NEW HERE? LEARN MORE
closeclose
Last visit was: 25 Apr 2024, 03:02 It is currently 25 Apr 2024, 03:02
Decision Tracker
My Rewards
New posts
New comers' posts

Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel

Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than

SORT BY:
Date
Kudos
 1   2   
Tags:
Find Similar Topics 
Show Tags
Hide Tags
User avatar
vivek123
Director
Director
Joined: 14 Dec 2004
Posts: 885
Own Kudos [?]: 992 [125]
Given Kudos: 0
Send PM
Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 17 Oct 2018, 04:02
14
Kudos
111
Bookmarks
00:00
A
B
C
D
E

Difficulty:

35% (medium)

Question Stats:

69% (01:19) correct 31% (01:34) wrong based on 3006 sessions
Hide Show timer Statistics
Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than burning calories to generate it, can survive on ten percent of the nourishment that a mammal of similar size would normally require


(A) rather than burning calories to generate it

(B) rather than the generation of body heat by burning calories

(C) and not from generating it by burning calories

(D) instead of by burning calories for generating it

(E) instead of body heat generated by burning calories


Verbal Question of The Day: Day 42: Sentence Correction


Subscribe to GMAT Question of the Day: E-mail | RSS
For All QOTD Questions Click Here
ShowHide Answer
Official Answer
A

Originally posted by vivek123 on 14 Dec 2005, 03:02.
Last edited by Bunuel on 17 Oct 2018, 04:02, edited 6 times in total.
Renamed the topic and edited the question.
Most Helpful Reply
User avatar
L
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
Joined: 13 Aug 2009
Status: GMAT/GRE/LSAT tutors
Posts: 6920
Own Kudos [?]: 63661 [59]
Given Kudos: 1773
Location: United States (CO)
GMAT 1: 780 Q51 V46
GMAT 2: 800 Q51 V51
GRE 1: Q170 V170

GRE 2: Q170 V170
Send PM
Re: Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than [#permalink] New post   23 Jun 2017, 08:53
30
Kudos
28
Bookmarks
Expert Reply
I think this one is pretty tough, and it's another good example of the fact that pronoun ambiguity isn't an absolute rule on the GMAT. For more on this question, check out the video of our YouTube live session here.

Quote:
(A) rather than burning calories to generate it

On the face of things, it looks like "it' is ambiguous, because it could refer to "the Sun" or "their body heat." But again, pronoun ambiguity isn't an absolute rule, and the more important thing is the comparison: "by drawing their body heat from the Sun rather than burning calories..." Hey, that looks pretty good. Let's keep (A), just to be safe.

Quote:
(B) rather than the generation of body heat by burning calories

Now the comparison is a mess. Comparisons need to be both parallel and logically sound, and this one is neither of those things: "by drawing their body heat from the Sun rather than the generation of body heat by burning calories..." Eliminate (B).


Quote:
(C) and not from generating it by burning calories

The parallelism is a hot mess here, too. "Not from generating it..." follows the parallelism marker "and." What's parallel to "not from generating it"? Structurally, our only real option is "from the Sun."

But wait: that makes no sense at all. "Reptiles, by drawing their body heat... and (not) from generating it by burning calories." That really doesn't work. (C) is gone.

Quote:
(D) instead of by burning calories for generating it

This one isn't terribly different from (A), but the few little differences are a problem. "Burning calories for generating it" isn't quite the right idiom -- I think we'd prefer "burning calories to generate it", as in (A). I'm also really not sure that the "by" is necessary here. More importantly: the GMAT seems to prefer "rather than" over "instead of." (And we could launch into a long discussion of that one, but GMAT Club threads on this topic can be found here and here.)

So (D) can be eliminated.

Quote:
(E) instead of body heat generated by burning calories

The comparison is messy here again: "by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun instead of body heat generated by burning calories"... that's a mess. Plus, we still have the "instead of" problem.

So (E) is gone, and (A) is the winner. Again, the "it" might feel ambiguous in (A), but pronoun ambiguity is not an absolute rule on the GMAT -- and the logic of the comparison is far more important.
User avatar
B
GMATT73
CEO
CEO
Joined: 29 Jan 2005
Posts: 2887
Own Kudos [?]: 1117 [26]
Given Kudos: 0
Send PM
Re: Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than [#permalink] New post   14 Dec 2005, 08:03
16
Kudos
10
Bookmarks
ETS SC RULE #1: VIRTUALLY ALWAYS CHOOSE RATHER THAN OVER INSTEAD OF UNLESS THE FORMER IS A GRAMMATICAL NIGHTMARE. This pattern has about a 99% accuracy rate.

