Aristotle SC- Meaning issue

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Empirestateofmind: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 53; Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2011 7:38 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 3 times

by Empirestateofmind » Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:27 pm

I got the answer to this question correct, but still want to know why precisely is option E wrong

Academicians tend to praise research that agrees with their own beliefs, and it is
rare for kindness to be shown to contrary theories
(A) beliefs, and it is rare for kindness to be shown
(B) beliefs, with a rare kindness shown
(C) beliefs, and rarely show kindness
(D) beliefs, they are rarely kind
(E) beliefs, but they show rare kindness

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:27 pm

cans: Legendary Member; Posts: 1309; Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:34 amFollowed by: 123 members; Location: India; Thanked: 310 times; GMAT Score:750

by cans » Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:41 pm

IMO C
rare modifies kindness in E whereas it should modify show.......

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mehrasa: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 279; Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2010 5:43 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 15 times

by mehrasa » Wed Oct 12, 2011 12:03 am

Empirestateofmind wrote:I got the answer to this question correct, but still want to know why precisely is option E wrong

Academicians tend to praise research that agrees with their own beliefs, and it is
rare for kindness to be shown to contrary theories
(A) beliefs, and it is rare for kindness to be shown
(B) beliefs, with a rare kindness shown
(C) beliefs, and rarely show kindness
(D) beliefs, they are rarely kind
(E) beliefs, but they show rare kindness

IMO: C

the main problem with E is "rare" which comes as an adjective for 'kindness'and change the meaning of the sentence.. 'rarely' is the correct usage which modify verb (show) and convey its proper message

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Brian@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1031; Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 1:23 pmFollowed by: 255 members; Location: Malibu, CA; Thanked: 716 times; GMAT Score:750

by Brian@VeritasPrep » Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:47 am

Nice work here, all! One other note about E that should help with the "Meaning" ideology from the subject line. E uses the transition "but", which signifies a transition from one thought to another that runs counter.

**It is raining, but we'll play the game anyway (playing the game is surprising considering the rain)
**I don't find the governor all that likable, but he's better than the alternatives (the governor isn't great, but surprisingly he's the best option)
**Academicians tend to praise research that agrees with their own beliefs, but they're also quite kind to theories that challenge them directly. (Here, it would be surprising to praise someone who agrees with you but also be kind to someone who disagrees with you).

In choice E, there's no "surprise" - they praise those who agree and very rarely are kind to those who don't. "But" sets up a counter statement...but then one never comes (see? Surprising - so my own use of "but" in this sentence is justified!).

Brian Galvin
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Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep

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aspirant2011: Legendary Member; Posts: 1574; Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 2:52 amFollowed by: 13 members; Thanked: 88 times

by aspirant2011 » Thu Oct 13, 2011 9:54 am

Brian@VeritasPrep wrote:Nice work here, all! One other note about E that should help with the "Meaning" ideology from the subject line. E uses the transition "but", which signifies a transition from one thought to another that runs counter.

**It is raining, but we'll play the game anyway (playing the game is surprising considering the rain)
**I don't find the governor all that likable, but he's better than the alternatives (the governor isn't great, but surprisingly he's the best option)
**Academicians tend to praise research that agrees with their own beliefs, but they're also quite kind to theories that challenge them directly. (Here, it would be surprising to praise someone who agrees with you but also be kind to someone who disagrees with you).

In choice E, there's no "surprise" - they praise those who agree and very rarely are kind to those who don't. "But" sets up a counter statement...but then one never comes (see? Surprising - so my own use of "but" in this sentence is justified!).

Hi Brian,

If I correctly understood you then usage of but is wrong in option E right?

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Brian@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1031; Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 1:23 pmFollowed by: 255 members; Location: Malibu, CA; Thanked: 716 times; GMAT Score:750

by Brian@VeritasPrep » Thu Oct 13, 2011 5:11 pm

Exactly, aspirant - "but" isn't used logically in choice E. It needs to set up a transition between different ideas, and in E it's actually two consistent ideas so there's no need for that transition.

