It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman : Sentence Correction (EA only)

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Re: It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman [#permalink]

19 Mar 2007, 03:37

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Clear E

If is used to present a condition. Whether is used to when there are alternatives available (often with yes or no as answer)

So A and B are ruled out right away. C is also wrong as would has been incorrectly used.

D is passive, "studied with" is incorrect

So E

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Re: It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman [#permalink]

05 Aug 2010, 09:52

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It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique...........or whether other animals would exhibit similar patterns --> parallel

It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman species in their ability to learn behaviors from one another, or if, when other animals are studied in as much depth, similar patterns would be found.

A. if, when other animals are studied in as much depth, similar patterns would be found - if, when awkward
B. if other animals were studied with as much depth they would exhibit similar patterns - passive
C. would similar patterns be found in other animals if they were studied in as much depth - awkward
D. whether similar patterns would be exhibited in other animals that were studied with as much depth - passive
E. whether other animals would exhibit similar patterns if they were studied in as much depth - CORRECT

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Re: It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman [#permalink]

10 Aug 2010, 15:11

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Oops almost forgot! Regarding the pronoun ambiguity Hussain15 mentioned--there is a little bit of wiggle room in terms of pronoun ambiguity on the GMAT. You want to stay as clear as possible, but here the power of parallelism not only dictates the structure of "whether chimpanzees...or whether other animals," but also points us in the right direction in terms of the antecedent for "they." "They" is in the subject position for its conditional clause ("THEY were studied")--the antecedent for "they" is also in the subject position ("OTHER ANIMALS would exhibit").

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Re: It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman [#permalink]

12 Jun 2014, 11:30

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It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman species in their ability to learn behaviors from one another, or if, when other animals are studied in as much depth, similar patterns would be found.

whether chimpanzees are unique or whether .......
whether should be used to make both parts parallel.
So A, B, and C are out

D. whether similar patterns would be exhibited in other animals that were studied with as much depth - Incorrect. Parallelism issue and passive voice seems to indicate that similar patterns would be exhibited in other animals by someone.

E. whether other animals would exhibit similar patterns if they were studied in as much depth - Correct

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Re: It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman [#permalink]

31 Oct 2014, 01:18

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It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman species in their ability to learn behaviors from one another, or if, when other animals are studied in as much depth, similar patterns would be found.

Split #1: Structure: It is unclear WHETHER ........... or WHETHER............
So, A, B, and C are out because they do not maintain parallel structure that is considered very important in GMAT. Please note that GMAT tests your logic and structure more than vocabulary.
A. if, when other animals are studied in as much depth, similar patterns would be found --> WRONG.
B. if other animals were studied with as much depth they would exhibit similar patterns --> WRONG.
C. would similar patterns be found in other animals if they were studied in as much depth --> WRONG.

Split #2: idiom: study in depth -OR- study with depth.
Definitely, the former is correct. It's awkward if you say "study something with depth".
Please note that: passive voice is NOT a true reason to eliminate options in GMAT. In fact, GMAT often tricks you by adding some subtle errors in active voice sentences.
D. whether similar patterns would be exhibited in other animals that were studied with as much depth --> WRONG.
E. whether other animals would exhibit similar patterns if they were studied in as much depth --> CORRECT.

Hope it helps.

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Re: It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman [#permalink]

31 Oct 2014, 03:46

Expert Reply

Indeed, the usage of if vs whether is key to solving this question.

if is used for a conditional sentence, whereas whether is used when the intent is to depict a choice, an alternative or a possibility.

An example:

If the currency depreciates, exports receive a boost.
– This sentence has a conditional event being narrated and hence, the usage of if is appropriate.

After two successive cycles of recession, the question is whether the economy will finally improve.
– This sentence expresses uncertainty vis-à-vis economy’s fate, with two possible outcomes: Economy may or may not improve.

By the way, while it is not the case in this sentence, a handy recommendation is that when deciding on the usage of if/whether after a verb (for example, is) or a preposition, the usage of whether is appropriate (the question is whether....).

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses if vs whether, their application and examples in significant detail. If you can PM you email-id, I can send you the corresponding section.

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Re: It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman [#permalink]

04 Sep 2019, 17:23

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nitinneha wrote:

It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman species in their ability to learn behaviors from one another, or if, when other animals are studied in as much depth, similar patterns would be found.

