During an ice age, the buildup of ice at the poles and the drop in water levels near the equator speed up the Earth's rotation, like a spinning figure skater whose speed increases when her arms are drawn in.
(A) like a spinning figure skater whose speed increases when her arms are drawn in
(B) like the increased speed of a figure skater when her arms are drawn in
(C) like a figure skater who increases speed while spinning with her arms drawn in
(D) just as a spinning figure skater who increases speed by drawing in her arms
(E) just as a spinning figure skater increases speed by drawing in her arms
5-Day Free Trial
5-day free, full-access trial TTP
Available with Beat the GMAT members only code
MORE DETAILS
spinning figure skater
This topic has expert replies
-
gmatnmein2010
- Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
- Posts: 185
- Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2010 3:06 am
- Thanked: 6 times
-
Osirus@VeritasPrep
- GMAT Instructor
- Posts: 1578
- Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 8:02 am
- Thanked: 128 times
- Followed by:34 members
- GMAT Score:760
I would choose E
A- "like" can't introduce an example
B- same as A
C- same as A
D- This isn't grammatically incorrect, I just feel that E better captures the meaning of the author
E- correct
A- "like" can't introduce an example
B- same as A
C- same as A
D- This isn't grammatically incorrect, I just feel that E better captures the meaning of the author
E- correct
https://www.beatthegmat.com/the-retake-o ... 51414.html
Brandon Dorsey
GMAT Instructor
Veritas Prep
Buy any Veritas Prep book(s) and receive access to 5 Practice Cats for free! Learn More.
Brandon Dorsey
GMAT Instructor
Veritas Prep
Buy any Veritas Prep book(s) and receive access to 5 Practice Cats for free! Learn More.
-
money9111
- Legendary Member
- Posts: 2109
- Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:25 pm
- Location: New Jersey
- Thanked: 109 times
- Followed by:79 members
- GMAT Score:640
but I thought as could not be used to compare two things.... my choice was B
My goal is to make MBA applicants take onus over their process.
My story from Pre-MBA to Cornell MBA - New Post in Pre-MBA blog
Me featured on Poets & Quants
Free Book for MBA Applicants
My story from Pre-MBA to Cornell MBA - New Post in Pre-MBA blog
Me featured on Poets & Quants
Free Book for MBA Applicants
-
Osirus@VeritasPrep
- GMAT Instructor
- Posts: 1578
- Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 8:02 am
- Thanked: 128 times
- Followed by:34 members
- GMAT Score:760
I think "just as" is an idiom. I could be wrong though. I have yet to memorize those.money9111 wrote:but I thought as could not be used to compare two things.... my choice was B
https://www.beatthegmat.com/the-retake-o ... 51414.html
Brandon Dorsey
GMAT Instructor
Veritas Prep
Buy any Veritas Prep book(s) and receive access to 5 Practice Cats for free! Learn More.
Brandon Dorsey
GMAT Instructor
Veritas Prep
Buy any Veritas Prep book(s) and receive access to 5 Practice Cats for free! Learn More.
-
money9111
- Legendary Member
- Posts: 2109
- Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:25 pm
- Location: New Jersey
- Thanked: 109 times
- Followed by:79 members
- GMAT Score:640
you are correct osirus... just as is an idiom... i gotta be careful not to confuse those when I see "AS"
My goal is to make MBA applicants take onus over their process.
My story from Pre-MBA to Cornell MBA - New Post in Pre-MBA blog
Me featured on Poets & Quants
Free Book for MBA Applicants
My story from Pre-MBA to Cornell MBA - New Post in Pre-MBA blog
Me featured on Poets & Quants
Free Book for MBA Applicants
-
thephoenix
- Legendary Member
- Posts: 1560
- Joined: Tue Nov 17, 2009 2:38 am
- Thanked: 137 times
- Followed by:5 members
IMO E
(A) like a spinning figure skater ...LIKE compares nouns, but the comparison is Earth's rotation = a spinning figure skater. Should be Earth = skater.
