Sentence Correction

Carbon-14 dating reveals that the megalithic monuments in Brittany are nearly 2,000 years as old as any of their supposed Mediterranean predecessors.
(A) as old as any of their supposed
(B) older than any of their supposed
(C) as old as their supposed
(D) older than any of their supposedly
(E) as old as their supposedly


How to choose between supposed (option B) and supposedly (option D)?

anksm22 wrote:Carbon-14 dating reveals that the megalithic monuments in Brittany are nearly 2,000 years as old as any of their supposed Mediterranean predecessors.
(A) as old as any of their supposed
(B) older than any of their supposed
(C) as old as their supposed
(D) older than any of their supposedly
(E) as old as their supposedly


How to choose between supposed (option B) and supposedly (option D)?

supposedly = adverb
supposed = adjective

we need something to describe Mediterranean predecessors (noun). only an adjectve can describe a noun. hence supposed is the correct format.

but here "Mediterranean" is modifying predecessors, so active as adjective

anksm22 wrote:but here "Mediterranean" is modifying predecessors, so active as adjective

You can use two ajectives to describe a noun. For example... The dark wool sweater is dirty.

anksm22 wrote: How to choose between supposed (option B) and supposedly (option D)?

D: their SUPPOSEDLY MEDITERRANEAN predecessors
Here, supposedly is an ADVERB serving to modify the ADJECTIVE Mediterranean.
HOW were the predecessors Mediterranean?
They were SUPPOSEDLY Mediterranean.
Conveyed meaning:
Predecessors that were THOUGHT to be Mediterranean might not actually BE Mediterranean.
Not the intended meaning.
Eliminate D.

The issue here is not the ORIGIN of the predecessors but the AGE of the predecessors.

E: their SUPPOSED Mediterranean PREDECESSORS
Here, supposed is an ADJECTIVE serving to modify the NOUN predecessors.
What KIND Of predecessors?
SUPPOSED predecessors.
Conveyed meaning:
What were THOUGHT to be predecessors of the monuments might not actually BE predecessors of the monuments.
Why?
Because carbon-14 dating reveals that the megalithic monuments are nearly 2000 years OLDER.
This is the intended meaning.

The correct answer is B.

Hi GMATGuruNY,
(1) Could you please clarify whether the following interpretation is CORRECT -

As SUPPOSEDLY is an ADVERB, so clearly it can't modify the complete NOUN Phrase Mediterranean PREDECESSORS. (Because as for the INTENDED MEANING of this SC, I think, we're concerned ONLY with TIME aspect of the comparison that suspects whether the Mediterranean predecessors are ACTUALLY the predecessors of megalithic monuments in Brittany -- can we really consider the Head of this above NOUN Phrase re:Mediterranean, the entity being modified from the MEANING perspective?)

(2) And as far as GRAMMAR is concerned, I think, X is 200 times as old as Y -- CORRECT. However, X is 200 years as old as Y -- WRONG.
Right ?

Curious to know your thoughts!

why is A wrong??

Hi GMATGuruNY,
Could you please let me know your feedback on the TWO concerns raised in my above post ?

Look forward to hear from you. Much thanks in advance!

RBBmba@2014 wrote:Hi GMATGuruNY,
(1) Could you please clarify whether the following interpretation is CORRECT -

As SUPPOSEDLY is an ADVERB, so clearly it can't modify the complete NOUN Phrase Mediterranean PREDECESSORS. (Because as for the INTENDED MEANING of this SC, I think, we're concerned ONLY with TIME aspect of the comparison that suspects whether the Mediterranean predecessors are ACTUALLY the predecessors of megalithic monuments in Brittany -- can we really consider the Head of this above NOUN Phrase re:Mediterranean, the entity being modified from the MEANING perspective?)

This issue is addressed in my post above.
Grammatically, supposedly (adverb) can serve to modify Mediterranean (adjective).
D is incorrect because it does not convey the intended meaning.

(2) And as far as GRAMMAR is concerned, I think, X is 200 times as old as Y -- CORRECT. However, X is 200 years as old as Y -- WRONG.
Right ?

Curious to know your thoughts!

Correct.

Quote:
(2) And as far as GRAMMAR is concerned, I think, X is 200 times as old as Y -- CORRECT. However, X is 200 years as old as Y -- WRONG.
Right ?

Curious to know your thoughts!

Hi GMATGuruNY ,

Can you please explain the above part? If possible also please explain in Numeric example.

Many thanks in advance.

SJ

jain2016 wrote:

Quote:
(2) And as far as GRAMMAR is concerned, I think, X is 200 times as old as Y -- CORRECT. However, X is 200 years as old as Y -- WRONG.
Right ?

Curious to know your thoughts!

Hi GMATGuruNY ,

Can you please explain the above part? If possible also please explain in Numeric example.

Many thanks in advance.

SJ

Correct: X is 200 times as old as Y.
If Y's age = 10 years, then X's age = 200*10 = 2000 years.

Correct: X is 200 years older than Y.
If Y's age = 10 years, then X's age = 200+10 = 210 years.