rahulg83 wrote:Baseball, the only major professional sport during the Great Depression, was as present as the weather, and as much discussed.

A) as present as the weather, and as much discussed
B) present like the weather was, and it was also discussed as much
C) as present and was discussed as the weather was
D) so present as to be discussed like weather
E) present and discussed as often as the weather was

IMO E

As - Compare clauses
Like - Compare Nouns.
As often as Correct idiom.

A) as present as the weather, and as much discussed - Absence of verb.
B) present like the weather was, and it was also discussed as much - Like cannot compare clauses
C) as present and was discussed as the weather was - Awkward
D) so present as to be discussed like weather - Awkward
E) present and discussed as often as the weather was [present and discussed] - Ellipsis , Correct

piyush_nitt wrote:

rahulg83 wrote:Baseball, the only major professional sport during the Great Depression, was as present as the weather, and as much discussed.

A) as present as the weather, and as much discussed
B) present like the weather was, and it was also discussed as much
C) as present and was discussed as the weather was
D) so present as to be discussed like weather
E) present and discussed as often as the weather was

IMO E

As - Compare clauses
Like - Compare Nouns.
As often as Correct idiom.

A) as present as the weather, and as much discussed - Absence of verb.
B) present like the weather was, and it was also discussed as much - Like cannot compare clauses
C) as present and was discussed as the weather was - Awkward
D) so present as to be discussed like weather - Awkward
E) present and discussed as often as the weather was [present and discussed] - Ellipsis , Correct

Hi Piyush, I too chose E, but the explanation given was it is illogical that weather is present as often as baseball. Weather is not likely to be present for some days and absent for another... OA is A, butt frankly, i couldn't understand why it should be the correct choice..

whats the source?

Princeton Verbal book...i dont know the edition. I had this pdf with me...

I think the comparison about the presence of weather and baseball is missing in E, while the original sentence carries it.

So, in order to ensure that this is included, perhaps we need to choose A.

The reason y E is wrong is :
it says "present and discussed as often as the weather was"

Break the sentence and you'll get:
"baseball was discussed as often as the weather was"
which is correct.
"baseball was present as often as the weather was"
which is incorrect.

wow, this is a tough one, comparing baseball to weather... the meaning is almost nonesense, and that's why it's hard! lol

I will go with A.

E modifies the meaning.

Any explanation for this? I can't figure out why the answer is correct.

Can't figure out why the answer is 'A'

rahulg83 wrote:Baseball, the only major professional sport during the Great Depression, was as present as the weather, and as much discussed.

A) as present as the weather, and as much discussed
B) present like the weather was, and it was also discussed as much
C) as present and was discussed as the weather was
D) so present as to be discussed like weather
E) present and discussed as often as the weather was

I chose A and will explain my reason for this. First of all, I found all the choices bad but the best among all was A.
POE --> We cant use "like" here because the comparison is in clauses. So B and D are out.
A, C and E are with us now.

Lets see C --> as present and was discussed as" is not correct idiom. Correct idiom is "as .... as" without any "and was discussed" etc.

E --> "Baseball was present and discussed as often as the weather was." This somehow didn't make sense to me. "As often as the weather was present" or "as often as weather was discussed" OR Both???? When I compare this sentence with choice A, then I found A better than this because of the clarity of meaning. In A, two as...as are given correctly. "As present as weather" and "As much discussed". So this is definitely more clear than E and also unambiguous.

What is OA, IMO: E

Can anyone explain
If C has no was after and then will it make sense ?

That is,
Baseball was as present and discussed as the weather was.

Ans: E