BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem
TTP OnDemand GMAT Video Course
Featured Course

Target Test Prep GMAT OnDemand

Scott Woodbury-Stewart’s private virtual classroom — 400 hours of master-class video lessons for the GMAT Focus Edition.

  • 715+ score guarantee — highest in the industry (99th percentile)
  • 52 chapters · 1,500+ lessons · 4,000+ practice questions
  • 400 hours of video · 1,500+ instructor-led HD smartboard lessons
  • 300,000+ students accepted to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Booth & Sloan & more
  • 24/7 live support + weekly Zoom office hours with GMAT instructors
  • TTP AI Assist — 24/7 AI-powered virtual tutor for instant help
  • 1,200+ flashcards + AI-powered study assistant & daily calendar
  • OnDemand, LiveTeach & GMAT Bootcamp formats available
  • Also: GRE, SAT Math & Executive Assessment courses
  • MBA Admissions Consulting now available
  • 🏆 2025 EdTech Breakthrough Award: Test Prep Solution Provider of the Year
  • 200,000+ students served
  • 5-day free trial — $0 to start, no auto-billing, cancel anytime
★★★★★ 5.0 (559 reviews)
130-pt guarantee
$0 to start then $127/mo
Start Free 5-Day Trial Read 559 Reviews →

finest Italian marble

Expert replies
Post new topic Locked
Previous Topic Next Topic
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 172
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2011 9:10 pmFollowed by: 2 members
Thanked: 7 times
by satishchandra » Mon Nov 07, 2011 8:43 pm
Constructed with the finest Italian marble, the floor of the church is its greatest attraction and is more attractive to tourists than are its ornate stained-glass windows.

A. attraction and is more attractive to tourists than are its ornate stained-glass windows.
B. attraction, itself more attractive to tourists than are its ornate stained-glass windows.
C. attraction, itself more attractive to tourists as are its ornate stained-glass windows.
D. attraction, being more attractive to tourists than its ornate stained-glass windows.
E. attraction as it more is attractive to tourists than are the church's stained-glass windows.

[spoiler]OA: B; This is one of the hugely discussed questions in forum. Convincing Explanation is yet to be received.
My Questions: (i)What's wrong with 'A'? Why should it be eliminated?
(ii) Option 'E' : As per the possessive poison rule, non-possessive 'it' can not have antecedent in the object/possessive form. 'it' looks to refer back to floor instead of church. Am i correct?
Are there any more issues with 'E' ? [/spoiler]
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Source: — Sentence Correction |
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 90
Joined: Thu Nov 05, 2009 9:14 amFollowed by: 3 members
Thanked: 5 times

by immaculatesahai » Mon Nov 07, 2011 9:11 pm
Ok looks like an interesting question. Lets see the explanation below:

Constructed with the finest Italian marble, the floor of the church is its greatest attraction and is more attractive to tourists than are its ornate stained-glass windows.

A. attraction and is more attractive to tourists than are its ornate stained-glass windows.
B. attraction, itself more attractive to tourists than are its ornate stained-glass windows.
C. attraction, itself more attractive to tourists as are its ornate stained-glass windows.
D. attraction, being more attractive to tourists than its ornate stained-glass windows.
E. attraction as it more is attractive to tourists than are the church's stained-glass windows.

The moment we look at the choices, C,D and E can be eliminated almost immediately. It boils down to A and B.

A is wrong because of the context and meaning. See below:
...the floor of the church is its greatest attraction and (the floor of the church)is more attractive to tourists than are its (referring to floor of the church) ornate stained-glass windows.

How can the floor have any windows !!!

B is also wrong.

....attraction, itself (referring to floor of the church) more attractive to tourists than are its (again referring to floor of the church) ornate stained-glass windows.

Again, floor of the church cannot have ornate stained glass windows.

So, unfortunately it looks like all options are wrong. Its just a badly structured problem. Don't worry about it and IMO focus on better problems.
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 382
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 5:47 pm
Thanked: 15 times

by ArunangsuSahu » Mon Nov 07, 2011 9:23 pm
The question seems to be wrong.Consider the following 2 things
Church has
1)floor
2)windows

'its' is ambiguous.
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 1035
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 11:13 amFollowed by: 365 members
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Thanked: 474 times

by VivianKerr » Tue Nov 08, 2011 9:46 am
The "are" in (A) is extraneous, and does not make a proper comparison. This is the same error with (E).

The comparison would be parallel if we said "The floor...is more attractive...than...THE WINDOWS." (X is more __ than Y).

(B) makes the comparison clear by comparing "itself" to "its WINDOWS."