(A)
General Discussion
avatar
mvamsee
Intern
Intern
Joined: 03 May 2011
Posts: 16
Own Kudos [?]: 5 [0]
Given Kudos: 7
Send PM
Re: Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than [#permalink] New post   15 May 2012, 16:53
Hi,
The OA is A. Source is GMAT software question pack 1.

Can we have an expert explanation? I realize that the question is testing parallelism, but am having hard time understanding what parts of speech are parallel.

Thank You,
User avatar
Sachin9
Senior Manager
Senior Manager
Joined: 22 Jul 2012
Status:Gonna rock this time!!!
Posts: 356
Own Kudos [?]: 166 [0]
Given Kudos: 562
Location: India
GMAT 1: 640 Q43 V34
GMAT 2: 630 Q47 V29
WE:Information Technology (Computer Software)
Send PM
Re: Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than [#permalink] New post   02 Mar 2013, 02:59
mvamsee wrote:
Hi,
The OA is A. Source is GMAT software question pack 1.

Can we have an expert explanation? I realize that the question is testing parallelism, but am having hard time understanding what parts of speech are parallel.

Thank You,



Experts kindly help here. .

don't really understand the differences between instead, rather than in this example. .
User avatar
L
KarishmaB
Tutor
Joined: 16 Oct 2010
Posts: 14822
Own Kudos [?]: 64907 [18]
Given Kudos: 426
Location: Pune, India
Send PM
Re: Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than [#permalink] New post   03 Mar 2013, 22:07
11
Kudos
7
Bookmarks
Expert Reply
Sachin9 wrote:
mvamsee wrote:
Hi,
The OA is A. Source is GMAT software question pack 1.

Can we have an expert explanation? I realize that the question is testing parallelism, but am having hard time understanding what parts of speech are parallel.

Thank You,



Experts kindly help here. .

don't really understand the differences between instead, rather than in this example. .


Responding to a pm:

Parallel Structure: Look at the structure of the sentence.

Reptiles, by doing A rather than doing B, can survive on ...

'doing A' and 'doing B' should be parallel.

drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than burning calories to generate it - 'drawing' needs 'burning'

'burn calories to generate heat' is the correct usage. You do 'this' to get 'that' result.
'burn calories for generating heat' is not.

Rather than vs Instead of:

'rather than' shows preference. 'instead of' means 'in stead of' i.e. 'in place of' and doesn't show preference.

He came to my party instead of his wife. - His wife was supposed to come but she couldn't so he came instead.

I would like to invite her rather than her husband. - Only person per couple will be invited and I would like to invite her, not her husband.

Here, reptiles prefer to get the heat directly from the Sun and hence, can survive on little nutrition. So 'rather than' is fine. In fact, even 'instead of' is not incorrect. Hence, even though some options use 'rather than' and some use 'instead of', the choice between these two is not your decision point.
avatar
gwu
Intern
Intern
Joined: 03 Jul 2013
Posts: 16
Own Kudos [?]: 11 [0]
Given Kudos: 9
Concentration: Entrepreneurship, International Business
Schools: Booth '16 HBS '16 Kellogg 1YR '15 Sloan '16 Wharton Exec '16 Duke Fuqua LBS '16
Send PM
Re: Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than [#permalink] New post   08 Jul 2013, 13:23
Can someone tell me what the IT is referring to in answer A. I thought the IT is closest to Sun therefore made answer choice A alkward.
User avatar
L
egmat
e-GMAT Representative
Joined: 02 Nov 2011
Posts: 4347
Own Kudos [?]: 30790 [0]
Given Kudos: 635
GMAT Date: 08-19-2020
Send PM
Re: Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than [#permalink] New post   08 Jul 2013, 20:35
Expert Reply
"it" correctly refers to "body heat". Please note that there is no rule that indicates that pronoun should refer to the closest noun. The reference by pronoun is determined by understanding the meaning of the sentence. I suggest you review the following two sources to clarify your understanding of pronouns:

1: "Pronouns" Concept file in free trial of e-GMAT. Here is short video for how you can access the free trial.
2: Article on Pronouns

