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Knewton Challenge, 1/20/11 (Single-Payer Insurance)

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Knewton Challenge, 1/20/11 (Single-Payer Insurance)

by Adam@Knewton » Thu Jan 20, 2011 6:06 am
Hey everyone,

Here's the Knewton Verbal Challenge question for Thursday, 1/20. Once you've looked it over, reply to this thread with your answer and an explanation for how you got it. Just like yesterday, I'll choose the best explanation at 11 pm EST, and the daily winner will get free access to the Beat the GMAT Practice Questions!

(Congrats to yesterday's winner, fitzgerald23!)

--

Question 2.

Unlike a single-payer health insurance system, in which the government or a government-related source pays for all services using a single pool of money, employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance.

(A) employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance
(B) to provide health insurance in the American system, people largely depend on their employers
(C) the American healthcare system is largely dependent on employer-provided health insurance
(D) the American healthcare system's foundation is employer-provided health insurance
(E) employer-provided health insurance, upon which the American system depends
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by mundasingh123 » Thu Jan 20, 2011 6:11 am
Answer is C Because we are comparing the single-payer health insurance system with the Employer-Funded Insurance sytem
A,B,D,E all incorrectly compare the single-payer health insurance system to employers in A,people in B,Foundation in D and Insurance in E.
Unlike a single-payer health insurance system, in which the government or a government-related source pays for all services using a single pool of money, employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance.

(A) employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance
(B) to provide health insurance in the American system, people largely depend on their employers
(C) the American healthcare system is largely dependent on employer-provided health insurance
(D) the American healthcare system's foundation is employer-provided health insurance
(E) employer-provided health insurance, upon which the American system depends
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by stormier » Thu Jan 20, 2011 6:24 am
AdamKnewton wrote:Hey everyone,

Here's the Knewton Verbal Challenge question for Thursday, 1/20. Once you've looked it over, reply to this thread with your answer and an explanation for how you got it. Just like yesterday, I'll choose the best explanation at 11 pm EST, and the daily winner will get free access to the Beat the GMAT Practice Questions!

(Congrats to yesterday's winner, fitzgerald23!)

--

Question 2.

Unlike a single-payer health insurance system, in which the government or a government-related source pays for all services using a single pool of money, employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance.

(A) employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance

Incorrect. "Compares health insurance system" with "to provide"

(B) to provide health insurance in the American system, people largely depend on their employers

Incorrect. For the same reason as A

(C) the American healthcare system is largely dependent on employer-provided health insurance

Correct. Parallel comparison of two healthcare systems

(D) the American healthcare system's foundation is employer-provided health insurance

Incorrect. compares a simple noun with another in possessive form

(E) employer-provided health insurance, upon which the American system depends

Incorrect. missing preposition for the second part of the sentence - in. awkward construction
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by hja379 » Thu Jan 20, 2011 6:46 am
AdamKnewton wrote:Hey everyone,

--

Question 2.

Unlike a single-payer health insurance system, in which the government or a government-related source pays for all services using a single pool of money, employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance.

(A) employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance
(B) to provide health insurance in the American system, people largely depend on their employers
(C) the American healthcare system is largely dependent on employer-provided health insurance
(D) the American healthcare system's foundation is employer-provided health insurance
(E) employer-provided health insurance, upon which the American system depends
This question is testing "Parallelism". Unlike X, Y. The elements X and Y must be similar in structure. You can safely ignore " in which the government or a government-related source pays for all services using a single pool of money" which is just a modifier of "single-payer health insurance system"
Explanation:
(A) - Incorrect. Compares "health insurance system" with "employers".
(B) - Incorrect. "health insurance system" and "to provide ...." are not parallel.
(C) - Correct. Compares "health insurance system" with "American healthcare system"
(D) - Incorrect. Wrong comparison. Compares "health insurance system" with "...system's foundation". Watch out for the possessive here (system's).
(E) - Incorrect. Compares "...insurance system" with "...insurance" (instead of another system).
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by prachich1987 » Thu Jan 20, 2011 7:20 am
IMO : C

The comparison should be always between similar things.
For this reason A,B,D,E are out.
Only C compares system with system.
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by gnod » Thu Jan 20, 2011 7:23 am
darn it, i was late for this one too. thought it's critical reasoning & sentence correction each, per day.

