Galileo and natural phenomena

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Galileo and natural phenomena

by GmatGreen » Wed Mar 12, 2014 9:13 am
Galileo was convinced that natural phenomena, as manifestations of the laws of physics, would appear the same to someone on the deck of a ship moving smoothly and uniformly through the water as a person standing on land.

(A) water as a

(B) water as to a

(C) water; just as it would to a

(D) water, as it would to the

(E) water; just as to the

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by Patrick_GMATFix » Wed Mar 12, 2014 9:28 am
Since we have a comparison, parallel structures should be maintained. Look for an answer as close as possible to "phenomena...would appear the same to someone on a ship...as to someone on land". Also beware of answers that use a single pronoun (it) to refer to a plural noun (phenomena)

The answer is B. I go through the question in detail in the full solution below (taken from the GMATFix App).

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by Bill@VeritasPrep » Wed Mar 12, 2014 9:47 am
GmatGreen wrote:Galileo was convinced that natural phenomena, as manifestations of the laws of physics, would appear the same to someone on the deck of a ship moving smoothly and uniformly through the water as a person standing on land.

(A) water as a

(B) water as to a

(C) water; just as it would to a

(D) water, as it would to the

(E) water; just as to the
We're comparing how natural phenomena appear to two different people: someone on a ship and a person standing on land. The first half is not underlined (would appear the same to someone on the deck of a ship..., so we have to adjust the second part to be parallel. B is good; it would appear the same to X as to Y.
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by [email protected] » Wed Mar 12, 2014 12:53 pm
Hi GMATGreen,

Both Bill and Patrick have properly pointed out that this question is built on "2-part" Parallelism. Parallelism shows up on GMAT SCs in a number of different ways, so you should make sure that you practice the various options. 2-part Parallelism often involves common (and some not-so-common) pairs of words, such as...

either.....or.....
neither....nor....
not only....but also....

Each of the "first parts" requires the respective "second part" AND requires parallel phrases and style.

In this prompt, we have the phrase "to ______ as to ________", so the two blanks must contain parallel items (in this case 'people').

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by swarnav999 » Sat Mar 15, 2014 3:52 am
B is the answer. Parrelelism, it is.
GmatGreen wrote:Galileo was convinced that natural phenomena, as manifestations of the laws of physics, would appear the same to someone on the deck of a ship moving smoothly and uniformly through the water as a person standing on land.

(A) water as a

(B) water as to a

(C) water; just as it would to a

(D) water, as it would to the

(E) water; just as to the

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by swarnav999 » Sat Mar 15, 2014 3:54 am
Correct explanation! (y)
Bill@VeritasPrep wrote:
GmatGreen wrote:Galileo was convinced that natural phenomena, as manifestations of the laws of physics, would appear the same to someone on the deck of a ship moving smoothly and uniformly through the water as a person standing on land.

(A) water as a

(B) water as to a

(C) water; just as it would to a

(D) water, as it would to the

(E) water; just as to the
We're comparing how natural phenomena appear to two different people: someone on a ship and a person standing on land. The first half is not underlined (would appear the same to someone on the deck of a ship..., so we have to adjust the second part to be parallel. B is good; it would appear the same to X as to Y.
:idea: :idea: