-
Target Test Prep 20% Off Flash Sale is on! Code: FLASH20
Redeem
Comparisons and Parallelism in GMATPrep
Lasttime, we took a look at a Comparisons problem; in todays article, were going to examine another one. This question is from the free problem set included in the new GMATPrep 2.0 version of the software.
Try it out (1 minute 15 seconds) and then well talk about it!
* In Holland, a larger percentage of the gross national product is spent on defense of their coasts from rising seas than is spent on military defense in the United States.(A) In Holland, a larger percentage of the gross national product is spent on defense of their coasts from rising seas than is spent on military defense in the United States.
(B) In Holland they spend a larger percentage of their gross national product on defending their coasts from rising seas than the United States does on military defense.
(C) A larger percentage of Hollands gross national product is spent on defending their coasts from rising seas than the United States spends on military defense.(D) Holland spends a larger percentage of its gross national product defending its coasts from rising seas than the military defense spending of the United States.
(E) Holland spends a larger percentage of its gross national product on defending its coasts from rising seas than the United States does on military defense.
I think this one follows nicely from the conversation we had last time. Weve got another comparison structure, weve got an entire sentence underlined, and yet there are also some differences here.
What did you think about the original sentence? I stumbled over the word their when reading the sentence for the first time. Who is their? Logically, the word is probably meant to refer to Holland: their coasts = Hollands coasts. But their is plural and Holland is just one country; I would need a singular pronoun here, not a plural one.
I also noticed something else that I thought sounded funny but I had to examine the sentence for a second to figure out why. Take a look at this:
In Holland, a larger percentage (of A) is spent on X than is spent on Y.
When I strip the sentence down like this, it sounds like its saying that Holland spends more money on X than Holland spends on Y. That doesnt make any sense though why would Holland pay for the military defense of the U.S.? :)
So, weve got two issues to attack here: a pronoun mismatch, and an illogical meaning.
The pronoun mismatch is easier to scan, so lets tackle that one first. Scan the remaining four answers for the word their (or any other form of a pronoun). Note, though, that the entire sentence is underlined, so we have to see whether they also keep Holland singular they could say the people of Holland or something like that. Answer B contains both they and their, and these words are intended to talk about the singular Holland. Answer C also contains the plural their referring to the singular Hollands. Eliminate answers B and C.
D and E both use the pronoun its, which is singular, to match with the singular Holland, so now we need to use some other reason to decide between these two answers.
We did already have another idea: the original sentence had an illogical meaning. It was attempting to make a comparison (larger than) but, in doing so, it compared the percentage of GNP that Holland spends on its own coastal defense to, apparently, the percentage of GNP that Holland spends on the defense of the U.S. Lets check the two remaining answers to see whether they both make an appropriate, logical comparison. Keep in mind that comparisons are supposed to have a parallel structure.
(D) Holland spends a larger percentage of its gross national product defending its coasts from rising seas than the military defense spending of the United States.(E) Holland spends a larger percentage of its gross national product on defending its coasts from rising seas than the United States does on military defense.
Heres the key. Answer D isnt parallel and that does actually muddle the meaning a bit. If we strip D down to the core, we have:
Holland spends a larger percentage (for X) than the military defense spending of the U.S.
Or, more simply: Holland vs. the military defense spending. First, a country and the spending of another country are not parallel things or concepts. Second, because these two things arent parallel, that leaves the reader trying to figure out exactly what should be parallel to the second half, after the word than: military defense spending. Defending its coasts, maybe? In that case, Holland spends more money defending its coasts than spending money for U.S. defense? Were back to the problem with the original sentence: this doesnt make sense.
Answer E, stripped to the core, reads:
Holland spends a larger percentage (on X) than the U.S. does (on Y).
Weve got a parallel structure here, with one fairly common feature that some people might think isnt right: Holland spends vs. the U.S. does. When you have a parallel structure like this, where the action is the same for the two different nouns, you dont have to repeat the same verb twice; instead, you can substitute something like does, with the understanding that this verb refers back to the original verb, spends.
The correct answer is E.
Key Takeaways for Comparisons and Meaning
(1) A comparison has to compare apples to apples, or similar things. If it doesnt, this may muddle the meaning of the sentence or even make it illogical.
(2) You may read the original sentence and think, That doesnt make sense, or even just, I dont understand what theyre trying to say. If this happens, briefly try to think what a logical meaning would be, given the words in the sentence this often helps, but not always. If that still doesnt help you to understand the meaning, read a different answer choice.
(3) SC questions almost always test multiple issues. If you spot more than one, start with the easiest one; this will almost always allow you to eliminate at least 2 answer choices. Then, if you have to take the time to evaluate a more complicated issue, you will be doing so for a smaller number of answer choices crucially important on a question type with a 1m15s average!
* GMATPrep questions courtesy of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Usage of this question does not imply endorsement by GMAC.
Recent Articles
Archive
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009