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by nycknicks11 » Tue May 24, 2011 9:56 pm
Scientists have found signs that moving water changed the chemical makeup of the surface of Mars in recent eras, therefore concluding that its crust is harboring up to three times as much water than was previously thought.

(A) eras, therefore concluding that its crust is harboring up to three times as much water than was
(B) eras, therefore concluding that the planet's crust harbors up to three times as much water or more as was
(C) eras and have therefore concluded that the planet's crust harbors up to three times as much water as
(D) eras and they have concluded, therefore, that its crust harbors up to three times as much water, or more, than
(E) eras and concluded, therefore, that the planet's crust is harboring up to three times more water as was

For C do you need "was" after as? What is the correct usage here?
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by HSPA » Tue May 24, 2011 11:14 pm
nycknicks11 wrote:Scientists have found signs that moving water changed the chemical makeup of the surface of Mars in recent eras, therefore concluding that its crust is harboring up to three times as much water than was previously thought.

(A) eras, therefore concluding that its crust is harboring up to three times as much water than was
(B) eras, therefore concluding that the planet's crust harbors up to three times as much water or more as was
(C) eras and have therefore concluded that the planet's crust harbors up to three times as much water as
(D) eras and they have concluded, therefore, that its crust harbors up to three times as much water, or more, than
(E) eras and concluded, therefore, that the planet's crust is harboring up to three times more water as was

For C do you need "was" after as? What is the correct usage here?
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by EducationAisle » Wed May 25, 2011 1:00 am
I agree that was should have been ideally present in C. Though, you would have realized that it is lesser of an issue here since all other choices can be dis-regarded for other reasons (parallelism and meaning).

Can I ask what the source is for this question.
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by itsmebharat » Wed May 25, 2011 3:58 am
The answer is "C" as it uses the correct IDIOM - as much as ..
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by sameerballani » Wed May 25, 2011 5:14 am
nycknicks11 wrote:Scientists have found signs that moving water changed the chemical makeup of the surface of Mars in recent eras, therefore concluding that its crust is harboring up to three times as much water than was previously thought.

(B) eras, therefore concluding that the planet's crust harbors up to three times as much, or more, water as was
(C) eras and have therefore concluded that the planet's crust harbors up to three times as much water as

For C do you need "was" after as? What is the correct usage here?
Can someone please explain why Option B is wrong? if it's because of idiom issue, then please clarify the change i have made above is that valid? I have seen sometimes when the question and even the correct answer include something like above in as idiom.
is there any other reason also to eliminate B - concluding/concluded ??
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by EducationAisle » Wed May 25, 2011 6:16 am
The main issue with B is that it seems to suggest as if water concluded something.
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by sameerballani » Wed May 25, 2011 6:26 am
EducationAisle wrote:The main issue with B is that it seems to suggest as if water concluded something.
Can you elaborate? I dont think it means the water is concluding. can you please explain it further
Also can you give your inputs on the idiom thing i have mentioned above.
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by EducationAisle » Wed May 25, 2011 6:48 am
That is because concluding... is a participial phrase. For example:

Teacher shouted at the students, intimidating children.

Teacher is the agent/source of intimidation. Ditto with the current sentence.
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by aspirant2011 » Wed May 25, 2011 9:28 am
I don't think so that C is correct because words like therefore should be with in the comma.........option A,B and C are all having this problem
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by LIL » Wed Jun 08, 2011 2:48 am
aspirant2011 wrote:I don't think so that C is correct because words like therefore should be with in the comma.........option A,B and C are all having this problem
this is incorrect. "therefore" doesn't need to be surrounded by commas.

for example:

i think; therefore, i am < haha ok that's sort of like surrounding it by commas
my boyfriend was injured and therefore unable to play in saturday's game.
ron's macbook air is light and therefore easy to carry around.
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by sameerballani » Thu Jun 09, 2011 9:22 am
sorry for late reply.
But then the word therefore
Doesn't it help in saying that it is scientist who concluded rather than water..
also give your comments on idiom thing- as much, or more, as ....

thanks
EducationAisle wrote:The main issue with B is that it seems to suggest as if water concluded something.
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by zaarathelab » Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:58 pm
WAS in 'was previously thought' IS REDUNDANT. WAS AND PREVIOUSLY mean the same thing.
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by bnair » Thu Oct 13, 2011 8:18 am
@sameerballani


I believe it should be 'as much water or more water than' for the idiom to be right...
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by kkunal1981 » Wed Feb 27, 2013 4:14 am
The problem with choice B is that it distorts the meaning of the original sentence.

The sentence says there is less than or equal to 3 times water (as was previousy thought) , whereas B implies the amount of water could be even more than 3 times.
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by Tommy Wallach » Wed Feb 27, 2013 7:02 pm
A lot of great discussion here, but I know folks like the final executive order:
Scientists have found signs that moving water changed the chemical makeup of the surface of Mars in recent eras, therefore concluding that its crust is harboring up to three times as much water than was previously thought.

(A) eras, therefore concluding that its crust is harboring up to three times as much water than was

"its" is incorrect, because it refers to surface, when it should be Mars. Idiom is "as much as," not "as much than".

(B) eras, therefore concluding that the planet's crust harbors up to three times as much water or more as was

"up to" and "or more" are contradictory.

(C) eras and have therefore concluded that the planet's crust harbors up to three times as much water as

CORRECT. The was isn't technically necessary. We add the verb when to elide it would create confusion. For example:

I love you more than Justin Bieber.

Do I love you more than I love Justin Bieber? Or do I love you more than Justin Bieber does? Because there's no way to know for sure, the sentence as written is wrong.

In this example, it would be confusing if the part after the word "as" could also be something that one has (i.e. "Three times as much water as wine."). But it's not, so there's no confusion without "was". Would I prefer it? Sure. But it's not a dealbreaker.

(D) eras and they have concluded, therefore, that its crust harbors up to three times as much water, or more, than

Awkward placement of therefore. Wrong usage of "its". "up to" and "or more" contradiction.

(E) eras and concluded, therefore, that the planet's crust is harboring up to three times more water as was

Awkward placement of therefore. "more than" not "more as".
Hope that helps!
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