Brian Galvin
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Chief Academic Officer
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zaarathelab: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 217; Joined: Sun Jan 10, 2010 1:39 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 7 times

by zaarathelab » Fri Oct 14, 2011 3:31 am

But rarely show kindness to contrary theories

If we replace E with the above, will it be correct?

Success = Max(Hardwork) + Min(Luck)

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abcgmat: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 222; Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 1:06 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 19 times

by abcgmat » Fri Oct 14, 2011 4:07 am

Is the OA c

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Blimey72: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 17; Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:40 pm; Thanked: 4 times

by Blimey72 » Fri Oct 14, 2011 4:27 am

I thought that one cannot use a 'comma + AND' to separate two verbs with the same subject (Academicians)?

Doesn't C violate this?

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abcgmat: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 222; Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 1:06 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 19 times

by abcgmat » Fri Oct 14, 2011 4:53 am

what is the OA. can some one post

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gmatdriller: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 418; Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 12:48 pmFollowed by: 3 members; Thanked: 6 times

by gmatdriller » Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:19 am

StuartM wrote:I thought that one cannot use a 'comma + AND' to separate two verbs with the same subject (Academicians)?

Doesn't C violate this?

Any response to the question above?

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abcgmat: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 222; Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 1:06 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 19 times

by abcgmat » Sun Oct 16, 2011 12:39 pm

I have a similar doubt now .

I have posted questions in below links for the usage of ',and ' .Sometimes ',and' is correct and sometimes not. Hoping to get answers for them soon.

https://www.beatthegmat.com/usage-of-and-t93079.html
https://www.beatthegmat.com/usage-of-and-t93077.html

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Empirestateofmind: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 53; Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2011 7:38 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 3 times

by Empirestateofmind » Sun Oct 16, 2011 9:49 pm

Thanks Brian for the explanation. You're really patient and helpful.

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abcgmat: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 222; Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 1:06 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 19 times

by abcgmat » Mon Oct 17, 2011 12:13 am

I have doubt regarding usage of ,and
In C we have ,and . Is this correct in this sentence

In MGMAT
Earl walked to school, and later ate his lunch --is Incorrect
Option C looks similar to above ...what am I missing here...can you explain

Academicians tend to praise research that agrees with their own beliefs ,and rarely show kindness to contrary theories

Is this because of the underlined sentence which seperates praise and show very far from each other
Hence it is necessary to use ,and

if we used only and then the comparsion would be between agrees and show (logically) which is incorrect

Had the sentence been as below . Would the usage of ',and' be wrong
E.g.
Academicians tend to praise research ,and discredit contrary theories

Can someone explain this

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Brian@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1031; Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 1:23 pmFollowed by: 255 members; Location: Malibu, CA; Thanked: 716 times; GMAT Score:750

by Brian@VeritasPrep » Mon Oct 17, 2011 11:58 am

Hey ABC,

The difference between choice C above and the "Earl" example is that, with Earl, there isn't a subordinate clause next to him, but in C there is.

So with C, the "and VERB" would actually make the verb align with "research that agrees AND shows". The comma serves to reset the verb back to the dominant clause.

So with the Earl example, to make it a parallel situation we'd need to add a clause to "walked to school":

Earl walked to school with the girl who lives next door and later ate his lunch.

Here, this sentence makes it seem like the friendly girl-next-door is the one who ate (STOLE!!) Earl's lunch. But with the comma (and some context...why would you ever write such a bland sentence?), we can make more sense of this:

Earl walked to school with the girl who lives next door, and later ate his lunch with the boy from across the street.

What was a comma-splice violation in the base-level MGMAT example now serves a purpose: to get "ate lunch" away from the girl next door and back to Earl.

Brian Galvin
GMAT Instructor
Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep

Looking for GMAT practice questions? Try out the Veritas Prep Question Bank. Learn More.

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