electrons

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force5: Legendary Member; Posts: 582; Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 12:48 am; Thanked: 61 times; Followed by:6 members; GMAT Score:740

electrons

by force5 » Mon Apr 18, 2011 11:59 am

Last edited by force5 on Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Mon Apr 18, 2011 11:59 am

clock60: Legendary Member; Posts: 759; Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 10:15 am; Thanked: 85 times; Followed by:3 members

by clock60 » Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:17 pm

vote for E

A) however exhibiting -dont like
B) however exhibit- the same as in A
C)do not know what is wrong here, don`t like that have been known to exhibit
to me. sipmle present- exhibit is better
D)no comma before which, and clumsy position of -in many ways

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Chaitanya_1986: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 183; Joined: Sat Apr 16, 2011 11:29 am; Thanked: 7 times; Followed by:2 members

by Chaitanya_1986 » Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:41 pm

Electrons, elementary particles that exist in orbitals around the positively charged nucleus of an atom, seem similar in many ways to ordinary particles however exhibiting surprising wave- like characteristics.

(A) seem similar in many ways to ordinary particles however exhibiting
(B) are to ordinary particles very similar however exhibit
(C) are in many ways similar to ordinary particles that have been known to exhibit
(D) seem similar in many ways to ordinary particles which exhibit
(E) are in many ways similar to ordinary particles but also exhibit

Firstly
A, D are wrong because no Verb is defined here.....
B is wrong of Unnecessary infinitive usage.....
Left with C r E......

Firstly, I dont think contra (But) is need here....they are telling electrons are similar like ord particles and then telling about them.....
Secondly, X is Known to do Y is an idiom

In both the ways C is Right Option.....

OA plzzz

Last edited by Chaitanya_1986 on Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Brian@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1031; Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 1:23 pm; Location: Malibu, CA; Thanked: 716 times; Followed by:255 members; GMAT Score:750

by Brian@VeritasPrep » Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:30 pm

Good question! Chaitanya, I'll actually use that need for the contra "but" that you mentioned as my reasoning for selecting E.

If you look at the meaning of the sentence, it's that electrons are similar to ordinary particles...but that they also have surprising properties that would make them not "ordinary". E sets up that meaning perfectly with "but".

In C, the word "surprising" doesn't really have any punch to it, if you were to say that "electrons are similar to other particles that have surprising characteristics". The real payoff of this sentence is that electrons seem ordinary, but have some unique, surprising characteristics. C misses that, instead assigning the "surprise" to the ordinary particles, and in doing so it strips the sentence of any real meaning. "Ordinary" particles shouldn't really have surprising characteristics (after all, they're ordinary), and if the electrons are so similar to those ordinary particles the sentence doesn't have a whole lot of meaning.

Because of that, "but" really is justified and probably necessary here, and E is a better sentence than C.

What may not really be justified is the use of "have been known to" in C. We're talking about science here, and everything else is in the indicative tense ("electrons ARE similar"; they're particles "THAT EXIST"; etc.) it's an odd choice of verb tense to use to describe scientific properties of other particles. It's also passive voice and a drawn-out, wordy way of essentially saying "particles that exhibit", so without a need for that tense it probably shouldn't be used.

Brian Galvin
GMAT Instructor
Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep

Looking for GMAT practice questions? Try out the Veritas Prep Question Bank. Learn More.

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Chaitanya_1986: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 183; Joined: Sat Apr 16, 2011 11:29 am; Thanked: 7 times; Followed by:2 members

by Chaitanya_1986 » Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:40 pm

Thumbs Up for your Explanation Brain!!!!!!

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force5: Legendary Member; Posts: 582; Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 12:48 am; Thanked: 61 times; Followed by:6 members; GMAT Score:740

by force5 » Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:43 pm

thanks Brian i wanna ask you a very basic question here. the idiom says not only X but also Y or
not only X but Y

now i know we can use "but" alone.
however the question is why would i use BUT ALSO... if i need contra then i can just use a "but"
Don't you think but also leaves a question in your mind that there has to be some other information too before it..............

Can we use stand alone "but also" without "not only"

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Brian@VeritasPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1031; Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 1:23 pm; Location: Malibu, CA; Thanked: 716 times; Followed by:255 members; GMAT Score:750

by Brian@VeritasPrep » Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:23 pm

Good question, force5 - you know, as I think I say on here a lot, the tricky thing about idioms is that there are thousands upon thousands of individual idiom usages in the English language so it's impossible to prepare for them all. Yes, "not only...but also" is a common idiom, but it's not the only way to use a combination of some of those words.

Here's how I'd break these apart using logic:

Not X but Y

Here, there's no "also"; it's one or the other. So you could say "It wasn't his cholesterol, but his caloric intake that caused his fitness problems." Here there's no combination of the two - there was one cause and it wasn't the one that you might have thought.

X but also Y

Here there are multiple attributes that are included together, like in that sentence above, and the second is a bit of a surprise - one should seemingly run counter to the other. "Electrons act just like other particles, but also exhibit some surprising behaviors." They have both...it's not a one-or-the-other situation. "Shaquille O'Neal was a dominant basketball player because he was massive but also surprisingly nimble and agile."

Not only X but also Y

This is fairly similar to the above, but I suppose you're more likely to use this construction when there's an add-on benefit (or detraction) from something. "My GMAT instructor wasn't only brilliant, but was also incredibly handsome," is something I've read on a lot of my student reviews...

So all three have legitimate usage, and I guess I'd put the differences as:

Not X but Y --> It's not the first thing, but instead the second
X but also Y --> the first thing is true, but somewhat surprisingly so is the second
Not only X but also Y --> You'd think the first one would be enough but the second is also true

And maybe the bigger point here is that you'll never be able to memorize every potential "correct" idiom, so I'd always recommend that you look at the major error categories first and use logic to supplement it. GMAT students so frequently like to eliminate answer choices based on idioms that the don't recognize, but just because you don't recognize it doesn't mean it's not proper.

Brian Galvin
GMAT Instructor
Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep

Looking for GMAT practice questions? Try out the Veritas Prep Question Bank. Learn More.

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force5: Legendary Member; Posts: 582; Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 12:48 am; Thanked: 61 times; Followed by:6 members; GMAT Score:740

by force5 » Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:53 pm

Thanks Brian. so that was your way of saying "good afternoon" dude its going to be a long day...........

just kidding!!

thanks for explaining.. really helped.