Unlike X, Y question

[amnesty17]

Unlike the many winter greens that have tough leaves and thus require a lengthy cooking
time, those of escarole need little or no cooking.
A. many winter greens that have tough leaves and thus require a lengthy cooking
time, those of escarole need
B. many winter greens that have tough leaves and thus require a lengthy cooking
time, escarole needs
C. tough leaves of many winter greens and that they require for a lengthy cooking
time, escarole needs
D. tough leaves of many winter greens and the requirement that they have a lengthy
cooking time, those of escarole need
E. lengthy cooking time required by the many winter greens with tough leaves,
escarole needs
[spoiler]OA:B[/spoiler]

Can someone explain why D is wrong

[srcc25anu]

In D, it seems to suggest that tough leaves require a lengthy cooking time. That's incorrect. The original meaning is intended to suggest that winter greens have a lengthy cooking time which is rightly suggested by option B.

So B is correct.

[GMATGuruNY]

Unlike the many winter greens that have tough leaves and thus require a lengthy cooking
time, those of escarole need little or no cooking.
A. many winter greens that have tough leaves and thus require a lengthy cooking
time, those of escarole need
B. many winter greens that have tough leaves and thus require a lengthy cooking
time, escarole needs
C. tough leaves of many winter greens and that they require for a lengthy cooking
time, escarole needs
D. tough leaves of many winter greens and the requirement that they have a lengthy
cooking time, those of escarole need
E. lengthy cooking time required by the many winter greens with tough leaves,
escarole needs

APPLES must be compared to APPLES.

In A, those seems to refer to leaves.
The result is an illogical comparison: that the LEAVES are unlike MANY WINTER GREENS.
The intention here is to make one of the following comparisons:
ESCAROLE is unlike MANY WINTER GREENS.
The LEAVES of escarole are unlike the LEAVES of many winter greens.
Eliminate A.

A conjunction such as and must connect PARALLEL FORMS.
In C, tough leaves and that they require are not parallel forms.
Eliminate C.

In D, those seems to refer to leaves.
The result is an illogical comparison: that the LEAVES are unlike the REQUIREMENT that they have a lengthy cooking time.
Eliminate D.

In E, escarole is illogically compared to the cooking time.
Eliminate E.

The correct answer is B.

[Vardhamanl]

Hi Mitch,
could u please help me out here... can we compare plural noun to singular noun as it has happened in this case, as i have read that plural MUST be compared with a plural entity..Thanks

[[email protected]]

Hi Vardhamanl,

When it comes to comparisons, grammatically speaking, we MUST compare LIKE things, but the number does NOT matter.

For example...
We can compare a car to another car.
We can compare a car to multiple cars.
We can compare the engine of a car to the engine of another car.
We can compare the engine of a car to the engines of multiple cars.

We CANNOT compare an engine of a car to a car.

In this SC, we can compare "many winter greens" to a singular winter green.

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

[GMATGuruNY]

Hi Mitch,
could u please help me out here... can we compare plural noun to singular noun as it has happened in this case, as i have read that plural MUST be compared with a plural entity..Thanks

An OA from GMAC:
Unlike most severance packages, the automobile company's severance package...
Here, the automobile company's severance package (singular) is compared to most severance packages (plural).
This sort of comparison is quite common.

[iongmat]

We CANNOT compare an engine of a car to a car.

Hello Rich, would following be incorrect:

Like the car, the engine is also old and dysfunctional.

Somehow, I feel this is ok.

[GMATGuruNY]

We CANNOT compare an engine of a car to a car.

Hello Rich, would following be incorrect:

Like the car, the engine is also old and dysfunctional.

Somehow, I feel this is ok.

An analogous OA in the OG13:
Like the fields that the sandpiper needs for feeding, the bird itself is vanishing.
Conveyed meaning:
The bird is LIKE the fields in that both are VANISHING.

[sagarock]

Hii experts, ISNT THERE IS PARALLELISM ERROR IN D