The plot of The Bostonians

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kobel51: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 114; Joined: Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:19 am; Thanked: 1 times

by kobel51 » Sat Mar 15, 2014 10:49 am

The plot of The Bostonians centers on the rivalry between Olive Chancellor, an active feminist, with her charming and cynical cousin, Basil Ransom, when they find themselves drawn to the same radiant young woman whose talent for public speaking has won her an ardent following.

(A) rivalry between Olive Chancellor, an active feminist, with her charming and cynical cousin, Basil Ransom

(B) rivals Olive Chancellor, an activist feminist, against her charming and cynical cousin, Basil Ransom

(C) rivalry that develops between Olive Chancellor, an active feminist, and Basil Ransom, her charming and cynical cousin

(D) developing rivalry between Olive Chancellor, an active feminist, with Basil Ransom, her charming and cynical cousin

(E) active feminist, Olive Chancellor, and the rivalry with her charming and cynical cousin Basil Ransom

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sat Mar 15, 2014 10:49 am

Patrick_GMATFix: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 1052; Joined: Fri May 21, 2010 1:30 amFollowed by: 98 members; Thanked: 335 times

by Patrick_GMATFix » Sat Mar 15, 2014 11:05 am

The correct answer must correctly use the idiom "rivalry between x and y" where x and y are parallel. The answer is C. I go through the question in detail in the full solution below (taken from the GMATFix App).

-Patrick

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[email protected]: Elite Legendary Member; Posts: 10392; Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pmFollowed by: 511 members; Location: Palo Alto, CA; Thanked: 2867 times; GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Sat Mar 15, 2014 1:12 pm

Hi kobel51,

You're going to find that the GMAT tests Parallelism rules in variety of ways. Here, we're dealing with "2-Part" Parallelism, which requires that the 2 parts be similar (and be presented in the same way). The parallelism might also use a "2-Part" phrase (such as either...or, neither...nor, between...and).

The way that the original prompt is written certainly hints that they phrase "between...and" will appear in the correct answer, but we won't know for sure until we run through the answers and consider the parallelism.

1) Between...and: Eliminate A (no "and"), and D (no "and")

2) The Parallelism: Eliminate B (should be "on the rivals....Olive Chancellor AND....Basil Random) and E (should be "Olive Chancellor AND...Basil Ransom")

Final Answer: C

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Contact Rich at [email protected]

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