Henry David Thoreau

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armaan700+: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 75; Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2009 1:41 amFollowed by: 1 member; Location: india; Thanked: 2 times

by armaan700+ » Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:26 am

According to Henry David Thoreau, the reason a majority is allowed to rule is not that it is more likely to be right, but because it is stronger.

a.....
b. a majority is allowed to rule not because it is more likely to be right, but because it is stronger

c. the reason for majority rule is not because they are more likely to be right, they are stronger

d. the majority is allowed to rule because of its strength, not because it is more likely to be right

e. the reason why the majority rules is that it is strong, not because it is likely to be right

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:26 am

Osirus@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1578; Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 8:02 amFollowed by: 34 members; Thanked: 128 times; GMAT Score:760

by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:30 am

I would choose A

B- this is awkward and a borderline fragment

C- this changes the meaning

D- this changes the meaning

E- This changes the meaning

In choices C-E it changes the subject from "a majority" which can refer to any majority, to "the majority" which is more specific and less transferable to other scenarios.

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thephoenix: Legendary Member; Posts: 1560; Joined: Tue Nov 17, 2009 2:38 amFollowed by: 5 members; Thanked: 137 times

by thephoenix » Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:54 am

a..... -> because of and because it are not parallel

b. a majority is allowed to rule not because it is more likely to be right, but because it is stronger -> perfect

c. the reason for majority rule is not because they are more likely to be right, they are stronger -> NOT PARALLEL

d. the majority is allowed to rule because of its strength, not because it is more likely to be right-->NOT PARALLEL

e. the reason why the majority rules is that it is strong, not because it is likely to be right -> NOT PARALLEL

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Osirus@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1578; Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 8:02 amFollowed by: 34 members; Thanked: 128 times; GMAT Score:760

by Osirus@VeritasPrep » Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:56 am

thephoenix wrote:a..... -> because of and because it are not parallel

b. a majority is allowed to rule not because it is more likely to be right, but because it is stronger -> perfect

c. the reason for majority rule is not because they are more likely to be right, they are stronger -> NOT PARALLEL

d. the majority is allowed to rule because of its strength, not because it is more likely to be right-->NOT PARALLEL

e. the reason why the majority rules is that it is strong, not because it is likely to be right -> NOT PARALLEL

Thanks you are correct.

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sumanr84: Legendary Member; Posts: 758; Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2009 9:32 pmFollowed by: 2 members; Location: Bangalore,India; Thanked: 67 times

by sumanr84 » Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:06 am

The Q is testing Idiom + ||ism.

Idiom - Not X but Y..and X and Y have to be ||el.

X - because it is more likely...
Y - because it is stronger

My only doubt is 'comma' before but. I have never seen any problem with a comma intervening in the idiom ( Not X but Y ).

Any thoughts ?

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komal: Legendary Member; Posts: 777; Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2010 4:02 amFollowed by: 47 members; Location: Mumbai, India; Thanked: 117 times

by komal » Mon Feb 15, 2010 11:56 am

armaan700+ wrote:According to Henry David Thoreau, the reason a majority is allowed to rule is not that it is more likely to be right, but because it is stronger.

a.....
b. a majority is allowed to rule not because it is more likely to be right, but because it is stronger

c. the reason for majority rule is not because they are more likely to be right, they are stronger

d. the majority is allowed to rule because of its strength, not because it is more likely to be right

e. the reason why the majority rules is that it is strong, not because it is likely to be right

Usage of 'reason ..because' is redundant in a sentence..'because' is used to indicate 'reason'...so we don't need both of them in a sentence.. (A),(C) and (E) are out..

Out of (B) and (D), (B) is more clear n concise.

Hence (B) wins

https://www.e-gmat.com/

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Anial: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 26; Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2010 9:23 pm

by Anial » Sat Apr 17, 2010 6:13 pm

komal wrote:
armaan700+ wrote:According to Henry David Thoreau, the reason a majority is allowed to rule is not that it is more likely to be right, but because it is stronger.

a.....
b. a majority is allowed to rule not because it is more likely to be right, but because it is stronger

c. the reason for majority rule is not because they are more likely to be right, they are stronger

d. the majority is allowed to rule because of its strength, not because it is more likely to be right

e. the reason why the majority rules is that it is strong, not because it is likely to be right
Usage of 'reason ..because' is redundant in a sentence..'because' is used to indicate 'reason'...so we don't need both of them in a sentence.. (A),(C) and (E) are out..

Out of (B) and (D), (B) is more clear n concise.

Hence (B) wins

Guys ,
Why is B correct. Is not "A majority" plural?
eg: Still, a majority of voters are unhappy"

Thanks

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thephoenix: Legendary Member; Posts: 1560; Joined: Tue Nov 17, 2009 2:38 amFollowed by: 5 members; Thanked: 137 times

by thephoenix » Sat Apr 17, 2010 6:50 pm

Anial wrote:
komal wrote:
armaan700+ wrote:According to Henry David Thoreau, the reason a majority is allowed to rule is not that it is more likely to be right, but because it is stronger.

a.....
b. a majority is allowed to rule not because it is more likely to be right, but because it is stronger

c. the reason for majority rule is not because they are more likely to be right, they are stronger

d. the majority is allowed to rule because of its strength, not because it is more likely to be right

e. the reason why the majority rules is that it is strong, not because it is likely to be right
Usage of 'reason ..because' is redundant in a sentence..'because' is used to indicate 'reason'...so we don't need both of them in a sentence.. (A),(C) and (E) are out..

Out of (B) and (D), (B) is more clear n concise.

Hence (B) wins

Guys ,
Why is B correct. Is not "A majority" plural?
eg: Still, a majority of voters are unhappy"

Thanks

majority ...when spelled alone is singular
However a majority of students....is pluarl

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karthikpandian19: Legendary Member; Posts: 1665; Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 7:04 pmFollowed by: 70 members; Thanked: 165 times

by karthikpandian19 » Wed Jun 06, 2012 12:21 am

I dont have any issue in understanding the Parallelism here and the answer B, but i am puzzled with the usage of "more likely" in this sentence structure. Normally in GMAT, "more...." need to be followed by "than..." - is this thumb rule or changes? Not clear on this though

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Karthik
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