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Is 'Not' shows contrast ?

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by anubhavgulati » Sun Oct 02, 2011 6:11 am
Hi,

Can some one please check the below qiestion:

The famous battle depicted in the movie took place in England, and many people assume that it was Ireland
(A) and many people assume that it was
(B) many people assuming
(C) not what many people assume
(D) not, as many people assume, in
(E) but many people assume it to be

Correct answer is D,
Original sentence implies a contrast, is 'not' shows the contrast. Never read same before regarding the 'not'.

Please explain.
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by GmatKiss » Sun Oct 02, 2011 6:25 am
The famous battle depicted in the movie took place in England, and many people assume that it was Ireland
(A) and many people assume that it was
(B) many people assuming(
C) not what many people assume Ireland!!??
(D) not, as many people assume, in Ireland.
(E) but many people assume it to be

IMO: D
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by aspirant2011 » Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:30 am
anubhavgulati wrote:Hi,

Can some one please check the below qiestion:

The famous battle depicted in the movie took place in England, and many people assume that it was Ireland
(A) and many people assume that it was
(B) many people assuming
(C) not what many people assume
(D) not, as many people assume, in ---- as many people is just extra information and we require preposition in in order to maintain parallelism
(E) but many people assume it to be

Correct answer is D,
Original sentence implies a contrast, is 'not' shows the contrast. Never read same before regarding the 'not'.

Please explain.
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by vidyame » Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:36 am
(A) and many people assume that it was - "and" does not contrast, it was is ambiguous
(B) many people assuming -not clear whether assuming is referring to movie or england
(C) not what many people assume - grammatical wrong
(D) not, as many people assume, in ---- as many people is just extra information and we require preposition in in order to maintain parallelism
(E) but many people assume it to be - not clear whether it refers to movie or England
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by Brian@VeritasPrep » Mon Oct 03, 2011 3:58 pm
Great answers, everyone.

Just to answer the initial question regarding "not", yes, "not" implies contrast. Most famously, James Bond always asked for his martinits:

Shaken, not stirred.

X, not Y is a colloquial way of saying that something is one thing, and not another that could fit in a related category. So you'd say:

I'd like my chicken grilled, not fried.

I asked for Coke, not Pepsi.

In Brazil they speak Portuguese, not Spanish.


So, in this sentence, "not" is designed to show contrast between the fact that many assume that the battle took place in Ireland, but it actually took place in England.
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by mundasingh123 » Tue Oct 04, 2011 1:36 am
Thanks Brians.Its great having you here on BTG
Brian@VeritasPrep wrote:Great answers, everyone.

Just to answer the initial question regarding "not", yes, "not" implies contrast. Most famously, James Bond always asked for his martinits:

Shaken, not stirred.

X, not Y is a colloquial way of saying that something is one thing, and not another that could fit in a related category. So you'd say:

I'd like my chicken grilled, not fried.

I asked for Coke, not Pepsi.

In Brazil they speak Portuguese, not Spanish.


So, in this sentence, "not" is designed to show contrast between the fact that many assume that the battle took place in Ireland, but it actually took place in England.
I Seek Explanations Not Answers
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