SC question from GMAC Paper test 14

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gigsonline: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 2; Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 8:00 pm

by gigsonline » Mon Sep 19, 2011 9:15 pm

Could someone solve the questions below and explain the choice:

Q1.
In the mid-1960's a newly installed radar warning system mistook the rising of the moon as a massive missile attack by the Soviets

1. same as underlined
2. rising of the moon for a massive Soviet missile attack
3. moon rising to a massive missile attack by the Soviets
4. moon as it was rising for a massive Soviet missile attack
5. rise of the moon as a massive Soviets missile attack

Q2.
Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so were probably without language, a shortcoming that may explain why they were supplanted by our own species.

1. same as above
2. Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape's
3. The vocal tracts of Neanderthals resembled an ape's
4. The Neanderthal's vocal tracts resembled the apes'
5. The vocal tracts of the Neanderthals resembled those of the apes

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Mon Sep 19, 2011 9:15 pm

GmatKiss: Legendary Member; Posts: 2789; Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 12:19 amFollowed by: 43 members; Location: Chennai, India; Thanked: 206 times; GMAT Score:640

by GmatKiss » Mon Sep 19, 2011 9:27 pm

gigsonline wrote:Could someone solve the questions below and explain the choice:

Q1.
In the mid-1960's a newly installed radar warning system mistook the rising of the moon as a massive missile attack by the Soviets

1. same as underlined
2. rising of the moon for a massive Soviet missile attack - idiom usage
3. moon rising to a massive missile attack by the Soviets
4. moon as it was rising for a massive Soviet missile attack
5. rise of the moon as a massive Soviets missile attack

Q2.
Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so were probably without language, a shortcoming that may explain why they were supplanted by our own species.

1. same as above
2. Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape's
3. The vocal tracts of Neanderthals resembled an ape's - passive
4. The Neanderthal's vocal tracts resembled the apes' - vocal tracks of Nederlands's what??
5. The vocal tracts of the Neanderthals resembled those of the apes - passive

Last edited by GmatKiss on Mon Sep 19, 2011 9:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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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 » Mon Sep 19, 2011 9:29 pm

ImO B
and IMO B

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dhonu121: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 316; Joined: Sun Aug 21, 2011 6:18 amFollowed by: 6 members; Thanked: 16 times

by dhonu121 » Tue Sep 20, 2011 1:21 am

gigsonline wrote:Could someone solve the questions below and explain the choice:

Q1.
In the mid-1960's a newly installed radar warning system mistook the rising of the moon as a massive missile attack by the Soviets

1. same as underlined
2. rising of the moon for a massive Soviet missile attack-Correct Idiom
3. moon rising to a massive missile attack by the Soviets
4. moon as it was rising for a massive Soviet missile attack-Wrong Meaning.
5. rise of the moon as a massive Soviets missile attack
Correct Choice 2

Q2.
Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so were probably without language, a shortcoming that may explain why they were supplanted by our own species.

1. same as above-wrong comparison:Tract versus those.
2. Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape's-Ape's what ? wrong
3. The vocal tracts of Neanderthals resembled an ape's-Ape's what ? wrong
4. The Neanderthal's vocal tracts resembled the apes' - Ape's what ? Wrong
5. The vocal tracts of the Neanderthals resembled those of the apes
Correct:5,Right Comparison.

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Calvin123: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 63; Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2011 8:25 pm; Thanked: 3 times

by Calvin123 » Tue Sep 20, 2011 4:15 am

gigsonline wrote:Could someone solve the questions below and explain the choice:

Q1.
In the mid-1960's a newly installed radar warning system mistook the rising of the moon as a massive missile attack by the Soviets

1. same as underlined
2. rising of the moon for a massive Soviet missile attack
3. moon rising to a massive missile attack by the Soviets
4. moon as it was rising for a massive Soviet missile attack
5. rise of the moon as a massive Soviets missile attack
Mistake x for Y

Q2.
Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so were probably without language, a shortcoming that may explain why they were supplanted by our own species.