"its" can only logically refer to the church, since a floor does not have windows.
Vivian Kerr
GMAT Rockstar, Tutor
https://www.GMATrockstar.com
https://www.yelp.com/biz/gmat-rockstar-los-angeles

Former Kaplan and Grockit instructor, freelance GMAT content creator, now offering affordable, effective, Skype-tutoring for the GMAT at $150/hr. Contact: [email protected]

Thank you for all the "thanks" and "follows"! :-)
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 105
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 6:55 pmFollowed by: 1 member
Thanked: 2 times

by bpdulog » Tue Nov 08, 2011 1:07 pm
I was 100% sure it was A.

The "than are its" still seems logical in A as it does in B and I thought it was just a difference in style.

Can someone elaborate further on this issue? Thanks.
NO EXCUSES

"Winston tastes good like a cigarette should."
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 172
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2011 9:10 pmFollowed by: 2 members
Thanked: 7 times

by satishchandra » Tue Nov 08, 2011 9:53 pm
VivianKerr wrote:The "are" in (A) is extraneous, and does not make a proper comparison. This is the same error with (E).

The comparison would be parallel if we said "The floor...is more attractive...than...THE WINDOWS." (X is more __ than Y).
I thought the parallelism is existing in the sentence.

The floor is more attractive to tourists than the windows are (to tourists)
The floor is more attractive to tourists than are the windows (to tourists)

X is more to Z than Y is (to Z); "to Z" does not require to be mentioned as it is assumed.
Please explan if anything is wrong in my sentence.
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 49
Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2011 4:42 am
Thanked: 1 times

by mad2011 » Wed Nov 09, 2011 5:53 am
hi vivian

Can you please help me understand why "are" is incorrect.

"Are" is for plural noun "windows"
"is" is for singular now "floor",, I don't see any err
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 176
Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2011 5:32 am
Thanked: 5 times

by vishal.pathak » Thu Dec 01, 2011 1:27 am
VivianKerr wrote:The "are" in (A) is extraneous, and does not make a proper comparison. This is the same error with (E).

The comparison would be parallel if we said "The floor...is more attractive...than...THE WINDOWS." (X is more __ than Y).

(B) makes the comparison clear by comparing "itself" to "its WINDOWS."

"its" can only logically refer to the church, since a floor does not have windows.
Hi Vivian,

Does this mean that pronoun ambiguity does not exist if we see that there is only 1 logical antecedent of a pronoun even if multiple grammatical antecedents exist

Please help

Regards,
Vishal
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 176
Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2011 5:32 am
Thanked: 5 times

by vishal.pathak » Sat Dec 03, 2011 12:45 pm
vishal.pathak wrote:
VivianKerr wrote:The "are" in (A) is extraneous, and does not make a proper comparison. This is the same error with (E).

The comparison would be parallel if we said "The floor...is more attractive...than...THE WINDOWS." (X is more __ than Y).

(B) makes the comparison clear by comparing "itself" to "its WINDOWS."

"its" can only logically refer to the church, since a floor does not have windows.
Hi Vivian,

Does this mean that pronoun ambiguity does not exist if we see that there is only 1 logical antecedent of a pronoun even if multiple grammatical antecedents exist

Please help

Regards,
Vishal
Hi Everyone,

Please help

Regards,
Vishal
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 215
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2008 4:24 pmFollowed by: 1 member
Thanked: 13 times

by 1947 » Sat Dec 03, 2011 10:40 pm
VivianKerr wrote:The "are" in (A) is extraneous, and does not make a proper comparison. This is the same error with (E).

The comparison would be parallel if we said "The floor...is more attractive...than...THE WINDOWS." (X is more __ than Y).

(B) makes the comparison clear by comparing "itself" to "its WINDOWS."

"its" can only logically refer to the church, since a floor does not have windows.
Constructed with the finest Italian marble, the floor of the church is its greatest attraction and is more attractive to tourists than are its ornate stained-glass windows.

whats wrong between these 2 comparisons ?
floor is compared to windows.
If my post helped you- let me know by pushing the thanks button. Thanks
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 45
Joined: Sun Jun 19, 2011 5:11 amFollowed by: 2 members
Thanked: 8 times

by jumsumtak » Sun Dec 04, 2011 1:46 am
VivianKerr wrote:The "are" in (A) is extraneous, and does not make a proper comparison. This is the same error with (E).

The comparison would be parallel if we said "The floor...is more attractive...than...THE WINDOWS." (X is more __ than Y).

(B) makes the comparison clear by comparing "itself" to "its WINDOWS."

"its" can only logically refer to the church, since a floor does not have windows.
2 doubts here:

1) doesn't B also have 'are' ?
2) I agree that there might be some ambiguity in the first comparison - whether the floor's windows or the church's windows, but I fail to understand how that is removed in the second sentence..

It would be down to pure luck, whether I will be able to crack something like this on the real test.. :)
Top
Join the discussion
Log in to postLogin with Googleuse password
QUOTE IN REPLY
Post new topic Locked
• Page 1 of 1