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

Redeem

Marconi’s conception of the radio

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 120
Joined: Sat Dec 05, 2015 11:09 am

Marconi’s conception of the radio

by gocoder » Sun May 15, 2016 9:36 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

Marconi's conception of the radio was as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation; instead, it is precisely the opposite, a tool for communicating with a large, public audience.

A. Marconi's conception of the radio was as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation; instead, it is
B. Marconi conceived of the radio as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation, but which is
C. Marconi conceived of the radio as a tool for private conversation that could substitute for the telephone; instead, it has become
D. Marconi conceived of the radio to be a tool for private conversation, a substitute for the telephone, which has become
E. Marconi conceived of the radio to be a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation, other than what it is,


a Couple of doubts :
Is 'but which ' allowed as a part of sentence ?

in option C, what 'it' is referring to , generally it has to refer to the subject of the preceding clause, right ?
moreover, in C, ' Marconi conceived of the radio as a tool for private conversation that could substitute for the telephone', Still unsure if ' that' here is referring back to radio
Top
Source: — Sentence Correction |
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 2095
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 3:22 pm
Thanked: 1443 times
Followed by:247 members

by ceilidh.erickson » Sat May 21, 2016 1:30 pm

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

1. Yes, "but which" could be correctly used in a construction such as "the television, which can receive information but which cannot transmit information, is a useful tool." There are other more concise ways of expressing the same information, but that would be grammatically acceptable. As used in B, though, "but which" is not correct. It should only be used in a parallel construction: ... which X but which Y...

2. While pronouns generally refer to the subject of the preceding clause (especially if the pronoun itself is a subject of the next clause), they do not have to do so. If the meaning of the pronoun is generally clear, and there is a clear antecedent present in the sentence, it's fine if the pronoun refers to an object instead.

3. A relative pronoun such as "that" or "which" is allowed to "hop" over a short essential modifier (usually a prepositional phrase) to modify the noun just before it. Think of it this way:
Marconi conceived of the radio as a tool (for private conversation) that could substitute for the telephone

For more on this issue, see:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/although-she ... tml#771673
https://www.beatthegmat.com/emily-dickin ... tml#563839
https://www.beatthegmat.com/noun-phrase- ... tml#570781
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 234
Joined: Tue May 31, 2016 1:40 am
Thanked: 3 times

by Needgmat » Tue Jul 05, 2016 7:28 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

Hi Experts ,

In OA how de we know that IT refers to the Radio? IT can also refers to the Telephone.

Please explain.

Many thanks in advance.

Kavin
Top
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 2663
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 8:25 am
Location: Boston, MA
Thanked: 1153 times
Followed by:128 members
GMAT Score:770

by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Tue Jul 05, 2016 7:39 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

Needgmat wrote:Hi Experts ,

In OA how de we know that IT refers to the Radio? IT can also refers to the Telephone.

Please explain.

Many thanks in advance.

Kavin
Logic - the gist of the sentence is that the radio was initially conceived as one thing, but it [the radio] has become something else. Note, also, that every answer choice has some kind of pronoun, so there's no avoiding pronoun usage here, and it surely wouldn't make sense to claim that a telephone is a tool for communicating with a large, public audience!
Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor

Veritas Prep Reviews
Save $100 off any live Veritas Prep GMAT Course
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 234
Joined: Tue May 31, 2016 1:40 am
Thanked: 3 times

by Needgmat » Tue Jul 05, 2016 9:06 pm

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

Logic - the gist of the sentence is that the radio was initially conceived as one thing, but it [the radio] has become something else. Note, also, that every answer choice has some kind of pronoun, so there's no avoiding pronoun usage here, and it surely wouldn't make sense to claim that a telephone is a tool for communicating with a large, public audience!
[/quote]

Hi DavidG ,

Thank you so much for the explanation. All clear now.

Thanks,

Kavin
Top
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 186
Joined: Sat Dec 24, 2016 12:38 am
Thanked: 5 times
Followed by:3 members

by rsarashi » Sat Apr 15, 2017 8:57 pm

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

Hi Experts ,

Whats wrong in option D?

