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The first personal computers

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The first personal computers

by melguy » Mon Aug 26, 2013 9:46 am
The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch and so were unable to perform the complex operations necessary for today's processor-intensive applications.

The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch
The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to a modern wristwatch's
The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to those of a modern wristwatch
The first personal computers' severe hardware and software limitations were similar to those of a modern wristwatch
The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to that of a modern wristwatch

Please help with the problem. I am confused between A & B. Thanks
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by faraz_jeddah » Mon Aug 26, 2013 1:06 pm
melguy wrote:The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch and so were unable to perform the complex operations necessary for today's processor-intensive applications.

The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch
The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to a modern wristwatch's
The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to those of a modern wristwatch
The first personal computers' severe hardware and software limitations were similar to those of a modern wristwatch
The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to that of a modern wristwatch

Please help with the problem. I am confused between A & B. Thanks
Since limitations is plural, you should not use "that of". The correct form would be 'those of'
A good question also deserves a Thanks.

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by \'manpreet singh » Mon Aug 26, 2013 9:01 pm
melguy wrote:The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch and so were unable to perform the complex operations necessary for today's processor-intensive applications.

The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch
The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to a modern wristwatch's
The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to those of a modern wristwatch
The first personal computers' severe hardware and software limitations were similar to those of a modern wristwatch
The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to that of a modern wristwatch

Please help with the problem. I am confused between A & B. Thanks
"that of" is wrong A and E eliminated, and use of "had" is unnecessary here.
We should prefer simple tense.

C is the best answer here as the limitations are compared for first personel computers and modern computers so they should be close to each other.
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by vinay1983 » Tue Aug 27, 2013 9:26 am
melguy wrote:The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch and so were unable to perform the complex operations necessary for today's processor-intensive applications.

The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch
The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to a modern wristwatch's
The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to those of a modern wristwatch
The first personal computers' severe hardware and software limitations were similar to those of a modern wristwatch
The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to that of a modern wristwatch

Please help with the problem. I am confused between A & B. Thanks
I am not sure, B looks good, since it shows wristwatch's possessiveness. But C too has valid points such as "the .....of personal computers is similar to those of a modern wristwatch"

Melguy...this one's good.I heavy heartedly go with C for the sound of the sentence on my ears!
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by faraz_jeddah » Tue Aug 27, 2013 11:03 am
The answer cannot be C.

Look at the non-underlined portion - and so were unable to perform...

What were unable to perform? the computers or the limitations?
A good question also deserves a Thanks.

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by faraz_jeddah » Tue Aug 27, 2013 11:05 am
'manpreet singh wrote:
melguy wrote:The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch and so were unable to perform the complex operations necessary for today's processor-intensive applications.

The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch
The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to a modern wristwatch's
The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to those of a modern wristwatch
The first personal computers' severe hardware and software limitations were similar to those of a modern wristwatch
The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to that of a modern wristwatch

Please help with the problem. I am confused between A & B. Thanks
"that of" is wrong A and E eliminated, and use of "had" is unnecessary here.
We should prefer simple tense.

C is the best answer here as the limitations are compared for first personel computers and modern computers so they should be close to each other.
I think had is quite necessary as it refers to an action before the inability to perform.
A good question also deserves a Thanks.

Messenger Boy: The Thesselonian you're fighting... he's the biggest man i've ever seen. I wouldn't want to fight him.
Achilles: That's why no-one will remember your name.
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by melguy » Tue Aug 27, 2013 10:04 pm
faraz_jeddah wrote: Since limitations is plural, you should not use "that of". The correct form would be 'those of'
Thanks Faraz. Just out of curiosity are there any other errors apart from that (so that I can take note for the exam day).

OA is B. I got confused as i saw modern wristwatch's in B
Last edited by melguy on Tue Aug 27, 2013 10:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by melguy » Tue Aug 27, 2013 10:06 pm
Thanks Vinay for your best wishes! :-)
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by faraz_jeddah » Tue Aug 27, 2013 11:06 pm
melguy wrote:
faraz_jeddah wrote: Since limitations is plural, you should not use "that of". The correct form would be 'those of'
Thanks Faraz. Just out of curiosity are there any other errors apart from that (so that I can take note for the exam day).

OA is B. I got confused as i saw modern wristwatch's in B
I think that is the only error in A but please note that the error is a MAJOR one.

Some SC questions will have less major mistakes - the use of being, passive voice etc - which could be ignored if other choices have multiple/major errors. These are the traps that you should see in 600-700 level questions.
A good question also deserves a Thanks.

Messenger Boy: The Thesselonian you're fighting... he's the biggest man i've ever seen. I wouldn't want to fight him.
Achilles: That's why no-one will remember your name.
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by vinay1983 » Wed Aug 28, 2013 1:20 am
faraz_jeddah wrote:
melguy wrote:
faraz_jeddah wrote: Since limitations is plural, you should not use "that of". The correct form would be 'those of'
Thanks Faraz. Just out of curiosity are there any other errors apart from that (so that I can take note for the exam day).

OA is B. I got confused as i saw modern wristwatch's in B
I think that is the only error in A but please note that the error is a MAJOR one.

Some SC questions will have less major mistakes - the use of being, passive voice etc - which could be ignored if other choices have multiple/major errors. These are the traps that you should see in 600-700 level questions.
faraz,

Hmmm good that you have pointed out the errors. C does not present the meaning of the prompt correctly.

Lesson for me: No matter what, take the sound on your ear's with a pinch of salt!
You can, for example never foretell what any one man will do, but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to!
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