Sentence Correction

In metalwork one advantage of adhesive-bonding over spot-welding is that the contact, and hence the
bonding, is effected continuously over a broad surface instead of a series of regularly spaced points with no
bonding in between.
(A) instead of
(B) as opposed to
(C) in contrast with
(D) rather than at
(E) as against being at

No clue how to tackle it. Any advise?

anshulagarwal12 wrote:In metalwork one advantage of adhesive-bonding over spot-welding is that the contact, and hence the
bonding, is effected continuously over a broad surface instead of a series of regularly spaced points with no
bonding in between.
(A) instead of
(B) as opposed to
(C) in contrast with
(D) rather than at
(E) as against being at

No clue how to tackle it. Any advise?

This one tests meaning with prepositional use. In the first part, we are told that:
Bonding is effected over a broad surface. For the second part to make sense, we cannot have welding "over" a series of points. The correct preposition is "at"
a series of points, or "on" a series of points. With this in mind, we can eliminated A,B,C. E is incorrect because as "effected..being at" is incorrect usage of being. This leaves us with D as the correct choice using the preposition "at".

I think this is a clear idiomatic usage - rather than. Is there another way to tackle this.

Hi Brent, Answer B also has a preposition "to". Why answer D is preferred to Answer B.

Thanks
Jerry

Hi Brent..

Had one doubt here.. I always thought 'rather than' suggests a preference and 'instead of' suggests an alternative... Keeping that in mind I choose, A.

Please help..

Cheers,
Dhara

Dhara Pujara wrote:Hi Brent..

Had one doubt here.. I always thought 'rather than' suggests a preference and 'instead of' suggests an alternative... Keeping that in mind I choose, A.

Please help..

Cheers,
Dhara

I think the main problem with A is that it is missing the word "at". Without it, it changes the meaning slightly. Which Brent highlighted.

over a broad surface as against being at a series of..........sounds better then
over a broad surface instead of a series of