(B) like the increased speed of a figure skater...LIKE compares nouns, but the comparison is Earth's rotation = the increased speed. Should be Earth = skater.
(C) like a figure skater...LIKE compares nouns, but the comparison is Earth's rotation = a figure skater. Should be Earth = skater.
(D) just as a spinning figure skater (modifier: who increases speed by drawing in her arms)...AS incorrectly compares nouns. There is no verb in the as phrase, as required.
(E) just as a spinning figure skater increases speed by drawing in her arms. CORRECT. AS correctly compares the verbs speed up and increases speed.
(A) like a spinning figure skater ...LIKE compares nouns, but the comparison is Earth's rotation = a spinning figure skater. Should be Earth = skater.
(B) like the increased speed of a figure skater...LIKE compares nouns, but the comparison is Earth's rotation = the increased speed. Should be Earth = skater.
(C) like a figure skater...LIKE compares nouns, but the comparison is Earth's rotation = a figure skater. Should be Earth = skater.
(D) just as a spinning figure skater (modifier: who increases speed by drawing in her arms)...AS incorrectly compares nouns. There is no verb in the as phrase, as required.
(E) just as a spinning figure skater increases speed by drawing in her arms. CORRECT. AS correctly compares the verbs speed up and increases speed.
-
money9111
- Legendary Member
- Posts: 2109
- Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:25 pm
- Location: New Jersey
- Thanked: 109 times
- Followed by:79 members
- GMAT Score:640
thephoenix I have a question for you...
in your explanations of the answer choices... are you able to do that in your head in less than a minute and 30 seconds? i'm just curious because if so... I have a loooooong way to go.
thank you
in your explanations of the answer choices... are you able to do that in your head in less than a minute and 30 seconds? i'm just curious because if so... I have a loooooong way to go.
thank you
My goal is to make MBA applicants take onus over their process.
My story from Pre-MBA to Cornell MBA - New Post in Pre-MBA blog
Me featured on Poets & Quants
Free Book for MBA Applicants
My story from Pre-MBA to Cornell MBA - New Post in Pre-MBA blog
Me featured on Poets & Quants
Free Book for MBA Applicants
-
jeffedwards
- Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
- Posts: 109
- Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2009 4:58 am
- Thanked: 12 times
- Followed by:1 members
- GMAT Score:720
That was a tricky one. For the record you can use like to compare nouns. Life is like a box of chocolates. As would be used to compare verbs. He throws as well as he (does).
At first I thought the sentence was comparing the Earth's rotation (noun) to a spinning figure skater (noun) - like, but then I realized that it was comparing how the drop in water levels speed up (verb).... to how the figure skater increases (verb) speed - as
BTW what is the official answer. I would appreciate people posting those.
At first I thought the sentence was comparing the Earth's rotation (noun) to a spinning figure skater (noun) - like, but then I realized that it was comparing how the drop in water levels speed up (verb).... to how the figure skater increases (verb) speed - as
BTW what is the official answer. I would appreciate people posting those.
I think we are comparing clauses here, so A,B and C are eliminated straightaway.gmatnmein2010 wrote:During an ice age, the buildup of ice at the poles and the drop in water levels near the equator speed up the Earth's rotation, like a spinning figure skater whose speed increases when her arms are drawn in.
(A) like a spinning figure skater whose speed increases when her arms are drawn in
(B) like the increased speed of a figure skater when her arms are drawn in
(C) like a figure skater who increases speed while spinning with her arms drawn in
(D) just as a spinning figure skater who increases speed by drawing in her arms
(E) just as a spinning figure skater increases speed by drawing in her arms
I choose E for parallelism as D fails in parallelism.
Good question!
The GMAT is indeed adaptable. Whenever I answer RC, it proficiently 'adapts' itself to mark my 'right' answer 'wrong'.