Thanks..
Top
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 2095
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 3:22 pm
Thanked: 1443 times
Followed by:247 members

by ceilidh.erickson » Sun Apr 16, 2017 10:38 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

rsarashi wrote:Hi Experts ,

Whats wrong in option D?

Thanks..
D. Marconi conceived of the radio to be a tool for private conversation, a substitute for the telephone, which has become

Two issues:

1. Here, the "which" modifier can't 'hop' over "a tool..." and "a substitute..." to refer back to "radio." Structurally, this phrase is modifying "telephone," violating the original meaning of the sentence.

2. Idiomatically, we say:
... conceived of X as Y...
rather than
... conceived of X to be Y...
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Top
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 181
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 2:27 pm
Followed by:8 members

by [email protected] » Mon Apr 15, 2019 1:05 pm

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

Hello Everyone!

This is another tricky GMAT question, so let's tackle it one problem at a time. To start, here is the original question, with any major differences between the options highlighted in orange:

Marconi's conception of the radio was as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation; instead, it is precisely the opposite, a tool for communicating with a large, public audience.

(A) Marconi's conception of the radio was as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation; instead, it is
(B) Marconi conceived of the radio as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation, but which is
(C) Marconi conceived of the radio as a tool for private conversation that could substitute for the telephone; instead, it has become
(D) Marconi conceived of the radio to be a tool for private conversation, a substitute for the telephone, which has become
(E) Marconi conceived of the radio to be a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation, other than what it is,

There are a few things we can focus on here:

1. Marconi's conception of / Marconi conceived of (Meaning/Clarity)
2. as / to be (Idiom)
3. Endings (Punctuation/Conjunctions/Meaning)

Since #2 on our list will create an "either/or" split, let's start there. No matter which one we choose, it will eliminate 2-3 options right away. This is an issue of idioms! Here is how this particular idiom works:

conceive X as Y = CORRECT
conceive X to be Y = WRONG

So let's see how each option handles this idiom and eliminate the ones that use the wrong structure:

(A) Marconi's conception of the radio was as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation; instead, it is --> OK (doesn't use the idiom)
(B) Marconi conceived of the radio as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation, but which is --> OK
(C) Marconi conceived of the radio as a tool for private conversation that could substitute for the telephone; instead, it has become --> OK
(D) Marconi conceived of the radio to be a tool for private conversation, a substitute for the telephone, which has become --> WRONG
(E) Marconi conceived of the radio to be a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation, other than what it is, --> WRONG

We can eliminate options D & E because they don't use the idiom "conceived X as Y" properly.

Now, let's go back to #1 on our list: Marconi's conception of vs. Marconi conceived of. This is an issue of clarity and meaning, so let's see which one works best:

(A) Marconi's conception of the radio was as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation; instead, it is

This is INCORRECT because it slightly changes the intended meaning. This sentence says that the conception of the radio is a substitute for the telephone, not the radio itself. Since this isn't as clear as stating that Marconi created the radio, let's rule it out.

(B) Marconi conceived of the radio as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation, but which is

(C) Marconi conceived of the radio as a tool for private conversation that could substitute for the telephone; instead, it has become

Let's eliminate option A because it changes the intended meaning.

Now that we're left with only 2 options, let's take a look at both options with the non-underlined parts added in and see if we can spot any problems:

(B) Marconi conceived of the radio as a substitute for the telephone, a tool for private conversation, but which is precisely the opposite, a tool for communicating with a large, public audience.

This is INCORRECT because it contains a misleading/misplaced modifier! The phrase "but which is precisely the opposite" SHOULD modify the word "radio." However, the ways this is worded, it actually modifies "telephone," which isn't what we're trying to say is "precisely the opposite" here.

(C) Marconi conceived of the radio as a tool for private conversation that could substitute for the telephone; instead, it has become precisely the opposite, a tool for communicating with a large, public audience.

This is CORRECT! It's clear how this is written that the phrase "it has become precisely the opposite" is referring back to the radio. We also don't have any other issues with meaning, modifiers, or punctuation.


There you have it - option C is the correct choice!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
Top
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Nov 13, 2019 1:59 am

by Sumitgupt » Sun Dec 08, 2019 2:16 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

What dies "that" refer to in option C?..
I think it can also refer to private conversation.
Top
Post new topic Locked
• Page 1 of 1