mSKR wrote:
hi
AndrewN sir
what's your take on rejecting option E.
Cooperative apartment houses have the peculiar distinction
of being dwellings that must also operate as businesses.
(E) to be a
dwelling that must also operate as a
business1. houses= plural? so dwelling should also be plural?
2. business = singular is wrong here? I though business is collectives nouns . So in this context it must be " BusinessES"?
3. distinction of is right idiom?distinction to be is wrong?
4. In this example: why should i choose being because b,C,D and E are wrong?
I understand being as present for time being. distinction of being dwelling is not a temporary point so what's the justification of using being here?
Thanks in advance!
Hello,
mSKR. I will draw attention to some talking points and outline my thought process below.
ssandeepan wrote:
Cooperative apartment houses have the peculiar distinction of being dwellings that must also operate as businesses.
(A) of being dwellings that must also operate as businesses
(B) of dwellings that must also operate like business
(C) that they are dwellings that must operate like business
(D) that, as dwellings, they must also operate like businesses
(E) to be a dwelling that must also operate as a business
First, the correct answer.
To have the distinction of being is idiomatic. I dislike resorting to idioms—and in this question, we do not need to, as we will see below—but if I know one, I can use such knowledge for or against an answer choice. Then, concerning
like versus
as, the comparison outlines the double duty cooperative apartment houses must pull in how they
operate, a verb, so an
as comparison is fitting:
dwellings... must... operate as businesses [operate/do]In short, there is nothing wrong with the original sentence.
(B) omits
being, which in this particular idiom is not only acceptable, but crucial. The idiomatic construct breaks down without it. Then, we see
like instead of
as, and we get
business without even an article,
a, to properly introduce it. In short, the ending makes no sense.
(C) gets off to the wrong start from the first word:
the peculiar distinction that is certainly not favored over
of, and
that they are adds more words without launching into the distinction. But if you were unsure about the idiom, you could still turn to the latter portion of the sentence, which changes nothing from (B) and is just as problematic.
(D) not only starts off with the same
that that (C) had improperly used, but it then skews the meaning of the sentence by roping off
as dwellings. Doing so creates confusion about what the sentence aims to convey:
1) Within a larger category of dwellings, cooperative apartment houses are distinct for the reason given.
2) Because they are dwellings, cooperative apartment houses are distinct (as are, apparently, all other dwellings) for the reason given.
Yet again, though, if you were uncertain about this point, you could turn to the end of the sentence. The focus of the comparison is on how cooperative apartment houses and businesses
operate, so
like is incorrect.
(E) is unique itself in that it starts with the infinitive
to be:
the peculiar distinction to be is unidiomatic. But an easier target is one you have already pointed out: the plural
houses and the singular
a dwelling do not match up, any more than
houses and
a business pair up at the end. We can comfortably eliminate this answer choice.
As much as possible, keep your approach to SC simple. If you are uncertain about a particular point, let it be and see if you can find something else to tease out and attack. The hardest answer to argue against is the one to pick.
I hope that helps with your query. Thank you for thinking to ask.
- Andrew