In the late nineteenth century Annie Besant was widely

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In the late nineteenth century Annie Besant was widely regarded as one of the greatest living public orators, second only to Gladstone in a culture where oratory was the dominant public medium.

(A) as one of the greatest living public orators, second only
(B) to be one of the greatest living public orators, secondary only
(C) that she was one of the greatest living public orators, secondary only
(D) as being one of the greater living public orators she was only second
(E) to be greater than most other living public orators, and she was second only


Please discuss this. I was comfortable choosing the right answer, however I couldn't find anything wrong with D. Is it "being" what makes D wrong.
I will post the OA soon.

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by vinay1983 » Thu Sep 05, 2013 5:58 pm
Being is usually not acceptable in GMAT land!Also option D has some ambiguity.

I feel it should be ", second only to" is correct usage.

Here "regarded as" is correct usage.

A is the correct option.

As far as possible avoid using "being".
You can, for example never foretell what any one man will do, but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to!

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by itskals » Thu Sep 05, 2013 7:58 pm
in 'D' - Comparative Word 'Greater' is also incorrect. We need superlative word 'greatest' Hope this helps.


rakeshd347 wrote:In the late nineteenth century Annie Besant was widely regarded as one of the greatest living public orators, second only to Gladstone in a culture where oratory was the dominant public medium.

(A) as one of the greatest living public orators, second only
(B) to be one of the greatest living public orators, secondary only
(C) that she was one of the greatest living public orators, secondary only
(D) as being one of the greater living public orators she was only second
(E) to be greater than most other living public orators, and she was second only


Please discuss this. I was comfortable choosing the right answer, however I couldn't find anything wrong with D. Is it "being" what makes D wrong.
I will post the OA soon.
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by [email protected] » Thu Sep 05, 2013 9:05 pm
Hi All,

I just wanted to chime in and say that both vinay1983 and itskals are correct! This prompt relies heavily on idiom and style rules and you've correctly spotted them.

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