Comparison basics-II. Manhattan SC Guide

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Comparison basics-II. Manhattan SC Guide

by rishijhawar » Fri Apr 20, 2012 11:11 pm
Hi Experts and folks, I have a few queries related to Comparison (source: Manhattan's latest SC guide). Appreciate your help. Sorry for a long post

Query #1: My query is related to "Omitting words" (Manhattan's latest SC guide page 123 of 302). I am not very comfortable with any of the three examples below but I am most uncomfortable with #3. I generally get stuck in such cases. So, can someone explain how to get hang on these with related rules (if any) and similar examples?

#1: Whereas I drink 2 quarts of milk a day, my friend drinks 3 {quarts}.

#2: I walk faster than Brian {walks}.

#3: I walk as fast now as {I walked} when I was younger.

Query #2 Rule: Comparisons must be logically parallel (i.e. we must compare similar things). (Manhattan guide page 123 of 302)

(A) Corresponding of each of the three examples from the guide, I have written three sentences in red. From the guide, I came to know that "comparable parts must be structurally and logically parallel" but not 100% sure whether the ones in red follow this rule and hence whether such comparisons correct? I might be thinking loud, but just want to understand the concepts.

#1: Whereas I drink 2 quarts of milk a day, my friend drinks 3 {quarts}. [Whereas I drink 2 quarts of milk a day, my friend drinks 3 bottles of beer].

#2: I walk faster than Brian {walks}. (I walk faster than Brian runs) [I mean my walking speed>Brian's running speed].

#3: I walk as fast now as {I walked} when I was younger. [I walk as fast now as I ran when I was younger].

(B) I understood Manhattan's explanation (in brackets) on #1&2, but don't agree why liking cheese is deemed comparable to liking Yvette (dictionary meaning: name of girl/women) because cheese and Yvette are not logically parallel (i.e. they are not similar things)

#1: Ambiguous: I like cheese more than Yvette. {Yvette could be subject or object}.
#2: Right: I like cheese more than Yvette DOES. (=than Yvette likes cheese)
#3: Right: I like cheese more than I DO Yvette. (= than I like Yvette)

Query #3: Rule: Comparisons must be structurally parallel. (Manhattan guide page 123 of 302)
Examples:

Wrong: I like to run through forests more than I enjoy walking through crowds.
Right: I like running through forests MORE THAN walking through crowds.
My take: I like to run through forests MORE THAN to walk through crowds.

I understood why the 1st one is wrong and believe the 2nd one sound better than the 3rd. But, just want to check if the 3rd one makes sense. Appreciate your help.
Source: — Sentence Correction |

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by rishijhawar » Sun Apr 22, 2012 6:42 pm
Hi friends, can someone please take a stab here.
rishijhawar wrote:Hi Experts and folks, I have a few queries related to Comparison (source: Manhattan's latest SC guide). Appreciate your help. Sorry for a long post

Query #1: My query is related to "Omitting words" (Manhattan's latest SC guide page 123 of 302). I am not very comfortable with any of the three examples below but I am most uncomfortable with #3. I generally get stuck in such cases. So, can someone explain how to get hang on these with related rules (if any) and similar examples?

#1: Whereas I drink 2 quarts of milk a day, my friend drinks 3 {quarts}.

#2: I walk faster than Brian {walks}.

#3: I walk as fast now as {I walked} when I was younger.

Query #2 Rule: Comparisons must be logically parallel (i.e. we must compare similar things). (Manhattan guide page 123 of 302)

(A) Corresponding of each of the three examples from the guide, I have written three sentences in red. From the guide, I came to know that "comparable parts must be structurally and logically parallel" but not 100% sure whether the ones in red follow this rule and hence whether such comparisons correct? I might be thinking loud, but just want to understand the concepts.

#1: Whereas I drink 2 quarts of milk a day, my friend drinks 3 {quarts}. [Whereas I drink 2 quarts of milk a day, my friend drinks 3 bottles of beer].

