DmitryFarber wrote:
GKomoku That structure is not quite right. "Than" is not a parallelism marker, so we don't have a reason to make the two instances of "is" parallel. Take a look at the first of my example sentences: "I spent more than is advisable . . . " We certainly wouldn't say that "spent" and "is" are parallel here.
Basically, when we say that something is "more than is usual," we are saying that it is more than the amount that is usual. So "than is usual . . . automobile" is all just a modifier for "heavier." After that, you are right that we have a second independent clause.
By the way, some people might be wondering why we don't just use the simplest form: answer choice A. The trouble is that "heavier than usual" implies "heavier than this thing usually is." (If I am heavier than usual, it means that I have gained weight compared to my previous state , not that I weigh more than others.) So then adding the modifier "for a performance automobile" makes things a bit confusing, even though in real life we'd all probably understand the intended meaning.
By the way, here's the original question this is copying:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-partheno ... 06455.html hello DmitryFarber thank you for help
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So is this construction correct now?
I found below rules in the
internet:
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Usual vs Is UsualWhen something is compared to itself, usual is fine.
When something is compared to a subgroup to which it belongs, is usual should be used.For example:
1. He is nicer than usual
2. He is faster than is usual for any human being.
3. Ram is faster than usual today.
4. Emails are often written in a much formal way than is usual in writing.
5. The sun looks less brightly than usual to-day.***********************************
Also examined the question that was mentioned by you:
tonebeeze wrote:
The Parthenon is larger than usual for a Doric temple, with eight columns on the short sides and seventeen on the long ones rather than the typical six and thirteen.
(a) usual
(b) is usual
(c) has been usual
(d) one usually is
(e) it is usual
But I was sceptical to KAPLAN expert reply about parallelism:
skovinsky wrote:
Hi,
short sentence correction options may seem easier at first glance, but the correct answer often reflects a minor grammar or style issue, so we need to be extra careful on these.
B is superior to A for parallelism reasons: "IS larger than IS usual" maintains parallelism.
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So in bottomline:
Even if our question is about comparison, we cannot
'explicitly' state what entities is being compared
"heart of the comparison"By the context we can only understand that "The new sports car is compared to
other cars" - abstractly.
This question is also
'meaning' based not just a simple comparison question.
'is usual' here is prefered over
'usual' because 'the new sports car' is compared to other cars not itself.
so could you please advise is all above make sense?
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