OG 139

This topic has expert replies
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 447
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2012 7:13 am
Thanked: 46 times
Followed by:13 members
GMAT Score:700

OG 139

by hemant_rajput » Tue Apr 16, 2013 9:25 am
139. In no other historical sighting did Halley's Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as did its return in 1910-1911.
(A) did its return in 1910-1911
(B) had its 1910-1911 return
(C) in its return of 1910-1911
(D) its return of 1910-1911 did
(E) its return in 1910-1911
I'm no expert, just trying to work on my skills. If I've made any mistakes please bear with me.
Source: — Sentence Correction |

User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 123
Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2012 2:34 am
Location: Bengaluru, India
Thanked: 46 times
Followed by:9 members

by Gowri@CrackVerbal » Tue Apr 16, 2013 8:28 pm
hemant_rajput wrote:139. In no other historical sighting did Halley's Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as did its return in 1910-1911.
(A) did its return in 1910-1911
(B) had its 1910-1911 return
(C) in its return of 1910-1911
(D) its return of 1910-1911 did
(E) its return in 1910-1911
Let's go to the crux of this statement: Halley's Comet caused a sensation in situation X (historical sighting of 1910-11). It did not create such a sensation in any other situation. In the interest of parallelism, the best way to write this sentence is:
In no other historical sighting did Halley's Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as in its return of 1910-11.
None of the other answer options maintain this parallelism. Hope this is clear.
Gowri N Kishore
Verbal Specialist & Mentor
CrackVerbal

If you find my posts useful, please hit the 'Thank' button. :)

Get a FREE Profile Evaluation from CrackVerbal experts!
https://applications.crackverbal.com/fre ... valuation/

Attend Live, Instructor-led Online classes by 99th p'cile instructors!
https://gmat.crackverbal.com/gmat-course ... ve-course/

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 15539
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pm
Location: New York, NY
Thanked: 13060 times
Followed by:1906 members
GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Wed Apr 17, 2013 4:00 am
hemant_rajput wrote:139. In no other historical sighting did Halley's Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as did its return in 1910-1911.
(A) did its return in 1910-1911
(B) had its 1910-1911 return
(C) in its return of 1910-1911
(D) its return of 1910-1911 did
(E) its return in 1910-1911
A, B, D and E seem to compare what Halley's Comet did to what its return did or what its return had.
Not the intended meaning: it is illogical to compare a COMET to ITS RETURN.
The intention here is to compare what Halley's Comet did IN one particular historical sighting -- IN its return of 1910-1911 -- to what Halley's comet did IN other historical sightings.
Only C makes the comparison crystal clear:
IN NO OTHER HISTORICAL SIGHTING did Halley's Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as [did Halley's Comet cause such a worldwide sensation] IN ITS RETURN OF 1910-1911.
The words in brackets are omitted, but their presence is understood.

The correct answer is C.

The omission of words whose presence is understood is called ELLIPSIS.
Private tutor exclusively for the GMAT and GRE, with over 20 years of experience.
Followed here and elsewhere by over 1900 test-takers.
I have worked with students based in the US, Australia, Taiwan, China, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia -- a long list of countries.
My students have been admitted to HBS, CBS, Tuck, Yale, Stern, Fuqua -- a long list of top programs.

As a tutor, I don't simply teach you how I would approach problems.
I unlock the best way for YOU to solve problems.

For more information, please email me (Mitch Hunt) at [email protected].
Student Review #1
Student Review #2
Student Review #3

• Page 1 of 1