#2: I walk faster than Brian {walks}. (I walk faster than Brian runs) [I mean my walking speed>Brian's running speed].

#3: I walk as fast now as {I walked} when I was younger. [I walk as fast now as I ran when I was younger].

(B) I understood Manhattan's explanation (in brackets) on #1&2, but don't agree why liking cheese is deemed comparable to liking Yvette (dictionary meaning: name of girl/women) because cheese and Yvette are not logically parallel (i.e. they are not similar things)

#1: Ambiguous: I like cheese more than Yvette. {Yvette could be subject or object}.
#2: Right: I like cheese more than Yvette DOES. (=than Yvette likes cheese)
#3: Right: I like cheese more than I DO Yvette. (= than I like Yvette)

Query #3: Rule: Comparisons must be structurally parallel. (Manhattan guide page 123 of 302)
Examples:

Wrong: I like to run through forests more than I enjoy walking through crowds.
Right: I like running through forests MORE THAN walking through crowds.
My take: I like to run through forests MORE THAN to walk through crowds.

I understood why the 1st one is wrong and believe the 2nd one sound better than the 3rd. But, just want to check if the 3rd one makes sense. Appreciate your help.

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by lunarpower » Sun May 06, 2012 1:01 pm
i received a message regarding this thread.
rishijhawar wrote: #1: Whereas I drink 2 quarts of milk a day, my friend drinks 3 {quarts}.

#2: I walk faster than Brian {walks}.

#3: I walk as fast now as {I walked} when I was younger.
well, the good news here is that you don't have to make these decisions in isolation -- remember, you'll get to make them within the context of a multiple-choice question. therefore, you don't have to FORMULATE the comparison (which is a lot harder); instead, all you have to do is pick the BEST comparison from among the choices. that's generally a lot easier to do.

let's say you're talking about #3.
if that version is the best choice you've got, then pick it.
on the other hand, if you see it alongside something like "i walk as fast now as i did when i was younger", then you would probably take that option instead.

if you can change your mindset to think in this way, you should find that these problems get easier. a lot of them aren't totally clear-cut when you consider the choices in isolation, but, in almost every official problem, one of the choices is clearly better than the others -- which, at the end of the day, is all that really matters.

Whereas I drink 2 quarts of milk a day, my friend drinks 3 bottles of beer.
this sentence is fine, as long as you think that these 2 things actually contrast with each other.
I walk faster than Brian runs) [I mean my walking speed>Brian's running speed].
also fine. (wow, brian is slow)
#3: I walk as fast now as {I walked} when I was younger. [I walk as fast now as I ran when I was younger].
also fine. (wow, you were slow when you were a kid)

(B) I understood Manhattan's explanation (in brackets) on #1&2, but don't agree why liking cheese is deemed comparable to liking Yvette (dictionary meaning: name of girl/women) because cheese and Yvette are not logically parallel (i.e. they are not similar things)
they're logically parallel in this context because they're both things that the narrator likes.
like almost everything else, the concept of "logical parallelism" is context-dependent. it's not a matter of absolute categories; it's a matter of whether the two (or more) things are in the same context in the sentence at hand.

here are two examples that should make this idea obvious:
1/
for lunch, i would like either empanadas or soccer
--> here, "empanadas" and "soccer" are not logically parallel, because the category of interest here is "food vs. not food".
2/
when i think of sundays in argentina, i think of empanadas and soccer.
--> here, "empanadas" and "soccer" are now perfectly parallel: both of them are things that come to mind when i think about sundays in argentina.

you get the picture.
as usual, things are not formulas -- you have to understand the intended meaning first, as in virtually every case of everything else.

Wrong: I like to run through forests more than I enjoy walking through crowds.
Right: I like running through forests MORE THAN walking through crowds.
My take: I like to run through forests MORE THAN to walk through crowds.

I understood why the 1st one is wrong and believe the 2nd one sound better than the 3rd. But, just want to check if the 3rd one makes sense. Appreciate your help.
the third one is fine.
beautiful, no. fine, yes.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

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