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November is traditionally

by boomgoesthegmat » Wed May 04, 2016 4:50 am

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November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks, but sales this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers, accounted for a remarkably large share of total vehicle sales.

A) but sales this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers,

B) but even when it is compared with previous Novembers, this past November's sales

C) but even when they are compared with previous Novembers, sales of light trucks this past November

D) so that compared with previous Novembers, sales of light trucks this past November

E) so that this past November's sales, even compared with previous Novembers' sales,

OA: A
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by ceilidh.erickson » Wed May 04, 2016 4:30 pm

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This question is SC #116 in OG 2016. (Please post your sources! It helps fellow students and experts).

It's testing LOGICAL COMPARISONS because of the use of "when compared with." Here are the two questions I ask myself whenever I see comparisons:

1. Logically, what do we mean to compare?
2. What is this sentence actually comparing (structurally)?

November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks, but sales this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers, accounted for a remarkably large share of total vehicle sales.

1. Logically, what do we mean to compare? In this case: this November's sales to previous Novembers' sales.

2. What is this sentence actually comparing (structurally)? "sales... when compared with sales..." Looks good so far.


B) but even when it is compared with previous Novembers, this past November's sales

What is this actually comparing (structurally)? "It" to "Novembers." "It" seems to be referring to "this November's sales," so the pronoun doesn't agree. Incorrect.


C) but even when they are compared with previous Novembers, sales of light trucks this past November

What is this actually comparing (structurally)? "They" = sales. We can't compares "sales" to "Novembers." Incorrect.


D) so that compared with previous Novembers, sales of light trucks this past November

"So that" changes the meaning significantly. It would imply an extension of a previously stated idea, rather than a contrast. If the share of total vehicle sales is "remarkably large" for this November, we want to state that that's surprising EVEN THOUGH November is usually a strong month.

Answer choices that get rid of a contrast word such as "but," "although," or "despite" are usually wrong, because the contrast is usually central to the meaning.


E) so that this past November's sales, even compared with previous Novembers' sales,

Same "so that" issue as in D.


The correct answer is A.
Ceilidh Erickson
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by Needgmat » Thu Jul 07, 2016 7:31 am

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Answer choices that get rid of a contrast word such as "but," "although," or "despite" are usually wrong, because the contrast is usually central to the meaning.
Hi Ceilidh ,

All clear in your explanation. Can you please explain more above part?

Many thanks in advance,

Kavin
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by zoe » Sat Jul 30, 2016 2:03 am

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ceilidh.erickson wrote: B) but even when it is compared with previous Novembers, this past November's sales
hi Ceilidh,

would you please clarify where is my fault.
I can understand A is correct.. but I am not sure for B.
IMO, in B, when it compared with the previous November,
it stands for "November", it looks logically if compared with previous November.

thanks a lot
have a nice day

>_~
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by ceilidh.erickson » Wed Nov 16, 2016 1:58 pm

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Needgmat wrote:
Answer choices that get rid of a contrast word such as "but," "although," or "despite" are usually wrong, because the contrast is usually central to the meaning.
Hi Ceilidh ,

All clear in your explanation. Can you please explain more above part?

Many thanks in advance,

Kavin
In my experience, SC original sentences that contain a contrast word such as "but," "although," or "despite" usually NEED a contrast to complete the logical meaning of the sentence. I don't recall seeing any sentences that had contrast words but didn't need them (there may well be a few, I just can't think of any off the top of my head).

It's relatively common, though, for a sentence to contain a contrast in the original, but to drop that contrast word in some of the answer choices. Students tend not to notice, because they don't read the whole SENTENCE + ANSWER CHOICE in its entirety.

So as a very broad rule (noting that there may be exceptions), if the original contains a contrast word but an answer choice drops it, that answer is probably wrong.
Ceilidh Erickson
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Harvard Graduate School of Education
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by ceilidh.erickson » Wed Nov 16, 2016 2:02 pm

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zoe wrote:
ceilidh.erickson wrote: B) but even when it is compared with previous Novembers, this past November's sales
hi Ceilidh,

would you please clarify where is my fault.
I can understand A is correct.. but I am not sure for B.
IMO, in B, when it compared with the previous November,
it stands for "November", it looks logically if compared with previous November.

thanks a lot
have a nice day

>_~
When a modifying dependent clause precedes an independent clause and contains a pronoun, that pronoun must replace the SUBJECT of the independent clause. Therefore, IT must be referring to "this past November's SALES" in B.

Does that help?
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by cuhmoon » Thu Feb 09, 2017 6:55 pm

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Hi,

A simple doubt here - if we remove the non essential modifier, the sentence doesn't make sense?

November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks, accounted for a remarkably large share of total vehicle sales..

How can this be the correct OA? Can anyone explain please?
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by Ali Tariq » Thu Feb 09, 2017 8:24 pm

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cuhmoon wrote:Hi,

A simple doubt here - if we remove the non essential modifier, the sentence doesn't make sense?

November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks, accounted for a remarkably large share of total vehicle sales..

How can this be the correct OA? Can anyone explain please?
November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks, but sales this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers, accounted for a remarkably large share of total vehicle sales.