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Payal
User avatar
B
WaterFlowsUp
Retired Moderator
Joined: 04 Jun 2013
Status:Getting strong now, I'm so strong now!!!
Affiliations: National Institute of Technology, Durgapur
Posts: 337
Own Kudos [?]: 1899 [0]
Given Kudos: 92
Location: United States (DE)
GPA: 3.32
WE:Information Technology (Health Care)
Send PM
GMAT ToolKit User Reviews Badge
Re: Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than [#permalink] New post   29 Jul 2013, 22:28
x rather than Y
X is a prepositional phrase
y should be a prepositional phrase.
in that case D matches.
why "burning for generating" is not correct?
A comes close to ||-ism as well
User avatar
L
KarishmaB
Tutor
Joined: 16 Oct 2010
Posts: 14822
Own Kudos [?]: 64907 [0]
Given Kudos: 426
Location: Pune, India
Send PM
Re: Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than [#permalink] New post   29 Jul 2013, 23:23
Expert Reply
WaterFlowsUp wrote:
x rather than Y
X is a prepositional phrase
y should be a prepositional phrase.
in that case D matches.
why "burning for generating" is not correct?
A comes close to ||-ism as well


No, 'by' is not a part of X.

Look at the following sentences:

Reptiles, by doing N, can survive on very little food.

Reptiles, by doing X rather than doing Y, can survive on very little food. - Here, 'doing N' is replaced by 'doing X rather than doing Y' (or 'doing X rather than Y' in case the same verb is used for both)

e.g.
Overweight people, by eating healthy food, can reduce their weight.
Overweight people, by eating fruits rather than drinking sweetened juice, can reduce their weight. (eating and drinking are in parallel)
Overweight people, by eating fruits rather than meat, can reduce their weight. ('eating fruits rather than eating meat is assumed)

'to' is the idiomatically correct usage.
User avatar
L
adkikani
IIM School Moderator
Joined: 04 Sep 2016
Posts: 1261
Own Kudos [?]: 1238 [0]
Given Kudos: 1207
Location: India
WE:Engineering (Other)
Send PM
Re: Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than [#permalink] New post   26 Jun 2017, 02:31
GMATNinja wrote:
I think this one is pretty tough, and it's another good example of the fact that pronoun ambiguity isn't an absolute rule on the GMAT. For more on this question, check out the video of our YouTube live session here.

Quote:
(A) rather than burning calories to generate it

On the face of things, it looks like "it' is ambiguous, because it could refer to "the Sun" or "their body heat." But again, pronoun ambiguity isn't an absolute rule, and the more important thing is the comparison: "by drawing their body heat from the Sun rather than burning calories..." Hey, that looks pretty good. Let's keep (A), just to be safe.

Quote:
(B) rather than the generation of body heat by burning calories

Now the comparison is a mess. Comparisons need to be both parallel and logically sound, and this one is neither of those things: "by drawing their body heat from the Sun rather than the generation of body heat by burning calories..." Eliminate (B).


Quote:
(C) and not from generating it by burning calories

The parallelism is a hot mess here, too. "Not from generating it..." follows the parallelism marker "and." What's parallel to "not from generating it"? Structurally, our only real option is "from the Sun."

But wait: that makes no sense at all. "Reptiles, by drawing their body heat... and (not) from generating it by burning calories." That really doesn't work. (C) is gone.

Quote:
(D) instead of by burning calories for generating it

This one isn't terribly different from (A), but the few little differences are a problem. "Burning calories for generating it" isn't quite the right idiom -- I think we'd prefer "burning calories to generate it", as in (A). I'm also really not sure that the "by" is necessary here. More importantly: the GMAT seems to prefer "rather than" over "instead of." (And we could launch into a long discussion of that one, but GMAT Club threads on this topic can be found here and here.)

So (D) can be eliminated.

Quote:
(E) instead of body heat generated by burning calories

The comparison is messy here again: "by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun instead of body heat generated by burning calories"... that's a mess. Plus, we still have the "instead of" problem.

So (E) is gone, and (A) is the winner. Again, the "it" might feel ambiguous in (A), but pronoun ambiguity is not an absolute rule on the GMAT -- and the logic of the comparison is far more important.


