q 392 of 1000 series help

This topic has expert replies
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 16
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:26 am
Location: india

q 392 of 1000 series help

by nitin360 » Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:39 pm
can any one tell where to use instead of / rather than ...
i choose instead of rather than rather than at


392. In metalwork one advantage of adhesive-bonding over spot-welding is that the contact, and hence the bonding, is effected continuously over a broad surface instead of a series of regularly spaced points with no bonding in between.
(A) instead of
(B) as opposed to
(C) in contrast with
(D) rather than at
(E) as against being at
life is tragedy to those who feel and comedy to those who think
Source: — Sentence Correction |

Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 211
Joined: Thu Apr 09, 2009 12:17 pm
Thanked: 12 times
GMAT Score:680

by 4seasoncentre » Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:55 pm
I don't think the issue is instead of vs rather than

consider that the rather than is actually 'rather than at'

I think you would need an 'at' for both parts of the comparison.
ie "It's twisted AT the joint rather than AT the bone"

but this one doesn't have one, so I would eliminate D and E.
C is too formal.

As a toss up between A and B I would pick A

Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 239
Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2009 2:50 am

by delhiboy1979 » Thu Apr 16, 2009 4:14 am
I agree this has nothing to do with rather than/instead of. I actually feel the answer should be D. I think the statement is trying today that the bonding is done 'at' the joints.

User avatar
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 45
Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2009 9:59 am
Thanked: 2 times

by Kunal_gmat » Thu Apr 16, 2009 9:28 am
I am also leaning towards (D).
If you take the part of the sentence:
bonding, is effected...(eliminate middle part) at a series of regularly spaced points.

"at" is needed. Only two options have "at".(E) is too wordy. Prefer (D). OA pls.

User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 682
Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2009 2:40 am
Thanked: 32 times
Followed by:1 members

Re: q 392 of 1000 series help

by Vemuri » Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:06 pm
nitin360 wrote:can any one tell where to use instead of / rather than ...
i choose instead of rather than rather than at

392. In metalwork one advantage of adhesive-bonding over spot-welding is that the contact, and hence the bonding, is effected continuously over a broad surface instead of a series of regularly spaced points with no bonding in between.
(A) instead of
(B) as opposed to
(C) in contrast with
(D) rather than at
(E) as against being at
My answer is also D. What is the OA?

Legendary Member
Posts: 1035
Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:56 pm
Thanked: 104 times
Followed by:1 members

by scoobydooby » Thu Apr 16, 2009 11:13 pm
the structure is : contact is effected continuously over x instead of y. x and y must be parallel.

x: a broad surface
y: a series of regularly spaced points

both x and y are noun phrases, so they are parallel. also we need the form "contact over a series of ..." to maintain parallelism with the first part "contact over a broad surface". the use of "over" once is sufficient.

we do not need another preposition "at". so D and E are out.
C is awkward.

both A and B are close, but would stick with A.

Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 16
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:26 am
Location: india

by nitin360 » Fri Apr 17, 2009 1:35 am
OA is .. D
d. rather than at
life is tragedy to those who feel and comedy to those who think

Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 3:40 am
GMAT Score:650

by euwe » Fri Apr 17, 2009 1:56 am
to maintain paralelism at should be there.
over a abroad surface rather than at series of regularly spaced points parallelism of preps :D :D

• Page 1 of 1