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Comparision-VERY Tough ONE-Please explain

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by 800target » Wed Dec 15, 2010 10:02 am
A coin would appear much larger to a person walking than that same coin would to a person in a speeding car.

(A) than that same coin would to
(B) than that same coin would
(C) as to
(D) as it would to
(E) than it would to

OA: A

Can anybody explain b/w A and E, why A is the best answer?? Thanks in advance.
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Source: — Sentence Correction |

by sungoal » Wed Dec 15, 2010 10:11 am
The answer choice E has pronoun ambiguity. "it" in choice E can refer to person as well as to coin. So choice E is wrong. A eliminates this error by implicitly introducing the term "coin" again...
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by 800target » Wed Dec 15, 2010 10:50 am
Thanks man, So (E) is wrong and I agree. BUT:

(A) than that same coin would to --------> Keep it
(B) than that same coin would -----------> Keep it. Why B is not correct? I can NOT recognize the rule used in (A) & (B), what is the difference b/w these two choices? Can u elaborate it more for me? Can we rule out this to a general form?
(C) as to -----------> does not have ''than'', so it is wrong, so eliminate it.
(D) as it would to --------------> The same reason as D, so it is wrong- Eliminate it
(E) than it would to ---------------> Wrong due to unambiguity pronoun as you explained, so eliminate it.

Thanks in advance.
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by sungoal » Wed Dec 15, 2010 10:56 am
"to" is missing in option B. that's why this option is wrong.

The question is using the construction "much larger to blah blah blah" ... so to maintain the parallelism we need a construction "than to blah blah blah" ..... So "to" is required to maintain the parallelism which is missing in option B. So option B is wrong..
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by 800target » Wed Dec 15, 2010 11:18 am
Ok dude. BUT:

Can we read the full correct sentence in the following way:

A coin would appear much larger to a person walking than that same coin would (APPEAR) to a person in a speeding car.

Which (APPEAR) has been deleted to keep the same sentence parallel and balanced??
So, we can say the reason of keeping ''to'' is due to the above point. Is it?
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by sungoal » Wed Dec 15, 2010 11:20 am
yup... "appear" is implied in this sentence... This is called as ellipsis...
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by 800target » Wed Dec 15, 2010 11:27 am
Tnx sungoal, Can anybody give me some more OG examples on this regard similar to this concept? Thanks in advance.
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by tomada » Wed Dec 15, 2010 11:30 am
Small request to post creators: please use the spoiler tags to initially hide the OA.
I'm really old, but I'll never be too old to become more educated.
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by gmatpill » Wed Dec 15, 2010 11:44 am
A coin would appear much larger to a person walking than that same coin would to a person in a speeding car.

(A) than that same coin would to
(B) than that same coin would
(C) as to
(D) as it would to
(E) than it would to

OA: A
Hi--received a PM to provide my input on this question.

If you chose (B), it would look like this:

"A coin would appear much larger to a person walking than that same coin would a person in a speeding car."

The structure of the sentence is:
"A coin would appear much larger to X than it [that same coin] would to Y.

So you need to maintain X&Y consistency here by having "to" on the right hand side as well as on the left hand side.

You asked for another similar question--here's one I remember:
Officials at the United States Mint believe that the Sacagawea dollar coin will be used more as a substitute for four quarters rather than for the dollar bill because its weight, only 8.1 grams, is far less than four quarters, which weigh 5.67 grams each.

A) more as a substitute for four quarters rather than for the dollar bill because its weight, only 8.1 grams, is far less than

B) more as a substitute for four quarters than the dollar bill because it weighs only 8.1 grams, far lighter than

C) as a substitute for four quarters more than for the dollar bill because it weighs only 8.1 grams, far less than

D) as a substitute for four quarters more than the dollar bill because its weight of only 8.1 grams is far lighter than it is for

E) as a substitute more for four quarters rather than for the dollar bill because its weight, only 8.1 grams, is far less than it is for



A) more as a substitute for four quarters rather than for the dollar bill because its weight, only 8.1 grams, is far less than

--as mustdoit pointed out, the word "rather" does not belong here.