(A) if, when other animals are studied in as much depth, similar patterns would be found.
(B) if other animals were studied with as much depth they would exhibit similar patterns.
(C) would similar patterns be found in other animals if they were studied in as much depth.
(D) whether similar patterns would be exhibited in other animals that were studied with as much depth.
(E) whether other animals would exhibit similar patterns if they were studied in as much depth.

The correct answer is E

This question highlights the difference between "if" and "whether." "If" can only be used to state a conditional; "whether" is used to indicate uncertainty about two or more possible scenarios.

A. Incorrect use of "if." Also the verb "would" is incorrect given the present tense "animals are studied"; in this case it would need to be in the future tense, i.e. "will."
B. Incorrect use of "if." Incorrect idiom "with" depth.
C. No word to indicate the uncertainty; the sentence requires "whether" to indicate the other scenario.
D. Incorrect idiom "with" depth. Incorrect comparison between chimpanzees and similar patterns. Also wordy.

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Re: It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman [#permalink]

11 Aug 2020, 10:07

Known idiom: Whether A or B

I choose B because I applied idiom whether A or B
Whether A or B ( ,if); B with the condition as in following example:

Quote:

It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman species in their ability to learn behaviors from one another, or if, when other animals are studied in as much depth, similar patterns would be found.

i read it as :
It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman species in their ability to learn behaviors from one another, OR they(other animals) would exhibit similar patterns, if other animals were studied with as much depth

Shall I say the sentence construction is wrong beause A and B are clauses , NOT PHRASES ?

Example:
It is unclear whether clothes of shop A are unique or shop B has similar clothes, if Shop B is studied in details.

So the correct structure should be :
It is unclear whether clothes of shop A are unique or that of shop B, if Shop B is studied in details.
OR
It is unclear whether clothes of shop A are unique or whether shop B has similar clothes, if Shop B is studied in details.

Hence,
It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman species in their ability to learn behaviors from one another, OR WHETHER they(other animals) would exhibit similar patterns, if other animals were studied with as much depth.

So , it means whether A or whether B is also correct idiom.

please confirm the thought. EducationAisle AjiteshArun AndrewN ( you changed your profile name

)

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Re: It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman [#permalink]

11 Aug 2020, 10:56

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imSKR wrote:

Known idiom: Whether A or B

I choose B because I applied idiom whether A or B
Whether A or B ( ,if); B with the condition as in following example:

Quote:

It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman species in their ability to learn behaviors from one another, or if, when other animals are studied in as much depth, similar patterns would be found.

i read it as :
It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman species in their ability to learn behaviors from one another, OR they(other animals) would exhibit similar patterns, if other animals were studied with as much depth

Shall I say the sentence construction is wrong beause A and B are clauses , NOT PHRASES ?

Example:
It is unclear whether clothes of shop A are unique or shop B has similar clothes, if Shop B is studied in details.

So the correct structure should be :
It is unclear whether clothes of shop A are unique or that of shop B, if Shop B is studied in details.
OR
It is unclear whether clothes of shop A are unique or whether shop B has similar clothes, if Shop B is studied in details.

Hence,
It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman species in their ability to learn behaviors from one another, OR WHETHER they(other animals) would exhibit similar patterns, if other animals were studied with as much depth.

So , it means whether A or whether B is also correct idiom.

please confirm the thought. EducationAisle AjiteshArun AndrewN ( you changed your profile name

)

Hello, imSKR. I did indeed change my profile name. I no longer wish to associate my activities on this site with my business. When I say I do this for fun to assist the community, I want to put my money where my mouth is. Perhaps reaching 1,000 posts under my former alias made me feel comfortable with making a clean break. I will continue to provide answers I think are worth reading.

Looking at your analysis, I agree with the bottom line: whether A or... whether B is indeed an acceptable idiom. Such usage holds particularly when the distance between A and B increases—i.e. there are more words and/or punctuation, which might make the sentence more difficult to understand without a reminder. I see the issue as falling into a similar camp as the comma + "and" + phrase usage, or indeed as the [ranging] from A, to B usage (note the comma), both of which once again crop up in a perfectly legitimate manner when dealing with lengthier phrases and clauses between points A and B.

Meanwhile, "whether" + "if" is a common if unidiomatic way of expressing the two sides of the coin. In your proposed correct structure sentences, only the second would work. The other would still need work.

It is unclear whether clothes of shop A are unique or that of shop B, if Shop B is studied in details.

