Because country music plays on more radio stations there and is thus

Because country music plays on more radio stations there and has a larger fan base, a concert featuring a recognizable country music group typically attracts a crowd much larger in the southern United States than it does in the Northeast.

(A) featuring a recognizable country music group typically attracts a crowd much larger in the southern United States than it does in
(B) featuring a recognizable country music group will typically attract a much larger crowd if it is in the southern United States instead of
(C) will typically attract a crowd much larger in the southern United States than one featuring a recognizable country music group in
(D) that is performed in the southern United States will typically attract much larger a crowd than if it features the same recognizable country music group in
(E) in the southern United States will typically attract a much larger crowd than will a concert featuring the same recognizable country music group performed in




Num 1 - is the original sentence.

Num 2- i removed all the "junk" ( :] ) and arrive at a simpler structure.

the problem with number 2 that is the placment of the "will"- isn't that a wrong parallelism? (or why is this stcuture correct)

num 3 - if the sentence structure were like this option, then i would have understand the parallelism.



Thank you for your help,

Hi myside,

Sorry our explanation wasn't able to demystify the tricky question for you. I'll call this to our test teams attention, and we'll see if it needs revision. However, our answer is definitely correct.

The 'will' is fine here because we are making predictions for the future. You're right that changing tenses can be a GMAT warning sign, but in this case it's perfectly logical. Consider "Because I am studying for the GMAT, I will do well." The premise and conclusion do not necessarily have to be in the same time frame.

As for the 'it', using a pronoun refers to the noun earlier in the sentence--in this case, as you said, 'concert.' However, if we use 'it' we're referring to the SAME concert! The 'it' in choice A seems to imply that the same one will move from the north to the south, or exist simultaneously in both locations, attracting different crowds in different places. This isn't logical! Indeed, we must compare two different concerts, since a concert is a one-time, one-location event. Thus, (E) is the best choice.

Let me know if I can answer any other questions about this or other problems, and best of luck preparing!

Thanks Eli.

But I got a doubt-:

Can we draw an inference-: that in reasoning questions like this- (Because X, Y)

if X is in present tense and then y will be in future tense.
(similar on lines of if...then construction)



myside88

Dear AlexGenkins1234,
I'm happy to respond.

My friend, I think you are getting confused on the issue of common words that omitted in the second branch of the parallelism. See this blog article:
Dropping Common Words in Parallel on the GMAT

Also, I think you have a misconception about parallelism. Parallelism is a pattern of logical matching which correlates forms of the same grammatical structure, but it doesn't require lockstep precision in all details. When folks get too mathematical about parallelism, they miss the point. In choice (E), putting the verb "will" at the beginning of the second branch of parallelism is a sophisticated rhetorical structure, typically of better writers. This is 100% correct. We have to have all the grammatical elements in both branches of the parallelism, but they do not have to appear lined up in the exact same order, as if it were a military formation. That is a shallow and rigid way of thinking about parallelism, and it will prevent you from understanding the many subtleties of rhetorical sophistication involving parallelism.

I would criticize the question for different reasons. (E) is correct, but I would argue that (A) and (D) are perfectly fine. I think the author of the question is playing on the ambiguity of the word "concert." Does the word "concert" denote the individual event, scheduled at a particular place and time, or does the word "concert" denote the act, the set of pieces, that are played repeatedly in different venues. In other words, if Band XYZ plays one show in Atlanta on Monday and then plays the exact same show in Chicago on Friday, is that one concert or two different concerts? In English, the word is used in both senses, so there is no way to resolve this ambiguity, and I believe that is what the author had in mind for dismissing (A). I would argue that (A) is 100% correct.

As someone who writes questions, I would give this particular question a grade of an F.

That Magoosh blog has four high quality practice questions on parallelism. Here's another:
With American cryptanalysts
When you submit your answer to that question, the following page will have a complete video explanation.

Does all this make sense?
Mike
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Hi Mike,

I had got the same sense that author of the question plays with with word 'concert'. I have the feeling from the way s/he insists on the answer choices. I agree that A may be correct. But I feel that D, although it is grammatically correct, coneys strong meaning when using conditional. I cancelled D because of that reason.

What do you think??

Thanks in advance

Dear Mo2men,

I'm happy to respond. My friend, I am a little unclear what you mean when you say that option (D) "coneys strong meaning"---- what exactly do you mean by "strong meaning"?

Here is version (D) of the sentence:
Because country music plays on more radio stations there and has a larger fan base, a concert that is performed in the southern United States will typically attract much larger a crowd than if it features the same recognizable country music group in the Northeast.

Do you feel that the meaning differs from the prompt, or implies something more than the prompt implies?

Mike
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Hi Mike,

Thanks for your care.

I meant that using conditional phrase is so strong, although it may be grammatically correct. I felt that the meaning does not need that conditional condition.
So I assumed the right answer would be conveyed by direct comparison between 2 things ' a concert in a place' with 'a concert in other place'.

I hope I conveyed what I meant.

I went with A as I felt that E changes the intended meaning. The phrase 'typically attracts' shows continuity, whereas option E suggests what WILL happen if the concert was to be held in these 2 different locations. It talks about future, whereas the authors intent is to describe a phenomenon.

mike, do you agree?

Dear Mo2men,
I'm happy to respond. My friend, version (D) is a 100% correct way of constructing a straightforward comparison. Consider this sentence:
A picnic on a sunny day is a delight, certainly far more enjoyable than one if there is rain.
We use conditional statements to specify conditions, and it is only natural that we might compare circumstances under condition to the same circumstances under other conditions. In such a case, as in (D) or the above "picnic" sentence, it is perfectly natural to use a conditional statement to express the changed conditions. There is absolutely nothing awkward or unnatural about this. Does this make sense?

