Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-



Choice A: Option A incorrectly compares "Japanese unions" to "the United States", rather than to the United States' unions. Thus, Option A is incorrect.

Choice B: Option B correctly compares Japanese unions to "those", referring to unions "in the United States" and maintains proper idiom usage. Thus, Option B is correct.

Choice C: Option C incorrectly compares "In Japan", meaning the quality of being within Japan, to the country "the United States". Thus, Option C is incorrect.

Choice D: Option D repeats the error committed by Option A. Thus, Option D is incorrect.

Choice E: Option E commits an idiom error; this option utilizes the phrase "reluctant about", while the correct phrase is "reluctant to". Thus, Option E is incorrect.

Hence, B is the best answer choice.

One interesting thing to note here is that there appears to be a case of pronoun ambiguity in Option B, as it seems that "those" could refer to either "Japanese unions" or just "unions". However, a closer reading will reveal that there is no such ambiguity. Logically speaking, the only noun that "those" can refer to is "unions". If "those" referred to "Japanese unions", the full sentence would be "Unlike Japanese unions in the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize lower-paid workers." As this sentence makes no logical sense, we can conclude that “those” must refer to “unions”.

To understand the concept of “Exceptions to Pronoun Ambiguity on GMAT”, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

A,C,D are out.
B and E, both, use the proper form of comparision but in E the idiom, reluctant about, is not correct. it should be reluctant to as in B. So go with B.

(A) Unlike the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize
- bad comparision. Compares country to union.

(B) Unlike those in the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize

(C) In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant to organize

(D) Japanese unions, unlike the United States, appear reluctant to organize
- bad comparison

(E) Japanese unions, unlike those in the United States, appear reluctant about organizing
- bad comparison

Between (B) and (C), i prefer (B).

In (B),
Unlike those (unions) in U.S, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize lower-paid workers

In (C)
In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant to organize
The last part 'unions appear reluctant to organize' should stick close to Japan.

B it is.

ywilfred

(C) In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant to organize

if you remove comma,
In Japan, unions appear reluctant to organize lower-paid workers.

What am I missing?

daagh
How to differntiate
that
those in option B ,refers to unions only and not japansese unions
Is there any such rule?

Let's replace Japanese Unions for "those'.

Unlike Japanese unions in the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize.

What are the Japanese unions doing in the US? It is illogical, right?

Dear expert,

Just to confirm (I did a Google research but there seemed to be no definitive answer). - reluctant TO DO something and reluctant ABOUT something are both correct idioms. Is that correct?

Or why else is E better than B? Thanks so much!

Hello, shabuzen102. You can find all sorts of things on the Internet. According to two separate sources I have consulted, one of which is an unabridged Collins English Dictionary, the idiom is reluctant to, not reluctant about. You can be hesitant about something, and hesitant is synonymous with reluctant, so I understand how people could become confused, but reluctant + about simply do not go together in Standard American English, the type that is tested on the GMAT™. Otherwise, there would indeed be little to separate (B) from (E). You could argue that by placing Japanese unions first, the referent to those is less clear, but I think this one at its base comes down to the idiom.

I hope that helps. If you have further questions, feel free to ask.

- Andrew

- The comparison is similar to that observed in option B.
- But idiom - "reluctant to" and not "reluctant about"
- Wrong

- B is correct answer.

How can unions in the US refer to Japanese union.....Japanese is people of Japan and comparing with place ....won't it be Better to use american instead of US....

Question posses a lot of ambiguity there are chances of having unions in US comprising of Japanese people.

Please explain...

egmat experts. Please help me out here.

Unlike/like are always followed by a noun, not a clause/ prepositional phrase.
So why option B is correct. Any help would be grateful

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Hi! unlike those in the United States is neither a clause nor a prepositional phrase.

Hi shivbits42,

To add to EducationAisle 's response:
1. the United States is a noun phrase
2. in the United States is a prepositional phrase (the United States is the object of the preposition in)
3. those in the United States is a noun (pronoun) phrase (in the United States is a modifier for the pronoun those)

We don't have a verb there, so that part of option B is not a clause.

Dear MartyTargetTestPrep AjiteshArun GMATGuruNY,

Why is C. wrong?

(C) In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant to organize

Here "In Japan" acts as an adverbial prepositional phrase modifying the following clause.
(situating the country we are dealing with: e.g. In Japan, unlike the United States, companies are struggling.)

Also "Japan" is completely parallel with "the United States"

Why is my thinking wrong?

If I remember correctly, option C is one of the "about organizing" options. I think C has been reproduced incorrectly here.

Option C should be:
In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant about organizing

Dear AjiteshArun,

Thank you for your reply

(B) Unlike those in the United States, Japanese unions appear reluctant to organize

When we use "those" to refer to a noun, is an adjective attached to that noun ALWAYS not included in "those"?

Option C is different in different editions of this question. So, there is one, which reads "In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant to organize" and one which reads "In Japan, unlike the United States, unions appear reluctant about organizing".