Shoppers in sporting goods stores, unlike in department stores, do ver

It might be helpful to do a little QOTD-style analysis to help clarify your confusion here.

The word "unlike" indicates that we have a comparison, and it's clear from the context that we WANT to compare shoppers in sporting good stores to shoppers in department stores.

(A) illogically compares "shoppers in sporting good stores" to the prepositional phrase "in department stores." It doesn't make sense to compare "shoppers" to "in department stores, so (A) is gone.


Same illogical comparison we saw in (A), so (B) is out.


The conjunction "but" suggests a contrast or surprise. Here, not buying skis and a boomerang and leaving with only a basketball are perfectly compatible actions, so it's illogical to connect these actions with "but."

Also, the actions "do very little impulse shopping" and "do not buy a pair of skis..." would make much more sense if they were connected by the word "and."

Either way, (C) is gone.


NandishSS, this is where we finally address your question directly!

Notice that if the pronoun "those" referred to the entire noun phrase "shoppers in sporting good stores", then (D) would also be illogical, because we'd be comparing shoppers in sporting goods stores to shoppers in sporting goods stores in department stores, and you'd have no correct answer! Any interpretation that leads to the elimination of all five options is clearly wrong.

We generally use the pronoun "those" to distinguish between two different groups. For instance, "the cupcakes with chocolate icing are more delicious than those [cupcakes] with asparagus icing." Here there are two groups of cupcakes: ones with chocolate icing and ones with asparagus icing. The prepositional phrases indicating the type of icing are what allow us to differentiate between the two groups.

It's the same basic construction we have in (D). The prepositional phrases beginning with "in" serve to identify our two groups of shoppers. There are the shoppers in sporting goods stores and those [shoppers] in department stores. Perfectly logical.

So (D) looks okay.


This sentence illogically compares "shoppers in sporting good stores" to "department stores" so (E) is wrong too, and (D) is our winner.

I hope that helps!
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The best/first split is the comparison signalled by "unlike." The intent of the sentence is to say that shoppers one place behave differently than shoppers in another. There are several grammatically correct ways to do so if you are free to write your own sentence. Just a few examples:

Shoppers here, unlike shoppers there, buy different stuff... (Compare the shoppers)
Shoppers buy different stuff when here rather than there. (Compare the location)
Shoppers buy weird stuff from here, quite unlike the bland stuff they buy there. (Compare the purchases)

In any GMAT comparison question, you should look closely at what you can't change about the comparison. Here, that's "Shoppers in sporting goods stores, unlike ______..."

A&B incorrectly parallel "shoppers in X" with just "in Y." While these choices might appear parallel (i.e. seeming match between prepositional phrases "in ___ stores"), we need the subject "shoppers" to be present in both parts of the comparison, for it is "shoppers" who "do very little impulse buying..."

E incorrectly parallels "sporting goods stores" with "department stores." Again, that doesn't work with the main verb that follows. Stores do not shop, people do.

C&D both correctly compare "shoppers in sporting goods stores" with "those (i.e. shoppers) in department stores."

C is incorrect because of punctuation--it is a run-on sentence. "Shoppers do X, do not buy Y, but leave with Z."

In contrast, D has correct use of the semicolon between two independent clauses.

between C and D.

X, unlike Y, do very little impulse shopping, do not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but leave with only a basketball


do very little impulse shopping --> attribute of X .
do not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but leave with only a basketball
---> example of characterstic/attribue of X ( very littel impuse shopping) and not a another characterstic.
It is better described in D.

X do very littel shopping; then giving an example to support the previous statement.

D is perfect in this scenario.


and also in C
Can we say
X do very little impulse shopping, "do not buy pair of skies"..
"do not buy pair of skies".. is modifies what .. X?
if it is X then we need conjuction "and"
X do very little impulse shopping and "do not buy pair of skies"..

Shoppers in sporting goods stores, unlike in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, not buying a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but they leave with a basketball only.

The comparison is between "shoppers in sporting goods stores" and "shoppers in department stores" -

A. in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, not buying a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but they leave with a basketball only - Wrong comparison as explained above

B. in department stores, shop impulsively very little; someone who comes in for a basketball will leave with a basketball only and not also buy a pair of skis and a boomerang as well - Wrong comparison as explained above

C. those in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, do not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but leave with only a basketball
As the comparison part is done, lets remove the modifier.
Shoppers in sporting goods stores do very little impulse shopping - Complete clause.

