anubhavgulati wrote:Hi,

Can some one please check the below qiestion:

The famous battle depicted in the movie took place in England, and many people assume that it was Ireland
(A) and many people assume that it was
(B) many people assuming
(C) not what many people assume
(D) not, as many people assume, in ---- as many people is just extra information and we require preposition in in order to maintain parallelism
(E) but many people assume it to be

Correct answer is D,
Original sentence implies a contrast, is 'not' shows the contrast. Never read same before regarding the 'not'.

Please explain.

Brian@VeritasPrep wrote:Great answers, everyone.

Just to answer the initial question regarding "not", yes, "not" implies contrast. Most famously, James Bond always asked for his martinits:

Shaken, not stirred.

X, not Y is a colloquial way of saying that something is one thing, and not another that could fit in a related category. So you'd say:

I'd like my chicken grilled, not fried.

I asked for Coke, not Pepsi.

In Brazil they speak Portuguese, not Spanish.


So, in this sentence, "not" is designed to show contrast between the fact that many assume that the battle took place in Ireland, but it actually took place in England.