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Christopher Columbus

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by suddhasil » Sat Feb 21, 2009 7:13 am
Rather than accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbus was sent by the king and queen of Spain to see if he could reach India by traveling west.
A. Rather than accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbus was sent by the king and queen of Spain to see if he could reach India by sailing west.
B. Rather than accepting the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbus was sent by the king and queen of Spain to see if he could reach India by sailing west.
C. Instead of accepting the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbus sailed west to see whether he could reach India, having been sent by the king and queen of Spain.
D. Rather than accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbus sailed west to see whether he could reach India, having been sent by the king and queen of Spain.
E. Instead of accepting the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbus was sent by the king and queen of Spain to sail west to see if he could reach India.

OA D
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Re: Christopher Columbus

by El Cucu » Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:41 pm
suddhasil wrote:Rather than accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbus was sent by the king and queen of Spain to see if he could reach India by traveling west.
A. Rather than accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbus was sent by the king and queen of Spain to see if he could reach India by sailing west.
B. Rather than accepting the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbus was sent by the king and queen of Spain to see if he could reach India by sailing west.
C. Instead of accepting the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbus sailed west to see whether he could reach India, having been sent by the king and queen of Spain.
D. Rather than accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbus sailed west to see whether he could reach India, having been sent by the king and queen of Spain.
E. Instead of accepting the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbus was sent by the king and queen of Spain to sail west to see if he could reach India.

OA D
IMO D.

A) passive
B) accepting + passive
C) Instead of
E) Instead of + passive
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Re: Christopher Columbus

by Vemuri » Sat Feb 21, 2009 6:40 pm
El Cucu wrote: IMO D.

A) passive
B) accepting + passive
C) Instead of
E) Instead of + passive
Can you explain your answer choices? Why is "Instead of" wrong? Why are A & B wrong?
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by Maratha1 » Sat Feb 21, 2009 8:07 pm
I picked C. Can anyone please explain why using rather than is correct instead of using instead of :D
carpe diem!
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Re: Christopher Columbus

by El Cucu » Sun Feb 22, 2009 6:28 am
Vemuri wrote:
El Cucu wrote: IMO D.

A) passive
B) accepting + passive
C) Instead of
E) Instead of + passive
Can you explain your answer choices? Why is "Instead of" wrong? Why are A & B wrong?
1. Rather than vs instead of: This is not easy to define as in English both words are interchangeable. My rule is use rather than with clauses and instead of with phrases.

https://www.englishrules.com/writing/200 ... ead-of.php

2.Passive voice should be avoided if you have a sentence in active voice containning no grammar mistakes.
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by El Cucu » Sun Feb 22, 2009 6:33 am
Maratha1 wrote:I picked C. Can anyone please explain why using rather than is correct instead of using instead of :D
In this sentence I think rather than is better than instead of, because the sentence has a parallel constuction with two verbs. (rather than accept...sailed) The other options with instead of are (instead of accepting...sailed/instead of accepting... was sent).
Hope this helps!
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by rahulakacyrus » Sun Feb 22, 2009 10:15 am
The correct usage of IF is the issue in the sentence.
If is used where there is then e.g. IF A then B...(refer manhattan SC)

so we have to use WHETHER....Shortlistes C and D

D correct modifies Christopher Colombus..and parallelism

D is the correct option!
Rahul Madan (Cyrus)
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by gmat_dest » Sun Feb 22, 2009 10:43 pm
This is a 3:2 split between Rather than vs Instead Of

I believe 'rather than' is used for preference
and 'instead of' is used for substitution.

So 'rather than' should be correct here.

From the 3 choices having 'rather than' , D looks more logical as it shows the contrast better than A and B.
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by uptowngirl92 » Tue Oct 13, 2009 2:31 am
openng this thread again..
in the correct answer..is "having been sent" the correct usage??
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by tanviet » Tue Oct 13, 2009 6:46 am
rather than ACCEPT, columbo SAIL

do1 must be // do2. only D do this.
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by tgt.harvard » Mon Jul 05, 2010 5:27 am
In the correct option D,

Doesnt HAVING BEEN SENT make the sentence AWKWARD !!?!!

Why cant we use option "E"...... "Instead of accepting" ???

Whats wrong with saying accepting ????

Can someone please elaborate ??

THANKS
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by silencz » Mon Jul 05, 2010 6:29 pm
I think it's C.

"Rather than accept" I don't think sounds as good as "Rather than accepting" which isn't one of the options.

"Instead of accepting" I think works better because using "accept" vs. "accepting" should be more important than the use of "rather" vs. "instead".
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by paddle_sweep » Mon Jul 05, 2010 9:03 pm
silencz wrote:I think it's C.

"Rather than accept" I don't think sounds as good as "Rather than accepting" which isn't one of the options.

"Instead of accepting" I think works better because using "accept" vs. "accepting" should be more important than the use of "rather" vs. "instead".
I thought on the same lines and chose 'C'. Need a clear cut answer as to why 'D' is better than 'C'.

Cheers
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by Tani » Tue Jul 06, 2010 6:43 am
The difference between C and D lies in the meaning of "rather than" versus "instead of". "Instead of" implies that Columbus had to make a choice between accepting that the world was flat and sailing. "Rather than" is closer to the meaning that Columbus rejected a flat world and chose to sail.
Tani Wolff
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by paddle_sweep » Tue Jul 06, 2010 11:25 am
Tani Wolff - Kaplan wrote:The difference between C and D lies in the meaning of "rather than" versus "instead of". "Instead of" implies that Columbus had to make a choice between accepting that the world was flat and sailing. "Rather than" is closer to the meaning that Columbus rejected a flat world and chose to sail.
Thanks.Great explanation.
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