The second clause : do not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but leave with only a basketball. Where is the subject of this clause. - Incorrect.

D. those in department stores, do very little impulse shopping; someone who comes in for a basketball will leave with a basketball only and not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang as well
- Perfect
1) those replace shoppers. Correct comparison.
2) If we remove the ",those in department stores," the first clause becomes "Shoppers in sporting goods stores do very little impulse shopping".
Semi colon indicates another intimately connected independent clause -
someone who comes in for a basketball will leave with a basketball only and not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang as well
who replaces someone comes - Subject verb proper.
Someone will leave and will not buy - Perfect Subject verb.

E. department stores, shop impulsively very little; someone will not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball but will leave with only a basketball
Wrong comparison as explained above

The major issue here is grammar.

A. in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, not buying a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but they leave with a basketball only --- not buying … but they buy ---- Un//

B. in department stores, shop impulsively very little; someone who comes in for a basketball will leave with a basketball only and not also buy a pair of skis and a boomerang as well – The problem is with ‘unlike in departmental stores’. ‘Unlike’ a preposition should be immediately followed by a noun and not a prepositional phrase.

Secondly the comparison seems to be blurred somewhat here. While we know that it is the shoppers in sports goods store, we cannot be so sure in Dept. stores. It could be shoppers or dabblers, or casual visitors. That is the reason the pronoun 'those' assumes importance in C and D.


C. those in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, do not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but leave with only a basketball --The wrong fanboys but.

D. those in department stores, do very little impulse shopping; someone who comes in for a basketball will leave with a basketball only and not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang as well ----- Comparison is ok, and the contrast is there. This is the best.


E. department stores, shop impulsively very little; someone will not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball but will leave with only a basketball --- Someone will not and they will not buy – wrong pronoun number agreement.

I feel the phrase'as well' is a ploy and a diversion, since all other choices do have solid errors.
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HI GMATNinja, mikemcgarry, egmat, DmitryFarber, MagooshExpert (Carolyn), ccooley, GMATGuruNY, EducationAisle.

In C & D these doesn't it refer to Shoppers in sporting goods stores but not only Shoppers
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Hello Sir!
First let me congratulate you on your divine offerings in this forum!

I have a doubt. IN options A and B, "isnt unlike in departmental stores parallel to shoppers in sporting goods stores?? " should it not logically mean" unlike shoppers in departmental stores" I dont think there is a comparison issue here. However, completely agree that" those" in options C and D make it succinct and clear.

Thank You for your time.

Wow, "divine offerings"! I don't know if they are divine, exactly, but thank you for the kind words! I'm glad that you're enjoying the posts.

The problem is the word "unlike", which means "not similar to." You could say that "sporting goods stores" are similar to (or not similar to) department stores, but you wouldn't say that "in sporting goods stores" is similar to (or not similar to) "in department stores". Instead, you would probably say that "being in sporting goods stores" is similar to (or not similar to) "being in department stores".

In other words, you would use "like" or "unlike" to compare two things but not to compare the two prepositional phrases "in sporting goods stores" and "in department stores". Here are couple examples to illustrate that point:

• "Living in the desert, like in the mountains, requires owning an automobile." - Incorrect. You would not say that "in the desert" is like "in the mountains."
• "Living in the desert, like living in the mountains, requires owning an automobile." - Correct. You could say that "living in the desert" is like "living in the mountains."

Because of the word "unlike" in (A), we expect something/someone that is comparable to shoppers in sporting goods stores, and "in department stores" doesn't cut it.

I hope that helps!
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[quote="bkk145"]Shoppers in sporting goods stores, unlike in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, not buying a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but they leave with a basketball only.


A. in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, not buying a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but they leave with a basketball only

B. in department stores, shop impulsively very little; someone who comes in for a basketball will leave with a basketball only and not also buy a pair of skis and a boomerang as well

C. those in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, do not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but leave with only a basketball

D. those in department stores, do very little impulse shopping; someone who comes in for a basketball will leave with a basketball only and not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang as well

E. department stores, shop impulsively very little; someone will not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball but will leave with only a basketball


This question has an interesting mix of errors.
A. Shoppers in sporting goods stores, unlike in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, not buying a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but they leave with a basketball only

The comparison is not complete – shoppers in sporting goods stores should be compared with shoppers in department stores. As such, the sentence compares shoppers in one place with other places.
This option also contains a modifier that is placed too far from its intended subject “Shoppers”. For these reasons, Option A can be eliminated.