1. same as above -
2. Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape's
3. The vocal tracts of Neanderthals resembled an ape's
4. The Neanderthal's vocal tracts resembled the apes'
5. The vocal tracts of the Neanderthals resembled those of the apes
Non usderline they must refer to Neanderthals.

IMO
1. B 2. B

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vini1612: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 6; Joined: Fri Jul 22, 2011 8:20 am

by vini1612 » Tue Sep 20, 2011 6:30 am

I didnt follow the explanations.. In question 1, why is the 5th option not correct? "rise of the moon as a massive Soviets missile attack " i thought simple past should be used instead of past participle -- plz ignore .. i gt the explanation

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jlittleaziz: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 2; Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2011 8:06 am

by jlittleaziz » Tue Sep 20, 2011 8:08 am

Ditto

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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 » Tue Sep 20, 2011 8:28 am

Hey guys,

#1 is a great example of two things:

1) The GMAT's emphasis on logical meaning in SC (that not-so-new trend that everyone is talking about this week)

2) The GMAT's OLD emphasis on idiomatic accuracy, which you really don't need to worry about (this question is an old official question, but I first saw it when I started teaching in 2003...it's an ancient question)

The big decision points here are:

-It's not logical that one would mistake the moon (an object) for an attack (an action). So we need to compare the rising to the attack (or the moon to a missile, but that's not an option). And that eliminates C and D.

-The idiom here is "mistook X for Y" and not "mistook X as Y". But you'd never be tested on that today, so I wouldn't worry about that. That's the rationale for eliminating A and E, leaving B as the correct answer.

Brian Galvin
GMAT Instructor
Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep

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mundasingh123: Legendary Member; Posts: 2330; Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:14 amFollowed by: 26 members; Thanked: 56 times

by mundasingh123 » Tue Sep 20, 2011 10:31 am

Hi Brian why is A wrong in Q 2. surely it conveys the correct meaning . Then why is it not the OA

Brian@VeritasPrep wrote:Hey guys,

#1 is a great example of two things:

1) The GMAT's emphasis on logical meaning in SC (that not-so-new trend that everyone is talking about this week)

2) The GMAT's OLD emphasis on idiomatic accuracy, which you really don't need to worry about (this question is an old official question, but I first saw it when I started teaching in 2003...it's an ancient question)

The big decision points here are:

-It's not logical that one would mistake the moon (an object) for an attack (an action). So we need to compare the rising to the attack (or the moon to a missile, but that's not an option). And that eliminates C and D.

-The idiom here is "mistook X for Y" and not "mistook X as Y". But you'd never be tested on that today, so I wouldn't worry about that. That's the rationale for eliminating A and E, leaving B as the correct answer.

I Seek Explanations Not Answers

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parul9: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 197; Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2011 10:22 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 6 times

by parul9 » Tue Sep 20, 2011 10:50 am

Q1.
In the mid-1960's a newly installed radar warning system mistook the rising of the moon as a massive missile attack by the Soviets

1. same as underlined --mistook as - wrong idiom!
2. rising of the moon for a massive Soviet missile attack --- right idiom "mistook A for B"
3. moon rising to a massive missile attack by the Soviets --- this dsnt make any sense, unless its a sci fi and a flop one at that!

4. moon as it was rising for a massive Soviet missile attack --- weird construct
5. rise of the moon as a massive Soviets missile attack --- weird again

So ans is 2

Q2.
Neanderthals had a vocal tract that resembled those of the apes and so were probably without language, a shortcoming that may explain why they were supplanted by our own species.

1. same as above ---The subject cannot be neanderthals, it has to be vocal tracts(plural), cos "they were supplanted..."
2. Neanderthals had a vocal tract resembling an ape's --- The subject cannot be neanderthals, it has to be vocal tracts(plural), cos "they were supplanted..."
3. The vocal tracts of Neanderthals resembled an ape's --- The A of sth resembles the B of sth else, NOT The A of sth resembled sth else. parallelism is what we would call it perhaps
4. The Neanderthal's vocal tracts resembled the apes' --- not right
5. The vocal tracts of the Neanderthals resembled those of the apes-- correct construct!

