Hi All,
Following is OG-12, Q#5.
[spoiler]OA = "A". For kicking out C. OG says, "has the rank of" is unidiomatic. Can someone please tell why the same is unidiomatic.
[/spoiler]
==============================================
Diabetes, together with its serious complications, ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death, surpassed only by heart disease and cancer
(a) ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death, surpassed only
(b) rank as the nation's third leading cause of death, only surpassed
(c) has the rank of the nation's third leading cause of death, only surpassed
(d) are the nation's third leading causes of death, surpassed only
(e) have been ranked as the nation's third leading causes of death, only surpassed
Diabetes and its complications
This topic has expert replies
-
- Legendary Member
- Posts: 1799
- Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2008 3:03 am
- Thanked: 36 times
- Followed by:2 members
-
- Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2009 3:03 am
- Thanked: 2 times
- Followed by:1 members
I wont comment on OG's explanation (Since we are playing GMAT's game). But yes I can explain why C is wrong. C says that Diabetes has rank blah blah blah... How can diabetes have rank?? I dont think it can have any rank...
Does this makes sense??
Does this makes sense??
-
- Legendary Member
- Posts: 1799
- Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2008 3:03 am
- Thanked: 36 times
- Followed by:2 members
Thanks Kyabe !!!kyabe wrote:I wont comment on OG's explanation (Since we are playing GMAT's game). But yes I can explain why C is wrong. C says that Diabetes has rank blah blah blah... How can diabetes have rank?? I dont think it can have any rank...
Does this makes sense??
do you mean to say that "has" over here means possession and not the present perfect tense ? If yes...then can you please tell how to decide when it is possession and when the same is present perfect ?
-
- Legendary Member
- Posts: 1035
- Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:56 pm
- Thanked: 104 times
- Followed by:1 members
also, "ranks" is far more concise than "has the rank of " which is wordy and awkward.
another error in C: "only" should be placed next to the phrase it limits. "surpassed only by x and y" is better than "only surpassed by x and y".
"by x and y" is the limiting phrase as these are the only two diseases ranking ahead of diabetes.
another error in C: "only" should be placed next to the phrase it limits. "surpassed only by x and y" is better than "only surpassed by x and y".
"by x and y" is the limiting phrase as these are the only two diseases ranking ahead of diabetes.
-
- Legendary Member
- Posts: 1799
- Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2008 3:03 am
- Thanked: 36 times
- Followed by:2 members
Hi Scooby,scoobydooby wrote:also, "ranks" is far more concise than "has the rank of " which is wordy and awkward.
Just one small query in order to avoid similar issues in future...is "has the rank of" awkward b'coz of following reason....
does "has" over here means possession and not the present perfect tense ? If yes...then can you please tell how to decide when it is possession and when the same is present perfect ?
GMAT/MBA Expert
- Stacey Koprince
- GMAT Instructor
- Posts: 2228
- Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:28 pm
- Location: Montreal, Canada
- Thanked: 639 times
- Followed by:694 members
- GMAT Score:780
Received a PM asking me to reply.
One thing to know in general about idioms: there often aren't explainable rules for idioms. The explanation is "that's the way it is; memorize it." Annoying, but... that's the way it is.
The relevant part of choice C says:
Diabetes has the rank of the nation's third leading cause of death.
First, FYI, "has" is not present perfect here. It is simple present. Present perfect is constructed by using both "has / have" AND the past participle of another verb. Eg, She has eaten three peaches today. "Has eaten" is present perfect. In the sentence above, we don't have a second verb - just "has." So that's simple present.
Next, If something "has the rank of X" then the main noun following that "of" should be the actual rank. "She has the rank of expert." "The dog has the rank of 4."
What noun follows in this sentence? "Diabetes has the rank of... cause." Is "cause (of death)" a rank? No - the rank is 3. Diabetes has the rank of third in the list of leading causes of death. (Totally awkward sentence, but that would work. )
The correct answer avoids this problem by using a different structure: Diabetes ranks as X. Now, X can be the full descriptive phrase, the rank itself plus the broader description of that rank: eg, "the 4th best dog in the group."
One thing to know in general about idioms: there often aren't explainable rules for idioms. The explanation is "that's the way it is; memorize it." Annoying, but... that's the way it is.
The relevant part of choice C says:
Diabetes has the rank of the nation's third leading cause of death.
