Payne Whitney Clinic

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Onell: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 88; Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2010 1:20 am; Thanked: 1 times

by Onell » Mon Dec 13, 2010 3:21 am

In his research paper, Dr. Frosh, medical director of the Payne Whitney Clinic, distinguishes mood swings. which may be violent without their being grounded in mental disease, from genuine manic-depressive psychosis.

(A) mood swings, which may be violent without their being grounded in mental disease, from genuine manic-depressive psychosis
(B) mood swings, perhaps violent without being grounded in mental disease, and genuine manic-depressive psychosis ,
(C) between mood swings, which may be violent without being grounded in mental disease, and genuine manic-depressive psychosis
(D) between mood swings, perhaps violent without being grounded in mental disease, from genuine manic-depressive psychosis
(E) genuine manic-depressive psychosis and mood swings, which may be violent without being grounded in mental disease

1.Og says the modifier of mood swings in B and D (perhaps violent) is awkward and less clear than the more developed clause which may be violent What is the difference between Mood swings, perhaps violent without being grounded in mental disease" and "mood swings, which may be violent without being grounded in mental disease? How to use one over other?
2.Og says their in A is intrusive and unnecessary, a. However I feel their correctly refers back to mood swings....so what is wrong with type of construction ..

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Mon Dec 13, 2010 3:21 am

GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Mon Dec 13, 2010 4:12 am

Onell wrote:In his research paper, Dr. Frosh, medical director of the Payne Whitney Clinic, distinguishes mood swings. which may be violent without their being grounded in mental disease, from genuine manic-depressive psychosis.

(A) mood swings, which may be violent without their being grounded in mental disease, from genuine manic-depressive psychosis
(B) mood swings, perhaps violent without being grounded in mental disease, and genuine manic-depressive psychosis ,
(C) between mood swings, which may be violent without being grounded in mental disease, and genuine manic-depressive psychosis
(D) between mood swings, perhaps violent without being grounded in mental disease, from genuine manic-depressive psychosis
(E) genuine manic-depressive psychosis and mood swings, which may be violent without being grounded in mental disease

Quickest approach:

When the verb to distinguish is used to show how two things differ from each other, the correct idiom is either distinguish X from Y or distinguish between X and Y.

Only A and C offer correct idioms:

Answer choice A:
...distinguishes mood swings...from...psychosis.

Answer choice C:
...distinguishes between mood swings...and...psychosis.

Eliminate B, D and E.

In A, the pronoun their is unnecessary and makes the sentence needlessly wordy. Eliminate A.

The correct answer is C.

Last edited by GMATGuruNY on Mon Dec 13, 2010 7:59 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Onell: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 88; Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2010 1:20 am; Thanked: 1 times

by Onell » Mon Dec 13, 2010 4:52 am

GMATGuruNY wrote:
Onell wrote:In his research paper, Dr. Frosh, medical director of the Payne Whitney Clinic, distinguishes mood swings. which may be violent without their being grounded in mental disease, from genuine manic-depressive psychosis.

(A) mood swings, which may be violent without their being grounded in mental disease, from genuine manic-depressive psychosis
(B) mood swings, perhaps violent without being grounded in mental disease, and genuine manic-depressive psychosis ,
(C) between mood swings, which may be violent without being grounded in mental disease, and genuine manic-depressive psychosis
(D) between mood swings, perhaps violent without being grounded in mental disease, from genuine manic-depressive psychosis
(E) genuine manic-depressive psychosis and mood swings, which may be violent without being grounded in mental disease
Quickest approach:

When the verb to distinguish is used to show how two things differ from each other, the correct idiom is either distinguish X from Y or distinguish between X and Y.

Only answer choice C offers the correct idiom:

...distinguishes between mood swings...and...psychosis.

The correct answer is C.

Thanks for your reply.. However I am sort of trying to figure out .. difference between Mood swings, perhaps violent without being grounded in mental disease" and "mood swings, which may be violent without being grounded in mental disease? How to use one over other? what is wrong with "their" in option A

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Salman Ghaffar: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 55; Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2010 1:21 pm; Location: Karachi, Pakistan; Thanked: 7 times

by Salman Ghaffar » Mon Dec 13, 2010 6:23 am

Actually Guru, A also offers a correct idiom:

distinguishes mood swings, which may be violent without their being grounded in mental disease, from genuine manic-depressive psychosis.

Hence on the basis of idiom choice alone, both A and C are correct.

As for the "their" in option A, try the sentence without using it... it now reads:
In his research paper, Dr. Frosh, medical director of the Payne Whitney Clinic, distinguishes mood swings, which may be violent without being grounded in mental disease, from genuine manic-depressive psychosis.

This construction sounds fine without the use of the "their". So for economy's sake, C would be better.

Option B is wrong as it uses "and" without using a "between" at the beginning, making the construction "distinguishes X and Y" rather than "distinguishes X from Y". Another problem with using "perhaps" as option B does is that the meaning is not conveyed properly, while the use of "which may be violent...." as A and C does makes the meaning absolutely clear.

Remember, GMAT also wants us to choose the option which is clear in its meaning and employs "effective expression".

Hope this helps.

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GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Mon Dec 13, 2010 8:11 am

Salman Ghaffar wrote:Actually Guru, A also offers a correct idiom:

distinguishes mood swings, which may be violent without their being grounded in mental disease, from genuine manic-depressive psychosis.

Hence on the basis of idiom choice alone, both A and C are correct.

As for the "their" in option A, try the sentence without using it... it now reads:
In his research paper, Dr. Frosh, medical director of the Payne Whitney Clinic, distinguishes mood swings, which may be violent without being grounded in mental disease, from genuine manic-depressive psychosis.

This construction sounds fine without the use of the "their". So for economy's sake, C would be better.

Option B is wrong as it uses "and" without using a "between" at the beginning, making the construction "distinguishes X and Y" rather than "distinguishes X from Y". Another problem with using "perhaps" as option B does is that the meaning is not conveyed properly, while the use of "which may be violent...." as A and C does makes the meaning absolutely clear.

Remember, GMAT also wants us to choose the option which is clear in its meaning and employs "effective expression".

Hope this helps.

Salman, thanks for catching that A also uses a correct idiom. I've amended my earlier post.

Onell, the phrase may be violent without being grounded is preferable because it compares two actions: the mood swings may be violent without being grounded. The phrase violent without being grounded is less preferable because it compares an adjective (violent) with an action (being grounded).

Hope this helps!

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