Question 2.

Unlike a single-payer health insurance system, in which the government or a government-related source pays for all services using a single pool of money, employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance.

(A) employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance
not parallel: comparing single-payer health insurance system to employers
(B) to provide health insurance in the American system, people largely depend on their employers
same as A
(C) the American healthcare system is largely dependent on employer-provided health insurance
correct
(D) the American healthcare system's foundation is employer-provided health insurance
not comparing the foundation of the system, but the system itself - incorrect
(E) employer-provided health insurance, upon which the American system depends
not the insurance, but the insurance system

Answer C

You're comparing: unlike a single-payer health insurance system to the American healthcare system.
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by GMATMadeEasy » Thu Jan 20, 2011 7:25 am
Unlike a single-payer health insurance system, in which the government or a government-related source pays for all services using a single pool of money, employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance.

(A) employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance
(B) to provide health insurance in the American system, people largely depend on their employers
(C) the American healthcare system is largely dependent on employer-provided health insurance
(D) the American healthcare system's foundation is employer-provided health insurance
(E) employer-provided health insurance, upon which the American system depends
@AdamKnewton: feel little easier as compared to your question posted yesterday, but wait until my answer choice is confirmed as I fear some trap as well .

The correct answer should be C . It expresses "the intended meaning" in simple and elegant way and ,most importantly , preserves the right comparison . (apples to apples not apples to oranges)

A > Incorrect: The phrase at beginning "Unlike a single-payer health insurance system" needs another phrase referring to same type of entity that is some other type of insurance , but "employers" is not right comparison with a health insurance system .
B> Incorrect: Same problem of comparison as of A;this answer choice compares insurance with "people" .
C> Correct: Clearly, expresses the contrast between two types of insurance systems: a single-payer health insurance system and he American healthcare system .
D> Incorrect: "the American healthcare system's foundation" is compared a type of healthcare system.
E> Incorrect: Comparison is between two types of insurances , but this is not a complete sentence . The candidate for subject "employer-provided health insurance" has no verb to be associated with , hence it is not a complete clause in itself.
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by RACHVIK » Thu Jan 20, 2011 7:31 am
Unlike a single-payer health insurance system, in which the government or a government-related source pays for all services using a single pool of money, employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance.

(A) employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance
(B) to provide health insurance in the American system, people largely depend on their employers
(C) the American healthcare system is largely dependent on employer-provided health insurance
(D) the American healthcare system's foundation is employer-provided health insurance
(E) employer-provided health insurance, upon which the American system depends

The above sentence aims at comparison and should therefore maintain parallelism between elements being compared. The two elements being compared should be parallel, i.e. they should be grammatically similar as well as logically. The signal word for comparison is 'Unlike'.

So lets synthesize the statement and the options.

Unlike a single-payer health insurance system, in which the government or a government-related source pays for all services using a single pool of money, employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance.

The keyword 'Unlike' signals comparison. The phrase set off by comma 'in which the government or a government-related source pays for all services using a single pool of money' is a prepositional phrase which modifies the nearest noun 'single-payer health insurance system'. We can strike off this modifier and consider elements being compared.

(A) Unlike a single-payer health insurance system,....., employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance

In the above choice 'single-payer health insurance system' is being compared to 'employers'. The choice is grammatically correct. A noun is compared to noun. But it is not logical. It is non-sensical to compare a system to an employer. Hence INCORRECT.

(B) Unlike a single-payer health insurance system,....., to provide health insurance in the American system, people largely depend on their employers

This is a case of misplaced modifier and non-sensical comparison. The modifier 'to provide...' makes more sense if placed following 'employers'. Also in this case 'single-payer health insurance system' is compared to 'people'. Similar to (A), the elements are grammatically parallel but not logically parallel. Hence INCORRECT.

