Although vs When

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Mayur Sand: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 166; Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2009 11:16 pm; Location: India

by Mayur Sand » Sat Jul 04, 2009 8:31 pm

Under high pressure and intense heat, graphite, the most stable form of pure carbon, changes into the substance commonly referred to as diamond and remaining this way whether or not the heat and pressure are removed.

A. remaining this way whether or not
B. remaining like that even as
C. remaining as such whether or not
D. remains in this way although
E. remains thus even when

Confused b/w D & E

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sat Jul 04, 2009 8:31 pm

amitsahdev: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 6; Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 8:03 pm; Thanked: 1 times

by amitsahdev » Sat Jul 04, 2009 8:46 pm

Its E because 'although' implies a condition that is FORCED (eg. although the pressure was removed..xyz stayed the same) as opposed to an acceptable CONDITION

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dumb.doofus: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 435; Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 2:02 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Location: San Jose, CA; Thanked: 43 times; GMAT Score:720

by dumb.doofus » Sat Jul 04, 2009 9:28 pm

i dont see much of an issue with although here.. although essentially means "inspite of the fact that".. so that doesn't seem a problem here..

problem is "in this way"... that is wordy.. don't know what "this" means.. which way?? remains in this state is a better usage.. remains in this way is just too vague..

that's why D is out.. and "although" E doesn't sound that good.. it seems the best option here..

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maihuna: Legendary Member; Posts: 1578; Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2008 1:49 amFollowed by: 9 members; Thanked: 82 times; GMAT Score:720

by maihuna » Sun Jul 05, 2009 12:06 am

when should normally points to a time clause, I met her when she was travelling to US, although is a subordinate clause, adverb clause of reason, the pressure has no instant meaning here, although is better, although the pressure is removed the state is same, even when the pressure is released state is same...doesnt make any sense, nonsensical, absurd, awkward, the other option although should be credited choice...

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gmat_dest: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 186; Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2009 4:57 am; Thanked: 7 times; GMAT Score:720

by gmat_dest » Sun Jul 05, 2009 12:42 am

E sounds awkard..."remains thus even".

I am not a native speaker but have never come across such a usage.

D, "in this way" makes the sentence wordy but D looks to be the only correct option.

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mittalashwani13: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 72; Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2009 4:42 pm; Thanked: 3 times

Re: Although vs When

by mittalashwani13 » Sun Jul 05, 2009 3:03 am

Mayur Sand wrote:Under high pressure and intense heat, graphite, the most stable form of pure carbon, changes into the substance commonly referred to as diamond and remaining this way whether or not the heat and pressure are removed.

A. remaining this way whether or not
B. remaining like that even as
C. remaining as such whether or not
D. remains in this way although
E. remains thus even when

Confused b/w D & E

Mayur - Could you pls share the source of this question?

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Sharma_Gaurav: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 160; Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2009 1:09 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 1 times

by Sharma_Gaurav » Sat Sep 12, 2009 3:18 pm

This is a GMAT sets 22 question number 30.

I also picked up E but the OA is D.

I cannot understand D,
"In this way" does not seem to be right - which way ??

Please help

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Stuart@KaplanGMAT: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3225; Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2008 2:40 pmFollowed by: 614 members; Location: Toronto; Thanked: 1710 times; GMAT Score:800

by Stuart@KaplanGMAT » Sat Dec 19, 2009 12:46 am

Sharma_Gaurav wrote:This is a GMAT sets 22 question number 30.

I also picked up E but the OA is D.

I cannot understand D,
"In this way" does not seem to be right - which way ??

Please help

If the OA is D, then you should never use this source of questions again.

".. remains in this way" is an incredibly awkward construction and I highly doubt it would ever appear in the correct answer to a real GMAT question.

"although" also changes the meaning of the sentence; the author isn't giving a definite contrast, which is what although implies. "whether or not" means that the condition may or may not occur and "even when" preserves the intended meaning of the sentence.

"when" must refer to a time, but that includes events (e.g. "Kids today have it easy; back when I went to school I had to walk uphill both ways!"). It would be perfectly OK to start a sentence with "When heat and pressure are removed, ...", so the use of when in the sentence is just fine.

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lunarpower: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3380; Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 amFollowed by: 1535 members; Thanked: 2256 times; GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Sat Dec 19, 2009 2:10 am

i think i've seen this question on gmatprep. the answer is definitely (e).

as one poster mentioned above, "X although Y" implies that Y is a given (unless Y contains weasel words such as "might" or "could").

if i say "you can take the bus to the city, although you cannot drive", then it's a fact that you cannot drive, period.

if i say "you can take the bus to the city when you cannot drive", then this is basically an "if/then" statement: if you can't drive, then you can take the bus.

same deal with (d) and (e) in this problem. the intent of the problem is definitely "if you take away the heat and pressure, then...", so (e) is better than (d).

also, as stuart said, "in this way" is not idiomatic with "remains", either.

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sumanr84: Legendary Member; Posts: 758; Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2009 9:32 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Location: Bangalore,India; Thanked: 67 times

by sumanr84 » Wed Jul 21, 2010 4:28 am

I was stumped here..Worth taking notes..( I encountered this Q on OG Verbal Review )

I am on a break !!

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