skyline77 wrote:Q Rather than accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, Christopher Columbus was sent by the king and queen of Spain to see if he could reach India by traveling west.

a. Rather than accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat,
Christopher Columbus was sent by the king and queen of Spain to
see if he could reach India by sailing west.

b. Rather than accepting the conventional wisdom that the earth was
flat, Christopher Columbus was sent by the king and queen of
Spain to see if he could reach India by sailing west.

c. Instead of accepting the conventional wisdom that the earth was
flat, Christopher Columbus sailed west to see whether he could
reach India, having been sent by the king and queen of Spain.

d. Rather than accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was
flat, Christopher Columbus sailed west to see whether he could
reach India, having been sent by the king and queen of Spain.

e. Instead of accepting the conventional wisdom that the earth was
flat, Christopher Columbus was sent by the king and queen of
Spain to sail west to see if he could reach India.

Answer is D.

"X" Rather than "Y (accept)". The "X" is which word is it "sailed"?

IMO D
2 steps

rather than is preferred over Instead of

Whether is preferred over If

Adding to your question

Sentence is a passive construction. To fit into the idiom, change it to active


Christopher Columbus sailed west to see whether he could reach India rather than accept the conventional wisdom that the earth was flat, , having been sent by the king and queen of Spain.

Now you can see X rather than Y

iamcste wrote:

rather than is preferred over Instead of

Whether is preferred over If

parallel_chase wrote:

iamcste wrote:

rather than is preferred over Instead of

Whether is preferred over If

According to Grammatical structures here is my reasoning.

Rather than - used in case of preference
Instead of - used in case of replacement

Whether - used when alternatives are possible.
If - used to express condition.



Yes, agreed

If can never be followed by a preposition or an infinitive; only whether can.


Not sure about this, Is it from OG or MG

May you be kind enough to share the source[/b][/color]
Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks

If can never be followed by a preposition or an infinitive; only whether can