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Comparision: Woodland sub-species

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by hoji » Tue Nov 08, 2011 8:41 am
The woodland sub-species were in isolation from contact with humans longer than
either their marsh cousins or the tree-dwelling sub-species.
A. in isolation from contact with humans longer than
B. isolated from contact with humans longer than
C. in isolation from contact with humans longer than were
D. isolated from contact with humans longer than were
E. in isolation and without contacts with humans longer than

I chose C, because in my opinion, in isolation is better than isolated: "the woodland sub-species were isolated" emphasizes the doer of the action: as if the species were isolated by someone. on the contrary, in isolation is neutral in this sense.
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Source: — Sentence Correction |

by VivianKerr » Tue Nov 08, 2011 9:34 am
C and E are hopelessly wordy, and "in isolation" is awkward. A person IS isolated, not said to "be in isolation" -- it's also a less-active construction.

Idiomatically, "isolated from" is the way to go, and C does not have that idiom correct.

Down to B and D, and D has great parallelism, which we know the GMAT loves!

D: WERE isolated...longer than WERE....
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by bpdulog » Tue Nov 08, 2011 1:27 pm
Is "than were their" correct structure?

I went with answer B.
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