the other singers. Illogical.
D) Like other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson's music arose from an oral tradition beginning with
Same issue as the original: comparing singers to music.
E) Like the music of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition that began as
This one compares music to music. It's the only logical comparison.
The answer is E.
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
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Here are some other COMPARISON questions with similar constructions:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/contrast-ind ... tml#706159
https://www.beatthegmat.com/the-use-of-u ... tml#539972
https://www.beatthegmat.com/gprep-sc-9-t ... tml#722472
https://www.beatthegmat.com/contrast-ind ... tml#706159
https://www.beatthegmat.com/the-use-of-u ... tml#539972
https://www.beatthegmat.com/gprep-sc-9-t ... tml#722472
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
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Thank you for a great explanation.ceilidh.erickson wrote:This question is SC #101 in OG 2016. It's primarily testing COMPARISONS.
The GMAT often tests logical comparisons by beginning a sentence with a comparison word:
Unlike...
Like...
Similar to...
In contrast to...
Any of these words at the beginning of a sentence signal that we're modifying the MAIN SUBJECT of the sentence by comparing it to something else. In the construction
Similar to X, Y is...
the X and the Y must be comparable.
In the original sentence here, we want to compare other people's music to Robert Johnson's music, but what we're actually comparing (structurally) is singers to music. This is not a logical comparison.
Looking at the other answer choices...Similar to other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition beginning with a mixture of chants, fiddle tunes, and religious music and only gradually evolved into the blues.
B) Similar to that of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition that began with
This one is comparing "that of" (i.e. the music of other people) to Robert Johnson himself. Illogical.
C) As with other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition beginning as
This is implying that Robert Johnson is doing something WITH the other singers. Illogical.
D) Like other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson's music arose from an oral tradition beginning with
Same issue as the original: comparing singers to music.
E) Like the music of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition that began as
This one compares music to music. It's the only logical comparison.
The answer is E.
In like X, Y--> comparison is between X and Y.
What actually is the comparison in construction As with X, Y (option C).
GMAT seems not really like this particular, as it is pretty much incorrect option all the time.
Is there any way to knock off answer choice containing this construction much more confidently?
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You're very welcome!aflaam wrote: Thank you for a great explanation.
In like X, Y--> comparison is between X and Y.
What actually is the comparison in construction As with X, Y (option C).
GMAT seems not really like this particular, as it is pretty much incorrect option all the time.
Is there any way to knock off answer choice containing this construction much more confidently?
You're right: "As with X, Y" is not a construction that I can ever recall seeing on a right answer on the GMAT.
The construction is generally understood to mean "as is the case with." Consider:
As with any major restructuring, the company ran into setbacks after merging with a partner company.
Not the most elegant way of phrasing that idea, but arguably correct. The parallelism is:
The company might run into setbacks with any major restructuring, and the company ran into setback with this merger.
In our example above, we're comparing Johnson directly other other singers (or his music to the music of other singers). We're not comparing something that he did WITH something to something that he did WITH something else.
Does that clarify?
Here's one of my colleagues with more on the topic:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/foru ... 17648.html
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
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Hello Everyone!
Let's tackle this question, one issue at a time, and narrow it down to the correct answer! To begin, here is the original question with any major differences between the options highlighted in orange:
Similar to other Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition beginning with a mixture of chants, fiddle tunes, and religions music and only gradually evolved into the blues.
A. Similar to other Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition beginning with
B. Similar to that of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from oral tradition that began with
C. As with other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition beginning as
D. Like other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson's music arose from an oral tradition beginning with
E. Like the music of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers , the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition that began as
After a quick glance over the options, there are a few key differences we can focus on:
1. How they begin: similar to / as with / like
2. What comes after the modifier: the music of Robert Johnson / Robert Johnson / Robert Johnson's music
3. How they end: beginning with / that began with / beginning as
Since we're dealing with a comparison question, the first place to start should always be parallelism! We need to make sure that the sentence is comparing 2 similar things (apples to apples, bicycles to bicycles, etc.). Let's focus on that first, and eliminate any options that don't compare similar things:
A. Similar to other Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition beginning with --> WRONG (compares people to music)
B. Similar to that of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from oral tradition that began with --> WRONG (compares music to a person)
C. As with other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition beginning as --> OK (compares people to people)
D. Like other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson's music arose from an oral tradition beginning with --> WRONG (compares people to music)
E. Like the music of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers , the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition that began as --> OK (compares music to music)
We can eliminate options A, B, & D because they create a non-parallel comparison.
Now that we have it narrowed down to only 2 options, let's focus on the other two list items to narrow it down to just one option:
C. As with other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition beginning as
This is INCORRECT for a couple reasons. First, starting a noun phrase with "As with" is considered a no-no on the GMAT. The GMAT prefers you use "like" instead because it's clear and to the point. Second, the phrase "beginning as" suggests these events took place in the present tense, but we need to use verbs or phrases that are in the past tense for this to make sense. If his music eventually "evolved" at some point in the past, then it doesn't make sense to say that it "starts" in the present.
E. Like the music of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers , the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition that began as
This is CORRECT! The comparison is parallel, the phrasing is clear and concise, and the meaning is clear thanks to the use of past tense verbs throughout.
There you have it - option E is the correct choice!
Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
Let's tackle this question, one issue at a time, and narrow it down to the correct answer! To begin, here is the original question with any major differences between the options highlighted in orange:
Similar to other Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition beginning with a mixture of chants, fiddle tunes, and religions music and only gradually evolved into the blues.
A. Similar to other Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition beginning with
B. Similar to that of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from oral tradition that began with
C. As with other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition beginning as
D. Like other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson's music arose from an oral tradition beginning with
E. Like the music of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers , the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition that began as
After a quick glance over the options, there are a few key differences we can focus on:
1. How they begin: similar to / as with / like
2. What comes after the modifier: the music of Robert Johnson / Robert Johnson / Robert Johnson's music
3. How they end: beginning with / that began with / beginning as
Since we're dealing with a comparison question, the first place to start should always be parallelism! We need to make sure that the sentence is comparing 2 similar things (apples to apples, bicycles to bicycles, etc.). Let's focus on that first, and eliminate any options that don't compare similar things:
A. Similar to other Mississippi Delta blues singers, the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition beginning with --> WRONG (compares people to music)
B. Similar to that of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from oral tradition that began with --> WRONG (compares music to a person)
C. As with other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition beginning as --> OK (compares people to people)
D. Like other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson's music arose from an oral tradition beginning with --> WRONG (compares people to music)
E. Like the music of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers , the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition that began as --> OK (compares music to music)
We can eliminate options A, B, & D because they create a non-parallel comparison.
Now that we have it narrowed down to only 2 options, let's focus on the other two list items to narrow it down to just one option:
C. As with other early Mississippi Delta blues singers, Robert Johnson made music that arose from an oral tradition beginning as
This is INCORRECT for a couple reasons. First, starting a noun phrase with "As with" is considered a no-no on the GMAT. The GMAT prefers you use "like" instead because it's clear and to the point. Second, the phrase "beginning as" suggests these events took place in the present tense, but we need to use verbs or phrases that are in the past tense for this to make sense. If his music eventually "evolved" at some point in the past, then it doesn't make sense to say that it "starts" in the present.
E. Like the music of other early Mississippi Delta blues singers , the music of Robert Johnson arose from an oral tradition that began as
This is CORRECT! The comparison is parallel, the phrasing is clear and concise, and the meaning is clear thanks to the use of past tense verbs throughout.
There you have it - option E is the correct choice!
Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.