As rare as

Expert replies

atulmangal: Legendary Member; Posts: 1112; Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2011 11:16 amFollowed by: 49 members; Thanked: 77 times

by atulmangal » Wed Apr 27, 2011 8:32 am

As rare as something becomes, be it a baseball card or a musical recording or a postage stamp, the more avidly it is sought by collectors.

(A) As rare as something becomes, be it
(B) As rare as something becomes, whether it is
(C) As something becomes rarer and rarer, like
(D) The rarer something becomes, like
(E) The rarer something becomes, whether it is

GMAT PREP Question

Like this post

Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Wed Apr 27, 2011 8:32 am

force5: Legendary Member; Posts: 582; Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 12:48 amFollowed by: 6 members; Thanked: 61 times; GMAT Score:740

by force5 » Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:15 am

A, B are gone. incorrect comparison.

in C and D like is used to give examples - hence incorrect

E is the best

Like this post

cyrwr1: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 218; Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2010 2:43 pm; Thanked: 5 times

by cyrwr1 » Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:16 am

I'm going with E.

A,B,C are incorrect as "the more avidly" makes no reference to.
You need to have the "the more rare" or in this case, the rarer something is.

SO you're left with D and E.

In D, it's:
The rarer something becomes, like A,B,C ......

This isn't parallel. If you choose D, it should be "Noun", like A,B,C
So Eliminate D

Hence, I'm picking E on this one.

Like this post

Stendulkar: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 26; Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2010 12:53 am; Thanked: 1 times

by Stendulkar » Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:20 am

Ignore the phrase after the comma....we get " As rare as something becomes the more avidly it is sought by collectors"....doesn't make sense...So A and B are out.Similarly with C.

With D and E we get " The rarer something becomes the more avidly it is sought by collectors"...sounds good....between D and E, I would go for E because D uses like to introduce examples.. Answer = E??

Like this post

sharmasumitn1: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 66; Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2010 4:54 pm; Thanked: 4 times

by sharmasumitn1 » Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:24 am

atulmangal wrote:As rare as something becomes, be it a baseball card or a musical recording or a postage stamp, the more avidly it is sought by collectors.

(A) As rare as something becomes, be it
(B) As rare as something becomes, whether it is
(C) As something becomes rarer and rarer, like
(D) The rarer something becomes, like
(E) The rarer something becomes, whether it is

GMAT PREP Question

'D' looks good to me.
e.g. The bigger, the better

A and B are incorrectly using as ... as idiom. as ... as is used for comparison
C is incorrect. rarer and rarer is incorrect usage

E is incorrect, whether is used for prefernce betwen two objects.

Like this post

sharmasumitn1: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 66; Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2010 4:54 pm; Thanked: 4 times

by sharmasumitn1 » Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:38 am

sharmasumitn1 wrote:
atulmangal wrote:As rare as something becomes, be it a baseball card or a musical recording or a postage stamp, the more avidly it is sought by collectors.

(A) As rare as something becomes, be it
(B) As rare as something becomes, whether it is
(C) As something becomes rarer and rarer, like
(D) The rarer something becomes, like
(E) The rarer something becomes, whether it is

GMAT PREP Question
'D' looks good to me.
e.g. The bigger, the better

A and B are incorrectly using as ... as idiom. as ... as is used for comparison
C is incorrect. rarer and rarer is incorrect usage

E is incorrect, whether is used for prefernce betwen two objects.

like is used to compare things.
e.g. Can you buy me fruits like mango or banana?

Here "a baseball card or a musical recording or a postage stamp" are not examples, they are used for comparision.

E distorts meaning. It implies that the rarer something becomes like it is a baseball card etc...
This is incorrect. The rarer something becomes like a a baseball card becomes rare.

Like this post

Stendulkar: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 26; Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2010 12:53 am; Thanked: 1 times

by Stendulkar » Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:58 am

'Like' is used to show similarity...a baseball card, a musical recording and a postage stamp are not similar....I might be wrong....would like an expert to comment...

