A leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment, Adam Smith’s two major

Rules tested- Modifier and idiomatic expression.

A leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment, Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism what Marx’s Das Kapital is to socialism.

"A leading ... enlightenment" incorrectly modifies the "books". Use of apostrophe is deceptive.

A, B and C can be eliminated on this.

A. Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism what
B. Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism like
"A is to B like X is to Y" is Unidiomatic

C. Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism just as
"A is to B just as X is to Y" is Unidiomatic

In Option D and E, "Adam smith" is correctly modified however D is unidiomatic.

D. Adam Smith wrote two major books that are to democratic capitalism similar to
"A is to B similar to X is to Y" is unidiomatic

E. Adam Smith wrote two major books that are to democratic capitalism what

Correct idiomatic expression is "A is to B what X is to Y"

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CrackVerbal Academics Team
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Hello Everyone!

Let's tackle this question, one problem at a time, and narrow it down to the correct answer! Before we dive in, let's take a look at the original question, and highlight any major differences between the options in orange:

A leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment, Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism what Marx’s Das Kapital is to socialism.

(A) Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism what
(B) Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism like
(C) Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism just as
(D) Adam Smith wrote two major books that are to democratic capitalism similar to
(E) Adam Smith wrote two major books that are to democratic capitalism what

After a quick glance over the options, there are 2 main things we can focus on:

1. Adam Smith's two major books / Adam Smith (modifier-antecedent agreement)
2. what / like / just as / similar to / what (idiom structure; comparisons)

Let's start with #1 on our list because it will eliminate 2-3 options rather quickly. If we look at the entire sentence, we see that it begins with a modifier:

A leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment, Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism what Marx’s Das Kapital is to socialism.

Who/what was a leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment? Adam Smith, or Adam Smith's books? It makes the most sense for it to be Adam Smith, right? That means whatever comes after the modifier needs to clearly show that it's referring to Adam Smith only:

(A) Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism what
(B) Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism like
(C) Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism just as
(D) Adam Smith wrote two major books that are to democratic capitalism similar to
(E) Adam Smith wrote two major books that are to democratic capitalism what

We can easily eliminate options A, B, & C because the modifier is trying to refer to "Adam Smith's two major books" instead of just Adam Smith himself.

Now that we only have 2 options left, let's focus on #2 on our list: idiom structure with comparisons! To make this easier to spot, I added the ending of the original sentence to round out the comparison:

(D) Adam Smith wrote two major books that are to democratic capitalism similar to Marx’s Das Kapital is to socialism.

This is INCORRECT because it doesn't follow the correct idiom structure for comparing items:

INCORRECT = X is to Y similar to A is to B

(E) Adam Smith wrote two major books that are to democratic capitalism what Marx’s Das Kapital is to socialism.

This is CORRECT because it uses the proper idiom structure for comparing items:

CORRECT = X is to Y what A is to B

There you have it - option E is the correct choice!


Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it.
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Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-

Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:
Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that Adam Smith was a leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment, and he wrote two major books that are to democratic capitalism what Marx’s Das Kapital is to socialism.

Concepts tested here: Meaning + Modifiers + Idioms

• In a “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun; this is one of the most frequently tested concepts on GMAT sentence correction.
• "A is/are to B what X is/are to Y" is an idiomatic construction used to convey that the relationship between A and B is similar to the relationship between X and Y.

A: This answer choice incorrectly uses "A leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment" to modify "Adam Smith’s two major books", illogically implying that the books were a leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment; the intended meaning is that Adam Smith was a leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment; please remember, in a “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun.

B: This answer choice incorrectly uses "A leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment" to modify "Adam Smith’s two major books", illogically implying that the books were a leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment; the intended meaning is that Adam Smith was a leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment; please remember, in a “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Further, Option B incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "A ("two major books") are to B ("democratic capitalism") like X ("Marx’s Das Kapital") is to Y ("socialism")" rather than the idiomatic construction "A are to B what X is to Y"; please remember, "A is/are to B what X is/are to Y" is an idiomatic construction used to convey that the relationship between A and B is similar to the relationship between X and Y.

C: This answer choice incorrectly uses "A leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment" to modify "Adam Smith’s two major books", illogically implying that the books were a leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment; the intended meaning is that Adam Smith was a leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment; please remember, in a “phrase + comma + noun” construction, the phrase must correctly modify the noun. Further, Option C incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "A ("two major books") are to B ("democratic capitalism") just as X ("Marx’s Das Kapital") is to Y ("socialism")" rather than the idiomatic construction "A are to B what X is to Y"; please remember, "A is/are to B what X is/are to Y" is an idiomatic construction used to convey that the relationship between A and B is similar to the relationship between X and Y.

D: This answer choice incorrectly uses the unidiomatic construction "A ("two major books")...are to B ("democratic capitalism") similar to X ("Marx’s Das Kapital") is to Y ("socialism")" rather than the idiomatic construction "A are to B what X is to Y"; please remember, "A is/are to B what X is/are to Y" is an idiomatic construction used to convey that the relationship between A and B is similar to the relationship between X and Y.

E: Correct. This answer choice correctly uses "A leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment" to modify "Adam Smith", conveying the intended meaning - that Adam Smith was a leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment. Further, Option E correctly uses the idiomatic construction "A ("two major books")...are to B ("democratic capitalism") what X ("Marx’s Das Kapital") is to Y ("socialism")".

Hence, E is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Phrase Comma Subject" and "Subject Comma Phrase" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1minute):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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possessive modifier, options a, b and c go off.
In D similar is redundant.
So e

His books are not a leading figure, so A/B/C gone. "similar to" is wrong idiomatically, in this context. "two books... that are to... what [this other book].. is to" is correct parallelism, so E is correct.