First, FYI, "has" is not present perfect here. It is simple present. Present perfect is constructed by using both "has / have" AND the past participle of another verb. Eg, She has eaten three peaches today. "Has eaten" is present perfect. In the sentence above, we don't have a second verb - just "has." So that's simple present.
Next, If something "has the rank of X" then the main noun following that "of" should be the actual rank. "She has the rank of expert." "The dog has the rank of 4."
What noun follows in this sentence? "Diabetes has the rank of... cause." Is "cause (of death)" a rank? No - the rank is 3. Diabetes has the rank of third in the list of leading causes of death. (Totally awkward sentence, but that would work. )
The correct answer avoids this problem by using a different structure: Diabetes ranks as X. Now, X can be the full descriptive phrase, the rank itself plus the broader description of that rank: eg, "the 4th best dog in the group."
Please note: I do not use the Private Messaging system! I will not see any PMs that you send to me!!
Stacey Koprince
GMAT Instructor
Director of Online Community
Manhattan GMAT
Contributor to Beat The GMAT!
Learn more about me
Stacey Koprince
GMAT Instructor
Director of Online Community
Manhattan GMAT
Contributor to Beat The GMAT!
Learn more about me
- sudarshankumar
- Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Wed Aug 25, 2010 10:39 pm
I have one doubt....
I think "diabetes ranks as ...." is grammatically incorrect because diabetes doesn' rank anything but it is ranked .... tense should be passive.
among all the options even i went for A but ......
I think "diabetes ranks as ...." is grammatically incorrect because diabetes doesn' rank anything but it is ranked .... tense should be passive.
among all the options even i went for A but ......
- Salman Ghaffar
- Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
- Posts: 55
- Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2010 1:21 pm
- Location: Karachi, Pakistan
- Thanked: 7 times
Would you say "Rafael Nadal ranks as the top tennis player" or "Rafael Nadal has the rank of the top tennis player"?
You would generally use the first construction.
You would generally use the first construction.
- tomada
- Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
- Posts: 406
- Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2010 11:36 am
- Location: Syracuse, NY
- Thanked: 23 times
- Followed by:4 members
- GMAT Score:740
My confusion with this question involved only choices (A) and (B), because I wasn't sure if "Diabetes, together with.." should be interpreted as singular or plural.
I'm really old, but I'll never be too old to become more educated.
- Salman Ghaffar
- Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
- Posts: 55
- Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2010 1:21 pm
- Location: Karachi, Pakistan
- Thanked: 7 times
As a general rule, whenever you see the construction "X, along with Y,...." forget about Y and focus only on X. If X is singular, choose a singular verb; if X is plural, choose a plural verb.
- tomada
- Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
- Posts: 406
- Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2010 11:36 am
- Location: Syracuse, NY
- Thanked: 23 times
- Followed by:4 members
- GMAT Score:740
Thank you, Salman. Can you think of any exceptions to that?
Salman Ghaffar wrote:As a general rule, whenever you see the construction "X, along with Y,...." forget about Y and focus only on X. If X is singular, choose a singular verb; if X is plural, choose a plural verb.
I'm really old, but I'll never be too old to become more educated.
- Salman Ghaffar
- Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
- Posts: 55
- Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2010 1:21 pm
- Location: Karachi, Pakistan
- Thanked: 7 times
- tomada
- Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
- Posts: 406
- Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2010 11:36 am
- Location: Syracuse, NY
- Thanked: 23 times
- Followed by:4 members
- GMAT Score:740
That's awesome, thanks. Now, there are 3 things I can count on - death, taxes, and this construction
Salman Ghaffar wrote:Nope. Works every time like a charm
I'm really old, but I'll never be too old to become more educated.
-
- GMAT Instructor
- Posts: 181
- Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 2:27 pm
- Followed by:8 members
Hello Everyone!
