Question 10

This topic has expert replies
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 63
Joined: Tue Jul 10, 2012 9:58 am

Question 10

by anshulagarwal12 » Sun Aug 05, 2012 7:36 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

In no other historical sighting did Halley's Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as did its return in 1910-1911.

a. did its return in 1910-11
b. had its 1910-11 return
c. in its return of 1910-11
d. its return of 1910-11 did
e. its return in 1910-11

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 16207
Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC
Thanked: 5254 times
Followed by:1268 members
GMAT Score:770

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sun Aug 05, 2012 8:09 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

anshulagarwal12 wrote:In no other historical sighting did Halley's Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as did its return in 1910-1911.

a. did its return in 1910-11
b. had its 1910-11 return
c. in its return of 1910-11
d. its return of 1910-11 did
e. its return in 1910-11
We're comparing the results of two historical sightings. To achieve parallelism, we need, "In ___ as in ___"

Only C gives us this parallelism: In no other historical sighting did Halley's Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as in its return of 1910-11.

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
Image

Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:28 pm

by [email protected] » Sun Aug 05, 2012 11:55 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

In .... as in ....
Answer C

Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2018 4:55 am

reply

by prab.sahi01 » Fri Oct 26, 2018 9:05 pm

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

Brent@GMATPrepNow wrote:
anshulagarwal12 wrote:In no other historical sighting did Halley's Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as did its return in 1910-1911.

a. did its return in 1910-11
b. had its 1910-11 return
c. in its return of 1910-11
d. its return of 1910-11 did
e. its return in 1910-11
We're comparing the results of two historical sightings. To achieve parallelism, we need, "In ___ as in ___"

Only C gives us this parallelism: In no other historical sighting did Halley's Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as in its return of 1910-11.

Cheers,
Brent

Thanks Brent..

I got this point but can you please explain why other options are wrong

GMAT Instructor
Posts: 181
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 2:27 pm
Followed by:8 members

by [email protected] » Fri Apr 26, 2019 12:40 pm

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

Hello Everyone!

This is a difficult question, so let's dive in! First, take a quick look at the question and highlight any of the major differences between the options in orange, so we can focus on those later:

In no other historical sighting did Halley's comet cause such a worldwide sensation as did its return in 1910-1911.

(A) did its return in 1910-1911
(B) had its 1910-1911 return
(C) in its return of 1910-1911
(D) its return of 1910-1911 did
(E) its return in 1910-1911

Since this is such a short sentence with such short options, let's just focus on the type of question this is: COMPARISON!

Whenever we see comparisons like this, an easy trick to try is to reword it with the two items compared sitting next to each other:

Original Sentence: In no other historical sighting did Halley's comet cause such a worldwide sensation as did its return in 1910-1911.
Reworded Sentence: Halley's comet caused such a worldwide sensation in no other historical sighting as did its return in 1910-1911.

No matter how you word this sentence, it's clear that the two items being compared are the original sighting of Halley's comet and its return in 1910-1911. When looking at each sentence, let's make sure that the two items are parallel:

(A) In no other historical sighting did Halley's comet cause such a worldwide sensation as did its return in 1910-1911.
(B) In no other historical sighting did Halley's comet cause such a worldwide sensation as had its 1910-1911 return.
(C) In no other historical sighting did Halley's comet cause such a worldwide sensation as in its return of 1910-1911.
(D) In no other historical sighting did Halley's comet cause such a worldwide sensation as its return of 1910-1911 did.
(E) In no other historical sighting did Halley's comet cause such a worldwide sensation as its return in 1910-1911.


Well that was quick - the only sentence that compared two parallel items is option C! Whenever you see a comparison question on the GMAT, parallelism is a great place to start. Parallelism is the most common problem with comparison questions, even if the sentence is long-winded or complicated!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.

Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 110
Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2018 11:19 pm
Followed by:1 members

by vietnam47 » Thu Aug 08, 2019 1:12 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

in comparison, we look for parallelism to find the logic. parallelism is not purpose but a vehicle to find logic. if there is no parallelism, as in many og questions, we have to prove that the comparison is still logic.

find the parallelism first, and find the logic latter. the 2 compared elements must be the same role in each clause.
the cut off phrase in the second clause must make no misunderstanding- this problem dose not appear in this question.

Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Oct 01, 2020 4:48 am
Followed by:1 members

Re: Question 10

by alishagmat » Sun Oct 04, 2020 3:10 am

Timer

00:00

Your Answer

A

B

C

D

E

Global Stats

The two timings are being compared
Eliminate A,B and D since they compare actions not timings
E - Halley's comet is compared to its return illogical comparison
C - timings are compared right, hence C