Unlike auto insurance, the frequency of claims does not affect the pre

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Concepts tested here: Subject-Verb Agreement + Comparisons + Awkwardness/Redundancy

• Comparisons must always be made between similar things.

A: This answer choice incorrectly compares "auto insurance" to "the frequency of claims"; remember, comparisons must always be made between similar things.

B: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the singular noun "frequency" with the plural verb phrase "do not affect". Further, Option B incorrectly compares the prepositional phrase "with auto insurance" to "the frequency of claims"; remember, comparisons must always be made between similar things.

C: This answer choice incorrectly compares "the frequency of claims for auto insurance" to "the premiums for personal property coverage"; remember, comparisons must always be made between similar things.

D: Correct. This answer choice correctly refers to the plural noun "premiums" with the plural verb phrase "are not affected". Further, Option D correctly compares "the premiums for auto insurance" with "the premiums for personal property coverage".

E: This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun "premiums" with the singular verb phrase "is not affected".

Hence, D is the best answer choice.

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

"Unlike the premiums for auto insurance, the premiums for personal property coverage are not affected by the frequency of claims...

To make it more concise, is it correct to skip repeated usage of premiums?

Unlike the premiums for auto insurance, these for personal property coverage are not affected by the frequency of claims...

Hi pqhai,

Let see the first part: Unlike the premiums for auto insurance" <== It's not a complete sentence, so the usage of pronoun "those for" is not correct.


During comparison, Like/Unlike is always followed by a noun. If we make it a complete sentence, then for clause we use "As" instead of "like/unlike" because we are comparing actions in that case.

If i say:
Like that of John, Mary's car is white.
As John has a white car, Mary has a white car.


Like John's car, that of Mary is white.

Here, "Unlike the John's Car" is not a clause, but still usage of "that" is correct.


Thanks,
Jai

KUDOS if it HELPED..!!!

Thanks Jai

Sorry for confusing. I say "It's not a complete sentence", I want to convey the idea the phrase "unlike....." does not provide enough description to hold a pronoun "those" valid (or the pronoun is not be modified enough). I will change my post a bit to avoid confusing.

Regarding your example, I, in turn, politely disagree with you.
You use pronoun "those" or "that to indicate "new copy" ==> A "new copy" must be modified. In other word, you have to add a description to indicate how the new copy is different from the previous version.

I think your example should be: Marry's car, unlike that of John's, is white <== "that" is pronoun which is a "new copy" of Marry's car. "that of John's" is modified by "Marry's car is white". Thus, the sentence is correct.

However, in your example, the clause "that of...." is a main clause and is not be modified by anything.

Any discussion is welcome.

Cheer


PS: I highly recommend MGMAT - Sentence correction - Chapter Pronoun which describes very well how to use pronoun properly. (Just my recommendation).

Hi pqhai,

I agree with your explanation for the "new copy" thing.

I think Marry's car, unlike that of John's, is white is not correct.

It should be unlike that of John... since we are using "that" we don't need to use the possessive form of John.

the sentence should be
Marry's car, unlike that of John, is white

OR

Marry's car, unlike John's, is white

We are comparing the car of Marry to that of John,not mary's car to John.

Regarding your below statement,

However, in your example, the clause "that of...." is a main clause and is not be modified by anything.


I could not get your point.. Can you please elaborate.

Thanks,
Jai

KUDOS if it HELPED..!!!

Hi Jai
Yes, we're comparing Marry's car with John's car. We do not compare Marry's car with John. You can see the possessive form - John's. If you repeat the same thing, we can omit the noun.==> John's means John's car.

Pronoun topic is huge. If you use pronoun, you will use a representative rather than repeat an antecedent. You just use "this, that, these, those" to indicate the antecedent. Logically, the readers need to understand the nature of the antecedent first. Therefore, pronouns must be modified.

For example:
Incorrect: Unlike John's car, that of Marry is white.
Because you're comparing X to Y. X is antecedent and Y is the pronoun. Logically, Y is just a new copy of X, so X must show its characteristics first.
In your sentence, "that" is the pronoun ==> it indicates something appears before it in the sentence ==> The "thing" appears before the pronoun must be understood by readers first. However, without a description about the pronoun, readers do not understand the nature of the antecedent. You cannot understand the phrase "Unlike John's car" if it stands alone.

Correct: Marry's car, unlike that of John, is white ==> The antecedent is Marry's car. Even without the pronoun, readers still understand the nature of Marry's car completely (Marry's car is white). Then the usage of pronoun (a new copy) will be correct.

Hope it helps.

Note the keyword "unlike" appears in all answer choices.

So because of that, all we need to do is make sure that the left side and right side of the comma are consistent.

In (A) - "auto insurance" is not consistent with "frequency of claims" - so don't even bother reading the rest of the answer choice.

Just glance down - and it is not until we get to (D) that we see "premiums" being compared with "being" - only then should we spend the time to actually read through (D).

This is a speed technique we implement in our fast solutions to SC that allows you to arrive at the correct answer without necessarily reading every answer choice.