B. Shoppers in sporting goods stores, unlike in department stores, shop impulsively very little; someone who comes in for a basketball will leave with a basketball only and not also buy a pair of skis and a boomerang as well

This option repeats the error of comparison present in Option A. The option also has the wrong usage of the adverbs – impulsively very little. The adverbs “very little” cannot modify the other adverb “impulsively”. ’Hardly’ would be a better adverb. So, Option B can also be eliminated.

C. those in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, do not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but leave with only a basketball

Option C has the error of comma splice, which is the joining of two independent clauses with a comma. We get two independent clauses in this sentence:
• Shoppers in sporting goods stores, unlike those in department stores, do very little impulse shopping.
• Shoppers in sporting goods stores do not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball.
The same subject “Shoppers in sporting goods stores” applies to both the verbs “do” and “do not buy”. Option C can also be eliminated.

D. Shoppers in sporting goods stores, unlike those in department stores, do very little impulse shopping; someone who comes in for a basketball will leave with a basketball only and not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang as well

This option contains the correct comparison between ‘shoppers in sporting goods stores’ and ‘those in department stores’. The pronoun ‘those’ can substitute the noun ‘shoppers’.

This option also contains the correct usage – do very little impulse shopping – thereby correcting the error in Options B and E.

The use of the semi-colon also corrects the error of comma splice in Option C. A semi-colon can separate two independent clauses. So, Option D is correct.

E. Shoppers in sporting goods stores, unlike department stores, shop impulsively very little; someone will not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball but will leave with only a basketball

The comparison in this option is between ‘shoppers’ and ‘department stores’. The option also contains the error of adverb usage that is present in Option B. So, Option E can also be eliminated.

Therefore, D is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.
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GMATNinja EducationAisle

If I want to say "Mr. X does more shopping in departmental stores than in sporting goods stores" Can I say

Mr. X in sporting goods stores, unlike in departmental stores, does more shopping

IF the above statement CAN be used THEN can't (A) be considered as a decent comparison (Though (D) is the clear winner)

Like/unlike should preferably be followed by nouns/noun-phrases only, not by prepositional phrases (unlike in department stores....).
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EducationAisle isn't "and" & "as well as" redundant in the correct choice (D)

Hi Hoozan, I don't see "and" & "as well as" used together in D.

Can you let me know what exactly is bothering you about D?
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GMATNinja


someone who comes in for a basketball will leave with a basketball only and not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang as well

Will leave with a basketball only and not buy - here buy is plural but someone is singular. So can I assume will is placed as a parallelism before buy also.

That's right! You can say, "Someone buys a pair of skis," but not, "Someone buy a pair of skis."

Also, the "not" wouldn't work without the "will". You could say, "Someone will buy a pair of skis," but not, "Someone not buys a pair of skis."

So yes, the "will" must be shared by both parts of the parallel list.
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In choice-D
why the use of and & As well is not redundant?

IMHO, use of and is clear and precise, we don't need as well.

Hello Sigmabeta,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, even if the use of "as well" is a bit redundant here, it is not particularly important.

Remember, redundancy and stylistic issues are of the least importance in GMAT sentence correction; these factors are only to be taken into account in order to choose between otherwise error-free answer choices.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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please review my understanding below:

C. those in department stores, do very little impulse shopping, do not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang when they come in for a basketball, but leave with only a basketball

''do very little...'' , ''do not buy'' is it ok to separate the two verbs with a comma?



D. those in department stores, do very little impulse shopping; someone who comes in for a basketball will leave with a basketball only and not buy a pair of skis and a boomerang as well

''and a boomerang as well'' should not this be 'or' a boomerrang.

is usage of 'as well'' justififed. when is this usage called redundant? always ok to use along 'and' ?

Hello Anshul1223333,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, the use of the comma in Option C is incorrect; Option C presents "do very little impulse shopping" and "do not buy..." as two elements in a list; remember, if a list contains only two elements, they must be linked by a conjunction.

Further, even if the use of "as well" is a bit redundant here, it is not particularly important.

Remember, redundancy and stylistic issues are of the least importance in GMAT sentence correction; these factors are only to be taken into account in order to choose between otherwise error-free answer choices.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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