Parallelism

Expert replies

gmattesttaker2: Legendary Member; Posts: 641; Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2012 3:52 pmFollowed by: 8 members; Thanked: 11 times

by gmattesttaker2 » Sat Jul 21, 2012 7:43 pm

Hello,

This is taken from MGMAT SC Guide (5th edition), page 61.

We need to correct the parallelism error:

The students did poorly on the test more because they had not studied than the material was difficult.

Answer:
The students did poorly on the test more BECAUSE they had not studied than BECAUSE the material was difficult.

I was wondering why the following is not correct:

The students did poorly on the test more BECAUSE they had not studied and less BECAUSE the material was difficult.

I was wondering if you can please assist? Thanks a lot.

Best Regards,
Sri

Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sat Jul 21, 2012 7:43 pm

Birottam Dutta: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 342; Joined: Wed Jul 08, 2009 8:50 amFollowed by: 19 members; Thanked: 214 times; GMAT Score:740

by Birottam Dutta » Sat Jul 21, 2012 10:02 pm

Well the meaning of both the sentences are not the same.

The first and correct sentence actually negates the material aspect and puts all the blame on lack of preparation of the students.

Your sentence says that the material was also a cause but to a lesser degree than the lack of preparation.

I hope you understand the difference in meaning of the two sentences.

Folks please check this out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7p56NzAVKc

karthikgmat: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 172; Joined: Wed Jul 09, 2008 3:35 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 3 times; GMAT Score:610

by karthikgmat » Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:30 am

There is a change of meaning..

henryjejo: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 58; Joined: Tue Jul 29, 2008 11:12 pm; Thanked: 7 times

by henryjejo » Tue Sep 18, 2012 6:03 pm

Its an Idiom question...More because of X than because of Y.

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