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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 » Tue Sep 20, 2011 5:22 pm

Hey mundasingh,

For choice A in #2, one pretty significant flaw is "the apes". By adding that "the", the question is referring to specific apes and that adds some logical confusion. Which apes? So I'm on guard a little bit with that one...it seems like an unnecessary use of "the".

Other places I'd be concerned about A:

-You're comparing one vocal tract to "those of" (plural), which I don't think is emphatically wrong (you could say "I'd love to have a car that resembles those from old gangster movies"), but doesn't seem as perfect as it could be.

-The placement of the word "that" splits the parallel verbs, and could pose a grammatical problem there. If you really break it down, you're saying "X had Y that Z and so were probably ________"). That structure could just as well assign the verb "and so were" to Y and not X:

I have a dog that drools and so cannot sleep on the wood floor without ruining it.

There the "cannot sleep on the floor" refers to the dog, not to me! The way the sentence is written, "were" is plural and so you'd think it should refer to Neanderthals since vocal tract is singular, but grammatically it probably poses a problem at least of clarity.

So with those flaws in A, B looks a whole lot more tempting...

Brian Galvin
GMAT Instructor
Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep

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rghoshal: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 3; Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2011 12:48 am

by rghoshal » Tue Sep 20, 2011 6:05 pm

Hi Brian,

Can you pls explain why option 5 is not correct for question 2 ?

Thanks,

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mad2011: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 49; Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2011 4:42 am; Thanked: 1 times

by mad2011 » Tue Sep 20, 2011 6:54 pm

Hi rghoshal

If you look at Not Underlined section "and so were probably without language,..... ",
now if I ask myself WHO were without without language .." answer I get in my head is NEANDERTHALS
VOCAL TRACTS subject doesn't make sense here

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mundasingh123: Legendary Member; Posts: 2330; Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:14 amFollowed by: 26 members; Thanked: 56 times

by mundasingh123 » Tue Sep 20, 2011 11:34 pm

Brian@VeritasPrep wrote:Hey mundasingh,

For choice A in #2, one pretty significant flaw is "the apes". By adding that "the", the question is referring to specific apes and that adds some logical confusion. Which apes? So I'm on guard a little bit with that one...it seems like an unnecessary use of "the".

Other places I'd be concerned about A:

-You're comparing one vocal tract to "those of" (plural), which I don't think is emphatically wrong (you could say "I'd love to have a car that resembles those from old gangster movies"), but doesn't seem as perfect as it could be.

-The placement of the word "that" splits the parallel verbs, and could pose a grammatical problem there. If you really break it down, you're saying "X had Y that Z and so were probably ________"). That structure could just as well assign the verb "and so were" to Y and not X:

I have a dog that drools and so cannot sleep on the wood floor without ruining it.

There the "cannot sleep on the floor" refers to the dog, not to me! The way the sentence is written, "were" is plural and so you'd think it should refer to Neanderthals since vocal tract is singular, but grammatically it probably poses a problem at least of clarity.

So with those flaws in A, B looks a whole lot more tempting...

Thank You Brian really great and lucid explanation without the use of any rules . Provided an insight into how to delve into the meaning of the sentence . You always explain well in an easy to understand manner without making SC seem like Rocket science

I Seek Explanations Not Answers

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jaguar123: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 35; Joined: Sun Dec 02, 2007 1:06 pm

by jaguar123 » Wed Sep 21, 2011 5:44 am

Hi Brain,

Thanks for the emphasis on Idioms in the new format of SCs. I have couple of queries regarding this.

1. Does this change means that Idioms will 100% not be tested.
2. What about the rest of the mistakes - Parallelism/SV/Prounoun/Modifier - Will they be remaining
the ame in the new format.
3. Also the 2/3 split .

Please help us with these doubts.

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