BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

Anton Checkhov

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 116
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 10:50 am
Followed by:1 members

Anton Checkhov

by LulaBrazilia » Tue Jan 14, 2014 8:06 pm
In the English-speaking world Anton Checkhov is by far better known for his plays than for his short stories, but it was during his lifetime that Chekhov's stories made him popular while his plays were given a more ambivalent reception, even by his fellow writers.

(A) by far better known for his plays than for his short stories, but it was during his lifetime that

(B) by far better known for his plays than he was for his short stories, but during his lifetime

(C) known far better for his plays than he was for his short stories, but during his lifetime it was

(D) far better known for his plays than were his short stories, but it was during his lifetime that

(E) far better known for his plays than for his short stories, but during his lifetime
Top
Source: — Sentence Correction |
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 1052
Joined: Fri May 21, 2010 1:30 am
Thanked: 335 times
Followed by:98 members

by Patrick_GMATFix » Tue Jan 14, 2014 8:20 pm
The solution below is taken from the GMATFix App.

Image

-Patrick
  • Ask me about tutoring.
Top
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 1035
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 11:13 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Thanked: 474 times
Followed by:365 members

by VivianKerr » Thu Jan 16, 2014 9:58 pm
The first things to note is that "is" is not underlined, so we're talking about the present, then in the second-half "made" and "were given" indicates we've moved to the past. So the first error we can spot and use to eliminate are any Verb Tense jumps

(B)'s "was" doesn't agree with "is"
(C)'s "was" doesn't agree with "is"

With these out, let's see if there's anything easy to spot in (A), (D), or (E).

(D) incorrectly compares "plays" to "were his short stories" rather than just "plays" to "stories"

Error #1 - Verb Tense
Error #2 - Comparison

So now, how to pick between (A) and (E)? When no other grammar errors are obvious, it's time to analyze Style.

In (A), there is some redundancy with "his" and "Chekhov's stories" -- it's almost like saying, "...but it was during Chekhov's lifetime that Chekhov's stories made him popular..." We get it, we're talking about Chekhov -- we don't need the sentence to reference him so much. In addition, the phrase "it was" doesn't serve any necessary purpose. (E) removed the redundancy, the wordiness, and adds no additional grammar error.

Based on style, (E) is correct.
Vivian Kerr
GMAT Rockstar, Tutor
https://www.GMATrockstar.com
https://www.yelp.com/biz/gmat-rockstar-los-angeles

Former Kaplan and Grockit instructor, freelance GMAT content creator, now offering affordable, effective, Skype-tutoring for the GMAT at $150/hr. Contact: [email protected]

Thank you for all the "thanks" and "follows"! :-)
Top
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Oct 06, 2013 5:32 am

by gloube » Fri Jan 17, 2014 4:34 am
VivianKerr wrote:The first things to note is that "is" is not underlined, so we're talking about the present, then in the second-half "made" and "were given" indicates we've moved to the past. So the first error we can spot and use to eliminate are any Verb Tense jumps

(B)'s "was" doesn't agree with "is"
(C)'s "was" doesn't agree with "is"

With these out, let's see if there's anything easy to spot in (A), (D), or (E).

(D) incorrectly compares "plays" to "were his short stories" rather than just "plays" to "stories"

Error #1 - Verb Tense
Error #2 - Comparison

So now, how to pick between (A) and (E)? When no other grammar errors are obvious, it's time to analyze Style.

In (A), there is some redundancy with "his" and "Chekhov's stories" -- it's almost like saying, "...but it was during Chekhov's lifetime that Chekhov's stories made him popular..." We get it, we're talking about Chekhov -- we don't need the sentence to reference him so much. In addition, the phrase "it was" doesn't serve any necessary purpose. (E) removed the redundancy, the wordiness, and adds no additional grammar error.

Based on style, (E) is correct.
I don't agree with your analysis of A vs. E: the redundancy with "his" is present in both answers so it's not relevant. It just doesn't make sense to start the sentence with "but it was during" vs. "but during", because we are just trying to express the idea "when dead plays > stories, but when alive stories > plays" and not "when dead plays > stories, but the period when stories > plays was when alive"
Top
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 1035
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 11:13 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Thanked: 474 times
Followed by:365 members

by VivianKerr » Fri Jan 17, 2014 11:19 am
Oops, you're correct, the redundancy IS present is (E) as well (well-spotted!), however based on the wordiness and lack of any additional grammar error, it's still got to be (E).

The big decision points on this question, IMO, are Verb Tense, Comparison, and Style.
Vivian Kerr
GMAT Rockstar, Tutor
https://www.GMATrockstar.com
https://www.yelp.com/biz/gmat-rockstar-los-angeles

Former Kaplan and Grockit instructor, freelance GMAT content creator, now offering affordable, effective, Skype-tutoring for the GMAT at $150/hr. Contact: [email protected]

Thank you for all the "thanks" and "follows"! :-)
Top
Post new topic Locked
• Page 1 of 1