-
jhawar.rishikesh
- Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2010 1:22 am
vscid wrote:I think we are comparing clauses here, so A,B and C are eliminated straightaway.gmatnmein2010 wrote:During an ice age, the buildup of ice at the poles and the drop in water levels near the equator speed up the Earth's rotation, like a spinning figure skater whose speed increases when her arms are drawn in.
(A) like a spinning figure skater whose speed increases when her arms are drawn in
(B) like the increased speed of a figure skater when her arms are drawn in
(C) like a figure skater who increases speed while spinning with her arms drawn in
(D) just as a spinning figure skater who increases speed by drawing in her arms
(E) just as a spinning figure skater increases speed by drawing in her arms
I choose E for parallelism as D fails in parallelism.
Good question!
Hi, in the above question, is Earth's rotation the subject? if so, should we not compare Earth's rotation with the increased speed of a figure skater (i.e. B).
-
bhumika.k.shah
- Legendary Member
- Posts: 941
- Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2009 12:28 am
- Thanked: 20 times
- Followed by:1 members
Step by step
the ratio is 3/2
lets start with D and E
You can clearly see that D violates the parallelism when compared to the first half of the question..
Left with A/B and C
Like is used for giving examples...
In this case we are comparing. hence i'd go with E
the ratio is 3/2
lets start with D and E
You can clearly see that D violates the parallelism when compared to the first half of the question..
Left with A/B and C
Like is used for giving examples...
In this case we are comparing. hence i'd go with E
gmatnmein2010 wrote:During an ice age, the buildup of ice at the poles and the drop in water levels near the equator speed up the Earth's rotation, like a spinning figure skater whose speed increases when her arms are drawn in.
(A) like a spinning figure skater whose speed increases when her arms are drawn in
(B) like the increased speed of a figure skater when her arms are drawn in
(C) like a figure skater who increases speed while spinning with her arms drawn in
(D) just as a spinning figure skater who increases speed by drawing in her arms
(E) just as a spinning figure skater increases speed by drawing in her arms
-
thephoenix
- Legendary Member
- Posts: 1560
- Joined: Tue Nov 17, 2009 2:38 am
- Thanked: 137 times
- Followed by:5 members
i adopt a methodhey money9111
1)
spot the error----> try to think what will coorect form---->check the option the ans which matches yours is the one u will click----> but before clicking be sure to eliminate others---->eliminate first all the option repeating the error------> now for the left over options check what else is changed in the s/c---->justify whether its reqd or not---(in most cases if your spoting is correct u will find a second error)---> and if u think that bth are grammatically correct than go for the active/short/original meaning retained
2)
if u can't spot the error----> compare all option and observe the changes done ----> find out the effect and eliminate the one's which violates the rule------>this is known as POE---->the only left one is the ans and if its your day then u banged it [spoiler](ironically two times i couldn't)[/spoiler]
develop your own method initially u will face lots of failure but then one's u will master it u will never get defeated
hth
-
komal
- Legendary Member
- Posts: 777
- Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2010 4:02 am
- Location: Mumbai, India
- Thanked: 117 times
- Followed by:47 members
Something i would like to add here :gmatnmein2010 wrote:During an ice age, the buildup of ice at the poles and the drop in water levels near the equator speed up the Earth's rotation, like a spinning figure skater whose speed increases when her arms are drawn in.
(A) like a spinning figure skater whose speed increases when her arms are drawn in
(B) like the increased speed of a figure skater when her arms are drawn in
(C) like a figure skater who increases speed while spinning with her arms drawn in
(D) just as a spinning figure skater who increases speed by drawing in her arms
(E) just as a spinning figure skater increases speed by drawing in her arms
Actions are compared here. Increase in earth's rotation is compared to the increase in speed of the skater. (D) uses 'who' to modify the 'skater' and as a result, the increase in earth's rotation is incorrectly compared to the 'skater', instead of the increase in speed. Hence (D) is incorrect.
(E) wins
