The Emperor Augustus

[faraz_jeddah]

The Emperor Augustus, it appears, commissioned an idealized sculptured portrait, the features of which are so unrealistic as to constitute what one scholar calls an "artificial face."

A - so unrealistic as to constitute
B - so unrealistic they constituted
C - so unrealistic that they have constituted
D - unrealistic enough so that they constituted
E - unrealistic enough so as to constitute


I picked D. I thought the correct idiom was so...that and "they" refers to features.

OA after discussion.

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Hi faraz_jeddah,

This SC deals with a rare two-part phrase: "so.....as to...."

Overall, the word "as" appears in several two-part phrases:

Sometimes the word "as" is paired with another "as":
"as....as...."
"as much......as....."
etc.

Sometimes the word "as" is paired with the word "so":
"so......as to...."
"just as.....so....."

To be fair, this two-part phrase DOES exist:
"so....that....."

Unfortunately, answer D uses a redundant pronoun ("they") and an incorrect verb ("constituted", which implies that the "features" were unrealistic and an artificial face in the past only).

There's a good chance that you'll see at least one two-part "as" phrase on Test Day, so you should make sure that you have them memorized and that you're able to spot it/them when it/they appear.

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

[faraz_jeddah]

Thanks Rich. Your explanation is spot on. I thought I had covered all the idioms until I encountered this question.

[ani781]

IMO A

[faraz_jeddah]

OA is A