A leading figure in the Scottish Enlightenment describes Adam Smith, not his two books, so the name of Adam Smith must immediately follow the opening phrase. The comparison between Smith's books and Marx's book is expressed as a ratio, so the correct idiomatic expression is x is to y what a is to b.

E is right because "Correct idiomatic expression is "A is to B what X is to Y"", thanks to USAteam and CrackverbalGMAT
Could you guys explain what does the idiom mean? Example? Is the idiom the same as " A is about B, as X is about Y" ?

This idiom is used to draw an analogy or parallel.
For instance, Lebanon is similar to Switzerland in terms of financial power, diversity, mountainous terrain and the popularity of skiing, So one could say:
Lebanon is to the Middle East what Switzerland is to Europe.

Hope this makes things clear.

Regards
Gowri

Gowri N Kishore
Verbal Faculty & Admissions Mentor
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Well this seems to be an easy one,

A leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment, Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism what Marx’s Das Kapital is to socialism.
(--------A Modifier noun phrase----------), (modified entity)------------------------------------------ (------------what X is to Y-------- )

So the major issue is that the modified entity has to be a noun and can not be a possessive

(A) Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism what . Possessive incorrectly modifies the noun phrase
(B) Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism like Repeats error in A + Incorrect Idiomatic construction
(C) Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism just as Same Error as in B
(D) Adam Smith wrote two major books that are to democratic capitalism similar to Corrects the modified entity error but introduces an Idiomatic Error
(E) Adam Smith wrote two major books that are to democratic capitalism whatFlawless and correct

AnthonyRitz, MentorTutoring, GMATNinja, DmitryFarber, VeritasKarishma


To answer this question, experts said the correct idiom is "A is to B what X is to Y."

I would know from the native speakers that is it a common idiom for you, and what resource you learned the idiom from for the first time?

Could please give a few sentence example with the idiom above?

Would you please recommend a source that could help to master gmat idioms?


Kudos to the experts in advance investing their time to help learners and change their lives!!!

Hello, sjuniv32. If you are getting caught up on what, it may help to think of this idiom in reverse, as in, What Babe Ruth is to baseball, Pelé is to football. In fact, you can almost see how, in this order, the second item of the comparison can take on a matching what, and the sentence is merely holding two clauses in parallel: What Babe Ruth is to baseball [is what] Pelé is to football. To be clear, this is not a common idiom, but someone who has grown up in a predominantly English-speaking area will probably have come across it by the time he or she finishes college. Because I acquired knowledge of this idiom at some point in my lifetime in such an organic manner, I cannot pinpoint when or from what source I first encountered it. You may want to try a dedicated GMAT™ SC guide, such as those by Manhattan Prep or Veritas Prep, for a more thorough discussion of GMAT™-specific idioms, or you could simply create your own list as you go through a copy of an OG. You could even search for questions in the forum that are tagged under Idioms to see what you find. There are tens of thousands of idioms in the English language, and it would be a waste of your time to attempt to memorize even one percent of them. You just want to learn the ones that GMAC™ considers important enough to put on the test.

In this particular question, the far more useful—i.e. more commonly tested—concept to understand is the difference between attributing the appositive phase to a person or to a possessive that includes the name of the person. Within seconds, I was down to (D) or (E), and the idiom did, in fact, tilt the balance in favor of (E). But even if you were unsure, you could look at the tail-end of the other answer choices and ask yourself what separates what, which appears twice, like, just as (would the just be necessary, for instance?), and similar to. If you could reach a 50/50 proposition on a Hard question with certainty in a matter of seconds, that would not be a bad start, right?

- Andrew
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What is the correct form/idiom of "Similar to" ?

"Similar to" is idiomatically correct, but the use of "similar to" does not make sense in this context.

"X that are to Y similar to Z" is nonsensical.
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A- AS's Books is not a leading figure
B- same as A ; like cannot follow a clause in comparison
C- same as A
D- it says both das and Adam book are similar regarless meaning issue
E- x is to y what a is to b. (Correct)

MartyTargetTestPrep GMATNinja KarishmaB

Hi Experts,

Can you share some example that shows correct usage of "Similar to"?

Thanks!

Hello Sneha2021,

We hope this finds you well.

To help provide some clarity, "similar to" functions largely the same as "like" does.

For example:

1. "Foxes are similar to cats in that both are obligate carnivores."

2. "Similar to cats, foxes are obligate carnivores."

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
_________________

A leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment, Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism what Marx’s Das Kapital is to socialism.

(A) Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism what- Adam smith's books are not a leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment
(B) Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism like - Adam smith's books are not a leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment
(C) Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism just as - Adam smith's books are not a leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment
(D) Adam Smith wrote two major books that are to democratic capitalism similar to - 'A is to B what X is to Y' is the phrase. Two major books that are to democratic capitalism similar - wrong because similar doesn't sit well here.

(E) Adam Smith wrote two major books that are to democratic capitalism what- perfect. 1. Adam smith is a leading figure and the phrase 'A is to B what X is to Y' is structured correctly.

A leading figure in the Scottish enlightenment, Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism what Marx’s Das Kapital is to socialism.
Elimination sequence: A,B,C then D.
(A) Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism what - A leading figure. Who? Adam Smith's book?No.
(B) Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism like- A leading figure. Who? Adam Smith's book?No!
(C) Adam Smith’s two major books are to democratic capitalism just as- A leading figure. Who? Adam Smith's book?No!!!
(D) Adam Smith wrote two major books that are to democratic capitalism similar to - A leading figure? Adam Smith (thank you) wrote books that are to capitalism similar to book is to socialism? Structure intended: W are to X what Y is to Z
(E) Adam Smith wrote two major books that are to democratic capitalism what - books that are to capitalism what he other books are to socialism. Bingo!