arvind910619 wrote:
EMPOWERgmatVerbal wrote:
Hello Everyone!
Let's tackle this question, one thing at a time, and narrow down our options quickly so we know how to answer questions like this when they pop up on the GMAT! To begin, let's take a quick look at the question and highlight any major differences between the options in orange:
Judge Lois Forer’s study asks why do some litigants have a preferred status over others in the use of a public resource, the courts, which in theory are available to all but in fact are unequally distributed among rich and poor.
(A) do some litigants have a preferred status over others in the use of a public resource, the courts, which in theory are available to all but in fact are unequally distributed among
(B) some litigants have a preferred status over others in the use of a public resource, the courts, which in theory are available to all but in fact are unequally distributed between
(C) do some litigants have a preferred status over another in the use of a public resource, the courts, in theory available to all but in fact are unequally distributed among
(D) some litigants have a preferred status to another in the use of a public resource, the courts, in theory available to all but in fact not equally distributed between
(E) does one litigant have a preferred status over the other in the use of a public resource, the courts, in theory available to all but in fact they are not equally distributed among
After a quick glance over the options, there are a few things we can focus on to narrow down our choices:
1. do some / some / does one
2. over others / over another / to another / over the other
3. which in theory / in theory
4. among / between
Since the quickest way to eliminate options is the look for the easy splits, let's start with #4 on our list: among vs. between. No matter which one we choose, we'll eliminate 2-3 options rather quickly. Here is a quick reminder of the difference between the two:
among = 3+ items (I am the worst mathematician among all of my classmates.)
between = 2 items (Teenagers often feel stuck between childhood and adulthood.)
Let's see how each option handles this, and eliminate the ones that do it incorrectly. To help, we'll add in the end of the sentence (a major clue as to which one you'll need):
(A) do some litigants have a preferred status over others in the use of a public resource, the courts, which in theory are available to all but in fact are unequally distributed among rich and poor.
(B) some litigants have a preferred status over others in the use of a public resource, the courts, which in theory are available to all but in fact are unequally distributed between rich and poor.
(C) do some litigants have a preferred status over another in the use of a public resource, the courts, in theory available to all but in fact are unequally distributed among rich and poor.
(D) some litigants have a preferred status to another in the use of a public resource, the courts, in theory available to all but in fact not equally distributed between rich and poor.
(E) does one litigant have a preferred status over the other in the use of a public resource, the courts, in theory available to all but in fact they are not equally distributed among rich and poor.
We can eliminate options A, C, & E right away because they use "among" to talk about 2 items (rich and poor).
Now that we're left with only 2 options, let's see if we can find any other problems:
(B) some litigants have a preferred status over others in the use of a public resource, the courts, which in theory are available to all but in fact are unequally distributed between
This is CORRECT! It uses the proper "between" for 2 items. It also uses parallel structure to compare "some litigants" having preference "over others," both of which are plural.
(D) some litigants have a preferred status to another in the use of a public resource, the courts, in theory available to all but in fact not equally distributed between
This is INCORRECT because there is a parallelism issue. When comparing two items, even if one is better/more advantaged than another, the two things need to be similar. In this sentence, the writer is comparing the plural "some litigants" to the singular "another."
There you have it - option B is the correct choice! If we focus first on the "either/or" splits, we can eliminate options quickly - and maybe avoid wasting time on more complex issues! If we hadn't started with the "among/between" split, we'd have to take a longer route to get to the correct answer.
Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
Hello Sir,
Please explain the following splits-
1) do some / some / does one. Which one correct. Does it have any role to play if easy splits are not there in the sentence.
2) which in theory / in theory. Per my understanding the information cited is essential then why the sentence uses comma which.
Use of comma which structure makes a modifier a non essential modifier.
Per my understanding
the courts, which in theory are available to all but in fact are unequally distributed between rich and poor is a Noun + Noun modifier. If it is not so then we have to join the two clauses together by coordination conjunction.
Rambo blasted the mud trail and ran for the enemy's blood.
Rambo blasted the mud trail and he ran for the enemy' blood.
Out of the above sentences which is correct. Please kindly elaborate the conditions in which such structure will be used.
Hello
arvind910619!
Let's go through your questions, one at a time, and figure out how to best tackle each issue:
1: the do some / some / does one splitI took this directly from the official explanation:
The word do between why and some is unnecessary here. It would be used if we were to present the question in quotation marks, for example: “Why do some litigants . . . ?” However, when simply reporting that a person has asked the question, we simply say X asks why some litigants.The phrases "why do some..." and "why does one..." don't work because they change the sentence from paraphrasing what the person said to directly quoting what the person said without adding in the appropriate quotation marks.
2: which in theory / in theoryOne of the reasons this question is so difficult is that splits like this sometimes don't matter. You could honestly use both phrases and have it work - so you have to figure out another way of looking at it. This is more of a parallelism issue than anything. Here's how:
(A) which in theory
are available to all but in fact
are unequally distributed among
(B) which in theory
are available to all but in fact
are unequally distributed between
(C) in theory
available to all but in fact
are unequally distributed among
(D) in theory
available to all but in fact
not equally distributed between
(E) in theory
available to all but in fact
they are not equally distributed among
You could eliminate options C & E because the two items paired up aren't parallel. You would need to use other splits to eliminate the rest.
3: Non-Essential Modifiers
Both the noun between commas (the courts) and the modifier after it (which in theory are available...) are non-essential. If you eliminated them from the sentence, it would still stand as a complete thought (albeit missing some interesting details). As for your two sentences you wanted me to break down:
Rambo
blasted the mud trail and
ran for the enemy's blood. -->
CORRECT The sentence above is simply connecting two items together using "and." Since the phrase after "and" isn't a complete sentence, it doesn't need a comma.
Rambo blasted the mud trail and
he ran for the enemy's blood. -->
WRONGThe sentence above is wrong because it's connecting two complete sentences together with "and" and no comma. You can easily fix this by adding a comma before "and" to make it a coordinating conjunction!
I hope this helps! Please feel free to tag me at
EMPOWERgmatVerbal with more questions!