(C) Unlike a single-payer health insurance system,......, the American healthcare system is largely dependent on employer-provided health insurance

This one nails it. The two elements 'single-payer health insurance system' & 'single-payer health insurance system' are logically as well as grammatically parallel. A NOUN is compared to a NOUN, and 'System' to 'System'. In a sentence it is perfectly alright to have two elements modified differently. Element 1 - 'single-payer health insurance system' has a modifier attached to it whereas Element 2 - 'the American healthcare system' has no modifier. This is the CORRECT answer.

(D) Unlike a single-payer health insurance system,.......,the American healthcare system's foundation is employer-provided health insurance

The two elements 'single-payer health insurance system' & 'American healthcare system's foundation' are neither logically equal nor grammatically. A noun is compared to noun but the second element is in Possessive form. 'System' is being compared to 'foundation'. INCORRECT.

(E) Unlike a single-payer health insurance system,........, employer-provided health insurance, upon which the American system depends

This one repeats the mistake in Option A & B. 'System' is compared to 'Insurance'. They are grammatically parallel but not logically. Hence INCORRECT.

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by AIM GMAT » Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:07 am
IMO C.

This question is categorised under Comparisons . Unlike is the signpost. Here we are comparing two things .Unlike X,Y . Comparison can be done between like things , for example - SUVs can be compared to SUVs not with trucks.

In this question, X =" a single-payer health insurance system" so Y has to be a system as well.

(A) employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance
[Compares system with employers]

(B) to provide health insurance in the American system, people largely depend on their employers
[this is case of misplaced modifier]

(C) the American healthcare system is largely dependent on employer-provided health insurance
[Correctly compares like things that is system with system.]

(D) the American healthcare system's foundation is employer-provided health insurance
[Compares system with system foundation , wrong comparison apples cannot be compared with oranges.]

(E) employer-provided health insurance, upon which the American system depends
[Again this option also does wrong comparison]


Unlike CR , SC was easy. :)
Thanks & Regards,
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by towerSpider » Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:35 am
AdamKnewton wrote:
Unlike a single-payer health insurance system, in which the government or a government-related source pays for all services using a single pool of money, employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance.

First of all, lets simplify this sentence for better understanding. I have put part of sentence in red color to indicate a grammatically extra portion. Such information is modifier which gives additional information. It is also called middleman. It is put in sentence to confuse the reader. Removing such information simplifies the sentence and therefore makes it easy for us to understand and manipulate. Simplified sentence is "Unlike a single-payer health insurance system, employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance.
"

(A) employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance

There are three mistakes here. (1) Employers is compared with system. (2) It is unambiguously stated who is to provide health insurance. According to (A), it could be either provided by employers or the health system. (3) "in on" is awkward.

(B) to provide health insurance in the American system, people largely depend on their employer

"to provide" is compared with "system". When you compare two things, they should be naturally same.

(C) the American healthcare system is largely dependent on employer-provided health insurance

This is correct. One system is compared to other.

(D) the American healthcare system's foundation is employer-provided health insurance

Again wrong comparison. Foundation and system are not same.

(E) employer-provided health insurance, upon which the American system depends

This lacks main verb and is awkward.
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by itspanx » Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:56 am
When you read the question stem you know that unlike starts a comparison and you got to compare two types of health insurance systems.


A is Incorrect Because
1. "Health insurance system" is comapred to "employers", which is not a health insurance system.
2. Depended should be dependent
3. on in is is awkward

B is Incorrect Because
1."Health insurance system" is comapred to "to provide", which is not a health insurance system.

C is Correct Because
1.It rightly compares type A health insurance system to Type B health insurance system
2.Maintains the parallelism by telling the quality of the American health insurance system in contrast to the quality of the single-payer health insurance system.

D is Incorrect because
it wrongly compares "Health insurance system" to 'foundation'.


