Ellipses - GMAT Prep ques...Experts !!

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Ellipses - GMAT Prep ques...Experts !!

by vikram4689 » Thu Apr 19, 2012 8:24 pm
In its most recent approach, the comet Crommelin passed the Earth at about the same distance and in about the same position, some 25 degrees above the horizon, that Halley's comet will pass the next time it appears.

(D) as will Halley's comet
(E) as Halley's comet will do

D is correct answer. My questions -

1. Why we say D uses ellipses as PASS never appears in sentence

& Ellipses means Leaving out a word because that exact word shows up elsewhere in the sentence.

2. is E wrong or is it not as concise as D is.
the comet Crommelin passed the Earth at about the same distance and in about the same position as Halley's comet will do the next time it appears.

I think "do" can stand for pass. See following examples
a) The value of the dollar in international markets will continue to increase, as it has done since interest rates began to rise.
b) I will work hard as my dad has done
c) Never in my life i worked as hard as i will do for my next project
Last edited by vikram4689 on Sat Apr 21, 2012 2:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by iongmat » Fri Apr 20, 2012 3:06 am
The "rule" really is simple and works every time and unmistakably.

Do/Does/Did can only be used in the second half of the sentence, to replace verbs in similar "forms". So, basically do/does can replace "simple present", while "did" can replace "simple past".
vikram4689 wrote: a) The value of the dollar in international markets will continue to increase, as it has done since interest rates began to rise.
Yep, this is correct.

vikram4689 wrote: b) I will work hard as my dad has done
The correct sentence will be:

I will work as hard as my dad has done.
vikram4689 wrote: c) Never in my life i worked as hard as i will do for my next project
As per the rule I stated above, "do" can only substitute for "simple present". But here, the first half is in Present Perfect (you missed the "have"). So, we cannot use "do". The correct sentence would be:

Never in my life have i worked as hard as i will for my next project.

or

Never in my life have i worked as hard as i will work for my next project.


Would be curious to hear any exceptions to the above, that you might have encountered.

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by vikram4689 » Fri Apr 20, 2012 3:29 am
Why we cannot use "do" in c), "do" is replacing "work" present tense as evident from
Never in my life have i worked as hard as i will work for my next project.

Also how is following correct, ellipses can be use to replace EXACT words but WORK does not appear, although WORKED is present
Never in my life have i worked as hard as i will for my next project.
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by iongmat » Fri Apr 20, 2012 3:40 am
vikram4689 wrote:Why we cannot use "do" in c), "do" is replacing "work" present tense as evident from
Never in my life have i worked as hard as i will work for my next project.
Refer to the "rule" I have stated in my post above. "do" can only replace/substitute for "simple present" tense in the first half of the sentence. Here, the first half of the sentence is "present perfect"; hence we cannot use "do".

For example, following would be correct:

Jack often comes here and his parents do too.

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by vikram4689 » Fri Apr 20, 2012 4:59 am
iongmat wrote:
vikram4689 wrote:Why we cannot use "do" in c), "do" is replacing "work" present tense as evident from
Never in my life have i worked as hard as i will work for my next project.
Refer to the "rule" I have stated in my post above. "do" can only replace/substitute for "simple present" tense in the first half of the sentence. Here, the first half of the sentence is "present perfect"; hence we cannot use "do".

For example, following would be correct:

Jack often comes here and his parents do too.
Ok, so the rule goes as below:
"do" can only replace/substitute for "simple present" tense in the first half of the sentence
"did" can only replace/substitute for "simple past" tense in the first half of the sentence
"done" can only replace/substitute for "perfect tense" tense in the first half of the sentence

Going by above rules how I will work hard as my dad has done is CORRECT, done is replacing a verb which is in FUTURE TENSE
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by iongmat » Fri Apr 20, 2012 5:16 am
vikram4689 wrote: Ok, so the rule goes as below:
"done" can only replace/substitute for "perfect tense" tense in the first half of the sentence
Where did you read this in the rule I mentioned above? Am I missing something?

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by vikram4689 » Fri Apr 20, 2012 5:23 am
iongmat wrote:
vikram4689 wrote: Ok, so the rule goes as below:
"done" can only replace/substitute for "perfect tense" tense in the first half of the sentence
Where did you read this in the rule I mentioned above? Am I missing something?
From the following quote
Do/Does/Did can only be used in the second half of the sentence, to replace verbs in similar "forms"
Anyways, here is another sentence where did is replacing a simple present
Tanya eats more slowly than she did when she was a teenager
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by iongmat » Fri Apr 20, 2012 6:24 am
vikram4689 wrote: From the following quote
Do/Does/Did can only be used in the second half of the sentence, to replace verbs in similar "forms"
Please read it properly. Where did I mention anything about "done"? This "not reading properly" can hurt you pretty hard in RC.

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by vikram4689 » Fri Apr 20, 2012 6:27 am
iongmat wrote:
vikram4689 wrote: From the following quote
Do/Does/Did can only be used in the second half of the sentence, to replace verbs in similar "forms"
Please read it properly. Where did I mention anything about "done"? This "not reading properly" can hurt you pretty hard in RC.
I agree you did not mention explicitly. So what do you think of "done" and how would you justify
Tanya eats more slowly than she did when she was a teenager
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by iongmat » Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:00 am
vikram4689 wrote:how would you justify Tanya eats more slowly than she did when she was a teenager
Please read the simple rule properly. Since this sentence is in Simple form, "did" (Past) can replace "ate". Not sure why it is taking so many posts to clarify a simple thing.

What I am expecting is that if you have seen any "exception" to the above rule (from some official source), kindly highlight.

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by vikram4689 » Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:26 am
I have tried many examples and will be able to verify those only after i understand your rule completely. I am re-stating few queries that were missed above. Rule that you mentioned
"do/does" can replace "simple present", while "did" can replace "simple past".
Now few queries,
In following sentence, has done is replacing "has increased" but sentence only contains to increase What's the rule for done ?
The value of the dollar in international markets will continue to increase, as it has done since interest rates began to rise.

Similarly, in following has done is replacing a will work
I will work as hard as my dad has done

Ellipses can be use to replace EXACT words ONLY but WORK does not appear, how is following correct
Never in my life have i worked as hard as i will for my next project

Based on Tanya example above where "did" was used since both forms were "simple". I have formed a new sentence where order of tenses is reversed. I think it is correct for same reason that you mentioned earlier.
On New Year, He worked much quicker than he usually does
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by vikram4689 » Sun Apr 22, 2012 9:56 am
Anyone who would like to address the questions ?

@iongmat: Ron says if you have than/as + subject + FORM OF "TO DO" as the second half of a comparison, then you must have an ACTION VERB (or another form of "to do") in the first half of the comparison.

Isn't this sentence correct then: Never in my life have i worked as hard as i will do for my next project
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by lunarpower » Sun May 06, 2012 9:17 am
i received a message about this thread.

in order to avoid redundancy, i would like to direct any remaining questions over to this link, where the same problem (in largely the same context) is discussed:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/halleya-s-co ... tml#467808
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by lunarpower » Sun May 06, 2012 1:02 pm
vikram4689 wrote:Isn't this sentence correct then: Never in my life have i worked as hard as i will do for my next project
no. the helping verb "will" is already a form of "to do", so this construction is redundant.
you would just write
Never in my life have i worked as hard as i will for my next project
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