To fix the sentence, we would need something more like the following:

It is unclear whether the clothes of Shop A are unique or are similar to those of Shop B, if Shop B were studied in detail.

That is a tough sentence to construct, not one that I would expect to appear on the GMAT™. You might think that it falls into shaky "whether" + "if" territory, but the those of precludes a second whether they. If you used both, you would create a redundancy. The sentence structure, within the details, now appears different from that of the original sentence: placeholder + verb + predicate ("whether" + noun + verb + modifier A + "or" + modifier B + conditional "if" clause).

I hope that helps. Thank you for taking the time to look me up. As always, best of luck with your studies.

- Andrew

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Re: It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman [#permalink]

26 Aug 2020, 02:16

It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman species in their ability to learn behaviors from one another, or if, when other animals are studied in as much depth, similar patterns would be found.

(A) if, when other animals are studied in as much depth, similar patterns would be found.
(B) if other animals were studied with as much depth they would exhibit similar patterns.
(C) would similar patterns be found in other animals if they were studied in as much depth.
(D) whether similar patterns would be exhibited in other animals that were studied with as much depth.
(E) whether other animals would exhibit similar patterns if they were studied in as much depth.
AndrewN

How could we eliminate option B? i couldn't find any error other than the wrong preposition with depth.Please help.

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Re: It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman [#permalink]

26 Aug 2020, 03:58

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sonusaini1 wrote:

It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman species in their ability to learn behaviors from one another, or if, when other animals are studied in as much depth, similar patterns would be found.

(A) if, when other animals are studied in as much depth, similar patterns would be found.
(B) if other animals were studied with as much depth they would exhibit similar patterns.
(C) would similar patterns be found in other animals if they were studied in as much depth.
(D) whether similar patterns would be exhibited in other animals that were studied with as much depth.
(E) whether other animals would exhibit similar patterns if they were studied in as much depth.
AndrewN

How could we eliminate option B? i couldn't find any error other than the wrong preposition with depth.Please help.

Hello, sonusaini1. Option (B) has a few problems, the first of which begins the entire answer choice, if. Since whether appears earlier in the sentence, we need to look for a parallel whether later in the sentence: whether A or [whether] B. That is, the second whether is not always explicit in the sentence, but it does appear when dealing with lengthier phrases or clauses between the two entities. For instance, we could say, It is unclear whether John or Jim took the cookie. There is a tight enough space between the two people named that the whether is understood to apply to both. In any case, we cannot pair whether and if, so (B) is already out.

Another issue, as you have already pointed out, is the with in studied with as much depth. The preposition should be in instead. Putting the two together, we have a sub-optimal choice against either (D) or (E) that fix the initial error. Yes, there is pronoun ambiguity in (E), but they can be understood to refer back to animals rather than patterns.

I hope that helps. Thank you for thinking to ask me, and good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

B

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Re: It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman [#permalink]

12 Jun 2022, 16:15

nitinneha wrote:

It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman species in their ability to learn behaviors from one another, or if, when other animals are studied in as much depth, similar patterns would be found.

"...whether or whether" parallelism - keep (D) and (E)

(A) if, when other animals are studied in as much depth, similar patterns would be found.
(B) if other animals were studied with as much depth they would exhibit similar patterns.
(C) would similar patterns be found in other animals if they were studied in as much depth.
(D) whether similar patterns would be exhibited in other animals that were studied with as much depth.

Worse than (E) for the following reasons:
1) Passive
2) "studied with depth" = wrong idiom
3) "animals that were studied" = can be interpreted as hypothetical

(E) whether other animals would exhibit similar patterns if they were studied in as much depth.

1) Okay for "whether ... if" in the same clause
2) "studied in depth" = correct idiom
3) active

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Re: It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman [#permalink]

13 Jun 2022, 00:15

Correct me if I'm wrong, but i have eliminated all other options by the clever method method told by none other than GMATNinja which is just by replacing the actual words in the place if or they in the sentence and just like that i got to the answer in 30 seconds

B

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Re: It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman [#permalink]

30 Jul 2022, 23:44

Hi there,

in option B

(B) if other animals were studied with as much depth they would exhibit similar patterns.

''if'' really a problem here?

''animals studied with as much depth'': Isn't the meaning clear here?