E is wrong because
lacks the main verb and is awkward.
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by Target2009 » Thu Jan 20, 2011 9:07 am
AdamKnewton wrote:Hey everyone,

Here's the Knewton Verbal Challenge question for Thursday, 1/20. Once you've looked it over, reply to this thread with your answer and an explanation for how you got it. Just like yesterday, I'll choose the best explanation at 11 pm EST, and the daily winner will get free access to the Beat the GMAT Practice Questions!

(Congrats to yesterday's winner, fitzgerald23!)

--

Question 2.

Unlike a single-payer health insurance system, in which the government or a government-related source pays for all services using a single pool of money, employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance.

(A) employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance
(B) to provide health insurance in the American system, people largely depend on their employers
(C) the American healthcare system is largely dependent on employer-provided health insurance
(D) the American healthcare system's foundation is employer-provided health insurance
(E) employer-provided health insurance, upon which the American system depends
IMO : C
I found it pretty straight.
Unlike X , Y idiom and x , y must be parallel.
x = single-payer health insurance system
y = the American healthcare system
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by schumi_gmat » Thu Jan 20, 2011 9:46 am
Unlike a single-payer health insurance system, in which the government or a government-related source pays for all services using a single pool of money, employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance.
(A) employers are largely depended on in the American healthcare system to provide health insurance
(B) to provide health insurance in the American system, people largely depend on their employers
(C) the American healthcare system is largely dependent on employer-provided health insurance
(D) the American healthcare system's foundation is employer-provided health insurance
(E) employer-provided health insurance, upon which the American system depends


Solution -

The words such as "Like", "unlike" points to comparison.
What is being compared? - a noun following unlike is "single payer health insurance system" - so health insurance companies must be compared.

This noun is modified by a relative clause "in which.......money" which is non essential. So the sentence with correct comparison must read as -

unlike a single payer health insurance system(noun1), ............, American health insurance company(noun)..........

The only option C , gives that correct comparison.

A. Incorrect comparison between insurance company and employer.
B. System is compared with infinitive
C. Correct answer
D. tries to confuse using possessive which is leading to wrong comparison between "insurance system" and "system's foundation"
E. Although the nouns are being compared, "system" is compared to "Insurance".
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by hitesh888 » Thu Jan 20, 2011 9:54 am
Correct Ans is C

Explanation :-

Usage of Unlike/like - Unlike X, Y... (Where X and Y are parallel)

'Unlike' is use to compare 2 similar things. So the two things mentioned here should be similar in nature. The word/phrase right after the comma should be the parallel to the word/phrase right after the word 'unlike'. The part between the 2 commas is just the modifier for the phrase - a single-payer health insurance system, and it can be omitted for simplicity.

So, 'a single-payer health insurance system' should be compared to something similar to it. Lets see the choices now-

A - Employers is being compared to the Insurance system. - Incorrect

B - to provide .... act as a modifier for 'the people'. The sentence required the comparing phrase immediately and not the modifier. And still comparing 'the people' to the 'insurance system' is wrong - Incorrect

C- 'the American healthcare system' is compared to 'a single-payer health insurance system'. 'the' is correctly put before the phrase to maintain the parallelism. - Correct

D - 'healthcare system's foundation' is being compared to 'a single-payer health insurance system'. - Incorrect

E - Is NOT a complete sentence. The sentence provides a noun for comparison but then modifier is used. If we omit the modifier part after the comma, we will easily see that the sentence is left incomplete. - Incorrect
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by lilisanei » Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:04 am
Unlike is a preposition that compares two things that are different from each other. It is important that the compered items are parallel and have the same structure. In this example by deleting the modifier " in which...", we have Unlike X, Y that needs to be parallel.


(A) Incorrect, it is comparing a system with employers that does not make sense.
(B) Incorrect, It is obviously wrong, because a noun "system" can not be paralleled with a " infinitive"
(C) Correct, two systems have been compared together.
(D) Incorrect, it is comparing a non-possessive noun with a possessive noun.
(E) Incorrect, It is compared an insurance system with insurance.
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