paes wrote:Thanks Guru.

Everything is looking right with D except the usage of 'like'

D says :
could be programmed to think like people

But I think, it should be :

could be programmed to think as people do

I am not able to justify usage of 'like'. I think that we should use 'as' ( intention is to compare the two clauses )

Please clarify.

The word like is used to compare nouns.

Computers can be programmed to think like people. Correct. Computers are being compared to people. Each is able to think.

The word as is used to compares actions:

Computers can be programmed to think as people do. Also correct. The way people think is being compared to the way computers think.

Notice that none of the answer choices gives us this second option.

B says that computers were able to be programmed to think as people. This wording suggests that when computers think they actually would transform into people. Not the correct meaning.

C says that computers can be programmed to think as people can. This wording suggests that computers can be programmed the same way that people can be programmed. Not the correct meaning.

But dealing with all this subtlety is unnecessary. The tense issue cannot be debated. Since A, B, C, and E each have a tense error, you shouldn't even ask yourself whether the use of like and as is correct in the answer choices. Look for easy errors before you look for hard ones.

Look for easy errors before you look for hard ones.

I agreed, but I feel like there is so little emphasis on hard ones in most explanations. Do you think knowing how to spot easy errors is sufficient to tackle tougher questions?

yes guru

i put this question just to share the use of " could" which is used when we assume something.