12 Days of Christmas GMAT Competition - Day 12: When the Focke Wulf 19

Experts' Global Official Explanation

Comparison + Pronouns + Meaning + Redundancy/Awkwardness

Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of the crucial part of this sentence is that no fighter planes manufactured by the Allied nations had the capacity to rival the Focke Wulf 190 for speed and durability.

• The simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past.
• The simple past continuous tense is used to refer to actions that were ongoing over a period of time in the past.

A. Correct. This answer choice uses the phrase “could rival it for”, conveying the intended meaning- that no fighter planes manufactured by the Allied nations had the capacity to rival the Focke Wulf 190 for speed and durability. Further, Option A correctly uses the simple past tense verb “could” to refer to an action that concluded in the past. Additionally, Option A is free of any awkwardness or redundancy.

B. This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “were the rivals of it…”; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that no planes manufactured by the Allied nations actively and literally rivalled the Focke Wulf 190 airplane; the intended meaning is that no fighter planes manufactured by the Allied nations had the capacity to rival the Focke Wulf 190 for speed and durability. Moreover, Option B further alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “their speed and durability”; the use of “their” illogically implies that no fighter planes manufactured by the Allied nations could rival the Focke Wulf 190 airplane in the matter of the Allied planes’ speed and durability; the intended meaning is that no fighter planes manufactured by the Allied nations could rival the Focke Wulf 190 airplane for general speed and durability. Further, Option B uses the redundant phrase “in their speed and durability”, rendering it needlessly wordy.

C. This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “were its rival…”; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that no planes manufactured by the Allied nations actively and literally rivalled the Focke Wulf 190 airplane; the intended meaning is that no fighter planes manufactured by the Allied nations had the capacity to rival the Focke Wulf 190 for speed and durability. Further, Option C uses the needlessly wordy phrase “rival as to”, leading to awkwardness.

D. Trap. This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “their speed and durability”; the use of “their” illogically implies that no fighter planes manufactured by the Allied nations could rival the Focke Wulf 190 airplane in the matter of the Allied planes’ speed and durability; the intended meaning is that no fighter planes manufactured by the Allied nations could rival the Focke Wulf 190 airplane for general speed and durability. Further, Option D uses the redundant, passive voice construction “be its rival in their”, rendering it needlessly indirect and wordy.

E. Trap. This answer choice alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “were rivaling its”; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that none of the fighter planes manufactured by the Allied nations actively and literally undertook the action of rivalling the Focke Wulf 190 airplane for speed and durability; the intended meaning is that no fighter planes manufactured by the Allied nations had the capacity to rival the Focke Wulf 190 for speed and durability. Further, Option E incorrectly uses the simple past continuous tense verb “were rivalling” to refer to an action that concluded in the past; please remember, the simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past, and the simple past continuous tense is used to refer to actions that took place over a period of time in the past.

A is the best answer choice.