Hi GMATNinja
I do agree that parallelism in (A) makes much sense since we assume (by) before burning calories.
However, from grammar point of view, why is B incorrect?
As far as parallelism rule goes, noun modifiers can be parallel to each other.
Here, drawing is a verb-ing modifier is in parallel with modifying noun - Reptiles
and noun + noun modifier generation of body heat, a noun
and by burning calories (again a verb-ing modifier) also modifies noun - reptiles.
Am I correct?
WR,
Arpit
User avatar
L
egmat
e-GMAT Representative
Joined: 02 Nov 2011
Posts: 4347
Own Kudos [?]: 30790 [4]
Given Kudos: 635
GMAT Date: 08-19-2020
Send PM
Re: Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than [#permalink] New post   26 Jun 2017, 10:53
4
Kudos
Expert Reply
adkikani wrote:
Hi GMATNinja
I do agree that parallelism in (A) makes much sense since we assume (by) before burning calories.
However, from grammar point of view, why is B incorrect?
As far as parallelism rule goes, noun modifiers can be parallel to each other.
Here, drawing is a verb-ing modifier is in parallel with modifying noun - Reptiles
and noun + noun modifier generation of body heat, a noun
and by burning calories (again a verb-ing modifier) also modifies noun - reptiles.
Am I correct?
WR,
Arpit



Hello @adkikan/Arpit,

Thank you for the PM. :)


Choice B violates parallelism. The sentence uses the phrase X rather than Y. Per choice B:

X = by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun = prepositional phrase
Y = the generation of body heat by burning calories = noun phrase

The above mentioned elements are neither grammatically parallel nor logically. Please note that by burning calories in Y just modifies the preceding noun the generation of body heat. The Choice actually makes by drawing... parallel to the generation....


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha
User avatar
L
CAMANISHPARMAR
VP
VP
Joined: 12 Feb 2015
Posts: 1065
Own Kudos [?]: 2103 [0]
Given Kudos: 77
Send PM
Re: Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than [#permalink] New post   30 Nov 2018, 09:43
Hey jennpt

Could you please solve this question for us, i.e. the way you would solve in exam including strategy!! thanks!!
avatar
B
IQuantToCry
Intern
Intern
Joined: 26 Sep 2018
Posts: 3
Own Kudos [?]: 0 [0]
Given Kudos: 6
Location: United States (FL)
Schools: Stern PT Spring '24
GMAT 1: 640 Q42 V37
Send PM
GMAT ToolKit User
Re: Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than [#permalink] New post   13 Dec 2018, 16:02
I got this question correct, but I do not fully understand why "by burning" in answer choice D is wrong. I eliminated D because of "for -ing" verb BUT I typically prioritize parallelism. Please help!
avatar
B
milanshivhare007
Intern
Intern
Joined: 05 Sep 2019
Posts: 4
Own Kudos [?]: 0 [0]
Given Kudos: 19
Send PM
Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than [#permalink] New post   16 May 2020, 20:05
VeritasKarishma wrote:
WaterFlowsUp wrote:
x rather than Y
X is a prepositional phrase
y should be a prepositional phrase.
in that case D matches.
why "burning for generating" is not correct?
A comes close to ||-ism as well


No, 'by' is not a part of X.

Look at the following sentences:

Reptiles, by doing N, can survive on very little food.

Reptiles, by doing X rather than doing Y, can survive on very little food. - Here, 'doing N' is replaced by 'doing X rather than doing Y' (or 'doing X rather than Y' in case the same verb is used for both)

e.g.
Overweight people, by eating healthy food, can reduce their weight.
Overweight people, by eating fruits rather than drinking sweetened juice, can reduce their weight. (eating and drinking are in parallel)
Overweight people, by eating fruits rather than meat, can reduce their weight. ('eating fruits rather than eating meat is assumed)

'to' is the idiomatically correct usage.