But even if you did not catch this, the phrase "its weight...is far less than four quarters" does not make sense.
It should be "its weight...is far less than that of four quarters."

Additionally, because of the positioning of the word "more" early in the sentence, this sentence is structurally should be saying "more as a SUBSTITUTE...than as a [Blank]"

So A is wrong.

B) more as a substitute for four quarters than the dollar bill because it weighs only 8.1 grams, far lighter than

Because of the positioning of the word "more" early in the sentence, this sentence is structurally should be saying "more as a SUBSTITUTE...than as a [Blank]"

Since this structure is violated, we know B is wrong. If you want to compare the four quarters and the dollar bill, you'll have to move the position of the word "more."

C) as a substitute for four quarters more than for the dollar bill because it weighs only 8.1 grams, far less than

This is what we want! The position of the word "more" is further into the sentence so structurally, we are correctly comparing "four quarters" and the "dollar bill."

(C) says: "...because it weighs only 8.1 grams, far less than"
It weighs far less than four quarters. --this is correct.

Think: "I weigh more than him."--this is also correct. You do not need the word "that"---you DO need "that" if you say:

"Its weight is far less than that of four quarters." --Notice the difference between "it weighs" and "its weight"---one uses the word "weighs" as a VERB and the other uses "weight" as a NOUN.

D) as a substitute for four quarters more than the dollar bill because its weight of only 8.1 grams is far lighter than it is for

The phrase should be "the weight...is far LESS than" --this is preferred.

You can say "it weighs lighter than XYZ" --just like you can say "I weigh heavier than him." ---But when you begin with the form "its weight is" then you should finish it off with "LESS THAN" rather than "LIGHTER THAN." Likewise, you wouldn't say "my weight is heavier than his"---you would say "my weight is more than his"

And as previously mentioned, you also need the word "for" before "the dollar bill"

So either way, D is wrong.

E) as a substitute more for four quarters rather than for the dollar bill because its weight, only 8.1 grams, is far less than it is for

Again, you don't want the word "rather" in "rather than" here. E is wrong.

The phrase "is far less than it is for"--is chunky. Other answer choices offer something that is simpler and more concise--like answer choice C.

Hope that helps!
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by ov25 » Wed Dec 15, 2010 11:47 am
800target,
I think the sentence is trying to resolve diction more than anything else. Grammatically, imo both A and E should be fine.

Here a coin size x appears y (y>x) to a man walking and appears z (z=<x) to a man in car. So the sentence is trying to resolve ambiguity using 'it' would create if 'it' were used; this 'it' would refer to coin size y rather than x the original size.

A resolves this by saying that the author's intention is not to imply the correct size is that in which it appears to 'man walking'

So these are tough! totally.
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by 800target » Wed Dec 15, 2010 12:34 pm
Thanks so much Zeke. You are always helpful and reply on-time, really I like your logical sense in V portion. Honorable.
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by Haaress » Wed Dec 15, 2010 1:06 pm
I have read the string and I still don't believe the OA is A. IMHO it should be E. Can 800target please double check the answer to this question and while we are still at it , can you cite the source if you don't mind. It takes only one question to throw you to a different course in the GMAT test. Thanks for the question though.
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by 800target » Wed Dec 15, 2010 1:25 pm
Hi Haaress,

The source is Bellcurves.com GMAT and I have checked the answer once again, it is written (A). Be sure it is (A) and not (E).
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by rveeraga » Fri Dec 17, 2010 7:24 pm
I will pick E.

Although both A and E both are correct grammatically, the choice E wins the race because it is concise. The pronoun "it" can clearly refer to coin in the subject; on the other hand, "that same coin" is wordy instead the coin might be sufficient.
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by Sashikanth » Sat Dec 18, 2010 2:01 am
rveeraga, You are right, 'It' can never refer a person. Hence Option E is clear and Consice

IMO E
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