Like this post

atulmangal: Legendary Member; Posts: 1112; Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2011 11:16 amFollowed by: 49 members; Thanked: 77 times

by atulmangal » Wed Apr 27, 2011 10:11 am

OA E

see Ron's post

https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/as- ... ba79ad0c8d

Like this post

sharmasumitn1: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 66; Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2010 4:54 pm; Thanked: 4 times

by sharmasumitn1 » Wed Apr 27, 2011 10:22 am

atulmangal wrote:OA E

see Ron's post

https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/as- ... ba79ad0c8d

Very strange question. I still have some doubt on "whether"

Like this post

GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Wed Apr 27, 2011 10:58 am

atulmangal wrote:As rare as something becomes, be it a baseball card or a musical recording or a postage stamp, the more avidly it is sought by collectors.

(A) As rare as something becomes, be it
(B) As rare as something becomes, whether it is
(C) As something becomes rarer and rarer, like
(D) The rarer something becomes, like
(E) The rarer something becomes, whether it is

GMAT PREP Question

I received a PM asking me to comment.

In C and D, like should not be used to introduce examples. Eliminate C and D.

In A and B, the comparison as rare...the more is not parallel. The correct idiom is the X-er, the Y-er:

The longer I visit, the more I want to stay.
The bigger they come, the harder they fall.
The more I eat ice cream, the less I enjoy it.

Thus, the construction needed in the SC above is the rarer...the more. Eliminate A and B.

The correct answer is E.

Private tutor exclusively for the GMAT and GRE, with over 20 years of experience.
Followed here and elsewhere by over 1900 test-takers.
I have worked with students based in the US, Australia, Taiwan, China, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia -- a long list of countries.
My students have been admitted to HBS, CBS, Tuck, Yale, Stern, Fuqua -- a long list of top programs.

As a tutor, I don't simply teach you how I would approach problems.
I unlock the best way for YOU to solve problems.

For more information, please email me (Mitch Hunt) at [email protected].
Student Review #1
Student Review #2
Student Review #3

Like this post

sharmasumitn1: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 66; Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2010 4:54 pm; Thanked: 4 times

by sharmasumitn1 » Wed Apr 27, 2011 12:00 pm

GMATGuruNY wrote:
atulmangal wrote:As rare as something becomes, be it a baseball card or a musical recording or a postage stamp, the more avidly it is sought by collectors.

(A) As rare as something becomes, be it
(B) As rare as something becomes, whether it is
(C) As something becomes rarer and rarer, like
(D) The rarer something becomes, like
(E) The rarer something becomes, whether it is

GMAT PREP Question
I received a PM asking me to comment.

In C and D, like should not be used to introduce examples. Eliminate C and D.

In A and B, the comparison as rare...the more is not parallel. The correct idiom is the X-er, the Y-er:

The longer I visit, the more I want to stay.
The bigger they come, the harder they fall.
The more I eat ice cream, the less I enjoy it.

Thus, the construction needed in the SC above is the rarer...the more. Eliminate A and B.

The correct answer is E.

Thanks Mitch for the explanation.
Can you please throw some light on usage of 'whether' ?

Like this post

GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Thu Apr 28, 2011 2:01 am

sharmasumitn1 wrote:
GMATGuruNY wrote:
atulmangal wrote:As rare as something becomes, be it a baseball card or a musical recording or a postage stamp, the more avidly it is sought by collectors.

(A) As rare as something becomes, be it
(B) As rare as something becomes, whether it is
(C) As something becomes rarer and rarer, like
(D) The rarer something becomes, like
(E) The rarer something becomes, whether it is

GMAT PREP Question
I received a PM asking me to comment.

In C and D, like should not be used to introduce examples. Eliminate C and D.

In A and B, the comparison as rare...the more is not parallel. The correct idiom is the X-er, the Y-er:

The longer I visit, the more I want to stay.
The bigger they come, the harder they fall.
The more I eat ice cream, the less I enjoy it.

Thus, the construction needed in the SC above is the rarer...the more. Eliminate A and B.

The correct answer is E.
Thanks Mitch for the explanation.
Can you please throw some light on usage of 'whether' ?

In the SC above, whether it is a baseball card...or a postage stamp is an adverbial clause modifying the rest of the sentence. The clause is set off by commas because it could be removed without altering the basic meaning of the sentence:

The rarer something becomes, the more avidly it is sought.