Unlike the premiums for auto insurance, the premiums for personal property coverage are not affected by the frequency of claims

Correct idiomatic usage of unlike is : Unlike X, Y

All except (D) are incorrect...

Unlike auto insurance, the frequency of claims does not affect the premiums for personal property coverage, but if the insurance company is able to prove excessive loss due to owner negligence, it may decline to renew the policy.
(A) Unlike auto insurance, the frequency of claims does not affect the premiums for personal property coverage - Illogical comparison- illogically compares auto insurance and the frequency of claims
(B) Unlike with auto insurance, the frequency of claims do not affect the premiums for personal property coverage - Unlike with is unidiomatic ; Subject-verb agreement issue - Frequency and do not affect
(C) Unlike the frequency of claims for auto insurance, the premiums for personal property coverage are not affected by the frequency of claims - illogically compares the frequency of claims and premiums
(D) Unlike the premiums for auto insurance, the premiums for personal property coverage are not affected by the frequency of claims - Correct
(E) Unlike with the premiums for auto insurance, the premiums for personal property coverage is not affected by the frequency of claims - Unlike with is unidiomatic ; Subject-verb agreement issue - Premiums and is

Answer D

Unlike auto insurance, the frequency of claims does not affect the premiums for personal property coverage, but if the insurance company is able to prove excessive loss due to owner negligence, it may decline to renew the policy.

(A) Unlike auto insurance, the frequency of claims does not affect the premiums for personal property coverage
(B) Unlike with auto insurance, the frequency of claims do not affect the premiums for personal property coverage
(C) Unlike the frequency of claims for auto insurance, the premiums for personal property coverage are not affected by the frequency of claims
(D) Unlike the premiums for auto insurance, the premiums for personal property coverage are not affected by the frequency of claims
(E) Unlike with the premiums for auto insurance, the premiums for personal property coverage is not affected by the frequency of claims

"Unlike" suggests a comparison between two subjects. The comparison has to be logical.
Also, I'm certain the use of "unlike with" is unidiomatic.

if the insurance company is able to prove excessive loss due to owner negligence, it may decline to renew the policy.
Why can't the company decline?

You can rewrite this:

if the insurance company is able to prove excessive loss due to owner negligence, insurance company may decline to renew the policy.

You only read the word "decline" and forgot about the "to renew" part.
How can the frequency decline to renew?
"Insurance company" is the only logical reference.

Hi lary301254M7,

Thank you for your question. I think the misunderstanding with grad2020 is the meaning of the word "decline." There are two general meanings for "decline":

1. To reduce in size
2. To refuse someone

In this case, the phrase "it may decline to renew the policy" means that the insurance company (what "it" is referring to) can refuse to renew the policy - not that they will somehow lose value or size.

I hope this helps clear it up!

We know that there are two things that are being compared here because the sentence starts off with ‘unlike’.

A quick scan of the options tells us that the comparisons are off.
We can use the process of elimination to get to the right answer here:

Option A compares ‘insurance’ with ‘frequency of claims’ which is illogical and does not add any meaning. Eliminate.

Option B has illogical comparison in addition to the SVA error. ‘the frequency… do not affect’. Eliminate.

Option C compares ‘frequency’ with ‘premiums’ which is again illogical. Eliminate.

Option D has the right comparison here. ‘premiums for auto insurance’ is compared with ‘premiums for personal property’.

Option E has the phrase ‘unlike with’ just like Option B which is not idiomatic. Eliminate.

Eliminate Options A, B, C and E.

Option D is the best option.

Hope this helps!

GMAT Sentence Correction - The power of Idioms

Unlike auto insurance, the frequency of claims does not affect the premiums for personal property coverage, but if the insurance company is able to prove excessive loss due to owner negligence, it may decline to renew the policy.

TOPICS TESTED:- COMPARISONS, SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT


(A) Unlike auto insurance, the frequency of claims does not affect the premiums for personal property coverage. Wrong
here the auto insurance is compared with frequency of claims which is illogical comparison.


(B) Unlike with auto insurance, the frequency of claims do not affect the premiums for personal property coverage. Wrong
here the auto insurance is compared with frequency of claims which is illogical comparison.


(C) Unlike the frequency of claims for auto insurance, the premiums for personal property coverage are not affected by the frequency of claims. Wrong
here the frequency of claims is compared with the premiums which is illogical comparison.

(D) Unlike the premiums for auto insurance, the premiums for personal property coverage are not affected by the frequency of claims.
we cant find any error in this options lets hold on and look the other options.

(E) Unlike with the premiums for auto insurance, the premiums for personal property coverage is not affected by the frequency of claims. Wrong
here the premiums of auto insurance are correctly compared with those of personal property .
BUT,
Subject verb doesn't agree in number.
SUBJECT = premiums (PLURAL SUBJECT)
VERB = is (SINGULAR VERB)

so therefore D is the correct option.

Hope this helps,
Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

Why is this the last hard question in thee verbal review 2022? There's nothing difficult about this one. Why do I never get these easy difficult questions on exam day lol