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Sentence correction explanation

by deepakk » Sun Dec 08, 2013 10:19 am
Humans have been damaging the environment for centuries by overcutting trees and farming too
intensively, and though some protective measures, like the establishment of national forests and
wildlife sanctuaries, having been taken decades ago, great increases in population and in the
intensity of industrialization are causing a worldwide ecological crisis.
A. though some protective measures, like the establishment of national forests and wildlife
sanctuaries, having been taken decades ago, great increases in population
B. though some protective measures, such as the establishment of national forests and wildlife
sanctuaries, were taken decades ago, great increases in population
C. though some protective measures, such as establishing national forests and wildlife sanctuaries
having been taken decades ago, great population increases
D. with some protective measures, like establishing national forests and wildlife sanctuaries that
were taken decades ago, great increases in population
E. with some protective measures, such as the establishment of national forests and wildlife
sanctuaries, having been taken decades ago, great population increases.

My thought process to get the answer is:
1)To represent a list we need to use SUCH AS instead of LIKE.
By above logic I eliminated Option A and D.
2)Option C and E are using passive voice, so its not preferred and also they are not parallel.
So I eliminated C and E.
Hence B is the correct answer I think.

Please let me know if this approach is correct?

And also I want to know the concept of Though and With.Which one is correct in this question?

Thanks in advance:)
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by sahilchaudhary » Mon Dec 09, 2013 1:29 am
The correct answer is B.

Please see my explanation below:

Error Analysis:

1. Use of "like" to present examples is incorrect.
2. "though" introduces a dependent clause with a subject and verb. "having been taken" is not a proper verb to make a dependent clause.

Explanation:

Choice A: though some protective measures, like the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, having been taken decades ago, great increases in population: Incorrect for the reasons stated above.

Choice B: though some protective measures, such as the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, were taken decades ago, great increases in population: Correct. This choice uses the correct idiom "such as" to show examples. "were taken" is a proper verb that makes a dependent clause with "though".

Choice C: though some protective measures, such as establishing national forests and wildlife sanctuaries having been taken decades ago, great population increases: Incorrect. Firstly, it repeats the same "having been taken" error as in Choice A. Secondly, There is a list here. The entities of this list are, per the original choice, great increases "in population" and "in the intensity". In this choice, these two entities are not parallel. We are left to ask what "in the intensity" of industrialization are causing the ecological crisis.

Choice D: with some protective measures, like establishing national forests and wildlife sanctuaries that were taken decades ago, great increases in population: Incorrect. Firstly, use of "with" is incorrect because it fails to establish the contrast that the original sentence presents. Secondly, use of "like" is incorrect.

Choice E: with some protective measures, such as the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, having been taken decades ago, great population increases: Incorrect. This choice repeats the wrong use of "with" as in Choice D, the "having been taken" error of choice A and the parallelism error of Choice C.

Takeaways:

1. A clause, dependent or independent, must have an SV pair.
2. "Like" is used for comparison while "such as" is used to present examples.
3. The correct answer choice must convey the intended meaning.
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by Anaira Mitch » Mon Aug 07, 2017 3:59 am
First, split: we need 'such as' rather than 'like'; Eliminate A and D.

Second split: The prepositional phrase introduced by 'with' does not express the contrast that the topic intends to bring about. We do need a contrast marker such as 'though'. Eliminate E

Third split: The subordinate clause introduced by the conjunction 'though' requires a full fledged verb such as 'were'. Eliminate C

Only B remains
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by Anaira Mitch » Mon Aug 07, 2017 4:01 am
Option B correctly used such to introduce examples and uses the correct form of parallelism in the second part.. increases in x and in y.
Error Analysis:
1. Use of "like" to present examples is incorrect.
2. "though" introduces a dependent clause with a subject and verb. "having been taken" is not a proper verb to make a dependent clause.

POE:

Choice A: though some protective measures, like the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, having been taken decades ago, great increases in
population: Incorrect for the reasons stated above.

Choice B: though some protective measures, such as the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, were taken decades ago, great increases in population: Correct. This choice uses the correct idiom "such as" to show examples. "were taken" is a proper verb that makes a dependent clause with "though".

Choice C: though some protective measures, such as establishing national forests and wildlife sanctuaries having been taken decades ago, great population increases: Incorrect. Firstly, it repeats the same "having been taken" error as in Choice A. Secondly, There is a list here. The entities of this list are, per the original choice, great increases "in population" and "in the intensity". In this choice, these two entities are not parallel. We are left to ask what "in the intensity" of industrialization are causing the ecological crisis.

Choice D: with some protective measures, like establishing national forests and wildlife sanctuaries that were taken decades ago, great increases in population: Incorrect. Firstly, use of "with" is incorrect because it fails to establish the contrast that the original sentence presents. Secondly, use of "like" is incorrect.

Choice E: with some protective measures, such as the establishment of national forests and wildlife sanctuaries, having been taken decades ago, great population
increases: Incorrect. This choice repeats the wrong use of "with" as in Choice D, the "having been taken" error of choice A and the parallelism error of Choice C.
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by ceilidh.erickson » Mon Sep 25, 2017 9:27 am
Please note: the GMAT appears to have changed its mind on the "like" v. "such as" rule!

See #685 in OG 2017:
Especially in the early years, new entrepreneurs may need to find resourceful ways, like renting temporary office space or using answering services, that make their company seem large and more firmly established than they may actually be.
(A) that make their company seem large
(B) to make their companies seem larger
(C) thus making their companies seem larger
(D) so that the companies seem larger
(E) of making their companies seem larger
Here, "like" is used to introduce a list in the non-underlined portion of the sentence; thus, it is implied that this usage is correct.

Language and grammar shift over time, and the GMAT (eventually) adapts to reflect this. The GMAT used to test the "like" v. "such as" issue with some regularity; you'll find examples in older versions of OGs and GMATPrep tests 1&2 (both over 10 yrs old at this point). Because "like" is very commonly used to introduce lists in colloquial spoken English, though, the GMAT seems to have adapted its policy on this rule. We can infer that it's unlikely that you'll see this issue on the real test in future (though you may still see it in practice questions).
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
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