Let's take a closer look at this question and see where we can narrow down options, so we can answer this question quickly! To get started, here is the original question with the major differences between each option highlighted in orange:
Diabetes, together with its serious complications, ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death, surpassed only by heart disease and cancer
(a) ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death, surpassed only
(b) rank as the nation's third leading cause of death, only surpassed
(c) has the rank of the nation's third leading cause of death, only surpassed
(d) are the nation's third leading causes of death, surpassed only
(e) have been ranked as the nation's third leading causes of death, only surpassed
After a quick glance over the options, two major differences pop out immediately:
1. Verb Tense (ranks/rank/has the rank of/are/have been ranked)
2. surpassed only / only surpassed
Let's start with #1 on our list: verb tense. This should easily knock 2-3 options off our list quickly. The subject of this sentence is diabetes, which is a singular subject. Therefore, we need to make sure the verbs are also singular! Let's see how each option stacks up:
(a) Diabetes...ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death, surpassed only
(b) Diabetes...rank as the nation's third leading cause of death, only surpassed
(c) Diabetes...has the rank of the nation's third leading cause of death, only surpassed
(d) Diabetes...are the nation's third leading causes of death, surpassed only
(e) Diabetes...have been ranked as the nation's third leading causes of death, only surpassed
We can rule out options B, D, and E because they all use plural verbs, which don't match in number with our singular subject! See? Now we only have 2 options to deal with now! So, let's tackle #2 on our list: surpassed only / only surpassed.
These two phrases mean something slightly different:
surpassed only by heart disease and cancer = heart disease and cancer are the only diseases that surpassed diabetes as the leading cause of death
only surpassed by heart disease and cancer = heart disease and cancer only do one thing (surpass diabetes), suggests they don't have other functions?
It makes the most sense for this sentence to say that diabetes is surpassed only by heart disease and cancer as the leading cause of death. Therefore, we can rule out option C because it doesn't convey the correct meaning.
There is also another way to narrow these answers down:
Diabetes, together with its serious complications, ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death, surpassed only by heart disease and cancer
(a) ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death, surpassed only
This is CORRECT because it uses concise and clear wording to convey the correct meaning.
(c) has the rank of the nation's third leading cause of death, only surpassed
This is INCORRECT because the phrase "has the rank of" is overly wordy and unnecessary. It also uses the incorrect construction "only surpassed," which conveys the wrong overall meaning.
There you go - option A is the correct choice after all!
Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
Let's take a closer look at this question and see where we can narrow down options, so we can answer this question quickly! To get started, here is the original question with the major differences between each option highlighted in orange:
Diabetes, together with its serious complications, ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death, surpassed only by heart disease and cancer
(a) ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death, surpassed only
(b) rank as the nation's third leading cause of death, only surpassed
(c) has the rank of the nation's third leading cause of death, only surpassed
(d) are the nation's third leading causes of death, surpassed only
(e) have been ranked as the nation's third leading causes of death, only surpassed
After a quick glance over the options, two major differences pop out immediately:
1. Verb Tense (ranks/rank/has the rank of/are/have been ranked)
2. surpassed only / only surpassed
Let's start with #1 on our list: verb tense. This should easily knock 2-3 options off our list quickly. The subject of this sentence is diabetes, which is a singular subject. Therefore, we need to make sure the verbs are also singular! Let's see how each option stacks up:
(a) Diabetes...ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death, surpassed only
(b) Diabetes...rank as the nation's third leading cause of death, only surpassed
(c) Diabetes...has the rank of the nation's third leading cause of death, only surpassed
(d) Diabetes...are the nation's third leading causes of death, surpassed only
(e) Diabetes...have been ranked as the nation's third leading causes of death, only surpassed
We can rule out options B, D, and E because they all use plural verbs, which don't match in number with our singular subject! See? Now we only have 2 options to deal with now! So, let's tackle #2 on our list: surpassed only / only surpassed.
These two phrases mean something slightly different:
surpassed only by heart disease and cancer = heart disease and cancer are the only diseases that surpassed diabetes as the leading cause of death
only surpassed by heart disease and cancer = heart disease and cancer only do one thing (surpass diabetes), suggests they don't have other functions?
It makes the most sense for this sentence to say that diabetes is surpassed only by heart disease and cancer as the leading cause of death. Therefore, we can rule out option C because it doesn't convey the correct meaning.
There is also another way to narrow these answers down:
Diabetes, together with its serious complications, ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death, surpassed only by heart disease and cancer
(a) ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death, surpassed only
This is CORRECT because it uses concise and clear wording to convey the correct meaning.
(c) has the rank of the nation's third leading cause of death, only surpassed
This is INCORRECT because the phrase "has the rank of" is overly wordy and unnecessary. It also uses the incorrect construction "only surpassed," which conveys the wrong overall meaning.
There you go - option A is the correct choice after all!
Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.