Ques- Shouldn't 'drawing' be parallel to 'generating' rather than 'burning'?
User avatar
B
felipet190
Intern
Intern
Joined: 18 Jun 2020
Posts: 7
Own Kudos [?]: 0 [0]
Given Kudos: 0
Send PM
Re: Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than [#permalink] New post   26 Jul 2020, 15:43
In option A, what is the subject of the first clause? Charles Bibilos said in a video on youtube that the subject is "body heat". Why is that the case as opposed to the subject being Reptile (the noun who is actually performing a verb)? Thanks!
User avatar
L
ShankSouljaBoi
Director
Director
Joined: 21 Jun 2017
Posts: 638
Own Kudos [?]: 530 [0]
Given Kudos: 4092
Location: India
Concentration: Finance, Economics
Schools: Rotman '23 (D) IIMA PGPX'22 (D) Desautels '23 (D) Schulich Sept '23 (D) WBS (D) IIML IPMX'25 (A)
GMAT 1: 660 Q49 V31
GMAT 2: 620 Q47 V30
GMAT 3: 650 Q48 V31
GPA: 3.1
WE:Corporate Finance (Non-Profit and Government)
Send PM
Reviews Badge
Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than [#permalink] New post   28 Sep 2020, 14:47
mikemcgarry Magoosh ChrisLele margarette

According to once outside or twice inside rule
by is a part of first arm of parallel structure but not a part of seconf arm . I fail to understand the parallelism. Kindly englighten.


Regards
User avatar
B
aarushie
Intern
Intern
Joined: 14 Jun 2020
Posts: 5
Own Kudos [?]: 0 [0]
Given Kudos: 42
Send PM
Re: Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than [#permalink] New post   29 Sep 2020, 09:36
egmat wrote:
What's the problem with D exactly? I could understand from the previous posts that 'rather than' shows preference and 'instead of' is used for replacement. How do we identify what needs to be used in the answer choice?




Hello @adkikan/Arpit,

Thank you for the PM. :)


Choice B violates parallelism. The sentence uses the phrase X rather than Y. Per choice B:

X = by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun = prepositional phrase
Y = the generation of body heat by burning calories = noun phrase

The above mentioned elements are neither grammatically parallel nor logically. Please note that by burning calories in Y just modifies the preceding noun the generation of body heat. The Choice actually makes by drawing... parallel to the generation....


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha[/quote]
User avatar
B
aarushie
Intern
Intern
Joined: 14 Jun 2020
Posts: 5
Own Kudos [?]: 0 [0]
Given Kudos: 42
Send PM
Re: Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than [#permalink] New post   29 Sep 2020, 09:39
egmat wrote:
adkikani wrote:

Hi Shraddha,
What's the problem with D exactly? I could understand from the previous posts that 'rather than' shows preference and 'instead of' is used for replacement. How do we identify what needs to be used in the answer choice?

Thanks,
Aarushie

Hi
I do agree that parallelism in (A) makes much sense since we assume (by) before burning calories.
However, from grammar point of view, why is B incorrect?
As far as parallelism rule goes, noun modifiers can be parallel to each other.
Here, drawing is a verb-ing modifier is in parallel with modifying noun - Reptiles
and noun + noun modifier generation of body heat, a noun
and by burning calories (again a verb-ing modifier) also modifies noun - reptiles.
Am I correct?
WR,
Arpit



Hello @adkikan/Arpit,

Thank you for the PM. :)


Choice B violates parallelism. The sentence uses the phrase X rather than Y. Per choice B:

X = by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun = prepositional phrase
Y = the generation of body heat by burning calories = noun phrase

The above mentioned elements are neither grammatically parallel nor logically. Please note that by burning calories in Y just modifies the preceding noun the generation of body heat. The Choice actually makes by drawing... parallel to the generation....


Hope this helps. :-)
Thanks.
Shraddha
avatar
B
faat99
Manager
Manager
Joined: 12 Jul 2020
Posts: 82
Own Kudos [?]: 11 [0]
Given Kudos: 109
Location: United Kingdom
Schools: Judge '23 Said '23
GMAT 1: 690 Q49 V34
Send PM
Re: Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than [#permalink] New post   16 Aug 2021, 13:34
The key of this question filter down to A or D; and people start thinking instead of vs rather than, and saying it is the meaning of "preference/in place of"... That is not the reason,

the reason to eliminate D is just lack of style, instead of "by" burning is redundant. A is cleaner.
GMAT Club Bot
gmatclubot
Re: Reptiles, by drawing their body heat directly from the Sun rather than [#permalink]
16 Aug 2021, 13:34
 1   2   
Moderators:
GMATNinja
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
6920 posts
GMATNinjaTwo
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
238 posts

Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group | Emoji artwork provided by EmojiOne
Main navigation
GMAT Resources
Partners
MBA Resources
www.gmac.com|www.mba.com | | GMAT Club Rules | Terms and Conditions