Like this post

AIM GMAT: Legendary Member; Posts: 857; Joined: Wed Aug 25, 2010 1:36 amFollowed by: 15 members; Thanked: 56 times

by AIM GMAT » Thu Apr 28, 2011 3:47 am

GMATGuruNY wrote:
atulmangal wrote:As rare as something becomes, be it a baseball card or a musical recording or a postage stamp, the more avidly it is sought by collectors.

(A) As rare as something becomes, be it
(B) As rare as something becomes, whether it is
(C) As something becomes rarer and rarer, like
(D) The rarer something becomes, like
(E) The rarer something becomes, whether it is

GMAT PREP Question
I received a PM asking me to comment.

In C and D, like should not be used to introduce examples. Eliminate C and D.

In A and B, the comparison as rare...the more is not parallel. The correct idiom is the X-er, the Y-er:

The longer I visit, the more I want to stay.
The bigger they come, the harder they fall.
The more I eat ice cream, the less I enjoy it.

Thus, the construction needed in the SC above is the rarer...the more. Eliminate A and B.

The correct answer is E.

Awesome explanation by Mitch , i m too with E .

Thanks & Regards,
AIM GMAT

Like this post

sharmasumitn1: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 66; Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2010 4:54 pm; Thanked: 4 times

by sharmasumitn1 » Thu Apr 28, 2011 6:11 am

GMATGuruNY wrote:
sharmasumitn1 wrote:
GMATGuruNY wrote:
atulmangal wrote:As rare as something becomes, be it a baseball card or a musical recording or a postage stamp, the more avidly it is sought by collectors.

(A) As rare as something becomes, be it
(B) As rare as something becomes, whether it is
(C) As something becomes rarer and rarer, like
(D) The rarer something becomes, like
(E) The rarer something becomes, whether it is

GMAT PREP Question
I received a PM asking me to comment.

In C and D, like should not be used to introduce examples. Eliminate C and D.

In A and B, the comparison as rare...the more is not parallel. The correct idiom is the X-er, the Y-er:

The longer I visit, the more I want to stay.
The bigger they come, the harder they fall.
The more I eat ice cream, the less I enjoy it.

Thus, the construction needed in the SC above is the rarer...the more. Eliminate A and B.

The correct answer is E.
Thanks Mitch for the explanation.
Can you please throw some light on usage of 'whether' ?
In the SC above, whether it is a baseball card...or a postage stamp is an adverbial clause modifying the rest of the sentence. The clause is set off by commas because it could be removed without altering the basic meaning of the sentence:

The rarer something becomes, the more avidly it is sought.

Thanks Mitch

Like this post

vikram4689: Legendary Member; Posts: 1325; Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2009 6:24 amFollowed by: 14 members; Thanked: 105 times

by vikram4689 » Thu Mar 15, 2012 10:22 pm

GMATGuruNY wrote: In the SC above, whether it is a baseball card...or a postage stamp is an adverbial clause modifying the rest of the sentence. The clause is set off by commas because it could be removed without altering the basic meaning of the sentence:

The rarer something becomes, the more avidly it is sought.

Mitch, how did you find that it is working as an ADVERBIAL clause(clause modifying a verb). Isnt it working as ADJECTIVAL clause(clause modifying a noun) and modifying ."something" ..

Premise: If you like my post
Conclusion : Press the Thanks Button

Like this post

Post new topic Locked

GMAT Course Reviews

559 reviews

1168 reviews

431 reviews

359 reviews

147 reviews

5/5

5 Star (560 Reviews)

"Target Test Prep is the closest to the official version of the GMAT exam, about 99% accuracy in terms of the quality and quantity of information. The course has excellently created singular sets of focused lessons and tests for every possible topic that one could come across in the official GMAT exam."

"The TTP course maximizes the efficiency of the time you spend studying. It will take time and effort but I could almost guarantee that if you complete the course exactly as it is laid out you will get an amazing score. They also have a very responsive team willing to help with any questions you might have."

"TTP has two things that I think no other test prep company offers: A teaching approach that reinforces understanding and an attitude that will give you the mental preparedness needed to succeed on the test. TTP gives you a deep understanding of the concept you need to know while teaching you how to think."

Write a Review