nelz007 wrote:
The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch and so were unable to perform the complex operations necessary for today's processor-intensive applications.
(A) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch
(B) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to a modern wristwatch's
(C) The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to those of a modern wristwatch
(D) The first personal computers' severe hardware and software limitations were similar to those of a modern wristwatch
(E) The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to that of a modern wristwatch
Hello
GMATNinja @empowergmat
VeritasKarishmaI could eliminate C, D, E but I was stuck between A and B and with some reluctance I eliminated A and chose B
Would request your help with this question to better understand the concepts behind this one
The non-underlined part of the sentence has 'were' which can refer to 'severe hardware and software limitations' (compound noun) or to 'personal computers'
But here the meaning of the sentence would become awkward if 'were' refers to 'severe hardware and software limitations'
If we consider 'severe hardware and software limitations', then the sentence would read as,
The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch and so
(severe hardware and software limitations) were unable to perform the complex operations necessary for today's processor-intensive applications.
This is wrong, the meaning is incorrect
The sentence should actually read as,
The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch and so
(first personal computers) were unable to perform the complex operations necessary for today's processor-intensive applications.
So options C and E are eliminated
D is also eliminated on the same grounds as C and E because of the use of possessive noun
first personal computers' severe hardware and software limitationsThus, we are left with
ABCDEBetween A and B, I was stuck and this is my verbal reasoning to eliminate A and stick to B
(A) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatchThe subject error is gone - That helps
and
severe hardware and software limitations of first personal computer are compared with 'that' of a modern wristwatch
'that' here should be functioning as a pronoun but the noun here is 'personal computers' hence it will be wrong and we are comparing 'severe hardware and software limitations' (compund noun) hence a singluar 'that' is incorrect and it should be 'those' (I guess.....??)
(B) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to a modern wristwatch'sThe subject error is gone - Same as A
and
now we have a possessive noun "modern wristwatch's" which I discarded in the first read because who we kidding, possessive nouns are mostly wrong.
But after eliminating A, my only choice was option B and hence the use of possessive seemed right
And it was not just because of PoE that B seemed right, it was also because of meaning
The meaning is established correctly by use of possessive noun which actually should be read as:
The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to a modern wristwatch's
(severe hardware and software limitations of modern wristwatch) and so were unable to perform the complex operations necessary for today's processor-intensive applications
Thus,
BACDE