Rather than vs. Instead of

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infiniti007: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 37; Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2015 6:00 pm; Thanked: 1 times

by infiniti007 » Thu Aug 20, 2015 9:10 pm

Any help on the following question would be really appreciated.

The high costs to taxpayers were mostly a result of policies that guarantee cotton farmers a portion of their projected revenue, rather than of coverage paying them for damaged crops.

A.) rather than of coverage paying them for damaged crops
B.) instead of their coverage that pays for damaged crops
C.) as opposed to coverage paying them for damaged crops
D.) rather than coverage that pays them for damaged crops
E.) instead of coverage that pays them for damaged crop

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Thu Aug 20, 2015 9:10 pm

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 » Fri Aug 21, 2015 4:58 am

infiniti007 wrote:Any help on the following question would be really appreciated.

The high costs to taxpayers were mostly a result of policies that guarantee cotton farmers a portion of their projected revenue, rather than of coverage paying them for damaged crops.

A.) rather than of coverage paying them for damaged crops
B.) instead of their coverage that pays for damaged crops
C.) as opposed to coverage paying them for damaged crops
D.) rather than coverage that pays them for damaged crops
E.) instead of coverage that pays them for damaged crop

X instead of Y means X IN PLACE OF Y.
Conveyed meaning:
Y was REPLACED by X.

B: policies...instead of their coverage
E: policies...instead of coverage
Here, coverage is not REPLACED by policies.
Thus, the usage of instead of does not convey the intended meaning.
Eliminate B and E.

A VERBIng modifier implies CONCURRENT action: an action happening at the same time as the main action.
In A and C, the usage of paying implies that a CAUSE (the act of paying farmers) could have happened at the same time as the eventual EFFECT (the high costs to taxpayers) -- an illogical sequence.
Eliminate A and C.

The correct answer is D.

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