Unlike usage---tricky one (A very Good SC)

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Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged warbler are very difficult to tell apart.
(A) Unlike most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged warbler are very difficult to tell apart.
(B) Unlike most warbler species, the gender of the blue-winged warbler is very difficult to distinguish.
(C) Unlike those in most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged warblers are very difficult to distinguish.
(D) It is very difficult, unlike in most warbler species, to tell the male and female blue-winged warbler apart.
(E) Blue-winged warblers are unlike most species of warbler in that it is very difficult to tell the male and female apart.

[spoiler]Why OA is E rather than C.What is wrong in C....is meaning that is changed?[/spoiler]
Source: — Sentence Correction |

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by cyrwr1 » Wed May 11, 2011 1:21 pm
Can I asked where you got this problem?

in C, Unlike those in X, (Plural) in Y is the correct comparison

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by Brian@VeritasPrep » Wed May 11, 2011 1:42 pm
Hey Chaitanya,

In C, what does "those" refer to? The only plural noun in the second half of the sentence is "warblers", but we're looking for "the genders of" the warblers. So in C the pronoun "those" still doesn't work. It's subtle, but C has a distinct pronoun error in that "those" doesn't have a logical referent.

Strategy tip: Be really careful in "that of" and "those of" comparison problems to make sure that the pronoun clearly matches what's being compared.
Brian Galvin
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Veritas Prep

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by Chaitanya_1986 » Wed May 11, 2011 9:50 pm
Thanks Brain for your reply....


Could you please dissect each answer with some explanation?

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by sandy217 » Wed May 18, 2011 7:24 am
Replace those with assumed referent.("the male and female")

Option c will read as
Unlike the male and female in most warbler species, the male and female blue-winged warblers are very difficult to distinguish.

I think "IN" is missing in the second part of the sentence. Hence incorrect

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by aspirant2011 » Wed May 18, 2011 8:36 am
Brian@VeritasPrep wrote:Hey Chaitanya,

In C, what does "those" refer to? The only plural noun in the second half of the sentence is "warblers", but we're looking for "the genders of" the warblers. So in C the pronoun "those" still doesn't work. It's subtle, but C has a distinct pronoun error in that "those" doesn't have a logical referent.

Strategy tip: Be really careful in "that of" and "those of" comparison problems to make sure that the pronoun clearly matches what's being compared.
Hi Brian,

I have two doubts in the sentence.Please clarify on the same-

1. I read somewhere that the usage of "in that" is almost always wrong on GMAT but in option E the same is being used.
2. Whats wrong with option A????

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by boazkhan » Wed May 18, 2011 12:06 pm
Hi Brian,
Can you please explain what's wrong with D?


Thanks,
B

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