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SC - Among Vs Btwn

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SC - Among Vs Btwn

by karthikpandian19 » Mon May 28, 2012 10:37 pm
Whereas pure science is mainly concerned with the discovery of new truths and makes few, if any, attempts to discern the best options between their potential uses, applied science involves the application of existing truths to concrete problems.

best options between their potential uses
best options between its potential uses
best of the options among their potential uses
best options among its potential uses
best options among their potential uses
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by Birottam Dutta » Mon May 28, 2012 10:58 pm
Dear Karthik,

Between is used to compare two or more distinct choices, for example between individuals, groups, etc. It need not only be used to compare two items, as is the common perception. For ex; "The negotiations between the cheerleaders, dance club and flag team went well despite the confetti incident"

You use among when you talk about things that are not distinct items or individuals. For ex: "He had to choose among the IVY League schools".

Coming to the below choice,

potential uses refers to the new truths, so it should be preceded by their.

This leaves A, C and E.

As the potential uses are not distinct, among is the correct opertative word here and so among is to be used.

This leaves C and E.

in C, best of the options does not sound correct.

Hence, E!
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by Ashujain » Mon May 28, 2012 10:59 pm
karthikpandian19 wrote:Whereas pure science is mainly concerned with the discovery of new truths and makes few, if any, attempts to discern the best options between their potential uses, applied science involves the application of existing truths to concrete problems.

best options between their potential uses
best options between its potential uses
best of the options among their potential uses
best options among its potential uses
best options among their potential uses

First of all, 'between' is wrong because 'between' is used in the comparison of 2 things but if there is a comparison in more than 2 things then 'among' is used.
So, eliminate A and B straight away
D can also be eliminated because 'its' refers to a plural noun 'truths'
C can also be eliminated; 'best of the options' makes it awkward
Hence, E is the best answer.

Hope it helps!
Kindly correct me if I am wrong.
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by karthikpandian19 » Mon May 28, 2012 11:12 pm
OA is E
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by Birottam Dutta » Mon May 28, 2012 11:31 pm
Dear Ashujain,

It is a common misconception that between is used to compare only 2 things but it can be used for more than 2 provided they are distinct.

Ill give you another example:

He had to choose between Harvard, Yale and Stanford.

Hope this helps you in tackling future questions on usage of between and among :)
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by Ashujain » Mon May 28, 2012 11:56 pm
Birottam Dutta wrote:Dear Ashujain,

It is a common misconception that between is used to compare only 2 things but it can be used for more than 2 provided they are distinct.

Ill give you another example:

He had to choose between Harvard, Yale and Stanford.

Hope this helps you in tackling future questions on usage of between and among :)
So, we can say that 'between' is used to compare distinct articles and 'among' is used to compare similar articles, irrespective of their numbers.

Am i correct?
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by Kasia@EconomistGMAT » Tue May 29, 2012 1:24 am
"Between" - two or more clearly separate people or things
"Among" - when somebody or something is in a group, a crowd or a mass of people or things we do not see separately
e.g. He was sitting between Kate and John.
He was standing among a crowd of women.

Their shed is between the woods, the river and the village.
My house is hidden among trees.

Also we use between to talk about intervals and time limits.
e.g. There should be 5 meters between the walls.
I'll be online between 4 and 10 p.m.
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by mir.yahya » Mon Sep 24, 2012 11:03 am
IMO, no matter the case, BETWEEN is used for two things and AMONG is used for three or more things.

It's ironic, because "between"/"among" is one of the very few issues in sentence correction that is basically black-and-white.
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by manihar.sidharth » Mon Sep 24, 2012 11:40 am
I am a bit confused in option D and option E
Isn't the subject of the sentence is PURE SCIENCE.
OR i misunderstood the sentence.

Thanks
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by henryjejo » Mon Sep 24, 2012 5:57 pm
Hi All,

There seems to be a subtle difference in the usage of between....In general it is used to distinguish two things. (i.e difference between X&Y).

However, there is another scenario where you may need to use between....i.e if the items provide a pair-wise relation. E.g: Accountability between the team members. -> It implies there should be accountability between each of the two members in a team. Another one is....The mud is caught between my toes.

I am unable to provide the exact question at this point....I found this from GROCKIT.

Regards
HenryJEJO
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by karthikpandian19 » Mon Sep 24, 2012 6:07 pm
D is eliminated because 'its' refers to a plural noun 'truths' (see earlier comments)
manihar.sidharth wrote:I am a bit confused in option D and option E
Isn't the subject of the sentence is PURE SCIENCE.
OR i misunderstood the sentence.

Thanks
Regards,
Karthik
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