A former director of the Central Intelligence Agency has said that the

Question

A former director of the Central Intelligence Agency has said that the surveillance capabilities of United States satellites would enable a skilled photographic interpreter to distinguish  between Guernsey and Hereford cows grazing  in a meadow.

(A) between Guernsey and Hereford cows grazing

(B) between Guernseys and Hereford cows that graze

(C) among Guernseys and Hereford cows that are grazing

(D) among Guernsey and Hereford cows as they graze

(E) Guernseys from Hereford cows grazing

TaN1213 · Accepted Answer

Read the 2 sentences aloud:

1. distinguish between red and green apples--------> correct, as 'apples' is common to the list of two types- red and green

2. distinguish red from green apples --------------------> incorrect because grammatically apples is not implied after red.

That's why E is incorrect.

KarishmaB · Answer

Option (B) is incorrect. 
"that graze ..." indicates a defining relative clause. 
It means that surveillance would enable one to distinguish Guernsey cows from those Hereford cows which graze in a meadow - this is illogical.

Actually, as per (A), one would be able to distinguish between Guernsey and Hereford cows grazing in a meadow - which means distinguish between the two kinds of cows while they will be grazing in a meadow.

And yes, distinguish X from Y is fine. (E) is incorrect because it compares Guernsey cows (notice the use of Guernsey s ) with Hereford cows which would be grazing in a meadow. The word "cows" has to be coming to both so we need to use "Guernsey" and "Hereford".

Abhishek009 · Answer

Distinguish between X  and  Y and Distinguish X from Y  are both correct on the GMAT, however  I would like to go with the Original Sentence and mark my answer as (A)

mrdlee23 · Answer

I think A is better than B because 'would' indicates that the interpreter will distinguish at a future time- distinguish while both types are grazing.

er.arun88 · Answer

Hi Abhishek,
I chose E, thinking of the idiom Distinguish A from B
On what basis we can discard the Option E?

er.arun88 · Answer

Hey  Bunuel ,
what do you think about option E?. why it is incorrect

MikeHelios · Answer

guys i have a doubt
what is wrong with B? is usage of 'that' wrong?

Hero8888 · Answer

Option (B) means that "satellites ... distinguish between Guernsey and Hereford cows that  particularly  graze in a meadow".
Now ask yourself can satellites distinguish between Guernsey and Hereford cows in general? Probably yes, why do we need "that" in this case?

DharLog · Answer

A former director of the Central Intelligence Agency has said that the surveillance capabilities of United States satellites would enable a skilled photographic interpreter to distinguish  between Guernsey and Hereford cows grazing  in a meadow.

(A) between Guernsey and Hereford cows grazing

(B) between Guernseys and Hereford cows that graze

(C) among Guernseys and Hereford cows that are grazing

(D) among Guernsey and Hereford cows as they graze

(E) Guernseys from Hereford cows grazing

In (A) we understand that there are Guernsey cows and Hereford cows
in (E) we see Hereford cows and Guernseys
And we do not know what is "Guernseys" - it is not clear and because of it the comparison is not right.

vasuca10 · Answer

VeritasKarishma  mam I marked Option B as the answer as usage of among is incorrect in Options C and D and in Option E distinguish X from Y is unidiomatic usage. How is usage of that incorrect in Option B? Kindly explain

DharLog · Answer

First of all. "Distinguish X from Y" is also a correct usage.
Second of all. Guys, don't you read the thread at all before asking the question?
In the posts above given at least 2 explanations, why (B) is incorrect (in discussing of options B and E).

sumit411 · Answer

Understand the meaning difference.

Ram, a stict vegetarian, yells at people eating meat.
( ram yells at the people whom he founds eating meat. This action takes place at the time frame of the main sentence.)

Ram, a strict vegetarian, yells at people who eat meat.
( ram will yell at anyone who eats meat as in general. This is habitual action for Ram)

_________

Try to apply this analogy in the given question. Consider kudos if that helped.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

VerbalBot · Answer

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A former director of the Central Intelligence Agency has said that the

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