OG2018 SC 684- In 1913, the largely self-taught Indian

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In 1913, the largely self-taught Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan mailed 120 of his theorems to three different British mathematicians; only one, G. H. Hardy, recognized the brilliance of these theorems, but thanks to Hardy's recognition, Ramanujan was eventually elected to the Royal Society of London.

(A) only one, G. H. Hardy, recognized the brilliance of these theorems, but
(B) they were brilliant, G. H. Hardy alone recognized, but
(C) these theorems were brilliant, but only one, G. H. Hardy recognized;
(D) but, only one G. H. Hardy, recognizing their brilliance,
(E) only one G. H. Hardy recognized, but these theorems were brilliant

OA: A.

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by Ali Tariq » Sun Sep 03, 2017 6:25 am
recognized is a transitive verb.
A transitive verb is a verb that takes a direct object.
A direct object answers what? (or whom?)
In 1913, the largely self-taught Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan mailed 120 of his theorems to three different British mathematicians; only one, G. H. Hardy, recognized the brilliance of these theorems, but thanks to Hardy's recognition, Ramanujan was eventually elected to the Royal Society of London.

(A) only one, G. H. Hardy, recognized the brilliance of these theorems, but
(B) they were brilliant, G. H. Hardy alone recognized, but
(C) these theorems were brilliant, but only one, G. H. Hardy recognized;
(D) but, only one G. H. Hardy, recognizing their brilliance,
(E) only one G. H. Hardy recognized, but these theorems were brilliant
B, C, and E lack direct object to the verb recognized.

D is out since in GMAT SC, you cannot start off a sentence with but, or, or, and.

Further, D has two subjects seperated by couple of modifiers( red portion)-
D) but, only one G. H. Hardy, recognizing their brilliance, thanks to Hardy's recognition, Ramanujan was eventually elected to the Royal Society of London.

Other problems in incorrect answer choices-

1)
E is a run-on sentence.
In 1913, the largely self-taught Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan mailed 120 of his theorems to three different British mathematicians; only one G. H. Hardy recognized, but these theorems were brilliant thanks to Hardy's recognition, Ramanujan was eventually elected to the Royal Society of London.
Two red parts lack an appropriate connector.

Further, adverbial modifier thanks to Hardy's recognition, nonsensically modifies these theorems were brilliant rather than Ramanujan was eventually elected to the Royal Society of London



2)
In 1913, the largely self-taught Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan mailed 120 of his theorems to three different British mathematicians; only one, G. H. Hardy, recognized the brilliance of these theorems, but thanks to Hardy's recognition, Ramanujan was eventually elected to the Royal Society of London.

(A) only one, G. H. Hardy, recognized the brilliance of these theorems, but
(B) they were brilliant, G. H. Hardy alone recognized, but
(C) these theorems were brilliant, but only one, G. H. Hardy recognized;
(D) but, only one G. H. Hardy,recognizing their brilliance,
(E) only one G. H. Hardy recognized, but these theorems were brilliant
one refers to G.H Hardy in A and thus G.H Hardy should be placed in apposition with one as is the case in OA.
In C, D, and E, G.H.Hardy is not placed in apposition with one as G.H.Hardy is not enclosed in commas( though it is correctly placed next to one) .


3)
(D) but, only one G. H. Hardy, recognizing their brilliance,
(E) only one G. H. Hardy recognized, but these theorems were brilliant
only one G. H. Hardy, in D and E, nonsensically implies that there were more than one G.H. Hardys and only one of them recognized ( the brilliance of those theorems).

Intended meaning, however, is that there were more than one(read: three) British mathematicians to whom Srinivasa Ramanujan emailed his theorems, but only one of those British mathematicians recognized the brilliance of those theorems, and not that one of the several G.H. Hardys recognized the brilliance of those theorems as suggested by D and E.

4)
In 1913, the largely self-taught Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan mailed 120 of his theorems to three different British mathematicians; only one, G. H. Hardy, recognized the brilliance of these theorems, but thanks to Hardy's recognition, Ramanujan was eventually elected to the Royal Society of London.

(A) only one, G. H. Hardy, recognized the brilliance of these theorems, but
(B) they were brilliant, G. H. Hardy alone recognized, but
(C) these theorems were brilliant, but only one, G. H. Hardy recognized;
(D) but, only one G. H. Hardy, recognizing their brilliance,
(E) only one G. H. Hardy recognized, but these theorems were brilliant
these theorems is better than they or their as it kills any potential ambiguity in meaning.
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by gocoder » Sun Oct 15, 2017 1:08 am
only one[of the three mathematicians] recognized the brilliance of these theorems, but thanks to Hardy's recognition, Ramanujan was eventually elected to the Royal Society of London

From OA, I am unable to make out the purpose of 'but thank to '.
Well, Hardy is the one only who recognized Ramanujan but, I feel, there is not show a contrast with a conjunction such as 'but thinks'.

Please help as to how this conjunction is justified here.

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by Ali Tariq » Sun Oct 15, 2017 8:18 pm
gocoder wrote:
From OA, I am unable to make out the purpose of 'but thank to '.
Well, Hardy is the one only who recognized Ramanujan but, I feel, there is not show a contrast with a conjunction such as 'but thinks'.

Please help as to how this conjunction is justified here.
In 1913, Srinivasa Ramanujan mailed 120 theorems to three different British mathematicians; only G. H. Hardy recognized the brilliance of these theorems, but thanks to Hardy's recognition, Ramanujan was eventually elected to the RSL.

'thanks to' serves the same purpose as 'as a result of or because of' would serve; i.e,
cause-effect relationship is at play here and the contrast is between what the expected outcome of recognition from only one mathematician initially was and what actually eventually turned out.
cause- Hardy's recognition (initially ).
effect-Ramanujan was elected to the RSL eventually.

Contrasting elements-
only one out of three recognized the brilliance(initially ) .
but
Srinivasa Ramanujan was eventually elected to the RSL.


Look at it this way-

event1-
Sir Srinivasa Ramanujan mailed 120 theorems to three different British mathematicians.

British mathematicians responded to the mail they received.
Response to event1 ( lets call it event2)-
One mathematician( Hardy) recognized the brilliance of these theorems.
The other two didn't recognize the brilliance of these theorems.
Therefore, Srinivasa Ramanujan failed to elicit 'majority vote' here.

Expected outcome of event2, thus, is an overall failure.
What actually turned out was 'Ramanujan was eventually elected to the RSL'.
So, there is a contrast between what was expected and what eventually transpired, and what eventually transpired goes back to "Hardy's( initial )recognition".
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