B

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Re: It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman [#permalink]

31 Jul 2022, 00:45

Hi,
I am trying to understand the structure "Whether X or Whether Y" in the correct option. Isn't it true that the double "whether" used in the correct choice is redundant? I thought in choice B, the sentence structure is something like this "It is unclear whether C...., or (if modifier) they would..
I understand "they" is ambiguous here, but thought it should refer to "other animals" logically.
I would appreciate some expert advice.|
My major concern is:
a. Is a "whether X or whether Y" construction correct and not redundant?
b. Can the "if phrase" in choice B act as a modifier?

thanks and cheers!

L

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Re: It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman [#permalink]

05 Aug 2022, 07:56

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souvik19 wrote:

Hi,
I am trying to understand the structure "Whether X or Whether Y" in the correct option. Isn't it true that the double "whether" used in the correct choice is redundant? I thought in choice B, the sentence structure is something like this "It is unclear whether C...., or (if modifier) they would..
I understand "they" is ambiguous here, but thought it should refer to "other animals" logically.
I would appreciate some expert advice.|
My major concern is:
a. Is a "whether X or whether Y" construction correct and not redundant?

thanks and cheers!

Each "whether" is setting up multiple options. To see why you might need more than one "whether," consider a couple of simple examples:

Similar deal here. There are two sets of options.

You might look at those options and think, "Wait a minute! If chimpanzees are unique isn't it implied that other animals wouldn't exhibit similar patterns?"

The problem is that this makes the entire second clause redundant, and every answer choice has some version of this clause. And grammatically, each clause introduces multiple options, so a "whether" in each one seems fine. At the very least, it's not a concrete error.

Quote:

b. Can the "if phrase" in choice B act as a modifier?

"If" sets up a conditional relationship -- an "if" portion and a "then" portion. Consider some examples:

1) If Tim goes to the store, he will buy 700 Twinkies.
In this case, we don't know if Tim is actually going to the store, but if he does, we know he'll buy lots of Twinkies. Perfectly logical construction.

2) If Tim goes to the store, it is unclear whether he will buy 700 Twinkies.
Now, we still don't know if Tim is actually going to the store, but we also don't know what he'll do in the event that he does go. Still perfectly acceptable.

3) It is unclear if Tim goes to the store, he will buy 700 Twinkies.
This one's not great, because of the placement of "it is unclear." Is it saying that the entire conditional relationship is unclear and Tim may or may not buy lots of Twinkies if he goes to the store? If that's the case, isn't option #2 a clearer way of expressing the same idea?

Or is it saying that it's unclear whether Tim will go to the store in the first place? And if that's the case, doesn't the "if" already convey this uncertainty, making the "it is unclear" redundant?

The construction in (B) is similar to #3 above. Is it saying that we're not sure if the animals were studied in the first place? Or is saying that we're not sure whether the patterns would be found in the event that the animals were studied?

(E), on the other hand, is closer to #2. We know exactly what's unclear: whether the animals would show similar patterns. Because (E) is simple and unambiguous, it's better.

I hope that helps!

L

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Re: It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman [#permalink]

09 Oct 2022, 16:29

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Anshul1223333 wrote:

Hi there,

in option B

(B) if other animals were studied with as much depth they would exhibit similar patterns.

''if'' really a problem here?

''animals studied with as much depth'': Isn't the meaning clear here?

Yep. The "if" is a problem.

"If" needs to set up a conditional scenario:

"If Tim goes to the grocery store, he will buy 700 Twinkies."
Tim may or may not go to the store. But if he goes, a certain outcome is guaranteed: he will give his children diabetes.

"Whether", on the other hand, sets up multiple options:

"It is unclear whether Tim will eat 700 Twinkies."
Now there are two possible outcomes. Tim can lots of Twinkies. Or not. And we don't know which he'll choose.

Either of the above constructions could work. But this one really doesn't work:

if

The problem is that we don't know what's unclear! Is the sentence saying there's uncertainty about Tim going to the store in the first place? Or is saying that we're not sure whether he'll buy the Twinkies once he's there?

Put another way, the construction, "It is unclear if," is itself unclear. That's the problem with (B). Is there uncertainty about the animals actually being studied? Or is it unclear whether they'll show certain patterns if they're studied?

Instead, we want to use the phrase "it is unclear whether", which indicates that multiple outcomes are possible, and we simply don't know which will happen. That's the construction we get in (E).

I hope that clears things up!

gmatclubot

Re: It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman [#permalink]

09 Oct 2022, 16:29

GMAT Sentence Correction (EA only) Questions

It is unclear whether chimpanzees are unique among nonhuman