Dear MeghaP,
I'm happy to respond. My friend, I don't agree. Both (A) and (E) express present moment factual situations. Choice (A) emphasizes the ongoing nature of the pattern; choice (E) states the pattern in terms of a prediction, but the implication is that this pattern is reliable precisely because it's been going on for a while. In terms of practical meaning, there is virtually none between (A) and (E) on this particular point. Either way would be an acceptable way to talk about a pattern in the present. Does this make sense?

BTW, notice that even though my personal name is "Mike," the user mike is someone other than I. That is not my username. You sent a notification to some random other person with the username mike.

To both of you good people, Mo2men and MeghaP, I would say: this is not a particularly good question. It doesn't necessarily help you to wrestle with the subtleties of poorly constructed questions. You would be much better served putting your time & energy & attention into official questions and other high quality questions. Magoosh & MGMAT have excellent questions, and I have been impressed by the vast majority of Veritas questions I have seen. Focus your efforts there.

Does all this make sense?
Mike
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Hi Mike,
Thanks for your full response. Although it is not high quality question, the conversion with you is worth a lot.

confused between options A and E as to which one is the correct option

chetan2u
in the southern United States will typically attract a much larger crowd than will a concert featuring the same country group performed in


Can you please explain this one!
The reason i rejected E is for the particular word used "Performed" .
When the sentence is in future tense wouldnt "performed" be wrong here?

Hi,

firstly the non-underlined uses THERE, and so what there refers to should be as close to the beginning of new clause...
here there is in souther US.....
so this prepositional phrase should be next to concert..

Now on the second point performed...
Performed is a Past participle and it does not talk of anything about the TENSE part, but just modifies the noun/noun phrase right before it..
the verb is WILL...

Another example where performed is PAST participle-
Performed for the first time in the 18th centuary, the play "The Nobleman" was a big hit.

The cultural exhibition will include the concerts performed by young artists.
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Hi chetan2u,

Subject in option 'E' is country music which is singular, but it uses plural verb attract.

please explain
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Hi,

the sentence is in future tense -WILL...
so the verb will be in the base form, that is w/o 's'
Only present tense uses plural/singular form
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attract a crowd much larger

Is it a right sentence?

Because country music plays on more radio stations there and is thus better able to capitalize on its fan base, a country music concert featuring a recognizable country group typically attracts a crowd much larger in the southern United States than it does in the Northeast.

A. featuring a recognizable country group typically attracts a crowd much larger in the southern United States than it does in , Meaning ambiguity: concert is happening in southern United States or crowd is attracted at souther United States ?
B. featuring a recognizable country group will typically attract a much larger crowd if it occurs in the southern United States instead of usage of If condition is unnecessary
C. will typically attract a crowd much larger in the southern United States than one featuring a recognizable country group in same as A
D. that is performed in the southern United States will typically attract much larger a crowd than if it occurred featuring the same country group in same as B
E. in the southern United States will typically attract a much larger crowd than will a concert featuring the same country group performed in

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Read the Original Sentence Carefully, Looking for Errors:

This sentence begins with a long modifying phrase focusing on a geographic location: "Because...there." The location referred to by "there" is the "southern United States" and should be placed as soon after the comma at the end of the phrase as possible. Since "a concert" already appears after the comma, the words that come after that should modify "concert" and refer to its location in the southern United States. So, the correct answer should contain language similar to "a concert in the southern United States." Additionally, the underlined portion of the sentence contains the pronoun "it." The GMAT repeatedly tests pronoun agreement and pronoun ambiguity. If “it” could replace more than one singular noun in the sentence, then it is ambiguous and must be corrected.

Scan and Group the Answer Choices:

The choices will require more than a quick scan to determine which move "southern United States" closer to the comma. As for the pronoun "it," a scan of the choices reveals a 3:1:1 split. In (A), (B), and (D), “it” is still included in the sentence, while (C) replaces “it” with “one” and (E) replaces “it” with “a concert.”

Eliminate Choices Until Only One Remains:

(B) does not move "southern United States" close to the comma at the end of the opening phrase. (B) also keeps the ambiguous pronoun "it," which could arguably refer to "fan base," "concert," or "recognizable country music group." Eliminate (B).

(C) does not bring "southern United States" close enough to "a concert." Instead, it brings in the idea of crowd size first. As for the pronoun issue, (C) replaces “it” with “one,” but it is still unclear what “one” replaces as a pronoun. The pronoun is still ambiguous. For these reasons, eliminate (C).

(D) does fix the modifier issue, giving us, "a concert that is performed in the southern United States." However, (D) still contains the ambiguous pronoun "it," which could arguably refer to "fan base," "concert," or "recognizable country music group." (D) also contains the awkward language, "will attract much larger a crowd" rather than "will attract a much larger crowd." Eliminate (D).

Only (E) fixes both noticed errors without adding any new errors. It brings "southern United States" as close as possible to "a concert" to read "a concert in the southern United States." It also corrects the ambiguous pronoun error, by getting rid of the pronoun altogether and using "a concert featuring...," which is a clear, specific noun phrase. (E) is therefore correct.

TAKEAWAY: When a sentence starts with a modifying phrase, try to get the item modified as close as possible to that phrase. With pronouns, there must be no doubt about what a pronoun is referring to. It's not enough that most readers could figure out from context what the author means. If someone logically could point to a different antecedent for the pronoun, there is an error in the sentence.

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