Adjective VS adverb

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Adjective VS adverb

by vinni.k » Wed Sep 19, 2012 12:32 am
Hi Friends,

I need your help in understanding the difference between the two questions. Most importantly between two choices.

Recent anthropological studies reveal that the entombed mummy found in Jordan is almost 5,000 years as old as any of its purported Egyptian ancestors.

A) as old as any of its purported
B) older than any of its purported
C) as old as its purported
D) older than any of its purportedly
E) as old as its purportedly

Answer is B
Most importantly my doubt is between B and D.

I have a similar question in comparison to above one but not sure why correct answer is correct.

A new analysis of ruins on the northernmost tip of Newfoundland reveals that the Viking settlement there is almost 600 years as old as the supposedly first North American colony.

A) as old as the supposedly
B) older than the supposedly
C) as old as the supposed
D) older than their supposed
E) as old as its first supposedly

Answer is B
What is the difference between B and D. In my opinion i see their in D that makes a difference but now what about supposedly and supposed.

Please help in understanding the difference between these two choices.

Thanks & Regards
Vinni
Source: — Sentence Correction |

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by EducationAisle » Wed Sep 19, 2012 3:08 am
From the title of your post, it is clear that you appreciate that the difference here is between the usage of Adjective and Adverb. This is closer to CR than it is to SC:).

In the first sentence, "purported Egyptian ancestors" would mean that we are sure this mummy found in Jordan had "Egyptian ancestors" (how likely is that!!). "purportedly Egyptian ancestors" would mean that this mummy found in Jordan perhaps had Egyptian ancestors. Clearly latter makes more sense.

This meaning change between purported Vs. purportedly is because "purported" is an adjective (modifying "Egyptian ancestors") while "purportedly" is an adverb (modifying the adjective "Egyptian").

What is the source of these questions by the way? In at least the past couple of OGs, I have not noticed OG testing on these concepts.
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by GMATGuruNY » Wed Sep 19, 2012 4:01 am
I posted an explanation for a very similar SC here:

https://www.beatthegmat.com/qn-200-from- ... cityevent=
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by manihar.sidharth » Wed Sep 19, 2012 8:13 am
Can anybody explain why we choose "Older than" instead of "as old as "..

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by nailGmat2012 » Wed Sep 19, 2012 5:57 pm
Mitch you are the best....

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by vinni.k » Sat Sep 22, 2012 8:22 am
GMATGuruNY wrote:I posted an explanation for a very similar SC here:

https://www.beatthegmat.com/qn-200-from- ... cityevent=
Mitch, thanks for your reply.

I have already gone through the above link earlier and this was also one of the reason
that i selected an "adjective" not an "adverb".

But in the 2nd SC, the correct answer is the one that has "adverb." Though i understand
that there is a pronoun error in D. What if there was no "their" in D ?

Here is the second SC that i posted earlier.

A new analysis of ruins on the northernmost tip of Newfoundland reveals that the Viking settlement there is almost 600 years as old as the supposedly first North American colony.

A) as old as the supposedly
B) older than the supposedly
C) as old as the supposed
D) older than their supposed
E) as old as its first supposedly

Answer is B

What is supposedly modifying ?
I was very much confused between B and D, but in the end i selected B because of pronoun.
Supposedly and supposed are confusing me.

Regards
Vinni

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by GMATGuruNY » Sat Sep 22, 2012 11:22 am
vinni.k wrote:
GMATGuruNY wrote:I posted an explanation for a very similar SC here:

https://www.beatthegmat.com/qn-200-from- ... cityevent=
Mitch, thanks for your reply.

I have already gone through the above link earlier and this was also one of the reason
that i selected an "adjective" not an "adverb".

But in the 2nd SC, the correct answer is the one that has "adverb." Though i understand
that there is a pronoun error in D. What if there was no "their" in D ?

Here is the second SC that i posted earlier.

A new analysis of ruins on the northernmost tip of Newfoundland reveals that the Viking settlement there is almost 600 years as old as the supposedly first North American colony.

A) as old as the supposedly
B) older than the supposedly
C) as old as the supposed
D) older than their supposed
E) as old as its first supposedly

Answer is B

What is supposedly modifying ?
I was very much confused between B and D, but in the end i selected B because of pronoun.
Supposedly and supposed are confusing me.

Regards
Vinni
Focus on the intended MEANING.
In D, a supposed COLONY implies that we are not certain whether the first North American colony was in fact a COLONY.
Not the intended meaning.
The question at hand is whether the first North American colony was in fact FIRST: this colony SUPPOSEDLY was the FIRST, but we now know that the Viking settlement is in fact OLDER.
This is the meaning conveyed by the OA:
The Viking settlement there is almost 600 YEARS OLDER than the SUPPOSEDLY FIRST North American colony.
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by manihar.sidharth » Sat Sep 22, 2012 1:07 pm
Hey Mitch Can you please explain why "as old as" is wrong and why "older than" is chosen?
Thanks

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by vinni.k » Sun Sep 23, 2012 9:16 am
manihar.sidharth wrote:Hey Mitch Can you please explain why "as old as" is wrong and why "older than" is chosen?
Thanks
Manihar, it is an idiom.

If you want to relate the quantities by multiplication use times and as....as together. For eg:-
The man is five times as old as his grandson.

But if you want to relate two quantities by addition or subtraction, use more than or less than:-
I am ten years older than you.

You must have notice this in Quant. You can also find this in MGMAT SC.

Vinni

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