Remove non essential modifier (red portion) and the sentence will make perfect sense.

November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks, but sales this past November accounted for a remarkably large share of total vehicle sales.
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by Ali Tariq » Thu Feb 09, 2017 8:45 pm

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ceilidh.erickson wrote:
Needgmat wrote:
Answer choices that get rid of a contrast word such as "but," "although," or "despite" are usually wrong, because the contrast is usually central to the meaning.
Hi Ceilidh ,

All clear in your explanation. Can you please explain more above part?

Many thanks in advance,

Kavin
In my experience, SC original sentences that contain a contrast word such as "but," "although," or "despite" usually NEED a contrast to complete the logical meaning of the sentence. I don't recall seeing any sentences that had contrast words but didn't need them (there may well be a few, I just can't think of any off the top of my head).

It's relatively common, though, for a sentence to contain a contrast in the original, but to drop that contrast word in some of the answer choices. Students tend not to notice, because they don't read the whole SENTENCE + ANSWER CHOICE in its entirety.

So as a very broad rule (noting that there may be exceptions), if the original contains a contrast word but an answer choice drops it, that answer is probably wrong.
Great insight and yes, there are exceptions.

(official SC)
In a previous design, the weight of the discus used in track
competition is concentrated in a metal center, but now it is lined with lead
around the perimeter, thereby improving stability in flight and resulting in
longer throws.
A. In a previous design, the weight of the discus used in track competition is
concentrated in a metal center, but now it is
B. According to a previous design, the weight of the discus used in track
competition was concentrated in a metal center, but now it is
C. Once designed with its weight concentrated in a metal center, the discus used
in track competition is now
D. The discus used in track competition, once designed with its weight
concentrated in a metal center, but now
E. The discus used in track competition was once designed having its weight
concentrated in a metal center and now
OA C
GMATprep SC(official)
Whereas heat transferred between the ocean and the atmosphere occurs more rapidly when the ocean is warmer than the air, it is slow when the ocean is colder.
A. Whereas heat transferred between the ocean and the atmosphere occurs more rapidly when the ocean is warmer than the air, it is slow when the ocean is colder.
B. Unlike the slow process of heat transfer between the ocean and the atmosphere when the ocean is colder than the air, heat transfers more rapidly when the ocean is warmer.
C. The transfer of heat between the ocean and the atmosphere is slow when the ocean is colder than the air and more rapid when the ocean is warmer.
D. Transferring heat between the ocean and the atmosphere occurs slowly when the ocean is colder than the air and more rapidly when it is warmer.
E. When the ocean is colder than the atmosphere, heat transferred between them occurs slowly, unlike the more rapid transfer occurring when the ocean is warmer.
OA C
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by [email protected] » Mon Apr 15, 2019 1:37 pm

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Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one item at a time, and narrow it down to the right choice! To start, here is the original question with the major differences between the options highlighted in orange:

November is traditionally the strongest month for sales of light trucks, but sales this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers, accounted for a remarkably large share of total vehicle sales.

(A) but sales this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers,
(B) but even when it is compared with previous Novembers, this past November's sales
(C) but even when they are compared with previous Novembers, sales of light trucks this past November
(D) so that compared with previous Novembers, sales of light trucks this past November
(E) so that this past November's sales, even compared with previous Novembers' sales,

There is a LOT you could focus on here, but if you look carefully, you'll notice that this is a COMPARISON question! Whenever we see 2 or more items being compared to each other, what do we focus on?

PARALLELISM!!

So - let's take a close look at each option, and make sure that the two things being compared are parallel in number, type, or wording style:

(A) but sales this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers, --> PARALLEL

(B) but even when it is compared with previous Novembers, this past November's sales --> NOT PARALLEL
(First, it's unclear what the pronoun "it" is referring to. Even if it is referring to "this past November's sales," this sentence is still trying to compare sales to the actual month of November, which isn't the same thing.)

(C) but even when they are compared with previous Novembers, sales of light trucks this past November --> NOT PARALLEL
(Again, this sentence is trying to compare the sales of trucks in November to the months of November from the past. Those two things aren't parallel at all)

(D) so that compared with previous Novembers, sales of light trucks this past November --> NOT PARALLEL
(Yet another case of trying to compare months to sales, which are not parallel!)

(E) so that this past November's sales, even compared with previous Novembers' sales, --> PARALLEL

We can eliminate option B, C, & D because they create non-parallel comparisons!

Now that we have this narrowed down to only 2 options, let's take a closer look at each option and see if we can find any other problems:

(A) but sales this past November, even when compared with sales in previous Novembers,

This is CORRECT! It is a parallel comparison, and the conjunction "but" creates a strong contradiction for the reader.

(E) so that this past November's sales, even compared with previous Novembers' sales,

This is INCORRECT because the phrase "so that" is misleading and changes the meaning. By using the cause-effect conjunction "so that," the sentence now suggests that November is the strongest month for selling light trucks, which leads to sales in the past being larger? That doesn't make sense, does it? Let's rule this out because the conjunction "so that" is the wrong one for this situation.


There you have it - option A was the right choice all along!


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