Mauritius

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tj123: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 85; Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 12:09 am

by tj123 » Fri Aug 07, 2009 9:19 pm

Mauritius was a British colony for almost 200 years, except for the domains of administration and teaching, the English language was never really spoken on the island.

a) same

b) except in

c) but except in

d) but excepting for

e) with the exception of

OA C I chose B
Please explain

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Fri Aug 07, 2009 9:19 pm

singh181: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 121; Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 8:44 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 9 times; GMAT Score:610

by singh181 » Fri Aug 07, 2009 9:24 pm

we need to introduce "a contrast" or a different view point which will show the flip side of the initial view point.
So, we require "but" to introduce that view point.

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dikku07: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 57; Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2009 8:59 am

by dikku07 » Sat Aug 08, 2009 9:00 am

IMO E. but the previous post clarifies the doubt...
would like to know more explanation why not E?

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lunarpower: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3380; Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 amFollowed by: 1535 members; Thanked: 2256 times; GMAT Score:800

Re: Mauritius

by lunarpower » Sun Oct 04, 2009 10:49 am

tj123 wrote:Mauritius was a British colony for almost 200 years, except for the domains of administration and teaching, the English language was never really spoken on the island.

a) same

b) except in

c) but except in

d) but excepting for

e) with the exception of

OA C I chose B
Please explain

(b) is a run-on sentence.
"X was Y, except in Z" would be a sentence by itself.
therefore, "X was Y, except in Z, A was B" is a run-on (you can't tag 2 complete sentences together with a comma).

(c) is awkward, but at least it's correct; it links 2 complete sentences with "and".
Mauritius was a British colony for almost 200 years,
but
except in the domains of administration and teaching, the English language was never really spoken on the island

--

oh, and, also, the modifier in (b) doesn't work correctly. it produces a nonsensical meaning.

you can't "be a british colony except in those areas". that makes no sense; the island is either a british colony or not a british colony.

this modifier (except in those areas) is actually supposed to modify the FOLLOWING clause, as it does in the correct answer; those are the only domains in which english was spoken.

Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

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lunarpower: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3380; Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 amFollowed by: 1535 members; Thanked: 2256 times; GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Sun Oct 04, 2009 10:51 am

dikku07 wrote:IMO E. but the previous post clarifies the doubt...
would like to know more explanation why not E?

hi -

(e) is also a run-on sentence, for the same reason why (b) is. see the post above for clarification.

also, the modifier has the same problem as in (b).
if you choose (e) you have the following:
Mauritius was a British colony for almost 200 years, with the exception of the domains of administration and teaching
the literal meaning here is that those domains weren't part of the british colony. that's not the right meaning.
the intended meaning is that those domains are an exception to the observation about the absence of the english language.

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Mayur Sand: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 166; Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2009 11:16 pm; Location: India

by Mayur Sand » Tue Oct 06, 2009 4:47 pm

lunarpower wrote:
dikku07 wrote:IMO E. but the previous post clarifies the doubt...
would like to know more explanation why not E?
hi -

(e) is also a run-on sentence, for the same reason why (b) is. see the post above for clarification.

also, the modifier has the same problem as in (b).
if you choose (e) you have the following:
Mauritius was a British colony for almost 200 years, with the exception of the domains of administration and teaching
the literal meaning here is that those domains weren't part of the british colony. that's not the right meaning.
the intended meaning is that those domains are an exception to the observation about the absence of the english language.

I remember reading somewhere that "except for" is correct idiom and not "except in" plz clarify

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schumi_gmat: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 377; Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2008 9:30 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 15 times

Re: Mauritius

by schumi_gmat » Tue Oct 06, 2009 6:53 pm

tj123 wrote:Mauritius was a British colony for almost 200 years, except for the domains of administration and teaching, the English language was never really spoken on the island.

a) same

b) except in

c) but except in

d) but excepting for

e) with the exception of

OA C I chose B
Please explain

"Except in" is a correct usage here.
Secondly you need a conjunction to join the first independent clause so "but" provides the correct contrast. So only option is (C) or (D).

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lunarpower: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3380; Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 amFollowed by: 1535 members; Thanked: 2256 times; GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Fri Oct 09, 2009 1:13 am

Mayur Sand wrote:I remember reading somewhere that "except for" is correct idiom and not "except in" plz clarify

you probably read half of that. in other words, you probably read that "except for" is correct, but not that "except in" is incorrect.

remember: many idioms work in more than one way.
if one form of an idiom is correct, DO NOT assume that all other forms of that idiom are incorrect!

--

i do believe that "except for" is considered correct, but it's usually wordy; in mast cases in which it's appropriate, you can just use "except" instead.
ex:
the delegates came from all U.S. states except for Florida.
--> better: the delegates came from all U.S. states except Florida.

in most cases, though, except + preposition is not actually an idiomatic construction at all. what you're seeing is the use of the word "except" - in isolation - followed by a preposition that goes with whatever words follow.

for instance:
gambling is illegal everywhere in the state, except on chippewa reservations.
--> correct. notice that "except + on" is not an idiomatic construction; rather, "on" is simply the pronoun that happens to go correctly with "chippewa reservations."

etc.

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Andrei: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 28; Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2007 12:25 am; Thanked: 1 times; GMAT Score:690

by Andrei » Fri Oct 30, 2009 10:46 am

I read all the posts, but really did not understand why "except in" is better in this case than "excepting for"... it's related to -ing form? Is there a rule ot is just "sounds better"?
Thanks.

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lunarpower: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3380; Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 amFollowed by: 1535 members; Thanked: 2256 times; GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Sat Nov 07, 2009 1:29 am

Andrei wrote:I read all the posts, but really did not understand why "except in" is better in this case than "excepting for"... it's related to -ing form? Is there a rule ot is just "sounds better"?
Thanks.

it's not really "except in" - in other words, the "in" doesn't really belong with the "except" here.

the "except" construction is basically just "except X, Y".
the "in" belongs idiomatically with "the domains". i.e., the only preposition that's acceptable with "the domains" is "in"; it's not really an issue of "except" at all.

for instance:
she's never been happy in a relationship, except with james.
except on saturdays, the store is open until 9 p.m.
note these examples: in each, the preposition is determined by the idioms of the FOLLOWING noun, not the "except".
same here.

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bvn: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 63; Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2009 7:38 am

by bvn » Tue Nov 17, 2009 4:37 am

Thank you Ron, your explanation is awesome

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lunarpower: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 3380; Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 amFollowed by: 1535 members; Thanked: 2256 times; GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Tue Nov 17, 2009 4:46 am

bvn wrote:Thank you Ron, your explanation is awesome

you're welcome. i appreciate it.

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ssuarezo: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 126; Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2009 1:12 pm; Location: Montreal; Thanked: 2 times; GMAT Score:510

by ssuarezo » Sun Jun 20, 2010 9:24 am

lunarpower wrote:
bvn wrote:Thank you Ron, your explanation is awesome
you're welcome. i appreciate it.

Ron ... your explanation is actually incredible ... no place to doubts ...
Besides, you have looooooots of patience for aaaaall our existencial problems ...

Thanks !!
Silvia

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sahilchaudhary: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 153; Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 7:13 amFollowed by: 7 members; Location: India; Thanked: 22 times; GMAT Score:540

by sahilchaudhary » Wed Nov 20, 2013 6:45 am

Excellent explanation by Ron...This was a really good question...

Sahil Chaudhary
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https://www.sahilchaudhary007.blocked

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