Sentence Correction

Nuclear fusion is the force that powers the Sun, the stars, and hydrogen bombs, merging the nuclei of atoms and not splitting them apart, as in nuclear reactors.

(A) merging the nuclei of atoms and not splitting them apart, as in nuclear reactors
(B) merging the nuclei of atoms instead of splitting them apart, like nuclear reactors
(C) merging the nuclei of atoms rather than splitting them apart, as nuclear reactors do
(D) and merges the nuclei of atoms but does not split them apart, as is done in nclear reactors
(E) and merges the nuclei of atoms, unlike atomic reactors that split them apart

Source: OG11


The official answer is C



Could you please explain why choice B is incorrect ?

OG says comparison is unclear and the usage is incorrect in choice B.

Please explain me why is unclear and incorrect? What two things are getting compared here if we use Like?

here the action merging is compared.

So according to GMAT grammer,

Like - Nouns
as -verb/bla bla

So B

KSR wrote:Nuclear fusion is the force that powers the Sun, the stars, and hydrogen bombs, merging the nuclei of atoms and not splitting them apart, as in nuclear reactors.

(A) merging the nuclei of atoms and not splitting them apart, as in nuclear reactors
(B) merging the nuclei of atoms instead of splitting them apart, like nuclear reactors
(C) merging the nuclei of atoms rather than splitting them apart, as nuclear reactors do
(D) and merges the nuclei of atoms but does not split them apart, as is done in nclear reactors
(E) and merges the nuclei of atoms, unlike atomic reactors that split them apart

Source: OG11


The official answer is C



Could you please explain why choice B is incorrect ?

OG says comparison is unclear and the usage is incorrect in choice B.

Please explain me why is unclear and incorrect? What two things are getting compared here if we use Like?

IMO

Like = similar to.

Thus B becomes...

Merging....similar to....Reactors.

So it is incorrect comparison

Merging the nuclei of atoms in nuclear fusion is similar to that done in nuclear reactors - is the intended meaning of B

(B) - merging the nuclei of atoms instead of splitting them apart, like nuclear reactors

But it actually ends up comparing the merging of nuclei of atoms to nuclear reactors. Are the nuclear reactors and merging the nuclei atoms the same ??
Certainly not..

-Deepak

I thing you have not understood this question

B mean

the force power the Sun, like nuclear reactor

C mean

the force power the sun as nuclear reactor do

so why B is wrong

"merging..." modify "the force power" and so is not relevant here.

Here the comparision is with the method of nuclear fusion and nuclear reactor.

let's see what nuclear fusion does? It merges the nuclei and not splitting them. Hence, we should expect similar action with nuclear reactor.

C clarifies that point

The Choice B seems like striking similarities between Nuclear Fusion and Reactors by saying both merge nuclei and don't split them apart.

If I consider this reasoning, the Choice B is wrong but will like otehrs to clear my understanding on this. Want to know if I am comparing the right things.

Please suggest.

Hi KSR,

If I understood you right, you want to know why B is wrong. In "B", we are comparing the method of nuclear fusion with nuclear reactor itself...It is a wrong comparision

thanks. I understand my reasoning is flawed.

Which one would be better if I change the B as follows?

(B) merging the nuclei of atoms instead of splitting them apart, as nuclear reactors do
(C) merging the nuclei of atoms rather than splitting them apart, as nuclear reactors do

The only difference is "instead of" and "rather than"

'rather than' is better.

KSR wrote:'rather than' is better.

Is it a specific rule which we need to follow on GMAT?

mittalashwani13 wrote:

KSR wrote:'rather than' is better.

Is it a specific rule which we need to follow on GMAT?

What I have read till date is that:

instead of <noun> only.

rather than <with everything>

Here splitting is a verb...so rather than is correct. Moreover whenever GMAT gives the choice between instead of and rather than.....rather than is generally correct.

For more details please refer the following post:

https://www.beatthegmat.com/help-pls-not ... 27020.html